Shaw grabs the phone and dials a number. He gets no answer. He slams the phone down in frustration. Almost immediately the phone rings. He quickly picks it up.

‘Hello?’ Says Shaw

‘Hey Chief it’s Frank.’

‘That’s some ballsy move Detective.’

‘I know sir, I’m sorry for taking the trucks’

‘That’s the least of my worries. You just shot up a room full of terrorists while hostages were present. By the looks of it none of them are hurt, but there are still some armed men that remain in the room.’

‘What are you on about? We haven’t gone in yet’

Shaw’s eyes widen in fear as he looks at the TV screen.  His concentration is ripped back to reality as the sound of gunshots echo through the phone.

Frank rushes behind the patrol car’s door as he takes his weapon out. He cocks the hammer and peers through the window. A shot reigns above his head as the glass shatters above him. The sound of gun shots echoes the area as the police return fire. Frank peers through the side of the door and sees seven armed men in flack jackets. He aims his 9mm towards one of them in the distance. He presses the trigger. The shot hits the man in the chest. He doesn’t move as he casually peels the bullet off of his flack jacket. He returns fire and pierces a few holes into the squad car’s door. Rays of light trickle through the holes as Frank hugs the ground for cover. Shards of glass cake the ground and cut Frank’s palms as he pushes himself back up against the door. Officer Mullins is on the other side of the car imitating Frank as he shoots from cover. Mullins Fires blindly as he winks at Frank.

‘Crazy Fucker’ Frank laughs to himself

Frank reloads a mag into his gun. He hears it click into place as he stands up and leans on the car door. He fires a few shots at the men at the entrance to the building. Chase is hiding behind a pillar as the men in flak jackets return fire in front of him. They line up like a roman wall of soldiers as they fire back at the officers. Bullets ricochet off their jackets as officer’s fire blindly in frustration. One of the men bends down and rummages through a larger bag. He pulls out a heavy looking light machine gun. He wraps the ammo around his shoulder and braces the gun in his tight grip. The men to his side disperse as they retreat back to the pillars near chase. The man sports a wide position as he lets loose and fires the heavy gun. The massive rounds pierce the nearby patrol cars as Frank see’s the carnage unfold. The man focuses his fire onto a few officers in front of Frank as they duck for cover behind a car. The police car pings with bullets as hundreds of holes pierce the sheet metal. The two officers in the distance remain grounded as the onslaught continues. Frank nervously looks on in amazement. One of the officers behind the car raises his head fractionally as the suppressing fire continues. A hole pierces wide in front of the officer as his head explodes in a mist of red. Frank screams as he watches the second officer get mowed down by the LMG. Frank bolts out from behind the door and walks towards the maniac with the gun, continuously firing his 9MM. The man turns his attention to Frank as he jolts the gun towards his position.  Frank screams as his finger pushes the trigger and nothing comes out.

Ninety Nine

‘I’ve tried contacting him but I can’t get an answer…Are you sure you did not send any one in?,,, I understand Sir…Okay’ Shaw hangs up the phone.

He looks on at the officers staring back at him in curiosity. He takes a swig of coffee as he braces himself.

‘I’ve just talked to Washington. They don’t have any ideas on who those men were that shot up the M.I.T building. The only thing they know is that is wasn’t anything to do with them. Now what we need to do is figure out who was behind it and get to Frank and the boys. Washington has sent the FBI down to the building to secure it and hopefully give some back up. I know it’s been a hell of a ride people but we can’t rest until we secure the safety of our men and the hostages. No questions asked.’

Shaw takes another long sip on his coffee as he ponders through his thoughts.

‘I want a few units to go down to the M.I.T building and assist the FBI. It’s likely that you will have to fire your weapons. Judging from the phone call I had from Frank when all this shit kicked off, it sounded as if they were getting some heavy resistance. Whatever happens make sure you protect your selves and the hostages. Give it to them hard gentleman.’

The crowd of officers erupt in cheers as Shaw finishes addresses them. An officer rushes into the room and up to Shaw.

‘Sir the FBI has secured the area. They said there are no signs of Connor or his men. They report five causalities, all of which are Boston PD. Frank was hit pretty badly. He was rushed to hospital. He suffered some gunshot wounds to his chest.’

‘Is he going to make it?’

‘They don’t know. Apparently it’s pretty bad. He’s in surgery now.’

One Hundred

Connor Chase is sat down on a crate looking down at his hands. He turns his right hand palm facing up. He stares at them intently as he runs his finger across the groves.

‘No amount of water will get the blood off those hands’ a voice says in the distance.

Connor looks up as Eddie Smith walks out of the shadows, his daughter Crystal by his side. Connor smiles as he gets himself up, patting the dust of his suit.

‘Good to see you Eddie.’ Says Chase as he shakes the DA’s hand

‘Likewise, I take it you’ve met my daughter Crystal’ Says Eddie as he solemnly pats her on the shoulder. Her face is riddled with confusion.

‘Yes we’ve met’ Says Connor

‘Any way, please sit. We have business to discuss’

Crystal looks on in shock as she watches her dad sit down next to Connor

‘What’s going on Dad? You said that you already paid him off. That’s why he let me go right?’

Chase smiles as he watches the distraught crystal breath heavily.

‘Haven’t you told her yet?’ Asks Connor as he licks his lips.

‘Told me what?’ Asks Crystal

‘Well me and your daddy came to an arrangement a long time ago. This isn’t about ransom money dear. This is about something a whole lot meatier.’

Crystal begins to shake as her breathing clouds the air with warm condensation.

‘What arrangement?’ She stutters

‘Shut up and sit the fuck down’ Screams Eddie

Crystal begins to cry. She nervously sits down next to him obeying her father. The crate cracks at the combined weight of the three of them. The dark warehouse looms as Crystal quietly sobs.

‘So did it work?’ Asks Eddie

‘Yeah of course it did. Your half has been wired to you. The idiots did not see it coming.’

‘I told you they wouldn’t. Stick a few catastrophes in front of America and they forget about everything else that’s happening.’

‘You said it Mr DA. The FBI did not even pick up on the hack.’

‘Too busy worrying about whether or not you were going to kill anybody else.’

Crystal shakes her head in disbelief

‘Are you saying that you had something to do with what happened dad?’

He turns his head to look at her.

‘If by that you mean we just walked away with half a billion each then yeah, guilty.’

Connor laughs hysterically.

‘One billion dollars taken from the Federal Reserve, we took it from right under their noses. Stupid bastards did not even see it coming’

‘What about all those people that died? What about Jenifer dad?’

‘What about her?’

Crystal starts crying uncontrollably. The tears on her face glisten in the dim light.

‘Pull yourself together. You can have anything you want. You can buy everything you ever wanted. You can be who you want. Sometimes in a war you lose people, sometimes a lot of people. Collateral damage is just that, nothing less, nothing more.’