Chapter 13 - Nine Minutes
The site erupted into controlled panic.
Bomb technicians identified six devices.
Five were connected to the recovered remote.
The sixth was independent.
Eight minutes forty seconds.
Daniel looked at the structural diagram.
“Where?”
“P-two, column grid F-eight.”
His face changed.
“That’s beneath the east transfer beam.”
Brooks asked, “What happens if it detonates?”
“Best case?”
“Yes.”
“Localized collapse.”
“Worst?”
Daniel stared at the tower.
“The east side comes down.”
Emergency crews were pulled back.
But three tactical officers and two firefighters remained inside.
So did Ryan.
His injuries made rapid evacuation impossible.
Brooks called the team.
“Get Mercer out.”
A medic answered.
“We’re descending.”
Seven minutes.
Daniel watched every unfinished opening in the building.
“Where are they?”
“Level fourteen.”
“They’ll never make ground before detonation.”
“Then what?”
Daniel pointed to a temporary crane platform on level twelve.
“Construction elevator.”
“Power is down.”
“Backup generator.”
“Fire damaged the controls.”
Daniel’s mind raced.
“There’s a manual descent brake.”
The information was relayed.
Six minutes.
The rescue team reached level twelve.
They loaded Ryan onto the construction hoist.
Manual brake engaged.
The cage began dropping.
Slowly.
Too slowly.
Five minutes.
Bomb technicians still worked below.
One shouted through radio.
“Device has anti-tamper circuit.”
They could not cut it safely.
Four minutes.
Brooks ordered them out.
One technician remained ten seconds longer to photograph the wiring.
Then ran.
The hoist reached level eight.
Three minutes.
Daniel watched.
“Faster.”
A firefighter on the hoist released more brake pressure.
The cage dropped.
Ryan cried out from the movement.
Level six.
Two minutes.
Bomb technicians emerged from the parking structure.
The final officers crossed the perimeter.
Hoist level four.
Ninety seconds.
Then it stopped.
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
Radio crackled.
“Brake jam.”
Sixty seconds.
Daniel ran toward the barrier.
Brooks grabbed him.
“Daniel!”
“My brother is in there.”
“You cannot help him.”
He knew she was right.
He hated her for being right.
Forty-five seconds.
The rescue team forced the cage gate open.
They carried Ryan onto level four.
Thirty seconds.
Stairs.
Too far.
A firefighter found an exterior concrete ramp.
Twenty seconds.
They ran.
Ryan screamed from the pain.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Daniel watched the entrance.
Seven.
Six.
They appeared.
Five.
Four.
Three.
The rescuers crossed the opening.
Two.
The explosion punched through the lower structure.
A violent boom rolled across the waterfront.
Concrete dust blasted outward.
Claire screamed.
Daniel was thrown backward by the pressure wave.
Part of the east parking deck collapsed.
But the tower remained standing.
The rescue team disappeared into the dust.
For several seconds nobody knew who was alive.
Then figures emerged.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
And the stretcher.
Ryan survived.
Daniel sat on the pavement.
His hands shook uncontrollably.
Claire dropped beside him.
“You okay?”
He nodded.
Then shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Nathan Voss watched from the back of a federal vehicle.
For the first time, he looked defeated.
Not because he had been arrested.
Because the building remained standing.
Evidence remained.
People remained.
Daniel remained.
Hours later, Ryan was returned to surgery.
Evelyn was treated for smoke inhalation and burns.
Madison arrived under protection the next morning.
She saw Daniel first.
Then Grandma.
Then she asked the question everyone had avoided.
“Where’s Uncle Ryan?”
Daniel crouched carefully.
“He got hurt.”
“Is he dead?”
“No.”
She studied his face.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really sure?”
Daniel understood why she asked.
Death had become unreliable in Madison’s world.
“Yes.”
“He’s alive.”
She nodded.
“Can I see him?”
Claire looked surprised.
“Why?”
Madison shrugged.
“He looked scared at the funeral.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What do you mean?”
“When Daddy moved.”
“You said Ryan walked backward.”
“He did.”
“But before that?”
Madison thought.
“He was looking at Daddy.”
“How?”
“Like he wanted him to wake up.”
Daniel went still.
Children notice strange truths adults interpret away.
Ryan had committed monstrous acts.
Yet perhaps somewhere inside him, standing beside his brother’s coffin, he had understood what he had done.
Perhaps his fear had not only been fear of discovery.
Perhaps part of him had hoped Daniel would move.
That did not absolve him.
Nothing could.
But it complicated him.
Real people usually were.
Later that afternoon Ryan woke.
Daniel entered alone.
Ryan looked terrible.
His shoulder was bandaged.
His side wound had reopened.
Bruising covered his face.
He managed a weak smile.
“Still alive.”
Daniel pulled a chair beside the bed.
“Apparently it’s becoming a family habit.”
Ryan’s smile faded.
Silence sat between them.
Then Ryan said, “I’m going to prison.”
“Yes.”
“For a long time.”
“Yes.”
Ryan stared at the ceiling.
“I deserve it.”
Daniel did not disagree.
“I was jealous of you my whole life.”
“That’s not a reason.”
“I know.”
“I told myself you had everything.”
“Dad’s respect.”
“Claire.”
“Madison.”
“The company.”
“You had half the company.”
“I wanted the half people admired.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You almost killed me for admiration?”
“No.”
Ryan began crying.
“I almost killed you because once I started lying, every new lie required something worse.”
Daniel understood that better than he wanted to.
Ryan looked toward him.
“I heard Madison at the funeral.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“You were there when she climbed in.”
“Yes.”
“I saw her hug you.”
Ryan swallowed.
“And I thought, what have I done?”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“But you left.”
“Yes.”
“You could have told them I was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You could have stopped it.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“No.”
That was the part Daniel could not forgive.
Not yet.
Perhaps not ever.
Before Daniel left, Ryan whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Daniel stopped at the door.
“I know.”
Ryan looked at him.
Daniel continued.
May you like
“That’s not the same as forgiveness.”
Then he walked out.
