Chapter 7: Nick Bracco
They
cleared an entire city block while the bomb squad sent a robot onto the bus. Nick spent most of his time interviewing the
one kid who remained until the final stop, while Matt interviewed the bus
driver. The kid was suspicious of
everything Nick asked and wanted to lawyer up until Nick convinced the
youngster he didn’t care if he was carrying drugs or weapons. Nick would not ask to search his backpack
under any circumstance.
“I
wasn’t doing nothing wrong,” the boy said with conviction.
“We
know,” Nick said, kneeling down next to the boy while he sat under the shade of
a tree. “There was a very bad man on
that bus and that’s who we’re chasing.
It’s very important that you tell me everything you can about him.”
“Which
one?”
“The
dark-haired guy who got on the bus at 4th street. He was carrying a briefcase.”
The
was recognition on the kid’s face. “You
mean the guy who got on the bus and the left?”
“Is
that what he did. Did he come onto the
bus and leave before the bus took off?”
“Yeah,
he acted like he’d forgotten something and got off right away.”
“Did
you happen to notice him carrying a briefcase?”
The
boy seemed relaxed now that he was convinced the conversation wasn’t about him. “Man, I do remember the dude walking past me
with a briefcase, but now that you mention it, I don’t remember him leaving
with it. Is that important?”
“Very.”
The
kid looked over Nick’s shoulder at the bomb squad technicians wearing their
protective gear. Oversized Kevlar with
titanium shields. He said, “Is that what
they’re looking at right now? Did he
leave a bomb on the bus?”
“That’s
a possibility, yes.”
“Aw,
dude, I had no idea. I would’ve kept
closer attention.”
A
beefy bomb technician wearing a bulky blast suit stiff-legged his way over to
Nick. When he was a few feet away, he
removed his full-face helmet and said, “The bus is clear, Agent Bracco. There’s no bomb inside the briefcase.”
“Whoa,”
said the kid. “That’s good.”
“So
what’s inside the briefcase?” Nick asked.
The
bomb tech handed Nick a slip of paper.
Nick
opened the paper and read the note:
I know where Stone’s missing girls are.
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