Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Family Ties ❯ Chapter 46 ( Chapter 46 )

“Family Ties”

 

January 2007 ShenLong

 

Chapter 46

 

Murphy drove the vehicle whilst Duric explained more to Duo exactly what they expected of him in regards to the explosives. It had been decided that Duo would set up two charges; one just before the bridge and one on it. The intent was for Duo to detonate the first explosive as Jefferies' car passed over it, and thus make the man lose control of the vehicle and either run into the bridge supports, or something else like a tree - effectively killing himself. The charge would be small enough not to do any serious damage to the vehicle, or damage that could be easily traced and thus make it look like an accident.

 

If that didn't work for any reason, the second charge would be detonated whilst Jefferies was on the bridge. No prizes for guessing what would happen there.

 

With the threat of serious harm to his child or the nanny still a constant reminder to him, Duo fought with his own inner demons, knowing he really didn't have any choice, but hating himself for allowing himself to be in this situation to start with.

 

“Almost there,” Murphy announced.

 

“Good. Pull over to the side just before the bridge,” Duric told him.

 

Doing as requested, Murphy brought the car to a stop just off the road a little. With the gun still pointing at his prisoner, Duric indicated for Duo to get out.

 

Standing at the side of the road, Duric continued to cover Duo with the gun whilst Murphy fetched a bag from the trunk and then handed it to Duric.

 

“All the stuff you need is in there,” Duric said curtly, shoving the bag at Duo.

 

Taking the bag and ignoring the shove, Duo opened it and gazed inside. It contained detonators and plastic explosive. Not the sort of stuff Duo was used to dealing with, but then again, when he used explosives the items were supplied by Preventer and they only used the top quality stuff. This, he could see, was cheap, able to be purchased in any store that dealt with firearms and explosives; and therefore pretty much untraceable.

 

With a heavy heart, Duo closed the bag and looked at his captors. “Where do you want me to set it up?”

 

“This way.” Duric walked beside the man, gun trained continuously on him and ready to fire.

 

Looking around, Duo's demolitions training came back to him, despite his wishing it would take a hike. He guessed claiming memory loss would be out of the question.

 

“There's the bridge. Now, do what you do best and set the charge for the road explosion.”

 

Clearly his captor was not going to tell him exactly where they wanted the charge laid so it would be up to him. The only thing he could currently think of was how to set this up to cause the least possible suffering for the intended victim. Checking the immediate area out, he glanced to the road, the bridge and surrounding countryside. Mental calculations of speed, velocity, strike and probable trajectory all ran through his head, determining the best place to put the explosives. Having made his decision, Duo strode over to where he thought the best place would be and dropped the bag to the ground. He opened it and began to rummage through the contents.

 

Duric watched, having told Murphy to keep a lookout and alert them to any other oncoming vehicles.

 

“What type of car does he drive?” Duo asked as he manipulated the plastic explosive.

 

“Why?” Duric's brow furrowed.

 

“The weight of the vehicle, type and so on can all affect how much explosive I need to use,” Duo replied in a tone that suggested he was talking to a complete idiot.

 

Duric missed the tone but replied with the vehicle details.

 

Nodding, Duo went back to setting up the charge.

 

* * *

 

Heero and Wufei walked in silence to the lab, each man was lost in his own thoughts. Heero was eager to take a look into the senators' databases; knowing their perpetrator had managed to hack into the computer of Wainright meant there was a damn good chance that Heero would be able to locate exactly how deep the man had gotten before he was discovered and what information he'd managed to locate. Wufei was thinking along similar lines. If they were successful in tracing the perp, then he was pretty certain they would also find the missing credits - or at least some indication of where they had gone and what for.

 

Neither man could have dreamed just exactly where those credits were and what they were being used for; but when they did, it would throw Preventer into a complete frenzy; and put an entirely new perspective on matters.

 

* * *

 

Walking side by side, Trowa and Quatre discussed their missing friend and his family, hoping that Preventer communications would have had some success in tracing the call made by the terrorist by now. Entering the Preventer communications section, they were greeted by an Agent Sun.

 

Quatre quickly explained who they were and what their purpose was, Sun nodding in acceptance. Commander Une had already been on the 'blower' to inform them that the two, temporary agents would be paying a visit and assisting in tracing the call.

 

“If you would care to follow me, gentlemen,” Agent Sun said and led the pair into a small office off to the side of the main communications room.

 

Following, Trowa and Quatre both glanced around the main room, noting the sophisticated equipment currently in use. Several monitors lined one side of the room, with various wavelengths displayed on the screens, lines that were in constant motion. A large, transmitter / receiver took pride of place on another side to the room, the large desk it sat upon containing more equipment and in the middle of it all, headphones on, sat another agent.

 

“That's Agent Sky, he's currently listening in on all transmissions in and out of Preventer,” Sun informed them.

 

“You mean all communication that takes place between agents out in the field can be heard here?” Quatre asked.

 

“Yes.” Sun paused for a moment and looked about the room. “All agents when out in the field are supplied with some form of communications device, all of those devices and the wavelength they transmit on are logged into the Preventer communication database. These computers run 24/7, recording all transmissions. We monitor those transmissions and should the need arise for any assistance we are able to respond immediately. Likewise, if an inquiry is needed for whatever reason, we have all communications on record and they can be used for evidence and the like in such an inquiry.”

 

“Ah, I see,” replied Quatre.

 

“It's a very impressive set up,” Trowa commented.

 

“Yeah, that it is,” replied Sun.

 

“Does that mean you have the terrorist communication recorded too?” Quatre questioned.

 

“Yes, but not through the system you see here. As the call made by the terrorist came through a 'phone line, the procedure is a touch different.”

 

Finding themselves now in the smaller room just off the main one, the pair took a moment to look around. There were a few computers there, monitors and other equipment that neither man could readily identify, but it looked impressive.

 

“Knowing that the call was due to come through, Preventer set a trace on the 'phone line that the call would come through to. That was the easy part. With there only being the one phone in the conference room, our techs were able to set the trace easily enough,” Sun informed them as he began to switch things on.

 

“Just how far have you managed to get with the trace?” Trowa inquired as he took a seat and watched the agent flitting from one console to another.

 

“Unfortunately, not as far as I would have liked,” replied Sun.

 

“I see.”

 

“To be totally honest, we've managed to track it as far as the United States.”

 

“The States is a pretty big area,” Quatre reminded the agent.

 

“I know. The signal was sent through many channels, looping and crossing, bouncing from satellite to satellite. Whoever set up the line to communicate was well aware that we would most likely try to trace it and have led us on a rather long goose chase. We have managed to get through most of the obstacles and currently we have narrowed the search down to the western side of the States.”

 

“Any chance you could be a little more specific here?” Trowa asked. He was starting to get a little frustrated and wanted a more exact idea of the location, preferably the location itself but even Trowa wasn't silly enough to know that would be impossible at this stage. He'd settle for something within the radius of a couple of states if he could get it.

 

“Right now we have California, Washington, Nevada and Arizona as the most likely states the call would have come from. With further tracing through the loops and such, we should have that down to two of those states very shortly.”

 

Trowa's eyes widened with the information and his brain began to kick into gear. Quatre was also puzzling the information over in his own mind.

 

“We are still tracing as we speak and I'm about to check the computer to see what stage it's currently at.”

 

“Fine,” Quatre said absently then focused on his husband for a moment. His brain began to ask itself questions and reply with answers. Gazing into Trowa's green eyes, he came to a decision, then turned to address the agent. “Would you mind if we fetched a coffee?”

 

Sun looked up, surprised at the request. “I'll go get you one if you like?” he replied.

 

“That would be wonderful, thank you.” Quatre told the agent how they both took their coffee and the man left to fulfill the request. As soon as he left, Quatre rounded on Trowa.

 

“Are you thinking what I am?” he asked.

 

“Maybe,” Trowa replied. “I have a hunch that these terrorists are in either California or Nevada.”

 

“Same here. Given that the L1 ambassador's residence is in Carson City, Nevada, and it was Duo that assassinated him, it would make sense that these terrorists are holed up not too far from their target.”

 

“That call that Wufei, Sally and Heero were investigating came from a call box in Fresno, California,” Trowa reiterated.

 

“Hmmm. I wonder if there is any way that this tracing equipment can be programmed to forget about Washington and Arizona and concentrate on California and Nevada?”

 

“Guess we can ask.”

 

Quatre went quiet for a moment, then with a glint in his eye, spoke again. “I'm going to try and reach out with my empathy, maybe I can 'feel' Duo and with luck, get some sort of idea where he is.”

 

Trowa nodded, although he didn't hold much hope. Quatre couldn't read minds, just sense feelings. However, the closer they were to whomever Quatre was touching with his empathy, the stronger the returning feeling. At least the strength of the feeling might give them a bit more of an idea of which state he was in.

 

Quatre took a seat and closed his eyes. Relaxing and deepening his breathing, he began to slide into a semi trance and let his empathy come to the fore. Tentatively, he allowed it to seep out, filter across the subconscious and drift into space.

 

* * *

 

“All finished?” Duric asked as Duo straightened up.

 

Duo grunted by way of reply. He'd just finished setting the second explosive, the one on the bridge in case the first one didn't work.

 

Glancing at his watch, Duric was pleased to note that they had approximately twenty minutes before the car and its driver were due. “Over here.” Duric waved his gun in the direction of the car and Murphy.

 

With no option but to obey, Duo sighed to himself, shouldered the pack and walked back to the car. He sat inside whilst the pair discussed something between themselves, only moving when Duric told him to. They left Murphy with the car and walked a little way back to the bridge.

 

“How close do you need to be to detonate the thing?” Duric asked.

 

“Which one?” Duo asked, playing for time.

 

“The first one,” Duric snapped.

 

“Anywhere between fifty and a hundred feet.”

 

“And the bridge?”

 

“Three to five hundred feet.”

 

“Good.” Duric glanced around from where the explosive remained hidden in the loose asphalt of the road to the dense scrub that ran along each side. “Over there should make a good spot,” he said and pushed Duo in the direction of some fairly thick bushes.

 

Once the pair were completely hidden, Duric pulled a communicator from his pocket. “In position,” he said quietly.

 

Duo's hearing picked up on the sound of a car starting up and he glanced back along the road to see Murphy turning the vehicle around and driving back in the direction they'd come from. A couple of minutes later the communicator crackled to life and Murphy's voice could be heard.

 

“In position this end. Will contact as soon as target is sighted.”

 

“Roger that.” Duric slipped the communicator into his shirt pocket and keeping his gun aimed at Duo, let his eyes check the road from time to time.

 

Duo's right foot had gone to sleep, his left arm wasn't much better off and he was seriously going to need the bathroom very soon. He was contemplating how best to let his bathroom needs be known when Duric's communicator crackled again. Duric fished in his pocket and retrieved the device.

 

“Target has just passed me.”

 

“Good. We are on it. Return shortly.”

 

“Will do.”

 

Duric again put the communicator in his shirt pocket and shifted his stance from a sitting position to a crouch. He parted the bushes slightly and looked out to the road, gun still aimed in Duo's direction.

 

Having convinced his left arm to work again and his right foot to wake up, Duo also shifted, eyes scanning the road for the vehicle he knew was coming.

 

“All set?” Duric asked, eyes not leaving the road.

 

Duo just grunted and pulled the small detonator from his pocket.

 

The sound of a car approaching reached their ears and Duo stiffened a little. He sent a silent prayer to whatever god was listening that he would be forgiven for what he was about to do.

 

“It's him,” Duric announced. “Get ready and remember - no screw ups.”

 

“As if I'm likely to forget,” Duo sneered.

 

* * *

 

Jefferies drove along the quiet road, window rolled down and enjoying the sounds of jazz from the radio and the breeze in his hair. Despite what had occurred over the past couple of days, Jefferies was feeling quite good in himself. At least he'd had the balls to stand up to those terrorists and put them in their place when everyone else had been too yellow bellied to even dream about doing anything.

 

He snorted to himself when he thought about Commander Une from the Preventer Agency. That woman was far too soft in Jefferies' opinion and spouted nonsense about the funding when everyone could clearly see from the figures there in black and white that all Colonies were receiving identical allowances, supplies and assistance.

 

A glance in his rear vision mirror told him the bodyguard that had been assigned to him by Preventer was still to make an appearance on the road behind him. He smiled to himself at how easily he'd managed to dodge away from his 'babysitter'. He didn't need anyone to protect him, thank you very much.

 

Resting his elbow on the top of the door and slightly out of the open window, he accelerated a touch more, the wind whistling past and feeding him with a sense of exhilaration.

 

The bridge lay just ahead, Jefferies didn't bother to slow down; he'd driven this way for so long now he knew the road like the back of his hand. Humming along with the tune on the radio, he steered the car for the bridge.

 

Suddenly there was a loud bang and the vehicle bucked, twisted and ripped the steering wheel from his one handed grasp. Jefferies was quick to grab the wheel again and fought to bring the car back under control. The thought that he'd blown a tire went through his mind as he wrestled with the out of control vehicle. Then it was as if everything went into slow motion.

 

The car fishtailed, slewing from side to side. The concrete supports of the beginning of the bridge loomed in Jefferies' range of vision and he realized the car was heading directly for the left side. Desperately he tugged on the wheel, foot jammed on the brake as the car continued to swerve. The steering was unresponsive, the braking making matters worse; the wheel rim struck an uneven part of the asphalt and the car flipped over, skidding along on its side and slamming into the concrete support on the left side of the bridge.

 

* * *

 

As the vehicle reached the point where Duo had set the explosives, he depressed the detonator. The charge went off, blowing the tire and damaging the steering column.

 

Duo watched, helpless and full of self loathing as the vehicle careered out of control, flipped and slammed into the concrete end of the bridge.

 

“Move!” came the voice from the side and Duo shifted as Duric poked him in the ribs with the barrel of the gun.

 

The pair moved swiftly to the car, the silence in the air deafening after the screeching of tires, scraping of metal and loud bang to signify the abrupt halt of the vehicle's forward momentum. One wheel continued to spin lazily, steam rose from under the hood where water had leaked from the radiator to the hot engine.

 

“Stay here and don't move,” Duric ordered Duo and keeping his gun trained on his hostage, Duric slipped to the side of the car to peer inside.

 

Duo shivered and felt thankful that Duric had at least spared him that much.

 

A quick look inside the mangled wreckage saw the deployment of the air bag and various items strewn about the interior of the car. The car had hit the concrete support on its roof and driver's side, the roof having given in quite easily whilst the door and side supports had put up a little more resistance. Unfortunately the metal and air bag hadn't done much to assist the driver, if anything, the metal had managed to destroy any chance the air bag would have had in protecting the occupant. The weak steel had crumpled like a pack of cards when faced with the might of concrete, the struts passing from the back of the hood by the windscreen base to support the roof had crumpled inwards crushing Jefferies' skull and killing him instantly.

 

From what Duric could tell as his eyes scanned the scene, the man was bleeding from several lacerations, many bones were broken judging by the odd angles his limbs lay in but it was the head injury that had caused death. He reached inside through the broken windscreen to check the pulse anyway; and found nothing.

 

Satisfied, he scrambled back around the car to where Duo waited and gave the man a nod. “Good work, he's dead. Now, move it back to the bushes, Murphy should be back any second.

 

As the words left his mouth so Murphy came flying around the corner and screeched to a halt. “Get in quick, we need to move out now!”

 

Not bothering to ask for an explanation, Duric shoved Duo inside the back of the car and dove in himself. Murphy maneuvered the car around the wreck and over the bridge, flooring it once they were clear of the accident scene and disappearing off in the direction of the L3 ambassador's residence.

 

Managing to sort themselves out in the back seat, Duric finally got himself upright and belt buckled up, checking his hostage was also belted in and then turned his attention to Murphy. “Why the rush?” he asked.

 

“Another car was coming,” Murphy replied as he concentrated on driving.

 

Duric shrugged. “They see us?”

 

“Pretty sure they didn't. We were turning the bend just as they were coming around the other one.”

 

“Good.” Duric guessed that if their car had been spotted it would be very difficult if not impossible to identify it, as it was most likely the other vehicle would have only caught a glimpse of their tail end disappearing around a bend. Besides, their attention would most likely be fixated on the accident ahead of them and not any other car driving down the road. “How long to the residence?” he asked, changing the subject slightly.

 

“About an hour or so.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Silence filled the car then before Murphy switched the radio on and soft music filtered into the car.

 

Duo slumped in his set, his heart aching with knowing he'd just taken yet another innocent life and very shortly would have to repeat the performance. Shinigami was becoming too much a part of his persona for his liking lately. A sudden thought hit Duo's brain and he had to stop himself from smirking.

 

The other charge was still under the bridge.

 

With the unexpected approach of another vehicle on the quiet, barely used road and their hasty scramble to get out of there, it seemed the other two had completely forgotten about the explosive set under the bridge. Duo was not about to remind them either. By the time they realized, it would be too late to go back and remove it, the area would be swarming with emergency services.

 

* * *

 

As he pulled around the bend in the road, the Preventer Agent assigned to play bodyguard to Jefferies felt his heart rate speed up. Ahead he could see the mangled wreckage of the man's car, crushed against the end of the stone bridge.

 

Bringing the car to a stop on the side of the road, he cut the engine, hastily leaving the car and grabbing for his cell. Scrambling around the side of the car and trying to keep his balance on the sloping ground, he pushed the buttons for emergency services.

 

“I need an ambulance now!”

 

~ * ~

 

tbc...