Chapter 175 Detonating The Twin Towers

Chapter 175 Detonating The Twin Towers

"Something's wrong." Alison frowned.

"Flyfish's location shows they're on a train, already left Westfield."

"There's no point chasing them, they've pulled out." Alison was getting anxious.

"Bomb, glorious mission." She kept muttering.

Oliver guessed the bombs had been planted inside Lucy and Matthew. If they exploded, Lucy would be blown to pieces.

He didn't dare say this out loud. He could only quietly call in an emergency medical team and order Harry to work with doctors on some safe plans for removing the bombs from their bodies.

If it was just a regular remote-controlled bomb, a simple surgery would do. The worry was if it was a smart sensor bomb that could detect body temperature or electrical currents - that would make things much more complicated.

Oliver didn't let his worries show on his face. His calmness helped settle Alison down a bit. She gradually calmed down and focused her thoughts on figuring out what "glorious mission" meant.

"Sounds like they're planning revenge - either blow up Santos, or detonate a bomb at Thomas Holdings headquarters. The twin towers are Santos's pride and joy after all, the symbol of his career." Alison analyzed.

Oliver asked, "After Santos got sick, he went into hiding to recover. According to reliable sources, he shouldn't be in Westfield."

"There are also rumors he's actually already dead," Alison rubbed her throbbing temples. "If Hunter Team wants to blow up Thomas Holdings headquarters, maybe they're trying to draw Santos out."

"Head to The twin towers now?" Oliver asked for Alison's opinion.

Alison nodded. "We don't have any better options right now."

Just then, Oscar's voice came through the comms. "Mr. West, Alison, I've intercepted two location signals."

He sounded hesitant. Oliver frowned. "Why are you being so wishy-washy? Speak."

Oscar quickly explained. "I figured Lucy and Matthew must have tracking devices on them besides the bombs. I locked down the range based on time, space, and location to intercept data streams, then analyzed the data and checked for tracking signals. I found two tracking devices that started up at the same time, moved together, and followed the same route."

Alison's eyes lit up. "You found them! Where are they?"

"Near The twin towers, but one signal disappeared." Oscar sounded a bit uncertain. "I'm wondering if I got it wrong?"

Signal disappeared - was the tracking device destroyed? Or was someone dead? Alison closed her eyes anxiously.

Oliver ordered full speed ahead to The twin towers. The problem was it was rush hour and traffic was terrible.

"Mr. West! Alison!" Taylor interrupted their thoughts urgently. "The police got a call - Matthew's entered Thomas Holdings headquarters!"

Matthew had taken a woman hostage and walked into The twin towers. Their strange behavior immediately drew attention. A security guard yelled at him, but he didn't say a word - just raised his hand and threw out a bomb.

He blew up the big screen in the lobby that was showing Thomas Holdings promotional videos and injured five innocent bystanders. After this "demonstration," no one else dared to stop him.

Someone quickly called the police. Photos and videos from the scene spread online, and more and more people started paying attention.

In a video some brave bystander secretly filmed, Alison saw that Matthew had lost a lot of weight. His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes, and he looked unstable - like a madman.

The woman he was holding was unconscious, with a wound on her stomach. Blood had soaked through her clothes.

Oliver asked Alison. "Well? Is it Lucy?"

Alison shook her head. Whether Matthew did it on purpose or not, he was covering the woman's face.

"Can't see clearly, but her build looks a lot like Lucy."

She asked Taylor about the situation on site. Taylor had already made contact with the police squad heading to Thomas Holdings headquarters. He said. "Matthew's entered the building, don't know where he's hiding. Police on scene are urgently evacuating people from the building."

The silver car pushed against the flow of evacuating people and vehicles, struggling to clear a path. What should have been a half-hour drive took an extra twenty minutes. They finally made it to The twin towers.

Alison was about to get out when she heard a harsh electrical current sound overhead.

The huge advertising screen on the side of the building showing corporate promotional videos suddenly went black, then lit up again. Matthew's face appeared on screen.

"I am Matthew."

He placed a flat, round, palm-sized plastic bomb that looked like a timer on the table in front of him.

"This is a bomb."

Then he raised his right hand, holding a remote control.

"This is the detonator."

Matthew's cold voice spread out, carrying from the night sky, clearly audible to people hundreds of yards away.

People stopped and looked up at the big screen. Half the city seemed to be under Matthew's gaze.

"What kind of show is that?" A clueless passerby in the distance stared at the big screen.

"Didn't you see the news?" A nearby pedestrian said. "That's a crazy guy who broke into The twin towers with bombs!"

"That's terrifying. What does he want to do?"

"Thomas Holdings again. Is there something wrong with this company? Not long ago someone died there, and someone tried to commit suicide."

Three layers of police tape went up in the plaza in front of The twin towers. SWAT team members spread out in tactical formation.

Many employees who had evacuated the building didn't go straight home. They stood outside the police line, talking among themselves.

Alison blocked out the chatter behind her and focused on the bottom left corner of the screen.

The woman Matthew had kidnapped was half-lying in a swivel chair with her back to everyone, only her shoulder and a bit of her clothing visible.

Though she couldn't see the face, Alison's gut told her it wasn't Lucy.

Matthew showed no expression. "I've placed 18 bombs in the water around The twin towers, and 12 inside the building. Starting now, every ten minutes, I'll detonate one - like this."

He raised the detonator in his hand and pressed the red button without hesitation.

A huge explosion - The twin towers Building A, 2nd floor exploded.

Oliver shouted "Get down!" and raised his hand to shield Alison's head. They both crouched down. Flying glass shards fell on their backs, and more crashed onto the ground, cars, and trash cans by the roadside, making a racket.

Even from a distance, Alison felt the blast wave from the explosion.

The number of injured people shot up. The watching employees and passersby were terrified. This 78-story building with its glass curtain walls, standing on the city's central axis as a landmark - it suddenly changed from something the company employees were proud of into a blade hanging over everyone's head.

Jim pressed a handkerchief to his bleeding cheek and rushed toward Alison and Oliver, but was stopped by Oliver's head of security.

"Mr. West, Alison! Please hurry up and stop this man!"

Alison glanced at him. Did he think just talking about stopping someone would make it happen?

"The police are doing their best. Please cooperate with police in evacuating employees." Taylor stepped in to deal with Jim. "Didn't you hear him say there are bombs all around the building too? If you don't want to die, get home now!"

The bomb's power was way more effective than the police's patient urging. Soon, the area around The twin towers was nearly empty - more than twice as quiet.

Matthew started a timer. The ten-minute countdown began.

The sound of the seconds ticking down was amplified several times through the speakers, like death knocking at the door. Heavy pressure weighed on everyone's minds.