24 Declassified: Vanishing Point

13. THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 12 A.M. AND 1 A.M. PACIFIC DAYLIGHT TIME

The fire alarm wailed, a deafening sound. Jack Bauer and Nina Myers entered the Babylon’s chaotic security center, stepping over the shattered remains of the glass doors. A uniformed security officer moved to stop them. Nina flashed her CTU badge and the man backed off.

Unruffled amid the room’s frenzied activity, a lanky, gray-haired man in a charcoal suit approached them. “I suspect you’re looking for your agent,” the gray man said. “Mr. Manning is over there.”

Curtis stood at a work station, phone to his ear. He nodded to Jack, then returned to his conversation. Agent Manning was bruised and battered, but alive.

“What’s the situation?” Jack asked.

“The Babylon is still standing, but I don’t know for how long,” the man replied grimly. “The balcony has mostly collapsed. The underground garage has caved in. There’s a fire down there, too. More smoke than anything else, but the fire department reports that the chance of finding survivors is… minimal.”

The gray man adjusted his tie with a long-fingered hand.

“You have electricity,” Jack observed.

The gray man nodded. “Emergency generators are located in an outbuilding, so they were undamaged. We’ve even gotten some of the computers up and running and we’re hoping to restore one or more of the elevators soon. That is our top priority.”

“How many people have you evacuated?” Nina asked.

“Thanks to Mr. Manning’s early warning, we managed to clear the casino and all of the clubs and restaurants. Some of the lower guest floors were cleared as well. But people are still trapped in the upper suites and in the ballroom at the top of the building.”

Nina pushed her hair back. “What kind of numbers are we looking at?”

“Several hundred, at least,” the gray man replied. “There was an event upstairs. The guest list says three hundred, but there’s also the wait staff, bartenders, support — there may be as many as four hundred people trapped up there.”

Jack nodded, a tight grin on his face. “Then no one’s gotten out of the ballroom?”

The gray man shook his head. “Not since ten or fif-teen minutes before the blast. That’s when the elevators failed. The device that jammed our phones also interfered with the computers that ran the elevators.”

“How about the stairs?”

“Since the explosions, the lower portions of the stairwells — the areas closest to the blast — have been blocked. Two stairwells have collapsed entirely. A third may be intact, but it’s also filled with toxic smoke, deadly enough to suffocate anyone who inhales it.”

The gray man paused, his hands fluttering around his tie. “I’m told the fire department sent two men up that stairwell, but carrying oxygen and all the other bits of fireproof gear, it will take them a while to reach the ballroom.”

Nina faced Jack, comprehension dawning on her face. “You think the bombers are still up there, don’t you?”

Jack nodded. “Lilly Sheridan was on the phone with me, waiting for instructions from the man who held her daughter hostage, when the jamming device kicked in and ended our conversation.”

Bauer faced the gray man. “Curtis, Nina and I are going to be on the first elevator to go up,” Jack declared.

Grim faced, Curtis appeared at Jack’s shoulder. “I just spoke with Morris O’Brian,” he whispered. “There was an explosion at Bix Automotive. It looks like Hugo and his gang have been wiped out…”

Banquet Manager Evelyn Ankers, with help from Congressman Larry Bell and Senator Palmer, had gathered everyone trapped on the upper floors inside the main ballroom. It was a wise strategy. With most windows broken the ballroom offered plenty of fresh air, a welcome reprieve from the smoke filled lower levels. Several people were injured, and Sherry Palmer had appeared to supervise their care. Seven victims had been killed. Their bodies were covered by bloodstained table cloths.

Lilly had scanned all the faces in the room, but did not see the man she was searching for. As soon as she had the chance, Lilly ducked out of the ballroom to search for her daughter. She was sure Pamela and her kidnappers were still on this floor, even though she hadn’t seen them.

Searching, she moved through the empty kitchen, to the corridor that led to the elevators. She was walking so fast she passed by the open door. It was the sound of voices that stopped her.

“Someone must have defused one or two of the bombs,” a man’s voice said.

“Lucky thing, my brother. We would all be dead now if things had gone as planned,” said another voice, one Lilly recognized.

She peered through the open door, nearly gasped. Stella Hawk was there, hands clutching her daughter’s shoulders. Then Lilly saw the others. Two men, both armed. One was the man who’d given her the bomb.

Lilly began to tremble, uncertain what to do next. She ducked back into the kitchen, grabbed a carving knife from a steam table.

Then the cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she fumbled for the phone. “Hello.”

“It’s Jaycee.”

“Where are you?”

“I’m near the ser vice elevator. It will be working soon, in ten or fifteen minutes. Then I’m coming up.”

“Oh, god, Jaycee. They’re here. They have Pamela—”

“Who? Where?”

“Stella and two other guys. They’re real close, Jaycee, just down the hall.”

“Can you reach the ser vice elevator without being seen? If you lead me to these men, I’ll get your daughter back.”

“Yes,” Lilly cried. “I’ll go now.” As she raced for the elevator, Lilly heard two shots.

Balboa killed the firemen as they emerged from the smoky stairwell. He regretted not having a silencer on his Makarov, but reasoned there was no one around to hear the shots anyway.

He and Pizarro dragged the corpses to a maintenance room, then removed the dead men’s oxygen masks and tanks, along with their fire-resistant overalls.

Stella Hawk stood watch in the corridor, her fingers bruising Pamela Sheridan’s tender flesh. Silently, the girl sobbed.

“The stairs are filled with smoke, and there are only two protective suits,” Pizarro said.

Balboa glanced at the woman in the hall, then back at his brother. “Take them. You and the woman. And do it quick. I am sure the authorities will be here soon.”

“And the child?”

Balboa frowned. “I will keep her as a bargaining chip.”

To Pizarro’s surprise, his brother chuckled. “This is Las Vegas, no?”

“But how will you get out, elude the policia?”

Balboa handed his brother the oxygen masks, overalls.

“I’ll manage,” he replied. “In any case, someone must continue on with the next part of this operation. Better that someone is you.”

“But—”

Balboa silenced his brother with a gesture. “I see how you look at that woman, Pizarro. I’ve known you all your life and you never looked at any woman that way before. So I want you to escape, and take her with you! I will provide a diversion, then join you at the rendezvous.”