The Tesla Legacy

Chapter 47

Ash couldn’t help himself. After he got a notification of the evacuation of the Empire State Building from Sage, Ash had a public reason to go back, so he ordered his chauffeur to turn the limousine around and head back to the building. He wanted to watch.

The car couldn’t get close. Police had blocked off the street for two blocks in each direction.

“I could try to circle around,” said his driver. Ash couldn’t remember his name.

“I’ll get out here and text you with a meeting place.”

Ash climbed out and hurried down the street. Fire trucks, police cars, and people clogged the street and the sidewalk. Hard to believe so many people had been working in the building on a summer Sunday. Plus tourists.

A policeman stopped him. “You’ll have to turn around, sir.”

“But I have people in the Empire State Building.” Ash used his worried voice. “Will they be OK?”

“We’re evacuating it, and the surrounding buildings. I’m sure your friends will be fine.”

He hadn’t called them friends. “What’s happening? Why the evacuation?”

“We received a bomb threat — a call that someone had planted a sonic bomb in the building.”

Ash stopped breathing. A sonic bomb. Who could know that? “What’s a sonic bomb?”

“I have no idea, sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to move away.”

Ash backed away, keeping the building in sight. Who could have called in a sonic-bomb threat? Who else knew about the Oscillator? Geezer was dead. Quantum was dead. The only other person who might have an idea about the device was Joe Tesla.

Ash grimaced and moved against a nearby building to let evacuees file past. He pulled out his secure phone and called up the tracking app. The green dot that represented Edison was close. In fact, it was inside the Empire State Building.

Joe knew.

He couldn’t know everything, of course, but he knew that the Oscillator was in the building, pounding away. But without any idea of where, he’d never be able to find it in time. The Empire State Building was huge — one hundred and three stories high with over two million square feet of space.

Still, doubt grew in Ash.

Even if Joe couldn’t stop it, he might have told others about how the Oscillator could cause such a disaster. Had he somehow uncovered evidence that would lead him to Spooky? Ash didn’t see how, but he could take no chances. He would have to distance himself from Spooky, at least for a time. He could track Joe via the device on Edison’s collar for two more months, assuming Joe had the sense to get out of the building before it went down.

The building shuddered, and windows shattered. Glass fell toward the street like deadly rain.

A woman screamed, and evacuees began to run.

Ash was pushed away from the building, fighting to keep his feet in the crowd. But he chanced a glance behind him. The building shook. It was coming down soon.

And Joe Tesla was still inside.