Page 6 of Deadly Rescue
Never, the answer rose readily to his lips, but Cooper curtailed it. “Don’t be a dick because your girl isn’t here.” He fell into step beside Nelson, heading towards the far end of the courts. “How is Sophie feeling this morning?” It was late by the time they’d left the bar last night, and even though she didn’t complain, Cooper could tell that Sophie wasn’t feeling the greatest. Even Celina had mentioned it to him before bed—she was worried that Sophie was taking on too much with this trip.
Nelson raked a hand over his face, the lines around his mouth deepening. “She was still in bed when I left this morning, said her back was sore. I don’t know man, maybe this weekend wasn’t such a good idea. She was so excited to get out, but now I think it’s just too much for her. I should have made her stay home. What if something happens?”
“Then we’ll deal with it,” Cooper easily replied, clapping a hand on Nelson’s shoulder. “It’s what we do, Cruz. We deal with shit when it happens, but for now, think positive. Besides, we’ve got dozens of ambulances, medical personnel, and EMTs here today. If she needs help, I can’t think of a better place for her to be.”
“Right,” Nelson grumbled, looking unconvinced. “Since when do you think positive?”
“Celina insists I stop looking at the world with worst-case scenario glasses.”
Nelson barked a laugh. “Good luck with that.”
By the time they reached their check-in point a large group had gathered, including Roman Walsh.
“You leading us on this jaunt, Walsh?” Cooper shook the man’s hand.
“Somebody’s got to keep you in line,” Roman replied with a grin. For his part in today’s training, Roman and several of the other high-ranking supervisors would record and analyze how efficient and effective the current systems were and what needed to be improved upon. Cooper was relieved to find he would be working with someone he knew and trusted.
A round of introductions were made. Their group was comprised of Cooper and Nelson, two San Diego police officers, a representative of FEMA, two FBI agents, three Homeland agents, and Roman. Cooper would have thought the mix unusual, except he understood the reasons behind it. When a true disaster struck, every agency would be called into action, and you didn’t get to pick and choose who you worked with. Everyone would have the same goal—saving lives and hunting down the bad guys.
Roman began dividing the team into smaller groups. “Agents Butterman and Arturis,” he addressed the Bureau meatheads, “You’re with Harris and Cruz today.”
Cooper tried not to groan out loud. Of course, Walsh would sack him with the Feds. He eyed the two men, hoping his intense dislike wasn’t plastered on his face. To their credit, they didn’t look any more thrilled than he was. Although his taskforce included several FBI agents he’d give his life for, he disliked working with Feds on general principal. They tended to look down their noses on DEA agents like him, as though the Bureau were the elite of the elite.
“Butterball, was it?” With a cocky grin, Nelson thrust his hand out to the first agent. “Is that like the turkey?”
Cooper managed to hide his laugh behind a discreet cough. Damn he loved working with Nelson.
“Funny, like I haven’t heard that one before,” the agent growled, jaw tense. “It’s Butterman, dickhead.”
“Now don’t be rude.” Nelson whistled low, his hand dropping back to his side. “My feelings are almost hurt.”
“The Southern California Taskforce, huh?” Butterman’s partner, Arturis, directed the question to Cooper, effectively putting an end to Nelson’s one man comedy show. A pity. Cooper was just beginning to enjoy himself.
“That’s right.” Arms folded over his chest, Cooper nodded. “I’m Cooper Harris. This is Nelson Cruz, ICE agent and a top-notch member of my team.”
Arturis snapped his fingers. “I thought so. Harris, right. You’re head of the taskforce, right?” At Cooper’s nod, the guys mouth curved into a smirk, and he nudged his counterpart. “Well, lookie here, Tom. We’re partnered with some real true-blue American heroes for the day.”
Sarcasm dripped from the agent’s voice, and Cooper uncrossed his arms. He was tempted to put a fist in the guys’ smug face, but kept his anger in check. “It was nice of your director to let you boys come out from behind your desks to play. Give you some experience. You might learn a thing or two about real fieldwork today.”
Nelson snorted, not even bothering to hide it. Butterman looked like he wanted to say something, while Arturis merely glared. Cooper smiled, knowing he’d hit the mark.That’s right, fucker.Say something, I dare you.
“As of ten seconds ago, you men were put on high alert,” Roman interrupted, making a point to look all of them in the face before continuing. Nice way to diffuse the situation. “We were struck by a six point five magnitude earthquake at approximately 0900 hours and casualties are high. Victims are flooding into this facility, which has been turned into a fallout shelter. The integrity of this building and the safety for all inside must be maintained at all cost.”
Forced to table their animosity, Cooper turned his back on the agents to give Roman his full attention.
“This is our only means of communication, the cell towers were knocked down by the earthquake.” Roman held up a walkie-talkie so everyone could see. “Keep one of these on you at all times and be ready to act. The dirty bomb is set to go off any minute” He lowered his arm to gesture at the rows of Kevlar vests, biohazard suits, and air masks lining the bleachers. “Suit up, gentlemen.”
Cooper shrugged into a vest, securing it tightly before attaching one of the walkie-talkies to a clip on his chest. Might only be a training session, but it sure felt like the real deal. His eyes wandered over the room and he spotted Celina stepping into a protective suit complete with an air mask, her favorite camera hung on a strap around her neck. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as their eyes met over the crowd, and for the briefest of moments it was only the two of them, caught up in a room full of chaos.
A loud noise similar to an explosion went off outside the main arena to their right. Thick clouds of smoke began rolling through the open doorways. Small talk ceased and everyone got down to business. Those who didn’t have masks on yet hurriedly put them on.
The adrenaline already coursing through his veins hit ten-fold as the smoke grew thicker, obscuring his vision and cutting off his view of Celina. He grabbed his air mask and secured it on his face, sucking the fresh air deeply into his already burning lungs. Cries of alarm came at him from every direction and reality settled into his gut.
“A bomb has gone off somewhere inside the arena,” a voice came over the walkie-talkie attached to Cooper’s vest. “First unit respond, I repeat, first unit respond.”
“We’re up,” Roman yelled, grabbing the walkie-talkie at his side. “Home base, this is first unit team leader responding. We are suited up and ready to go in, over.”
“Team leader be advised, there are high levels of radiation present in the northeast section of the building. Your team has twenty minutes to get in, look for any survivors and bomb fragments, and get out before the radiation level poses a threat to your safety,” the voice responded.
