Page 7 of Deadly Rescue
Cooper grimaced. Twenty minutes. Not enough time. Then again, the simulation was designed to make it as real as possible, and if a dirty bomb containing radioactive material had truly exploded, then twenty minutes was all a human body could safely handle before adverse effects would take place.
“Noted, home base. Over and out.” Roman clipped the walkie-talkie to his vest and turned to the group. “Twenty minutes, in and out.” He adjusted the watch on his wrist, setting a timer. “No more, no less. This is a recovery, people. Get your game face on and let’s get this done.”
Cooper took the steps two at a time as they headed to the top of the bleachers and to the exit doors. The suit, oxygen tank, and vest added to his bulk. Out in the hall, the smoke hung like a heavy blanket in the air, making it almost impossible to see around them. Cooper was insanely thankful for the air masks and oxygen. There was no way they would be able to tolerate this amount of smoke without them.
He wondered briefly what Celina was doing, then just as quickly shoved her to the furthest recesses of his mind. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now, not when there was so much riding on this exercise. Eleven months and nine days of planning had gone into this event. Everyone needed to be at the top of their game. Celina would be fine, he had little doubt.
Didn’t stop him from worrying.
Seeing through the smoke was going to be a problem though. If they couldn’t see, then how in the hell were they going to find anything?
“Smoke rises,” he called out, catching Roman’s attention.
Roman motioned with a thumb to the floor. “Get lower to the ground.”
The team dropped to their knees and continued onward. Cooper was able to make out the lower portions of countertops and doorways as they inched in and around the food stands, bathrooms, and past the retail shop, checking for survivors or signs of the bomb.
“Five minutes down.” Roman’s voice came over the walkie-talkie, slightly muffled by the shield of his mask. Cooper gritted his teeth. Fifteen minutes left and they’d found nothing. A sense of urgency gripped him, and he yearned to pick up the pace, but years of training had him stay the course. Every room needed a clean sweep, and no surface left unchecked. Rushing through things only left room for error, and that one error could mean the difference between life and death.
They made their way through the hallway, doing a sweep of every office, supply closet, and one of the VIP rooms. Sweat beaded his brow, pooling between his shoulder blades, and still he pressed on. Damn it was hot. The Kevlar vest was heavy against his back, the added heat of the suit coupled with the heavy smoke not helping the situation.
They hadn’t been kidding when they said these exercises would test their endurance levels. Even with his daily workouts, Cooper was beginning to feel the strain on his body already as he pushed around a corner, coming to an abrupt halt at the pair of shoes blocking his path. Four mannequins lay on the ground, their frozen features oblivious to their surroundings. Civilians. The training docket had mentioned there would be props added throughout the session and they were to expect anything.
“We need to get these civilians to safety,” Roman announced, grabbing the first one, a woman, and hoisting her into his arms. “I’ll report our progress to team two so they can pick up where we left off.”
“But sir, what about the bomb?” Butterman asked, and Cooper could hear the frown in the other man’s voice. Inexperienced asshole. Getting civilians to safety took priority. Any agent who’d spent time in the field would know that, or at least they sure as hell should.
Roman shook his head. “No time. We have ten minutes to get these people to safety before our radiation exposure level maxes out. Team two will have to continue on.”
Cooper managed to tamp down his frustration to help a grumbling Butterman with one of the victims. Over his shoulder he could tell that Nelson was in a similar situation, and the two men shared an exasperated look through the shield of their masks. It was becoming painstakingly obvious the two FBI agents had little to know experience, and Cooper wondered why in the hell the Bureau had sent them to the training session. It was too little, too late for that question though.Deal with the current situation and table the rest for now.
With Nelson on his six and the rest of the team ahead of him, Cooper helped drag the mannequin back the way they had come until they finally reached the doors to the basketball court. The smoke had thinned considerably and they were able to regain their feet to carry the mannequins down to the waiting EMT’s. Team two was in position to go in, and Roman paused so he could debrief the team leader of their progress.
“That was pretty intense,” Nelson managed, tugging his mask off and wiping sweat from his brow.
Cooper followed suit, feeling some relief when a blast of cool air hit his hot, sweaty skin. “I expected as much. Did you have any problems?”
“Other than dickhead one not knowing what he was doing?” Nelson quipped dryly. “No, we managed. How about you?”
“Pretty routine for a search and rescue, other than the variables.” Cooper caught Arturis and Butterman out of the corner of his eye. “You think your new best friends learned anything?”
“Doubt it.” Nelson snorted in disbelief. “Those fuckers have probably never been out from behind a desk, let alone in the field. They probably don’t even know what just happened.”
“Yeah, I kind of thought the same.” Cooper chuckled, eyes drifting over the room. He searched for the familiar, curvy shape he knew so well, but came up empty. He frowned. “Have you seen Celina?”
Nelson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I was keeping tabs on her while covering your ass.”
“Funny.” Cooper tried to smile, but failed.
“She’s fine, boss. I’m sure they sent her in to take pictures of something. No big deal,” Nelson added when he saw Cooper was actually worried.
No big deal, except they hadn’t even found a scene to photograph yet.Celina can take care of herself, Cooper reasoned with himself, trying to brush it off, but something about this didn’t feel right. She should have been there. And if she wasn’t there, then where in the hell was she?
3
They really pulledout all the stops for this, Celina surmised, lifting the camera to snap off a few photos. When the fake bomb had been detonated, it seemed so real she thought it was actually happening. Her first instinct was to find Cooper and make sure he was all right. Her second, to check on their friends.
It was the amount of smoke that had thrown her off guard. The head of her crime scene team explained that the smoke was simulated using fog machines, which was a pretty ingenious idea if you asked her. It gave a scary, all-too-real picture of what it could look like should a real bomb explode inside the building.
