Twenty

Crystal and Jennifer had been sitting down on the train now for around 3 minutes. The time it takes to board the train is not as long as it takes for the train to start moving. On this line it wasn’t uncommon for the drives of the motors to get out of the cab and go for a break. The breaks usually don’t last longer than 10 minutes. No one really minded because it gave people time to put there luggage in compartments, because there is nothing worse than trying to fit a large bag in a compartment while the train’s swerving at 150 MPH. The stoppage also gave people time to go to the toilet without fear of falling over. Jason Bordello was one of those people taking advantage of the train being idle. Crystal and Jennifer looked on as Jason stood up and looked at both of them with smiling eyes.

‘I need to let the hose out a minute. If you don’t mind ladies I’ll be back in a few minutes.’

The reference to “hose” made the two girls blush, Jason smiled again and walked off down the aisle towards the toilet. Both girls watched him until he was out of sight, and turned to each other.

‘Dam, I wish I got one of those cabins instead of this open space seating.’ Jenifer said.

Crystal gave her a side glanced look that was peppered with confusion.

‘Why on earth would you want a cabin for? These seats are fine.’

‘HELLO?!? A gorgeous guy and a cabin equal a much more entertaining train journey.’

Crystal looks shocked at her friend’s comments.

‘You can’t just sleep with the guy! You just met him, plus you don’t know him from anywhere. He could be a creep for all you know.’

‘Who said anything about sleeping with the man? There are far more ways of making a man happy then just sleeping with him. He’s hot anyway, what’s wrong with having a little fun?’

‘There’s fun and there’s danger, I’d rather stay on the safe side then jump on every guy I see.’

‘You’re being so lame Crystal. That father of yours has put too many bows around your life. Live a little, who knows he may enjoy the both of us giving him something to smile about.’

‘God sake girl, I am not into that sort of thing. I’m really starting to not recognise you anymore, your changing from the girl I’ve always known to someone I’m not sure whether I want to know.’

‘Be quiet, he’s coming back’

Jason walks back over to his seat looking relieved. He looks at Crystal and Jenifer.

‘Is everything okay?’

‘Yeah sure it is. I’m just admiring the view.’ Jenifer says looking at Jason’s rear.

Jason gives her a candid grin and sits down opposite her, while Crystal saves face behind a book.

Twenty One

‘What’s going on then?’ asks Frank

The incident room is once again in turmoil with phones going off left, right and center. A group of officers and detectives are staring at the big screen where Connor Chase is about to give another speech. The insignia on the top right of the screen says “LIVE”.

‘I thought we cut Chase’s media exposure? Who’s broadcasting this?’ asks Frank

Shaw turns around to Frank abruptly; the sound of his question seemed to shake Shaw’s attention from the big TV screen.

‘YouTube lad, he’s got a live stream on every major video website on the internet: Justin.tv, YouTube, Dailymotion, and Livestream. He’s even got some streams on pornography websites. There isn’t one video streaming website on the internet that isn’t streaming this, including news networks from out of the country like Aljazeera and the BBC.’

‘Can’t we do anything about it?’

‘I know we are the Boston’s finest Frank, but unfortunately we are not the world police. We can’t be shutting down streams of videos just like that.’

Frank shakes his head in disbelief.

‘I was under the impression we could do just that. I know we have the capability.’

Chief Shaw nods in agreement.

‘We do have the capability it’s just we don’t want to step on other people’s toes.’

‘I hardly think it’s the time to worry about public relations chief’ Frank says scornfully.

‘Believe it or not laddie, it’s always the right time for public relations. You make one wrong decision and it impacts the investigation. Before you know it we have every Tom Dick and Harry poking their peckers into our business.’

Frank was growing impatient and refrained from continuing his opinionated stance on the matter. He walks away from Shaw towards the TV to get a better view of what was happening.  Connor Chase was once again on the center of the screen. His scrawny body unnaturally engulfing the area, the result of which Frank knew was cheap quality cameras, it was more noticeable on the resolution that YouTube ran on. A little banner popped up on the TV:

“Connor Chase Speaks in 1 minute’s time”

Frank thought how clever it was that Connor was biding time, letting news of his stream spread virally until the whole world was watching. Frank looked at the bottom viewer count insignia: 37,987,233 Viewers. Not quite the whole world but more than enough people to insight and spread a message, many more viewers than most videos that go live for the first time get. This man had a following, could it be a dangerous following?

‘Hello again, for the people who don’t know me, my name is Connor Chase. I am armed and so are my men. We have taken hostages and are situated at the M.I.T public relations building in downtown Boston. We have rigged the building with explosives that are both meant to keep people out and in. There is no escape for the hostages; we have men guarding every possible rout out of the building. All hostages are bound and gagged. We mean them no harm, unless our demands are not met. If our wishes are not complied with then we will kill each hostage live on this stream one by one. It is important that you take us seriously so now I am willing to show you how serious we are.’ Connor Says through the TV.

The atmosphere in the incident room changes in a heat beat when a woman is shoved into the cameras view. She is pushed towards Connor Chase who catches her before she falls with a smile on his face. To Frank’s dismay the women being manhandled on the live stream is Tasha, Connors Boss. Connor looks back up at the camera while controlling Tasha’s movement by gripping her hair as she gages on the duct tape around her mouth while trying to catch a breath.

‘This woman’s name is Tasha Mitchel. She is my ex-boss. Not only that but she’s also working with the police to try and make my capture a reality. Thing is she never counted on the fact that my reach goes further then she and everyone thinks. I’m not here to divulge secretes; but she is. So I’m afraid……’

At that moment Connor chase pulls a hand gun out of his jacket with his left hand, holding Tasha’s head still with his right hand. He Aim’s the gun squarely into her forehead, the shiny metal glistening off the light that’s cascading from the crude movie set style lights in the background. He pulls the trigger which is followed by the deathly sound of the bullet echoing off the walls, closely followed by screams. The gun was fired at point blank range and Tasha’s head had exploded at the receiving end of the gunshot, her head seemingly splitting into two while a huge vapour styled puff of blood hung in the air, long after her lifeless body had disappeared from the cameras view. Connor’s white jacket was now decorated with the last fractions of Tasha’s life. He looks up to the camera with a crooked smile.

‘She had to go.’ Connor says

He puts the gun back into his classy white tux.

‘The 28 amendment will amend all the wrongs of this anti privacy government we live under. If I do not hear from someone in the next hour then I shall shoot someone else. I am not saying I want the law passed in an hour. I just want a courtesy call to show me that you people are taking this seriously. Might I add that if you are not taking this seriously then I will kill all of the hostages. Message understood I hope…’  The TV screen goes blank and is replaced with a distasteful TV test card that reads: “REVOLUTION TV WILL BE BACK WITH YOU SHORTLY” With a cartoon picture of “Uncle Sam” flipping the bird.