Some Other Day

39. 

Relieved, Davis follows Neumann into a makeshift war-room. It is a small space but loaded from floor to ceiling with stacks of computers, monitors, surveillance cams and radar screens. On the main control-center video screen a man, his face digitally distorted and voice scrambled to sound like a demon from Hell, invites Davis to have a seat. He does.

Davis goes immediately on offense: "Who are you and what do you want?" 

"Not so fast Agent Davis, first we need to know that you are acting alone and that no others are en route, approaching or otherwise involved with your foolish actions." 

"Right, well let's just say that unless you immediately surrender, everyone in this house will die in the next five minutes. How is that for foolish?" Davis counters.

"Do I need to remind you that we have two F-4 Phantoms each with enough firepower to inflict heavy casualties on a dozen major cities both along the coast and on the gulf smart-ass?" the shapeless face asks with baritone distortion. 

"Do we call this a stale-mate, a draw or a Mexican stand-off?" Davis asks, sensing the need to purchase a few minutes and re-direct the topic of conversation.

"We can call it anything you like boy-scout but here is the deal: If you fail to release Prince and his family in five minutes we will launch four tomahawks on two major cities - and please remember we have your radar jammed - so the element of surprise will be ours."

Davis, used to thinking two moves ahead, realizes that he is out of negotiating options. If he calls the bluff, he is risking a catastrophic response. He is about to call for Calahan to bring Prince into the office and start the goods-for-services exchange process when he hears the unmistakable pop of a single nine millimeter hollow-point slug. There is no longer a face on the screen. 

Davis is still talking into the screen when I come on and provide the code that IDs me to him. 

"Bogart? What the hell is going on?" 

"We brought Saunders up from sedation and she gave us this location, it is where she was going to go undercover. There was a small team of - you're going to love this - high-school computer wizards controlling a star-wars like video game, but with live radar and real Navy jets. We have them in holding and the operation shut down. The Navy has scrambled aircraft to escort the Phantoms back to Miramar. It's over Davis, the good-guys win again."

Davis is stunned, but not surprised. We were one second away from disaster, he considers, one second. The thought of whether or not he would have played it out all the way, will have to be filed and determined on some other day.