Everyone followed him down to the security room.
John had cued up the city’s cameras already.The warehouse they were monitoring was quiet in the early morning light.Switching to the inside cameras, John scanned the main room's interior.Very little had changed except now the occupants were all sleeping.Pinto and Carlos were on sofas and the other men were all taking up space on the floor or other furniture inside the room.The old man was missing from his corner and no one was awake otherwise.
This time they were able to see Trego laying along the outside wall on an old couch.His clothes were stained with his own blood and they could see he had dirty bandages covering his wounds.
Leon shook his head.The bandages were spotted with dried blood and they needed to be changed but no one was too worried about that, it seemed.No, the man was concerned about the war and he had brought at least twenty men.
Bane could also see weapons were out but no one was doing anything but sleeping right at the moment.
Orrin was checking his watch and when he looked up he caught Leon’s stare and he held up ten fingers.
Time was passing slowly now and tension grew inside the room as each tick of the clock sounded.Leon glanced down at his watch and growled as they still had three minutes to wait.
More people entered the security room and they all felt the tension.Everyone moved closer to John’s monitor while silently watching what would happen next.
In the warehouse, Pinto opened his eyes and shouted for the whole room to wake up.He sat up and kicked at his sons, as he he sniffed the air and frowned.His head snapped over to the corner of the room and he growled as he surged to his feet, yelling about something.Then he rushed toward the door, yelling in Spanish about death.
Carlos paid no attention as if Pinto was crazy and he was used to the man acting foolish.Reaching for his cigarros and his lighter, he put a small cigar into his mouth.
A few of the men shouted at him to stop.
But before anyone could stop him.He flicked the lighter open and hit the roller.
Then the countdown was over and in a blinding light, the explosion happened.The cameras went dark and the screens went blank.
For a moment no one in the security room moved and they all held their breath.
John tapped the keyboard buttons and two cameras came back online.They were outside of the building to the back and the front.At first, all they could see was the dust and debris flying everywhere.It took several minutes to see anything else but smoke.John turned the cameras slowly and when the picture cleared they could see the rubble of an entire building where a warehouse once stood.The scene was surreal and looked like a war zone.
Bane turned his head and stared at Orrin.“Do you think you used enough explosives, brother?”
Orrin just shrugged.“I always say there isneverenough explosives in the world, brother.”
“You two did this?”Alfredo asked them.
Bane shrugged.“Only a Jessin could get in, set the whole thing up and get out.With no one knowing...we are a bit like ghosts.”
Leon nodded at them.“This is true.Very true.So when they volunteered to plant them, I said,"SI!”He smiled as he now felt better at the new score in this battle.
Everyone again turned to watch the monitors.
After about ten more minutes, they could see the flashing red and blue lights as the fire department and the police department came into view.
Leon nodded at the screens.“This will not gather too much legal or news attention.Fire happens in that old district quite often with some buildings.Old pipes, gas leakage and bad electric wires.”
Everyone stood back and watched as the fires burned.
Orrin shrugged and said, “Just to be clear...I didn’t have to use explosives.It wasn’t smart as Bane told me.I just tampered with the city’s gas line.It will go down in the books as an accident rather than sabotage.The people inside will never be fully recovered and the bones will be marked as homeless people sheltering in a dangerous building and dying by accident.”
“Is everyone dead?”someone from the doorway asked.
Leon turned and stared.
Lucinda and Storm were standing there.
Lucinda’s face looked ashen as she stared at the monitors.
“There is a good chance of that, Mio caro,” Leon assured her.“Most of them were just waking up.”Shaking his head he added, “They never awoke or got up before the building blew.”
