Split Second

The alarm woke King. Groggy for a moment, he quickly became alert and sat straight up. There was smoke everywhere. He jumped up, then fell to the floor trying to breathe. He made it to the bathroom, soaked a washcloth and draped it over his face. He crawled back out, braced his back against the wall and, using his legs, levered the bureau away from the door. He touched the door to make sure it wasn't hot and then cautiously opened it.

The outside hallway was full of smoke, and the smoke alarm continued to shriek. Unfortunately it wasn't connected to a central monitoring station, and the single volunteer fire department station that serviced the area was many miles away. And his house was so remotely situated no one may have noticed it was on fire. He crawled back inside his bedroom with the idea of getting to the phone, but the room was so smoky he lost his bearings and was afraid to venture farther in. He slithered back out into the hallway and along the catwalk. He could see sparks and red flames down below, and he prayed the stairs were passable. Otherwise, he'd have to jump, possibly into an inferno, and that wasn't a very appealing idea.

He heard sounds coming from down below. He was coughing from smoke inhalation and desperately wanted to get out of thehouse, but he was still aware this could be a trap. He clenched the gun and shouted out, "Who's down there? I'm armed and I'll shoot."

There was no answer, which fueled his suspicions even more until he looked out the big front window as he lay on the catwalk. He saw the flashing red lights in his front yard, and he could hear the sirens of other fire trucks coming. Okay, help was here, after all. He reached the stairs and looked down. Through the smoke he could make out firefighters in bulky overcoats and helmets, with tanks strapped to their backs and masks covering their faces.

"I'm up here," he shouted. "Up here!"

"Can you make your way down?" called out one fireman.

"I don't think so, it's a wall of smoke up here."

"Okay, just stay there. We'll come for you. Just stay there and stay down! We're bringing the hoses in now. This whole place is on fire."

He heard the whoosh of spray from fire extinguishers as the men charged up the stairs. King was sick to his stomach and nearly blind from the smoke in his eyes. He felt himself being picked up and hauled swiftly down the stairs. In another minute he was outside and sensed people hovering over him.

"Are you okay?" one of them said.

"Get him some damn oxygen," said another. "He's breathed in a ton of carbon monoxide."

King felt the oxygen mask being placed over his face, and then he had the sensation of being lifted into the ambulance. For a moment he thought he could hear Michelle calling out to him. And then everything went black.

The sirens, flashing lights, radio staccato and other "sound effects" immediately stopped as the fireman hit the master switch on the control box with one hand and took the gun from King with the other. Everything became quiet once more. The fireman turned away and went back to the house, where the smoke was already starting to peter out. It had been a very carefully controlled "fire," with all the elements of the inferno artificially created. Hewent inside the basement, set the ignition switch on the small device next to the gas lines and left the house. He climbed into the back of the van, and it immediately drove away. The van reached the main road and accelerated, heading south. Two minutes later the small explosive device went off in King's basement, setting off the gas lines, and the resulting explosion ripped Sean King's beautiful home apart for real.

The fireman pulled off his helmet and mask and wiped his face.

Buick Man looked down at the unconscious King. The "oxygen" he'd been given included a sedative.

"It's good finally to see you, Agent King. I've waited a long time for this."

The van sped on into the darkness.

66

Michelle had just turned off onto King's long drive when the explosion rocked the night. She floored the truck and kicked gravel and dirt all the way up. She slid the truck to a stop as boards, glass and other parts of the destroyed house blocked her way. She jumped out, dialing 911 on her phone as she did so and screaming to the dispatcher what had happened, telling the woman to send everything she could.

Michelle raced through the wreckage, dodging flames and smoke and screaming out his name. "Sean! Sean!"