Band of Rogues

No one took note of the mid-sized, dirty white pickup truck as it pulled into an empty spot in the second row of the parking lot. The driver pulled a beige ball cap on his head, left the truck running and made his way to the mall door. He made no eye contact with anyone gathered near the door waiting for their buses, and they took no notice of him. He was just another shopper. Three minutes later the peaceful Saturday morning was shattered by a ground-shaking explosion as the white pick up exploded into a fireball. Soon after, a green station wagon beside it exploded in a searing plume of flames and smoke.  The people closest to the vehicles, those gathered around the mall doors, were thrown to the concrete by the shockwaves. But countless more were injured when those same shockwaves buckled the glass doors, sending glass shards everywhere. The roof overhang twisted and fell before gravity took over and pulled the wall down on top of those same people crushed by the roof. While the burning vehicles groaned and popped with heat, people trapped under the rubble cried out for someone to help them. Someone called out for God.  One young man, furthest from the blast, scrambled to the destruction that used to be the mall entrance. With blood coursing into his eye from a gash on his forehead, he started digging through the rubble with his bare hands.  By the time the first responders arrived, four others had joined the young man and were passing pieces of debris back, hand to hand, to be piled in a heap by the last man in the chain. 24 hours later Illiad wasn’t surprised to find Eldar already making notes on the long whiteboard that covered nearly an entire wall of the room. “Good morning.”  Eldar turned and gave her co-worker a half-smile. “Morning,” Her gaze fell to the tray in the middle of the table and she chuckled. “You do know we have a coffee pot here as well as a Starbucks in the building, you don’t need to buy us all coffee and tea.” “I know, but the women on this team have saved my life on more than one occasion and deserve more than just any old coffee when I can get something better.” Her words were precise, measured and delivered with a hint of an Iranian accent. “I got you a special blend this morning. The barista said it has undertones of chocolate.” Illiad smiled a little as she passed Eldar a take-out cup and watched the team leader’s reaction as she took a sip. “Oh...that’s good...really good,” Eldar closed her eyes as she took a mouthful of coffee. “Yeah, I think that’s my new favorite.” The door to the conference room opened again and a dark-haired, exotic-looking woman entered carrying a large container in one hand. “I brought just the thing to go with that.” Eldar opened her eyes. “Ames, please tell me you brought a few of your world-famous triple chocolate muffins to work today.” “I did,” Amelia chuckled. “As well as cranberry, oatmeal and bran. Can’t have my team starting their day hungry!” “We wouldn’t want you to think we don’t appreciate your baking skills!” A voice behind her said.  “Between all of you and my family, I never worry about my baking being wasted, Addy.” Amelia laughed. “All right, everyone grab their drinks and muffins, we’ve been given a case,” Eldar slipped into team leader mode easily. Illiad passed Addalyn and Ames their coffee and took her chai tea from the tray. Once everyone had chosen a muffin, they all sat down. Eldar had already set pads of paper and pens in front of the chairs in preparation for the briefing. “Okay, I know we’ve all had a few days off. But there was an explosion yesterday, two actually, that we’re being asked to investigate. There’s not a lot of details right now but we know that a truck exploded in a parking lot of a shopping mall, setting off another explosion in the vehicle next to it. The shockwaves from those explosions caused a lot of damage to the mall doors, injuring twenty-five people and killing five.” Eldar took a seat across the table from her three teammates, with her back to her notes on the whiteboard. “A few hours ago, a group called The Freedom Movement released a video claiming responsibility for the explosion,” She picked up a remote, turned her chair slightly and pointed it at a large monitor at the end of the room. The screen came to life with the image of a darkened silhouette of a person standing in front of a white wall. A computer-modified voice carried easily throughout the room. “I represent a group known as The Freedom Movement. We are officially claiming responsibility for the Truman Memorial Mall explosion. We have done this so that we can demonstrate how your government reacts to its people’s pain and suffering. By the time the first responders got to the mall, ordinary citizens had already acted to save their fellow victims. Local policymakers and those responsible for emergency management failed those people. Your government has become bloated and ineffective, and because of this, people died yesterday. The people of this country and this state need to wake up! You need to demand that your government, at all levels, re-focus on the people that put them in office. They have no interest in making this country great again, they only want to continue to fatten their bank accounts at your expense. Insist on better representation, demand they start making laws that serve the best interests of the people of this country and stop being sheeple! All of you need to wake up and see what they’re really doing to you!” Eldar pushed a button on the remote again and the screen went back to darkness. “That’s the entire video. It’s already gone viral on the internet. We’ve been tasked with investigating the explosion,” She gestured to the notes behind her. “We know the personal cost, twenty-five injured and five dead. That end of the mall was a public transportation hub, which explains the number of people gathered there. No buses were there when the vehicles exploded, otherwise the body count would have been much higher, I’m sure. The doors to the mall were damaged, part of the roof fell in and the wall crumbled. Anyone gathered nearby or leaning against that wall would have been buried under the rubble, which is where the dead were found.  Illiad, I’d like you to investigate The Freedom Movement. Look into any online presence they may have, any social media chatter, what do we know about them, is there any kind of known structure, go over the video and look for any kind of insights into whoever spoke for them.” Illiad flicked a strand of wavy dark chestnut hair over her shoulder as she pulled the pad of paper closer and began to make notes. Eldar continued as she made notes of her own. “Ames, I’d like you to look into the evidence. What evidence was recovered, what does it tell us about the TFM? Are there any links between this explosion and any unsolved or suspected domestic terrorism cases? I’d also like you to get copies of first responder notes and reports.” Amelia didn’t even bother to nod as she wrote her own notes quickly, she was already planning her arm of the investigation. “Addy, because you’re better with people than any of us, I’d like you to take a look at transcripts of the witness interviews. If anything jumps out at you, follow up with a personal interview, one on one.” Eldar gazed at the team’s youngest investigator. “People seem to relax more around you, they tell you things they don’t intend to, I’ve seen it over and over again. You’re the people person among us. I’d like you to look into those injured and killed by the explosions, were any of them politically important? Does anyone stand out in the crowd of onlookers? I know everybody seems to have a cellphone capable of taking video these days, and a lot do, but we need to know if anyone in the crowd raises any red flags. Look at facial recognition, see if anything jumps out at you.” Addalyn nodded, not bothering to take notes but instead relying on her sharp memory. “I’m going to chase down a contact I have at the Counterterrorism Center. Let’s meet back here at four this afternoon and see what we’ve learned,” Eldar stood. “Stay in touch, text if you leave to follow up a lead, keep your tracker watches on. That’s it for now, ladies.” To Be Continued