“Are all of these full?”
“We haven’t checked. But there’s a timer in the cab.”
“What’s the timer at?”
“Probably about fourteen minutes left.”
He hopped off the trailer bed. I followed him.
“Can you jimmy open a truck door?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
Murray picked up a concrete block being used as tent ballast and crashed it through the driver’s-side window. A moment later he was in the cab, cradling the timer in his hands.
“Bad news. This isn’t the timer. It’s just a countdown clock, probably synched to the timer, to show the detonation time to the driver. I’m guessing the real timer and detonator are buried in one of those porta stanks.”
McGlade laughed. “Heh heh. Porta stank.”
“Can you disarm it?” I asked.
“Maybe, if we could find it in time. It might be nothing more than a few sticks of dynamite and a blasting cap. But it’s buried in one of those things. Opening all of them up, digging through them, could take hours.”
“So what should we do?”
“We have to get everyone out of here.”
“Evacuate?” Jim said. “There are over forty thousand people at this festival.”
“Well, we need to get all of them away from here within the next thirteen minutes and forty-three seconds.”
“How bad is this?” I asked.
“As bad as it gets. When this thing blows, it’s going to kill everyone in a one-mile radius.”
CHAPTER 37
14 MINUTES
“DID YOU SAY a one-mile radius?”
Everyone turned to look at Herb Benedict, who was standing behind us. He wore a blue Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, and his plump wife, Bernice, was at his side, equally attired.
“Don’t worry, fatso,” McGlade said. “You’ll probably bounce free of the explosion.”
Herb reached for his hip holster, but his wife held his arm back.
“We need to get everyone away from here.” On impulse I looked around. People everywhere, at least a mile thick. To get all of them a safe distance was-
“Impossible,” Jim said. “We’d never get them all away in time. And if we tried, hundreds would get trampled trying to get away.”
Murray looked scared, which scared me, because bomb guys weren’t supposed to look scared.
“No one will get away in time.” Murray’s voice was soft and low. “A pound of ANFO can make a crater a yard deep and kick debris ninety feet away. We’ve got about eighteen tons of ANFO here. This thing is maybe ten times the size of the Oklahoma City bomb, and it’s out in the open with nothing to damper the blast but people. Human tissue won’t do much to stop nails moving at thirty-five hundred meters per second.”
Everyone leaned away from the truck, and Jim actually took a few steps back.
“Someone drove it in.” I forced myself to touch the trailer. “Maybe we can drive it somewhere safe. Anyplace around here that might work? Jim, Skokie is your town.”
“I… I don’t know. Look, we all should leave.” Jim was sweating, and he looked ready to bolt. “When this thing blows-”
“Answer the question.” Herb’s voice was hard.
“There’s… um… there’s a few golf courses…”
“What’s around them?” Murray asked.
“Um… houses. Residential areas.”
McGlade snorted. “This entire town is one big residential area. If you’re going to dump this someplace, at least pick a rich neighborhood. They’re insured.”
Herb scowled at him. “You got any better ideas, Lefty?”
“Lake Michigan,” Harry said. “The water absorbs the energy of the blast, and it also creates some new beachfront property.”
Jim shook his head. “The lake is too far away. You won’t make it in time.”
“Rivers?” I asked. “Big holes? Tunnels? Stadiums?”
“Bomb shelters?” McGlade added.
“A river would be good,” Murray said. “ANFO isn’t water resistant. If it’s soaked, it might limit the force of the blast.”
“How close is the Chicago River?” Herb asked.
“It’s about-wait… the plant. The Northside Water Reclamation Plant.”
“What is that? Sewage treatment?”
Jim nodded. “Yeah. It’s about two miles away. It’s big. And it’s all concrete. Some of those settling tanks are deep too.”
“What’s around it?” Herb asked.
“Some offices, south of Howard Street. On the west, homes, but not too many. North is a country club, east, a factory, but it will be closed today. So will the offices.”
“Okay, Jim, listen carefully. You need to get in touch with the plant, clear them out, and have someone from there call me. You also have to warn the country club and the residents in those houses. Evacuate them, or have them get in their basements.”
I gave Jim my phone number, and he programmed it into his phone and began making calls.
“You’re the one going?” Herb’s chubby face was pinched with anger.
“Yeah,” I said.
He folded his arms. “Since when can you drive a semi?”
“How hard can it be?”
“Can you even drive stick shift?”
Now I folded my arms. “I’ve seen other people. I think I can figure it out.”
Harry shook his head. “Even if you can drive stick shift, a truck is an entirely different animal. It’s a ten-speed manual transmission, and it’s not synchronized like a car.”
“Can you drive this semi?” Herb asked him.
McGlade waved his robotic hand in Herb’s face.
“Sure I can, Einstein. I’ll shift gears with my ass.”
“How about you use that big mouth of yours instead?” Herb said. “I bet it’s been on quite a few gearshifts in the past.”
McGlade’s eyebrows creased, and then he started to laugh. “That one was actually pretty good.”
I put my hand on Harry’s shoulder, drawing his attention. “What if I helped you shift?”
“It’s too hard, Jackie. You have to match the engine revs with the transmission revs. There’s a rhythm to it. You mess it up, you can stall out, or even strip the gears. Plus steering the damn thing is a bitch.”
Herb said, “You’re a coward.”
McGlade nodded. “There’s also that.”
“Harry, if you save forty thousand people, half of them cops, I’m sure the mayor would let you have a liquor license in the middle of the goddamn Lincoln Park Zoo.”
A sly grin formed on Harry’s unshaven face. “In the zoo? You think?”
“I’ve done some calculations.” Murray had a calculator in his big hands. I guess bombies didn’t travel without one. “You’ll need to be a mile away after you leave the truck, so if someone follows you in a car, you’d need at least ninety seconds to get out of there to have a chance at surviving.”
Herb nodded. “I can do that.”
I asked, “Do what?”
“I’ll meet you guys there, drive you to safety.”
“Herb…” Bernice and I said in unison.
“If you two can get the truck to the plant, I’ll be there to pick you up.” Herb kissed his wife on the forehead. “It’ll be okay, dear.”
Bernice put her hands on his cheeks. She’d begun to cry.
“I’m warning you, Herb Benedict. If you get yourself blown up, I’m going to date younger men.”
McGlade raised his hand. “I’m younger. And with me, there’s no risk of smothering to death.”
“How safe is this stuff to haul?” I asked, eyeing Herb to make sure he didn’t shoot McGlade.
“ANFO is pretty stable,” Murray said. “It won’t ignite even if you fire a few bullets into it. It should be safe to transport. Just try to avoid any major collisions.”
“We’ll try our best.”
“Is there anything else I can do?” Murray asked.
“Clear a path from here to the street. We need to get these people out of the way so we can get through.” I looked at Harry. “Are you out or are you in?”
“You sure I’ll get a liquor license?”
“I guarantee the mayor will be there for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.”
McGlade grinned. “Ten-four, good buddy. Let’s get it into gear and put the hammer down.”
“Okay, it’s a go.” I looked at the cab and frowned. “Does anyone know how to hot-wire a semi?”