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Spike managed to slip through the offices unnoticed until he reached one far enough away from the chaos that had erupted. He ran to the door that opened out into the corridor. He opened it slightly ajar and peered out along the hallway. He could see two terrorists with machine gun’s guarding anyone’s escape to the lifts. He could no longer see the hostages, could no longer see Buffy. ‘Oh god what if she was hurt, what if she was dying what if she was…’ no he couldn’t let himself think of that. He had to get help. He was outgunned and there was no way he could take them all on by himself. And he didn’t even know if that terrorists who were rounding up the employees were the only ones. When he thought it was safe to go he ran across the hallway and slipped as quietly as possible into the stairway across the hall.
Still in bare feet he padded quickly up the concrete stairs two at a time. He ascended the stairs keeping low. He reached the 31st floor immediately above the main Nakatomi lobby. Spike pushed the door open just enough so that he could see out into the hallway. Theo and Kristoff were wheeling carts of equipment along the corridor. Spike ducked back into the stairwell, and ran up another flight and out onto and unfinished floor, soon to be one large secretarial pool, but only a portion was completed. Half-finished partitions and office furniture in its original plastic wrappings lay everywhere. At one end there were a few lonely finished working areas.
Spike moved quickly to a desk and picked up a phone. It too was out. “Shit...” Spike cursed and looked out the window at: the neighbouring buildings. “Think...” Spike told himself.
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Down on the 30th floor, the employees had been herded to the centre of the room where the desks had been pulled back. Many people were whimpering and crying, obviously scared shitless. Buffy looked desperately around the room for Spike. The last she’d seen of him he had been in her office peering out of a crack in the doorway. Had they found him, was he with the other hostages? Oh god, what if he was hurt, dying or even… she never got to apologise for yelling at him. Would never get to hold him again, feel him touch her body in only ways he could. He could make her shiver just by saying her name. So intent on looking for Spike she didn’t see one terrorist waving her forward. Exasperated, he shoved her towards the frightened employees.
As the employees were bunched together, Parker sought out Buffy. He was clearly scared but tried to fake courage. He patted her hand "reassuringly."
Adam stepped up on top of a desk and looked over the group. He reached into a pocket...several people shrunk away into the walls of the room...but what he came out with was a Bottega Venata pocket notebook. He checked his own scribblings like a dais speaker. Then he spoke ain a soothing, calm voice. “Ladies and gentlemen, due to the Nakatomi Corporation's legacy of greed around the globe, it is about to be taught a lesson on real power. You...will be witnesses. If our demands are not met, however…” he smiled sadly, “…you may become participants instead.” He stopped and checked his note pad. “Now, where is...'Takagi'? Where is
the man who...” Adam smirked “...used to be in charge here?”
Takagi was shoved forward. He was worried but far from cowed. Adam stepped towards him, extending a hand, and spoke quite civilly. ”Mr. Takagi. How do you do. My name is Adam Walsh.” Takagi was confused by his charm. Adam waved politely in the direction of an elevator and with an armed escort took the executive away.
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Spike paused outside the stairwell door to the 33rd floor, he pressed the handle and cracked the door open to reveal a computer floor. The computer machinery droned on under the lights behind plate glass windows. Spike quietly closed the door and moved to another floor, mumbling to himself as he ascended, “32 construction...33 computers...”
In a service elevator Adam, Takagi, Karl and Tony were riding silently. Adam alone
seemed relaxed, whistling a part of Wagner, then he stopped and Spoke to Takagi. “Nice suit. John Philips...London?” Takagi just stared at him speechless. Adam smiled. “I have two myself.” The lift doors opened and Adam exited, followed by Takagi who was pushed out by the other two terrorists. ”I'm told Arafat shops there too...”
In the stairwell Spike started to open the stairwell door to the Machine Floor when a noise above him got his attention. He moved silently up one flight to the roof. Quietly, he cracked the door and looked out onto a Machine Floor on the lower level of the roof.
Three terrorist, James, Uli and Heinrich, were unpacking wooden crates from the service elevator. Spike wasn’t clear on what they were doing but it seemed very military like and ominously defensive. Heinrich pointed up to the ceiling and spoke something in German. The others nodded. Heinrich turned just as Spike closed the door and slipped back down the stairs.
Adam entered a conference room on the board floor. “And when Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept. For there were no more worlds to conquer” He looked at Takagi. “The benefits of a classical education.”
Adam admired a scale model of a bridge. Behind him were photographs of the gorge where the bridge was to be constructed. Karl and Tony listened as Takagi watched. “It's beautiful. I always enjoyed models as a boy. The exactness, the attention to every foreseeable detail...perfection.” Takagi spoke defensively. “This is what this is about? Our building project in Indonesia? Contrary to what you people think, we're going to develop that region... not 'exploit' it..”
Adam straightened and adjusted his jacket.. “I believe you.” The he smiled with an evil menace. “I read the article in Forbes.”
Takagi was confused. Adam placed a friendly arm around Takagi's shoulders and guided him into the adjacent board room where Theo was busy typing commands into a built-in computer console. “Mr. Takagi, we could discuss industrialization of men's fashions all day, but I'm afraid my associate, Mr. Theo, has some questions for you. Sort of fill-in-the blanks questions actually...” Adam gestured in the direction of the computer screen and Takagi saw…
NAKATOMI CORPORATION.
BOARD WORKSTATION.
ENTER CENTRAL COMPUTER CODE KEY _ _ _ _.
…displayed on the screen. Theo sat fingers poised over the keyboard as Adam walked calmly over to the opposite side and sat down. Takagi stood like the accused at the foot of the table. “I don't have that code...!” Takagi spoke again directly to Adam “You broke in here to access our computer?!? Any information you could get -- they wake up in Tokyo in the morning, they'll change it! You won't be able to blackmail our executives or threaten…” He was cut off by Adam barking him to silence. “SIT DOWN!”
Takagi complied, just as Adam became abruptly compassionate and quiet.. ”Mr. Takagi...I'm not interested in your computer…I'm interested in the 640 million dollars in negotiable bearer bonds you have in your vault.. Yes...I know about them. The code key is a necessary step in accessing the vault..” Takagi couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You want...money? What kind of terrorists are you?” Adam smiled, clearly amused ”Who said we were terrorists?”
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Spike exited the stairwell onto the same floor as Takagi, Adam and his ‘minions’. Spike tiptoed along, gun held ready. He could hear the mumble of voices from the conference room and moved slowly towards it.. ‘where the hell were the police, surely the security guards downstairs had witnessed the whole attack on their monitors, unless they were…’ Spike concentrated on making as little noise as possible as he slowly made his way towards the voices.
Back in the conference room, Adam slowly took out his Walther and his silencer. He felt his silencer a moment, as if making a decision, then slipped it back into his coat pocket., then weighing the gun he spoke calmly and directly to Takagi. The code key, please...?” Takagi sat up confidently. “It's useless to you! There's seven safeguards on our vault, and the code key is only one of them! You'll never get it open!” Adam lifted the gun. “Then there's no reason not to tell it to us.” Theo spoke aside to Karl. “I told you...” “It's not over...” Karl replied. Adam gave them both a look like an annoyed schoolmaster before turning back to Takagi. “This is too nice a suit to ruin, Mr. Takagi. I'm going to count to three. There will not be a four. Give me the code.” Adam cocked the gun and aimed at Takagi. “I don't know it! Get on a Goddamn jet to Tokyo and ask the chairman! I'm telling you! You're just going
to have to kill me…” Then Adam spoke a little too quickly “Okay.” His finger tightened around the trigger and the bullet was released from its capsule and shot straight though the object in front of it…Takagi’s skull.
Outside, Spike’s senses suddenly went on high alert as he heard a single gun shot. He looked to the office to see red blood splattered across the glass doors, gravity pulling it slowly down the glass, leaving behind it a red trail of the Takagi’s blood. Spike stealthily crept towards the door and saw Takagi still seated, but the chair flat on its back, blood flowing out into the carpet..
Adam sprang to his feet “We do it the hard way! Tony, see if you can dispose of that.” He said gesturing towards the body. “Karl, you'd better check Heinrich's work up on the machine floor.” Karl, in the midst of handing Theo a fifty dollar bill, obviously not pleased that he had lost the bet as to when Takagi was going to be shot, nodded and got up to leave.
Spike was now outside the door and looked at Takagi’s lifeless form from his hiding place. Suddenly he saw Adam move and tried to retreat further away from the office, in the hopes of not being the next victim of the terrorists. As he did so his gun bumped the underside of the table. The noise echoed through the empty room and reverberated off the walls. The noise sounded a lot louder to Spike than it did in reality, but it was as though his senses were supernatural and every noise was as if it were coming from merely inches away from his ear.
Inside the office Adam heard the noise out in the hall and went to move but not before Karl, who sprung through the door to find the hallway deserted. He checked two adjoining rooms, the first being deserted, the second, locked. Upon finding nothing he returned to Adam “Nothing”. Adam nodded. “See to Heinrich...” He turned to Theo, “Now...you can break the code key...?” Theo looked up at Adam and grinned “You didn't bring me along for my charming personality.” He got up and headed for the elevator and spoke under his breath, “Though you could have…” Adam smiled, confident in his team, and followed Theo into the elevator. 71 INSIDE THE SUPPLY CLOSET - MCCLANE 71
Inside the supply closet Spike slowly let out a breath, his heart hammering against his chest, praying softly, “Robin. Tell me you heard the shot. Tell me you heard the shot and you're calling the police right now...”
Down in the parking lot Robin was on the car phone and the music from the stereo was blasting away. ”I'm working, honey. Working hard. 'Course I'll be by later to pick you up, have I ever lied to you? My boss? He thinks I'm cruising to Palm Springs...”
On the machine level, Adam removed something from his shoulder bag as he and Theo entered the safe room. The huge corporate safe loomed in front of them. Theo placed three kit bags onto a table and rolled up his sleeves. He swivelled a computer console into handy reach and sat down. “How long?” Adam questioned him. “Thirty minutes to break the code... Two hours for the five mechanicals. The seventh lock...that's out of my hands.” Theo replied. “If our plan works...the FBI will get rid of it for us.” Adam said, a sly grin falling across his face. Theo began to type codes and commands into the computer as Adam left the room.
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Up on the 31st floor, Spike paced the room angry at himself. “Why the fuck didn't you stop him? Because, you ignorant sonofabitch, you'd be dead, too. And then you’d have no way of saving Buffy. Think...think, Goddamnit!” Suddenly Spike looked up at the ceiling and saw a sprinkler head. His look dropped to the wall and he saw a small red fire alarm switch by the door. ‘Bingo’ he thought to himself.
In an L.A fire station an alarm began to ring. Quickly firemen ran to their machines as the voice of the 911 dispatcher filled the room. “Main Wilshire units. Two alarm fire at Nakatomi Plaza…” The voice continued as the station doors opened and the fire engines drove out. On the ground floor of the Nakatomi building, a fire alarm indicator light showing which floor had sounded the fire alarm -- suddenly began flashing, emitting short, loud beeps. Eddie, the terrorist in the guard's uniform and who was manning the station, immediately picked up his CB.
Spike stood at window looking Northward for fire trucks. Suddenly he saw the flashing red lights of 4 engines in traffic about two miles away. “Yes! C'mon, baby...come to Papa. I'm gonna kiss your bloody Dalmatian.”
Adam was now in the elevator and riding back up to the 30th floor with Tony, speaking calmly to Eddie on the CB. Call 911, give them the name and badge number on your uniform and cancel the alarm...then disable the system.” He stopped and then looked at Tony, then pressed the talk button again. “Eddie? What floor did the alarm go off?”
Spike stood silhouetted against the window. In the distance he could see another fire truck swing off Santa Monica onto Avenue of the Stars. Suddenly the red light on the first truck went out, then on the second. ‘What! No, no. Bloody hell. Fuck no!’ The trucks slowed and turned down separate side streets, heading for home. “Son of a bitch...” Spike cried.
Suddenly Spike’s extrovert hearing picked up on the elevator mechanics whirring. Just then the elevator bell rang. Spike’s head whipped round and just as the doors opened he dived under a table. Tony slipped into the shadows, his machine gun drawn. He moved from the elevator area until he reached the light switch and flicked it on, illuminating the entire floor. Tony just caught a glimpse of Spike’s legs disappearing from view.
Under the desk, Spike asserted his options. He could see Tony’s feet moving slowly in his direction. Spike looked down the aisle next to the windows which led to a series of cubicles at the other end of the floor and saw a clear path. If only he could make it past Tony.
Tony moved steadily toward the area where we saw Spike. “The fire has been called off, my friend. No one is coming to help you. You might as well come out and join the others. I promise not to hurt you.” Moving more confidently, he stepped up to Spike’s desk, then around it and fired a blast into the space. It was empty. As the sound of the machine gun faded he listened and heard another sound, a noise coming from the other end of the room near the cubicles.
Tony crept toward the noise. Sensing a trap, he moved past each cubicle carefully, checking each office until he reached the doorway of the last one. The sound is just around the partition. He tensed, then span into the cubicle. A radial arm saw span noisily. He moved to turn it off, not realizing that Spike had turned it on to bury Spike’s movements around the room. Spike stepped up behind Spike and shoved his pistol barrel against Tony's temple. “Freeze, Police...don't move or name your beneficiary.” Tony stood perfectly still, watching him calmly as Spike cocked his Beretta. “You won't hurt me.” Tony said confidently. This man had obviously never met Spike before. Obviously didn’t realise that Spike would go to any lengths to save Buffy. “Yeah? Why not?” Spike questioned him. “Because you are a policeman. There are rules for policemen.” Tony replied smugly. “Yeah. My Captain keeps telling me the same thing.” Spike told him, then pistol whipped him across the head. Tony reeled forwards, then swallowed, suddenly very worried. “Let's go.” Spike commanded him.
Suddenly Tony span to the side and Spike fired at him, but Tony was a big man, and his momentum slammed Spike into a filing cabinet and sent his pistol sliding into the hall. Tony grabbed his machine gun and fired it, but Spikes kicked him into the desk. He locked his arms around Tony’s neck in a hold that sent him reeling into the hall. Spike held on, never loosening his death grip on him as they slammed their way through several plastic board partitions. They staggered across the hall into the stairwell door, opening it, and crashed into the stairwell landing. ‘Shit this is gonna hurt’ Spike thought to himself as he saw where their momentum was taking them, and they tumbled down the concrete steps into the wall below.
For a moment, both men lay still, no movement, no twitches, just still as a corpse. The Spike still holding onto Tony’s neck, released it and the man's head flopped sickeningly to the side. For a moment Spike just looked at the dead man. Then, slowly, methodically, he began to search him. He turned all his pockets inside out, looks at his clothing labels, staring long and very hard at a California driver's license with Tony's picture on it. He expertly examined the machine gun when a hissing sound coming from somewhere attracted his attention.
Spike’s senses were now on full alert again. He rose slowly and moved carefully to the source of the sound. He found Tony’s CB lying a few feet away from them. It had obviously fallen from his waist during the struggle. Spike picked it up, a plan formulating in his head.
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Ok, if you read the first chapter I apologise for the TERRIBLE use of past, present, future tense. Hopefully this chapter was more grammatical.
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