Vanishing Point - Marc Cerasini [66]
"I can't hurt you, but you have to listen to me," Curtis said in a reasonable tone.
The policeman saw the wires around Curtis' arms and legs. But instead of freeing him, Officer Dallas circled the front of the Sprinter to the driver's side. Curtis heard the cop moan.
"Jesus, oh shit Jesus, Sarge..." he whimpered.
Officer Dallas appeared a minute later. "Listen to me," Curtis said. "I'm a federal agent. These men are terrorists..."
"I have to call for an ambulance..."
"You have to set me free first," Curtis said in a firm voice. This time his words, or his tone, seemed to penetrate the policeman's shock. Officer Dallas fumbled at his belt, pulled some kind of cutting tool free of its holster. He attempted to cut the wires binding Curtis' wrist. The policeman hesitated when he drew blood.
"Just cut it, man," Curtis commanded. He swallowed the pain while Officer Dallas probed the flesh to cut the final loop. When his hands were free, Curtis snatched the Teflon cutter out of the cop's trembling hand and cut the wires on his ankles.
Dallas helped Curtis to his feet. "My partner's dead..." he said.
"You and your partner may have saved countless lives. There's a bomb in this truck. More on the way to the Babylon. We've got to put in a call to your department, warn them..."
"What are you talking about," Dallas demanded.
"This truck is full of explosives," Curtis repeated. "There are five other trucks just like it at the Babylon. Terrorists are going to blow up the hotel."
Curtis opened the back of the truck, showed the policeman the barrels of C4. Curtis also yanked the detonation cords. This truck bomb wasn't going off — but there were five others out there just like it. That message finally got through to Officer Dallas.
"I'm gonna call this in," he declared.
The officer raced back to his squad car. Curtis limped to catch up.
He counted it a miracle that he was able to convince the policeman, but Curtis envisioned another time-consuming conversation just like it when detectives arrived. It would be better if he could alert CTU. They could issue an immediate Code Red.
Officer Dallas sat down behind the wheel and lifted the radio handset. Curtis stepped around the open squad car door. "After you call in, I need you to patch me in to the Counter Terrorist Unit at frequency..."
Curtis was interrupted by a hail of automatic weapon fire. The police car windshield exploded in a million little pieces. Officer Dallas jerked in the seat as bullets tore through his body. More shots struck the hood, the door, inching toward Curtis. He reeled backwards before he was hit.
Down on one knee, Curtis faced the white truck. Salazar was stumbling forward in a pained crouch. Arm extended, he squeezed the trigger on an empty MP5K. Salazar's other arm clutched his abdomen, which bubbled black blood that dribbled onto the pitted concrete.
Curtis lurched to his feet, struck the man across the face with a bunched right fist. Salazar's jaw shattered, the automatic tumbled from his hand. Salazar dropped to his knees, but before he tumbled to the ground, Curtis snatched the man's head in his hands and twisted, snapping the Cuban's hairy neck. Curtis released him, and Salazar's dead face bounced off the pavement.
With a groan, Manning limped back to the police car. Officer Dallas was finished, his body slumped over the steering wheel, dead eyes wide with surprise. The radio handset was shattered, and several shots hit the engine block. The squad car was as dead as its former occupants.
Manning bit back a curse and pondered his next move. Desperately he searched the bodies, but came up empty. Without a radio or cell phone, his options were strictly limited. He could wait for the police to show up and try to explain what happened all over again — an absurd waste of time, and dangerous if the cops were trigger happy or didn't buy his story. He could drive to the Babylon and try to put a stop to the terrorists, maybe get in touch with CTU from a pay phone. Or he could drive the truck back to the Cha-Cha Lounge, get Jack and Morris involved,