The bus driver had just seen Derek in his rearview mirror and was silently thanking God when the hijackers, less than two feet away from him, fell to the floor.
He didn't hear a gunshot, and it didn't appear that anyone had shot them. The one in front had been reaching through the door opening to accept the food and beverages the policewoman had brought him. So what happened just now? Did the man suddenly have a heart attack? It was fortunate for the driver and his passengers if that was the case, but wasn't it strange for BOTH hijackers would conveniently collapse at the same time?
They had been parked in this location not far from the power plant for almost four hours, and the driver's feet had gotten numb since the hijackers had refused to let him leave on the engine. They did let him turn it on now and then since they didn't want to freeze to death themselves, but the driver had guessed that they hadn't wanted to run out of fuel.
One of the hijackers had ordered the driver to open the door just a crack, and he had quietly obliged. From the corner of his eye, he'd been watching his assailant lean forward through the door opening and exchange a few words with someone—a woman. And he had gotten a whiff of the divine smell of coffee and hot chocolate she had brought.
Then the hijackers had dropped face-down on the floor. The driver had been too stunned to move when a second later, he heard the emergency door in the back open, and someone—something—too fast for him to see—leaped forward and crouched over the fallen men. It was the man he'd seen in his rearview mirror.
"These guys are out of it. What happened?"
"I—I don't know, they suddenly fell on their faces," the driver told Derek.
Derek began checking them and found that both men wore vests under their jackets, packed with plastic explosives. "Christ," he muttered under his breath.
"Freeze!"
Derek looked up and saw Carla Wilkinson step in through the door. Her gun was at the ready.
"Derek? What are you doing here?"
"I was just, um…I managed to slip in through the back, and—"
Fortunately for Derek, the loud thuds of footsteps that ensued drowned out his voice.
"Uh-oh."
"Freeze! Police! Put your hands over your heads!"
More than a dozen police commandos stormed the bus, and in the confusion, Wilkinson tripped over the hijackers and landed on top of them.
"Help," she managed.
Caroline was sitting in front of her students in the third row. She saw the policewoman fall on one of the hijackers and gasped as the army of commandos swiftly raided the bus. She couldn't believe what was happening in front of her.
First, her bus had been hijacked. Then, she had seen the explosive vests the hijackers wore under their jackets and had realized that they were probably planning to hit the power plant and create a deadly explosion.
She had read about suicide bombers and seen them in the news, but she'd never dreamed that she would ever come across them. Both hijackers, whose hands the police commandos tied up as a bomb squad meticulously checked their vests, were around medium height with a slender build. Both wore face masks, but she'd seen their bloodshot eyes and thought they had to be fanatic, though their physical appearance wouldn't have caught anyone's attention if they were strolling through some shopping center. She figured guns and explosives changed ordinary men into monsters.
Then those monsters had suddenly dropped to the floor like rag dolls. And at the same time, Derek climbed in a rear emergency door and ran to the front at the speed of light. He had hovered over the hijackers like a deadly beast, reminding her of images she'd seen of lions staring down at their prey.
Caroline had seen the female officer fall on top of the hijackers when the mob of heavily armed police commandos charged aboard behind her. One of them was helping her get back on her feet.
But—where was Derek? He was there a second ago.
"Everyone, please stay in your seats," a man in heavy-duty gear called out. "We've got the situation under control, and everything's going to be okay. We're checking the bus inside out now to make sure it's safe, so please be patient and wait till we give you the green light."
"Are those guys gonna blow themselves up?" Asked a student.
"No, son, we aren't going to let them blow anyone up. So bear with us, okay, people? Help us do our job, and you'll all be on your way home very soon."
"What the hell is happening on that bus?"
Vicki turned to face Misato and saw that her eyes were still closed as if she was in a trance. She stood still like a statue, and her hands remained folded tightly in front of her face.
Maybe she's right to pray, Vicki thought. It wasn't as if there was anything else that they could do.
So once again, Vicki did as her friend did, folding her hands together, bowing her head, closing her eyes, praying that no one was hurt.
What Vicki didn't know was that Misato wasn't praying. She continued to meet with her great-great-grandmother—who had passed away decades ago.
'Matsu, what have you done?'
'What do you mean, what have I done?'
'Tell me! You have to tell me this instant!'
'Well, gee, it wouldn't hurt to thank me. You're the one who wanted your friend safe.'
'Yeah, okay, you're right. Thanks, Matsu. Thanks for saving my friend's—my friend's life, and the lives of all her students.'
'That's better. I was wondering for a minute there if your mama forgot to teach you manners.'
Misato wished Matsu wouldn't mention her mother. She didn't particularly dislike her; it was the other way around. She liked Kana Ohkami very much—loved her, even. She loved and respected her for single-handedly maintaining the integrity of her sacred family shrine. What she didn't like was that her mom was utterly unwilling to consider changing her ways even a fraction, which was why she had left her behind and never looked back. She had, however, hung onto the necklace her mom had given her on her fourteenth birthday, a double chain necklace of two beautiful black pearls. Her mom had told her that it would protect her and that when they were together, the rare pearls were one of the most powerful amulets in the world.
'Having useless thoughts again, are you, Misato? Look, I realize we all have issues, but you live in the twenty-first century, lucky girl.'
'I'm lucky? I was born to follow in everyone's footsteps, never to love anyone or be happy, just to train and conduct rituals day in and day out; talk to the dead. What's so lucky about that?'
'So you don't like talking to the dead? Well, I'm sorry for showing up in front of you so you have no choice but to talk to me, but you wouldn't be here if I, along with your other ancestors, hadn't lived before we died!'
'Matsu, I didn't mean it like that. I—'
"Misato? Are you feeling all right?"
'Answer her, Misato. Your friend Vicki's worried about you. Oh, don't mind me, I'll just step back, stay in the background where I belong.'
"Misato?"
Misato blinked.
"Sorry, I…I was concentrating on my prayer—maybe a little too hard."
Vicki smiled and put an arm around her. "You had me worried for a minute there, you know. I thought you'd left your body and gone somewhere else."
You aren't far off from what had transpired, Misato thought to herself.
"But anyway, I'm glad you're back. But, hey, I didn't know you were so religious. What is it that you practice, Buddhism?"
"I'm, uh, not exactly what you'd describe as religious," she was starting to say when a familiar face appeared behind a mob of policemen. "Caroline!"
"Misato! Vicki!"
The three women hugged each other tightly.
"Oh, Caroline, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Vicki. Tired, yes, but fine."
"You poor thing. You must have been terrified. Oh, look over there. The police must be arresting the hijackers."
Caroline shook her head. "Uh-uh. The hijackers are on those stretchers in front of Detective Thorpe, see? They're being taken to the hospital for exams in a little while. It was weird. One minute, they were standing in front of us, ordering us not to move, and the next minute, they both crumpled to the floor. The paramedics revived them, and strangely enough, they said the men were trembling, babbling incoherently, and scared to death of something they thought they must be on something. The detective has convinced the paramedic team to let her question them before they go. It's bizarre."
Not if you know what really happened, Misato wished she could say. Maybe she would tell Caroline about it later, but too many people were around to talk about it now.
She saw Derek heading toward them and exhaled in relief.
"Where've you been?" she asked. "Taking off on us like that?"
"Sorry."
"You had us worried, Derek—oh!" Misato felt a sharp flash go through her body and her head suddenly went numb.
"Misato? Are you okay?"
"Shit, not you, too? Come on, sweetie, open your eyes!"
Misato's eyes flicked open. Her pupils were dilated as she stared into Derek's face.
"Well, hello, gorgeous," she purred.