Chelsea frowned slightly as she thought about how many reporters appeared in the seconds after the explosion. She had thought it was strange at the time, but what Alex and Rufus said would explain it.
Lizzy quickly denied it. "That's not true. The TV station is very close to here and we came as soon as we heard the news. That's how we got here so quickly." Chelsea noticed how she contradicted everything that Alex said.
The other reporters quickly supported Lizzy.
"Yes, officer. We had nothing to do with it," one of them said.
"Yes, we also received a call about the story and got here quickly," said another.
When Lizzy saw Rufus approaching and heard that he was supporting Alex, she suddenly felt apprehensive. She didn't want to get into trouble with a family like the Cliftons.
Chelsea saw that Lizzy was losing her determination, and told everyone that she had a clear picture of what had happened. She knew that the killer's death had something to do with Alex, but she didn't want to investigate it any further and decided to get rid of the reporters. She told them, "Thank you, but you may leave."
"We'll release any important information about the situation as soon as we can. If you're interested to learn more about what's been happening with the Cliftons lately, you can come to the conference hall with me right now," Rufus told the reporters.
"Let's go and find out what's happening," one of them said excitedly.
"But all our equipment is broken," groaned another.
"Yes, mine's totally destroyed," agreed another.
Rufus was shocked. He had never met a reporter who would risk missing the opportunity to get a good news story. He said, "You'll just have to note down the information that we give you and do a special kind of interview. We do have a lot of exclusive information to release."
"Okay," they agreed hesitantly.
The reporters saw that they had to make the most of the opportunity and most of them jumped up immediately and followed Rufus to the conference room. They scrambled amongst themselves to find pens and paper in their bags.
Only Lizzy hesitated.
One of the other reporters pulled her arm and said, "What are you doing, Lizzy? Get a move on."
The reporter thought, Can't Lizzy tell this is a good story? If she can't sniff out an opportunity like this she should be working in the office, not as a reporter on the ground.
Lizzy still hesitated and stared at her broken equipment.
The other reporter whispered to her, "Lizzy, why are you so stubborn? You can't hold Alex responsible. If you think about it, it was heroic of him to tackle the gangsters so decisively when public safety was at risk. Perhaps he should even receive an official recognition from the mayor for what he did."
Lizzy looked at Alex grumpily. Then she glanced at Chelsea, who glared at her sternly, and Lizzy realized that she was waiting impatiently for her to decide whether she wanted to proceed with her allegations against Alex.
"Okay, I'll go," Lizzy said. She wasn't a fool, and she knew that she couldn't afford to offend Rufus or Chelsea for the sake of seeking justice for the bomber. She wasn't the only one whose equipment had been destroyed. The other journalists were all in the same position as her and none of them was demanding compensation.
"I'll have to let it go," she muttered, and then followed her colleagues.
By then, there were very few people left at the scene. The police had moved almost everyone away.
"Did you detonate the bomb?" Chelsea couldn't help asking Alex once they were alone.
"Yes, the bomber was going to kill my friends and relatives. I did what I had to," Alex replied confidently.
His arrogance made Chelsea feel uneasy. She realized that he wasn't afraid of anything, including the authority of the police. She wanted to ask him whether he included her as one of his friends and would protect her, but she was too embarrassed. She blushed and thought, As a police officer, I shouldn't be relying on other people to make me feel safe. What a joke.
Frustrated with herself, her tone became sharp with Alex as she said, "Do you have any sense of acting within the law? Actually, forget it. I have too much to do to discuss this with you any further." She turned and walked away angrily.
Alex walked back over to the Moon maidens, who greeted him excitedly.
"You were amazing, Mr. Alex," said one of them.
"Let's find out what Lizzy is angry about," suggested another.
Alex smiled. The new car that the four girls had just bought had been blown up, but they were acting as if nothing had happened.
"You'll join us at the Clifton mansion later," Alex told the four girls.
He looked carefully around him but couldn't see anything out of place. He concluded that the attacks the Blood Brothers had arranged for that day had all been dealt with successfully.
However, Alex was far from satisfied. His goal was to deal with the people running the gang. Only then could he ensure the safety of the people that mattered to him.
He knew that things were far from over.
**
In the Steadman family mansion in Baltimore, Art had postponed all his engagements and returned home from work early for the first time that he could remember.
He had been unable to get through to Chris on the phone, but he wasn't too concerned yet.
He could think of a lot of explanations for his son's lack of contact. Perhaps Chris had been on another drinking binge, or it could be that he was off with a new woman and didn't want to be disturbed. It could simply be that he was enjoying himself somewhere with friends.
So, he waited patiently for Chris to contact him and thought about the lecture he was going to give him when he finally caught up with him. He would tell him that no matter how much fun he was having, he should never forget his responsibilities.
Art was feeling content. It was turning into one of the most relaxed days that he had ever experienced.
Jessop Clifton was finished, and it felt like the huge stone that had been pressing on his heart had finally been removed.
Feeling indulgent, he even selected two very expensive bottles of vintage champagne from the wine cellar and put them on ice ready to celebrate with Chris when he returned.
**
But at one in the morning, Chris still hadn't returned, and Art had still not been able to reach him on the phone. Art was starting to worry that something was wrong.
No matter how much Chris was enjoying himself, he usually stayed in contact with his father.
Art sat and waited by the phone for several hours, wondering what to do. Finally, he made a decision and asked his PA to start calling around Chris's friends. One by one, she asked his friends if they knew where Chris was.
"Hello, I'm sorry to disturb you. Chris hasn't come home for a few days and we're trying to find him. Do you know where he is?" she asked one friend.
"You haven't seen him? Okay, I'm sorry to disturb you," she told another.
After making around eighty similar calls she hadn't been able to find anyone who knew where Chris could be.
Art became extremely concerned about his son and stayed awake all night worrying. In the early hours of the morning, he became convinced that something bad had happened, so he gave up on trying to sleep and got out of bed.
Art picked up his phone and made a call. "I want you to conduct a thorough search of the city for Chris. You must immediately mobilize everyone who works for the Steadman family. Do you understand me?"
A woman's gentle voice started to speak but was quickly replaced by a man breathing heavily, then saying respectfully, "Okay, of course, boss. I'll do it now."