These media people really were something else. Their speed wasn't far behind that of the police. Like flies to a carcass, they swarmed wherever trouble erupted.
As soon as Owen and Heartbeat came out of the building, some reporters rushed over, trying to get an interview. Heartbeat didn't even glance at them—he jumped into the car, reversed at high speed, then did a sharp spin turn and shot off, leaving several stunned reporters frozen in place, nearly hit in the process.
While Heartbeat drove, Owen climbed into the backseat and started rummaging through the trunk gear. Since returning, he hadn't reported back to CTU yet, so he didn't have his badge or sidearm—that's why he'd asked earlier if Heartbeat had gear in the car.
CTU vehicles were similar to those used by major crimes divisions—one person per car, and every field agent's trunk contained a full loadout for two: primary and secondary weapons, body armor, tactical goggles, grenades, and non-lethal options.
Within minutes, Owen had thrown on a Level III ballistic vest and tactical rig, strapped a quick-draw holster to his thigh, and loaded a Glock 23.
Once ready, he climbed back into the passenger seat. Heartbeat was still flying down the road, following the GPS coordinates Chloe had provided. Owen didn't have concrete proof, but his gut told him that Asian man was behind the bombing.
Then his phone rang again. When he picked up, it was Bryan.
"Owen. How's my daughter? Is Ken okay?"
Owen heard something rare in Bryan's voice—nervousness. Not even during Ken's kidnapping had Bryan sounded like this. This was the man who'd taken on an entire criminal syndicate for his daughter—and now he sounded like he was awaiting a verdict.
"She's fine, Bryan. Totally safe. The explosion didn't get near her—she's not even scratched."
Bryan exhaled on the other end, and his voice returned to normal. "Alright. I'm heading over now."
"Go ahead. Monica's watching over them."
Owen hung up and looked around. They were now well beyond the city limits, in a far more remote area.
Heartbeat had been driving flat-out. According to Chloe, once the suspect's car turned off the main road here, it vanished from all camera feeds—none of the nearby surveillance points picked up any record of it leaving.
The surrounding area was full of factories, with no residential buildings in sight. Heartbeat slowed down, and before long, they spotted a black SUV parked eerily still near a riverbank.
Owen checked the license plate against Chloe's data—it matched. This was the car.
They exchanged glances. Heartbeat parked at a distance, and both men approached with their guns drawn, cautiously closing in.
Closer… closer… still no movement. Owen had a bad feeling.
They suddenly moved to flank the vehicle. Just as he suspected—it was empty.
"Chloe," Owen said, "we found the suspect's vehicle on Factory Road. Get forensics out here—see if we can pull prints."
"Understood."
After alerting Chloe, the two men continued down to the riverbed. It wasn't flood season, so the river was just a shallow stream. Owen scanned the area. One end of the riverbed was a dead-end—no way the suspect went there. That left only one possibility.
The other direction led into the city's underground water system—a bad sign. Those tunnels were a massive web. If the suspect had gone in, tracking him down would be nearly impossible.
They paused at the entrance, then turned on their flashlights and stepped in.
The ground had a thin layer of water, but no obvious footprints. The tunnel only went one way, so they followed it. As they moved deeper, the light diminished. Though there were emergency lights spaced every hundred meters or so, they barely lit the area, and the agents relied mostly on their flashlights.
Ten minutes later, they reached a junction.
Six branching tunnels. No markings. No signs. No clues.
Both men stared into the darkness, a wave of helplessness washing over them.
They had lost the trail.
Defeated, they turned back and didn't return to the mall. Instead, they drove straight to CTU.
Monica had called Owen earlier—Bryan had picked up Ken, Amanda was home safe, and Monica would stay with her until their mother returned.
After giving official statements, everyone at the scene was allowed to leave—but all mobile phones, cameras, and media equipment were confiscated, including every journalist's professional gear.
Naturally, this infuriated the press—but there was nothing they could do. The event had officially been classified as a terrorist attack, and CTU had full operational control. Historically, CTU wasn't known for its friendliness toward the media. During the Zhongchen Tower incident, a reporter had even been arrested by Jack Bauer himself on national security grounds.
Inside CTU, the data support team had set up several long tables, now piled with every confiscated device—phones, cameras, recorders.
The entire team was at full throttle, sorting through the mountain of data—photos, videos—categorizing them before importing everything into the server for mass analysis.
And this wasn't just to find the Asian suspect Owen mentioned—he was only one possible lead. After all, Owen hadn't actually seen him plant the bomb. He was a suspect, not a perpetrator—yet.
The data team's real task was to comb through every frame to find whoever had actually placed the device. Ideally, they'd find the whole sequence on video.
Latest novel updates available at 69 Book Bar first!
Owen's timely warning had helped prevent further disaster. Aside from the bomb that exploded, a second unexploded device—later dubbed a "dud"—had also been discovered at the scene. The bomb squad had safely retrieved it for analysis. With luck, it would yield crucial evidence.
To avoid tunnel vision on Owen's lead, CTU had divided into two task forces: Owen and Heartbeat focused on the Asian man, while Tony himself led the broader investigation.
Two hours later, the bulk of the confiscated data had been uploaded, and the exhaustive image analysis began. Because of the enormous volume, the entire CTU—field ops, analysts, anyone not actively deployed—was drafted into the effort.
During this time, Owen had also contacted police departments across L.A., trying to dig up any leads—but had come up empty.
Now, all available staff were planted in front of monitors, scanning video frame by frame. It was monotonous and draining—just like the hours Owen had once spent reviewing surveillance footage during homicide cases. But it had to be done.
Meanwhile, Tony fielded calls from both the mayor of Los Angeles and the governor of California. The outside world was watching this case very closely.
Even though CTU had seized all footage, some media outlets had managed to transmit their recordings before being stopped. The carnage and aftermath were now playing out on national TV for all of America to see.
BBC had the scoop first, followed quickly by every major network. It didn't take long for the entire country to learn that a terrorist bombing had struck the premiere of a movie based on a real-life counterterrorism event.
The nation erupted. Talk shows and news panels buzzed with speculation. Experts boldly predicted that the attackers were likely remnants from the Zhongchen Tower case—a theory the public quickly latched onto.
CTU had considered the same possibility, but as of now, there was no evidence linking the two incidents. The West German People's Liberation Front had been quiet for a while, and no group had yet claimed responsibility for this bombing.
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! Only $5 per novel or $15 for all!!] [[email protected]/Mutter]
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]