Jack rushed to Alice and held her arms tightly to prevent her from making a wrong move due to excessive nervousness. At the same time, he yelled at a group of guards who were also extremely nervous,
"Put down your guns, put down your guns, she is one of us!"
Then he continued to yell at Clay and Stella who was protected behind him, "Take your wife away first!"
"Jack, no!" Although Alice was in tears and extremely scared, she did not lose her mind.
"What you need to do now is immediately seal off all entrances and exits to this building. They say they'll detonate the bombs if they see anyone entering or leaving, especially the bomb squad!"
Jack paused for a moment, then nodded quickly and pointed to a guard. "You, put away your weapons. Evacuate the lobby and the second and third floors and take them to the underground parking lot. Also, notify your superiors to immediately seal off all entrances and exits to the building."
He then briefly examined the explosive collar around Alice's neck. On her chest and back were four brick-shaped packages of C4 explosives, identical in red packaging to the ones seen in the warehouse last night.
If each piece of C4 weighed one pound, that would total four pounds, enough to detonate the entire lobby and even cause minor structural damage to the entire building.
To put it in perspective, the explosives used last night, which sent an ESU officer to the hospital and burned down an entire warehouse, were roughly a quarter of what's here—the equivalent of a single C4 brick.
"Is anyone from the bomb disposal team still home?" Jack asked Aubrey, who had just hung up the phone. He'd immediately started making calls the moment he realized something wasn't right.
Aubrey put down the phone, shook his head blankly, his voice a little hoarse, "No one's home. We sent out all the explosives experts last night. Some of them are still on standby at the scene, while others have gone back to rest."
He ran behind the front desk, pulled out a chair, and carefully helped Alice sit down. "Okay, okay, let's calm down. We'll find a way. We should still have time, right, Jack?"
Jack glanced at the bright red timer, which even had a small keyboard on it. "Of course there will be a way. As for the other time, we still have about 28 minutes."
Alice trembled with fear, looking like she was about to faint. Jack quickly changed the subject, first having to figure out what was going on.
"Alice, calm down. You're lucky. We have two explosives experts here who are more professional than the bomb squad. Why don't you tell us what just happened? Who planted these things on you?"
As Jack spoke, Aubrey demonstrated deep breathing, trying to calm Alice.
"Huff~~~Huff~~~" Alice imitated him, her chest heaving violently. A slight blush returned to her pale face, though her words were still slightly halting.
"Well, it's like this. I got off the subway at Chamberlain Street. As I walked down the stairs and was about to swipe my card, someone suddenly came up to me and put a gun to my back."
"What did he look like?" Aubrey demanded.
"I don't know. I was so scared." Alice's tears flowed again, blurring her eyeliner and leaving two dark grooves on her cheeks.
"He told me to keep going and not to look back, or he would kill me." As she spoke, her voice was filled with panic and a hint of guilt.
"Am I useless? He forced me into a black SUV and told me to close my eyes or he would shoot me immediately. I know I should have opened my eyes and observed, but I was too scared."
Jack opened his mouth, but no sound came out because Aubrey had already said everything he needed to say. "No, no, no, you did the right thing, so you're still alive now, understand?"
"What happened next?" Jack continued.
"Then they put a blindfold on me, and then put this thing on my neck. They told me it was explosives, asked me to go into the hall, and told me to release a man named Vargas within half an hour."
Alice gradually calmed down because she caught a glimpse of Dana Moger walking quickly down the stairs towards her, the familiar sound of high heels approaching from afar.
The beautiful female technician swallowed hard. "Sir, please don't come over here. It's very dangerous!"
Dana Moger remained calm. "Although you're not an official FBI agent, you're one of us. Your life is as important as everyone else's here."
The female supervisor looked at Jack and said, "If the bomb disposal team can't get in, it seems we'll have to rely on you. However, their backup equipment is still there, and some colleagues are moving down anything that might be useful."
Alice looked at Jack, then at Aubrey, subconsciously shaking his hand. She asked nervously, "I thought Jack was talking about two explosives experts."
"Uh," a trace of embarrassment appeared on Aubrey's face, "I'm just a nerd who has been around Wall Street. I received some training in explosives during my training at Quantico, but I'm still far from the title of expert."
Jack looked behind them, and Clay, who had settled his wife, was walking quickly towards them, "The other expert I'm talking about is the one behind you."
He waved to Clay, "Is Stella okay?"
Clay smiled and shook his head, "She thought it was some surprise exercise you arranged at first, and just realized it. I found two kind ladies to help take care of her."
"This is Clay Spencer, from the Navy." Now is not the time to chat, but Jack just mentioned the name, and the female boss understood what he meant and took the initiative to extend her hand to Clay.
"Hello, Mr. Spencer. I'm sorry to meet you under these circumstances, but the situation is extremely urgent. I can't give you direct orders, but..."
Dana Moger was interrupted by Clay with a smile before she could finish her words. "I'm honored to be able to provide some assistance. Consider this an interview. What do you think?"
As the two spoke, Jack subconsciously glanced at the people present. He didn't know if it was coincidence or some damn dramatic plot, but all the people he had originally wanted to recruit, except for his two sisters, were now gathered.
If the bomb on Alice exploded in the next second, wiping out the wanted criminal team that was about to be established, with 4 pounds of C4 explosives, no one would survive except himself who could perform a medical miracle on the spot. In fact, even he couldn't guarantee his own survival.
(End of this chapter)