Chapter 3

"Captain Hunter, I'm really scared. Did Julius insist on bringing me to the scene today because he wanted to use the chaos to…"

Christine didn't finish her sentence, but everyone understood exactly what she was implying.

Captain Hunter's expression darkened.

No matter how one looked at it, a terminated bomb disposal expert with suspected mental instability showed up at a bomb scene with a bag full of tools and a young female intern in tow, which was downright unsettling.

"Put him back."

"Captain Hunter, she's lying!" I shook my head frantically, my voice already cracking. "There's no disciplinary record in my personnel file! All you need is to check it, and you'll see!"

"We will check," Captain Hunter replied coldly. "But until we do, you're not going anywhere."

I slumped back into the chair.

"Why…" I stared at Christine's tear-streaked face. "Christine, what did I ever do to you? Do you even know there are over 300 kids in there?"

Christine caught sight of Captain Hunter turning away to answer the radio, and the aggrieved look on her face vanished in an instant.

She leaned in close, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You have the nerve to ask? All I did was nearly blow up three competitors, and you had to dress me down in front of the whole unit. You couldn't even leave me an ounce of dignity.

"Do you know how many people posted about it on social media that night, laughing at me? And Instructor Tate from the SWAT team was really starting to like me, but because of you, he hasn't said a single word to me since.

"You ruined my reputation and my relationship. Now, I'm going to let you taste what it's like to be utterly destroyed."

After hearing that, all I felt was utter absurdity.

I'd reamed her out back then because she'd fallen asleep during live training and nearly gotten herself and three other team members killed.

"Christine, there are 300 lives in there. You're a police officer too. You swore an oath to your badge—we're supposed to protect people!"

Christine pulled out a tube of lipstick and started applying it in front of her phone's front camera.

"Don't try to shove that high-and-mighty stuff down my throat. I'm not like you. The only reason I came to this unit was to knock out a three-month internship and get my stamp.

"My uncle said he'll transfer me straight to a desk job at the municipal headquarters by the end of the year. Only an idiot like you runs toward bombs. Do it your whole life, and you'll still just be a grunt."

She pressed her lips together in front of the camera after applying her lipstick and gave a satisfied nod.

Urgent footsteps pounded outside the command vehicle.

A pale-faced communications officer yanked the door open.

"Captain Hunter, the EOD team inside just failed their second attempt. Luther reports that the bomb's detonator has an anti-tamper chip, and their equipment can't read it. We've got 21 minutes left on the timer."

"21 minutes?" I shot up from my chair, the handcuffs cutting into my wrists until they bled. "Let me go in there! I have the decryption key for that anti-tamper chip. It's on my phone!"

Captain Hunter held my phone, his gaze wavering between me and the communications officer at the door.

"Captain Hunter, you can send ten men to escort me in. Put a gun to the back of my head if you want! But you can't let 300 people die because of a few baseless rumors disguised as jokes!"

Captain Hunter gritted his teeth and turned to look at Christine.

"Do you know anything about this decryption key he's talking about?"

Christine shrugged. "You believe anything he says? That guy's full of crap. Don't let him fool you. Just wait for the headquarters to confirm."

"There's no time!" I roared. "Verifying my identity will take at least half an hour. By the time you finish the process, that bomb will have already gone off!"