Prophet of Death

Chapter 10

     When the word Wall Street left Pete's mouth, the captain nearly pissed himself. The answer had been hanging over them, and they had taken so long to figure it out. The Prophet was waiting for the opening bell to strike at the heart of the wealthy and corrupt; the stock exchange. If something happened over there, it would be 9/11 all over again. The markets would plummet and a mini recession would follow, possibly a full blown depression if the bastard was lucky.

     The first team called in was the bomb squad. The Prophet had just used a bomb to down a few airplanes in mid-flight, so a building as large as the stock exchange would likely need far more firepower to even dent that target. Every bomb expert and bomb sniffing mutt they had was sent down to the exchange building as they had to move fast. The market was due to open in less than several hours. Pete and Grozza went to the exchange building as well to look for clues, anything that might be out of place in an effort to help them find out what the Prophet had cooked up over the weekend.

     "There's no time to speculate," McManus told them all as they left the station. "Assume the worst and try to find it first and then work your way down."

     When Pete made it to the empty floor of the exchange, his captain was already there, walking the empty floor with the director of the exchange, discussing plans on what to do next. The director seemed rather steamed so Pete felt it was necessary to step in and offer backup for his boss.

     "Do you have any idea what would happen if we didn't open on time?" the director yelled at McManus as Pete walked up.

     "I think so," Pete replied. "But do you have any idea what would happen if we let you go full steam ahead and a bomb killed your traders while they were trying to do your work? Could you imagine the lawsuits if the families knew you had prior knowledge and just knowingly sent them into the slaughter?"

     "We get threats on a daily basis," the director countered. "If we shut down every time we got a threat, we'd never be open!"

     "Of all the threats you have," Pete said as he walked closer. "How many were made by someone who's killed over twenty people in various attacks in the last week?"

     The director stood there and looked at both men, unable to answer.

     Pete turned to his boss. "You didn't tell him?"

     "Tell me what?" the director asked, more worried than before.

     "We have unverified Intel," McManus explained. "The threat might be coming from the Prophet."

     "That madman who killed a few CEOs last week?" the director asked, suddenly a little pale.

     "The very same," McManus said. "He's been quiet all weekend and while he gave us an excuse for this, we think he's planning something bigger. We are checking here to make sure you're good to go because you're the most obvious target that's not open during the weekend."

     "What if you find nothing?" the director asked.

     "That gives you deniability," Pete answered for him. "If something happens, you can say you cooperated with the police and did whatever you could to make sure tomorrow's trade was as safe as possible. We'll leave extra officers here, too, just to make sure even if we don't find anything."

     "We're here six hours early for a reason," McManus told the director as he attempted to reassure him. "To get this over with now so you can open the markets on time and not lose any confidence."

     "Thank you," the director said, suddenly on the same page. "I'll do whatever I can to help out. All of us are at your service."

     "We appreciate that," Pete said as he placed a caring hand on the director's shoulder. "We'll try to get out of here as quickly as we can."