Deadly States (Seaforth Files by Nicholas P Clark Book 2) by Nicholas P Clark Read Free Book Online

emergency the lifts were automatically sent to the nearest safe stop and then disabled.
alarm began to sound. It
had
went off and it took them that long to start an evacuation of the building—the very thought
of such ineptitude sent a shudder racing down
Jack’s spine—a second bomb would surely cause carnage, he thought.
Jack hated the high-pitched wail from the alarm—it was unnecessarily
loud and served only to distract and disorientate people in a real emergency. As his frustration mounted he dragged the woman, a little more
forcefully, towards the stairwell. The stairwell at the side of the building was encased in glass and this gave them a perfect view of the street
below. Even though they were looking
out
on the side of the building,
away from where Jack assumed the bomb had gone
off, they
could
still see
people running in all
directions as they
left the
building.
Police,
fire
crews
and
paramedics
were
streaming
towards
the
building from all directions. The glass in the building was toughened
and could easily withstand an
explosion,
but
every so
often, as they
descended the
    31
    As they stepped out
of the lift the fire
been several
minutes since the bomb
staircase they came across glass from a window that had been blasted
out—each floor had at least two windows
made from normal glass
which could be broken in an
emergency. Before that
day Jack never
knew exactly where those escape routes were—now they were clearly
marked as the shards
of
broken glass gleamed and sparkled in the
strong sunlight that was baking the stairwell.
    Looking down from the top of the stairs it was very hard to tell that
anything significant had just happened at the bottom of the building,
apart from the odd pane
of
broken glass here and there, but as they
descended the staircase the very
distinct smell
of burnt fuel and dust
thickened the air. Jack’s PA choked
on the thick atmosphere—on another occasion he may have stopped to comfort and reassure her, but as
things stood he still didn’t know just how much danger they were in at
that
moment.
    They ran into
one
of the security
guards in the foyer. The man
was sweating profusely as he directed the steady stream of bewildered
workers
out
of the building. Jack gave his PA a gentle shove in the
direction of the main entrance before walking up to the security guard
to find out what had happened. When his PA got to the main entrance
she looked back at her boss. They exchanged looks and Jack gave her a
reassuring smile that was enough to send her
on her way
out
of the
building into the
perceived safety
of the street. Jack turned to the
security guard. Jack
didn’t have to ask the man if the explosion had
been caused by a bomb—the smell of burnt
oil in the air was a clear
indication that the explosion was no accident. Jack also thought that
he could detect the faint trace
of
burning sulphur, which if
correct,
would point towards a non-commercial
explosive being used to detonate the main device. Such a device would also point in the direction
of an Islamic group. This thought
made his heart pound faster as he
braced
himself for a
second
explosion. Logic and reason took
hold
again as he probed another
explanation for the smell
of burning sulphur. If the bomb set fire to vehicles then the sulphur used to vulcanise the rubber in the tyres could account for what he smelt. It was a
stretch but it was
enough to convince the logical side
of his brain to
let the rest of his body investigate further.
“How bad is it?” Jack asked.
    The man wiped the sweat away from his brow. The involuntary action smeared dirt across his forehead giving the slightly chubby guard
the appearance of a rather lazy tribal warrior.
    “We can’t tell yet,
but it looks like a few
people have been killed.
The building itself appears structurally sound but we won’t know for
sure until it has been properly assessed,” explained the man.
    Jack nodded to the man and then he walked towards a side door
which led to the