Ironside - 29/100 - #87 Club - Madness Of Kings - Chapter 2 "The Art Of Avoidance"
Title - The Madness of Kings - Chapter 2 The Art Of Avoidance
Author - Sealgirl in
seal_girl .
Fandom - Ironside
Characters - Commissioner Dennis Randall, Chief Robert Ironside, Mark Sanger, Sergeant Ed Brown
Prompt - #87 life; Mad Scientist
Word Count - 1941
Rating - PG-13
Summary - An explosion at the university lead Ironside and his team into the world of terrorism as the city of San Francisco is held to ransom.
A/N - Written for the lj comm. lj user spook_me
Continuity - 29/100
Table - A Man Called Ironside.
Extended Notes - The Madness Of Kings.
Chapter 2
The Art Of Avoidance
‘He was lucky, Bob, damned lucky!’ said Commissioner Dennis Randall. ‘There are very, very few people could have got up and walked away from an explosion like that!’
Chief Robert Ironside sat in his wheelchair, looking attentively up at the Commissioner as the man paced the room. They were in the Chief’s attic office-home, hidden away at the top of the police building in the heart of San Francisco. In the kitchen area, the Chief’s aide, Mark Sanger was making them some coffee and trying to keep out of the way.
It had only been a few hours since they’d heard the news of Ed’s near miraculous escape from death, and Ironside had initially intended to go straight to the hospital to see if his sergeant was all right. But instead, he’d put the other two members of his staff to work on the preliminaries of the case, determined to force, coerce or bribe his own superior into giving it to him.
But Commissioner Dennis Randall had pre-empted Ironside this time. He obviously knew the Chief would want in on the case and he had appeared in the office not long after Ironside himself had heard the news, much sooner than Ironside would have expected.
‘And you’re sure he’s alright?’ Dennis asked.
Ironside nodded.
‘As alright as a man can be after nearly being blow up,’ said Ironside caustically.
‘You know what I mean, Bob.’
‘I got a phone call from him, from the hospital. I was half way through bawling him out from being late when he told me where he was and what had happened.’
The Commissioner stopped pacing, and sat down in one of the seats next to the Chief. He looked at Ironside with a serious expression.
‘Bob, I want you to take the case. I expect you’ve already started.’
His attitude surprised Ironside.
‘You’re not even going to make me ask nicely?’ asked the Chief. ‘Why?’
‘You’re the man I need to get it done, Bob,’ Randall said with a scowl. ‘As a Special Consultant, you can be assigned cases that…’
‘So you want me on this case. Why?’
‘I thought you would be pleased.’
‘I am, but that doesn’t answer the question.’
‘It’s going to be tricky, Bob,’ said the Commissioner.
‘Tricky? And I suppose tricky is my speciality?’
‘You know as well as I do that you are perfect for this case. It needs a delicate touch.’
Ironside raised his eyebrows in surprise, and heard the sudden chink of crockery from Mr Sanger as one of the cups slipped out of his hand.
‘A delicate touch?’ echoed Ironside
‘You know what I mean, Bob. This is a big one.’
Ironside nodded slowly. In truth, he had hoped that the Commissioner would have to ask him to help, but the implication that there was something else going on in the background was unnerving.
‘I want the full facts, Dennis,’ he said, holding up his hand to forestall any interruptions. ‘And I want an explanation as to just why exactly you think this one is going to be tricky!’
‘Does that mean you’ll do it?’
Once more, Ironside nodded.
‘Of course,’ he replied.
Dennis Randall gave an obvious sigh of relief.
‘And my explanation?’ asked Ironside.
‘I have two words for you, Bob,’ said Dennis. ‘Gordon Kingston. I take it that you have heard of him? Haven’t you?’
Ironside nodded, with a frown.
‘Yes, I know all about Gordon Kingston!’ he said sourly.
‘Well, he’s back in town, has been for the past few weeks. And he’s taken over the running of the Kingston Building again.’
Ironside silently cursed the bad luck. He hadn’t known that.
‘He’s not going to be very pleased that half the front of his building is now decorating the parking lot,’ said Dennis, with a serious expression.
‘I don’t doubt it!’ said Ironside.
‘And he’s going to want the investigation to be quick as well, I would think. He’s going to use his money and leverage to get it.’
Ironside nodded.
‘What if it’s not as straightforward as you and everyone else seems to think it’s going to be?’
‘Well, that’s why I wanted you,’ replied Randall. ‘If anyone can handle Gordon Kingston, it’s you.’
Ironside smiled grimly.
‘There’s no need for flattery, Dennis,’ he said. ‘I’ve already said yes to taking the case.’
The Commissioner rose slowly.
‘It’s not flattery, Bob. Just get this cleared up as quickly and cleanly as you can.’
He gave Mark a polite nod, and Ironside a slightly smug smile and left the office, presumably before Ironside could change his mind.
The Chief watched Randall leave with a thoughtful frown. Mark sidled up beside him and took a seat.
‘So, Chief, just who is this Gordon Kingston?’ Mark asked. ‘And why does he have the Commissioner so rattled?’
‘A very wealthy and influential man,’ replied Ironside. ‘Not the sort of man to make an investigation like this easy, he’ll have his own agenda.’
‘Agenda?’
‘You’d better believe it,’ said the Chief. ‘And what Gordon Kingston wants, Gordon Kingston gets.’
‘So we’d better hope that this is just a straightforward accident?’ asked Mark.
‘Nothing to do with that man is ever straightforward! But the best we can hope for is that we get this over with as cleanly as we can.’
‘Where do we start?’
Ironside lifted the reports that Randall had left on his desk.
‘A little reading first.’
Mark grinned at him.
‘I’ll get you some coffee, then.’
Ironside nodded, already starting to read the preliminary reports.
At first glance it seemed straightforward enough. The fire-crew seemed to think it was a chemical explosion, probably from one of the storage areas. They hadn’t found anything unusual. That boded well for a straightforward investigation.
After a few more minutes reading, he put the folder down, and sat back in his wheelchair, a thoughtful look on his face. Apart from the presence of Gordon Kingston, he didn’t see that anything would be too tricky about this.
‘Everything ok, Chief?’ asked Mark.
‘I think so,’ he replied. ‘But we need to get down to the Kingston Building. I want a full list of personnel who worked there, who had access, who had keys. Then I want you to get onto the lab boys downstairs. And find Fran; get her over there as fast as you can as well, once she’s finished at Records.’
‘But she’s supposed to be…’
Mark didn’t get to finish as unexpectedly the door of the office opened. Ironside looked up, his expression of surprise changing to one of displeasure as Sergeant Ed Brown walked slowly in.
Ed was still in the clothes he had been in when they’d helped him out of the destroyed building, they were slightly dusty and his tie was loose round his neck, his top button undone. He also looked more pale than usual under his Californian tan, and his arm was in a sling. But other than that, and a few light scratches across his handsome face, there was no way to tell that he’d just cheated death.
‘What the blue blazes are you doing here?’ thundered Ironside.
‘I do work here, Chief!’ Ed replied.
‘And less that five hours ago they almost had to scrape what was left of you off the walls of the Kingston Building! And now you’re here?’
‘It’s good to see you too, Chief,’ Ed replied with a tired smile. ‘The doc said I was fine, and I should go home, but…’
‘The doctor knows what he’s talking about! You should go home!’
Ed cocked his head slightly, his eyebrow raised. Ironside didn’t like it when Ed did that, he knew who he’d picked that little mannerism up from. And while imitation was the sincerest form of flattery, the Chief was not impressed!
‘And I knew you would be assigned the case,’ Ed replied.
Ironside leaned forward matching Ed’s expression. Why did that man have to be so flamin’ stubborn?
‘That maybe so, Sergeant Brown! But when I want your statement, I can come and get it!’ he said sternly, his voice rising in volume. ‘Go home! That is an order!’
Ed looked shocked at the reaction, but he couldn’t in all honesty have expected anything else. Ironside didn’t understand what Brown hoped to prove by this little exchange.
‘But…’ started Sergeant Brown.
‘Damn it, Ed, you shouldn’t be here!’ snapped Ironside. ‘I don’t want to see you in this office for the next few days, do I make myself clear? I’ll suspend you if I have to! Now go home!’
A crestfallen look crossed Ed’s face and his shoulders drooped down. He half-turned.
‘I just wanted to know… I want to know who she was, that was all.’
Ironside gave nothing away, and his expression didn’t change.
‘Who she was?’ he asked.
Ed looked back to him, staring him directly in the eye, and Ironside didn’t like the nervous, upset and decidedly out-of-character emotions that he thought he could see there. When Ed next spoke, the words seemed to come out in a jumble.
‘I tried, I did. But I didn’t get a chance. I was too slow to get a chance to help her, I don’t know. I didn’t get anywhere near where she was and if I had, maybe I could have helped. If I’d gone the other way, or if I’d been closer…’ The sergeant let out a slow sigh and shook his head. Then Ed turned back to the door and took a few languid steps towards it.
‘Ed?’ called Ironside suddenly.
‘I’m going, I’m going!’ he said, not looking around. ‘You won’t see me for days.’
‘Ed!’
The sergeant turned, his face creased with confusion.
‘Yes, Chief?’
‘Sergeant Brown?’ said Ironside. ‘Just who are you talking about?’
‘The girl, the one in the building when it blew,’ Ed replied, stepping back towards Ironside, the confusion on his face growing more pronounced. ‘Surely someone found her? That’s why you’re on the case, isn’t it?’
The Chief shook his head.
‘There was no one else in that building. Only you. That’s what the initial report said.’ He put his hand on the folder beside him. ‘There was nothing about a girl.’
Ed shook his head in amazement.
‘No, Chief!’ he said firmly, looking between Mark and Ironside. ‘I know what you’re thinking but she was there, I saw her! I did!’
There was no reason to think that he’d imagined a girl, but that was the very first that he’d heard about it. And if there had been someone else there, what had happened to her? Why did nobody know?
The Commissioner’s words came back to him; it was going to be tricky. Well, maybe it was going to be trickier than even the Commission had bargained for. And if it was, he was going to need all the help he could get, and all the information he could get as well. Ironside looked to Mark, then back to Ed.
‘What else do you remember? What else do you know?’
‘The details are kinda fuzzy,’ began Ed.
Ironside let out a huff. That was just typical! He had a hint of something else, but that was all! The Chief looked at his sergeant carefully, thinking that a trip to the scene might help jog his memory. But it wasn’t going to be easy for Ed. Maybe he didn’t fully appreciate what he was getting himself into. But that couldn’t be helped, not now.
‘Ok then, Sergeant Brown,’ he said slowly. ‘Maybe you can come with us for the ride. Just this once.’