“Sorry I’m late,” Mike said as he hurried in.
“It’s okay, as long you pay the bill,” John joked.
“I completely agree,” I said, grinning.
“Today I learned that being on time is extremely important,” Mike sighed. We all laughed.
The three of us are great friends and knew each other for a long time already. My name is Matthew and I have a challenging job. I work as a bomb specialist, deactivating bombs is my passion. I’ve been a bomb specialist for six years now. A lot of people think this job is very dangerous, of course that includes my mother and my wife. But I really love my job.
Mike is my previous assistant. But he got switched to another department. Even though he switched jobs, we are still best friends. John is a small trading company president, but he has a side job as a race car driver.
Today, the three of us will be going to an auto-show because we all really like cars. I think we will have a lot of fun today. But, it turns out that Fate has other plans. After I got that phone call, today became the worst day of my life.
As we ate breakfast and chatted, my phone rang. I picked it up and said, “Hello?”
“Are you Matthew?” the person on the other side asked.
“Yes I am. Who are you?” I asked him.
“Who I am is not important. What’s important is that your wife is in my hands.”
“Sorry, that joke is not funny at all.” I did not believe what he said. My wife works in a regular mall. So I don’t believe she is the type of person to get kidnapped and ransomed.
“Once you hear your wife’s voice you’ll know I’m not joking.”
Then I heard my wife yelling my name, “Matthew! Matthew! I’m so scared, please help me!”
“Do you believe me now?” I knew the person yelling just now really was my wife.
“Don’t hurt my wife!”
“As long as you cooperate with me, she will be safe.”
“What do you want? How much money do you want?”
“I don’t want money. I just want to play a game with you. You are a bomb specialist, so this game will be about your job. This game will be very fun and interesting.”
“But what if I don’t want to play?”
“Don’t you remember? I have your wife. I know you will play this game for the sake of her safety.”
I gritted my teeth, “So what’s this game of yours?”
“It’s very simple. As long as you are able to disable five different bombs in five different places in three hours, then I can guarantee your wife will be safe.”
“WHAT?! Five different bombs in five different places in three hours? That’s impossible! Are you crazy?” I yelled angrily.
“Nothing is impossible. Don’t be so mad, save your energy for the five bombs.”
I really can’t accept this crazy guy’s game, but my wife is in his hands.
“Matthew, you can call me crazy but you have no choice. You should start now, but I have to warn you, don’t call the police. If you do, this game will end, and so will your wife’s life. The people near the bombs will also be in danger.”
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“I have two friends with me right now, can they help me? Neither of them are cops.”
“I know they’re not cops and I also know they’re with you right now. Okay, I’ll let them help you. If you call the police, anything that happens next will be your fault. Get in your car now, I will give you the first bomb’s location in five minutes,” and he hung up.
“Matthew, is what we heard true?” Mike asked. I had forgotten they were still next to me.
“Yes, it’s true. Sorry, I was too angry just now. I didn’t ask you guys if you want to help me with this.”
“I definitely will help you!” Mike said. “It should be much more interesting than an auto-show!”
“I’ll also help you. This will be more exciting than racing,” John said.
I know they’re worried about me so they agreed to help me. “Thanks guys.”
“You can thank us after we succeed,” John smiled, patting my shoulder.
From this moment on, the scariest day of my life began. It’s also the only time I’ve ever disabled bombs without wearing protective clothing in my whole career. We ran towards the parking lot and decided to use John’s sports car.
“Let me drive,” John said.
His driving skills should be better than ours since he’s a racer, so it would be best to let him drive. My emotions are too unstable to drive right now. If I drive, it might be even more dangerous than taking apart bombs.
As soon as we got into the car, my phone rang.
“Are you ready? Then the game shall start now.”
“Wait, three hours’ time is too short. Can you extend it?” I asked.
“Sorry, it’s too late to ask. All the bombs are already set for three hours. The time starts now. So don’t waste it, you don’t have a lot left. Drive to the intersection of Mission boulevard and Grand avenue. When you arrive, I will call you again,” after saying that, he hung up.
Driving from here to that intersection takes about twelve minutes. John immediately started the engine and drove to our destination.
“Are you really not going to call the police?” John asked.
“We can’t. I’m sure that guy knows our every move, he could be following us. Plus, his number is restricted so it’ll be hard to trace him even if we call the police,” I said. “And if we call the police, he will surely kill my wife.”
“Matthew, do you know who that guy could be?” Mike asked.
“I really don’t know.”
“Why would this guy do something like this?”
“I want to know too,” I sighed.
John was driving very fast. We can’t afford to waste even a single second.
“Matthew, you have to neutralize five bombs in three hours. Can you do that?” Mike asked.
“I’ve never done this before so how would I know?”
Everyone fell silent. The only thing that could be heard was Mike’s sniffling due to his allergies. The car slipped into every space available, but my mind was already on the destination.