The Bomb

Short Story Day 20 of 365

Jake Hurley was finishing his call. He checked his watch and had about 25 minutes before they started boarding. Three people nearby picked up their phone and began speaking in hushed tones, covering their mouths.

Hurley pushed a button to talk with his wife.

“Hey, Sweetie. Just waiting for them to start boarding...naa, no probs. TSA shook me down but …uh, uh, wait, let me call you back.” Hurley hung up without looking at his phone, and rose.

“Let me see your hands,” a man wearing head-to-toe tactical gear yelled. His cloth name tag said Adams.

Hurley held up both hands; his phone was in his right.

“Slowly lower the phone and give it to me.”

Jacob R. Hurley, CPA, did as he was told.

“There must be some mistake. I can assure you…”

“Shut up and get flat on your face,” Adams said. “I wanna see those hands at all times,” he added.

“What is this about? I’d like to clear it up…”

“I said, ‘Shut up.’”

Adams looked around. “Three of you called this in. Is this the man that was talking about a bomb?”

A petite woman said, “Yes, that’s the man.”

“Thank you,” he replied. Adams spoke into his walkie-talkie. “All units, begin evacuation of Concourse Alpha. Repeat, evacuate Concourse Alpha. Bomb threat. This is not a drill. Repeat, not…a…drill.”

Adams knelt on Hurley’s back on one knee. “Where’s it at? Where’d you place it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What is this?”

“Were you not just speaking with an unidentified individual telling this person you have the bomb with you?”

Hurley paused and began chuckling. “If you get your knee off my back I’ll explain.”

Adams lifted his knee.

“I told my business partner I had the BOM. It’s an acronym for Bill of Materials. Bill…of…Materials. Yes, I’ve got the Bill of Materials in that brief case, in the folder labeled Ryan Account.”

Another man foraged through Hurley’s briefcase.

“Check out?” Adams asked.

“Yeah, here it is. Bill of Materials.”

“All units,” Adams said. “Bomb threat all clear in Concourse A. Repeat All Clear in Concourse Alpha. Threat neutralized. Repeat, All clear in Concourse Alpha.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, sir. Next time, please be careful with that acronym, especially in an airport.”

“Yes sir. Will do.”