The Victory Bridge

The Victory Bridge

Fog descended on the bridge, as dozens of cars patiently waited to get out of Victory Bridge. It was with an amazing sense of civic responsibility and peace that the cars moved, inching forward, and the sound of horns almost silent.

Inspector Stallomiere switched on his walkie talkie. “Alright, the convoy is on Victory Bridge. I repeat it is on Victory Bridge. Remember, everyone keeps to their positions.”
He looked at the innumerable number of screens in front of him, and smiled. There were several cameras all over town, except on the bridge of course. It would be impossible to get a camera signal from a bridge so high.

The Victory Bridge was one of the best bridges in the world. Besides being the tallest one, it was also one of the most longest. 1000 cars could be placed on the bridge at the same time without any problem.

In almost the centre of the bridge was a convoy. There were two unmarked police cars in the front, followed by two limousines, four Toyota cars and closed by two unmarked police cars again. This was the important convoy that Inspector Stallomiere was entrusted with. His job was simple. Get the convoy into its location at the right time without any trouble,

As the two police cars in the front inched forward, a GMC Suburban slowed down. Not that it was moving fast, but the driver looked into the rear mirror and spoke into a secure radio connection. “Convoy in position. Request Action 1”

The command came back. “Roger that.”

The Suburban turned off its ignition. Thirty seconds later, the two police cars realized there was a problem. “Hey mate, get moving will you?” One of the police officers cried.

The man in the Suburban came out, and tried to check the tires. “I think I have four flat tires,” he lied.

The officers cursed and reported it to the Inspector. “Who cares, drive on.” Came the reply,

“Sir, but we will have to break formation.”

The formation was that in the three lane road, the two police cars left the middle lane free. This was in case of an emergency. The middle lane could be used for escape.

The Inspector looked at his watch. There was just twenty minutes left. They had to move.

“Break formation!” he cried.

As the traffic moved along, the GMC Suburban owner tried to get his tires in order. The two police cars squeezed into the two lanes besides the car. The driver of the GMC smiled and spoke into the walkie talkie. “Action 1 complete!”

“Roger. Start Action 2”

Meanwhile, the two limousines behind the police cars realized that the formation was broken. Not that it mattered to them. The men inside were politicians, not policemen. They were engrossed in a serious debate. Within twenty minutes, a city debate would start. The lives of these men were in Inspector Stallomiere’s hands.

The two police cars inched past the Suburban. “Begin Action 2”

As though out of nowhere, six newspaper vendors appeared. Three of them, stood behind the two police cars. Two of the vendors had newspaper stacks. They took out spray cans from it, and began spraying the rear windows of the unmarked cars. The third man made sure that the police men were distracted. Five minutes later, the frozen air particles in the can, made sure that the rear windows of both the police cars were filled with layers of fog.

“Action 2 complete!”

Inspector Stallomiere was feeling restless. He knew that he had the plan under control. The route of the convoy wouldn’t be revealed to anyone. Only after the convoy was back in the city, would the route be revealed. Besides, the Inspector was worried about the threats that were received.

The newspaper vendors heard the command. They moved forward. As two of them reached the limousines, one of them accidentally hit the other. The stack of newspapers fell to the ground. As both men stooped to get the papers, they attached few bugs onto the limousines. “Action 3 a success!”

Now, things began to get hazy. The fog was still thick. The limousine drivers felt restless that the traffic wasn’t moving. The six vendors got into their positions. Two men stood near the limousines, while the rest covered the Toyota cars. They stood in their positions, looking nervous and still…

“Hey, look at those guys,” the two police officers in the rear Police car said to their partner car. “They’ve been standing like that for ages. I wonder why?”

Two seconds later, as a huge cement mixing truck came roaring behind them, they knew the answer… 


Inspector Stallomiere received the news twenty minutes later. Someone tipped him that the convoy had been attacked.
As he rushed to the bridge, the Inspector’s heart was pounding. He looked at the traffic on the bridge, and was shocked…

There was a large cement mixer, crashed into two police cars. The police men were unconscious on the road. As he walked up to them, the Inspector realized that it was extremely foggy. He couldn’t see what ten meters in front of him was. AS he ordered the paramedics to come, he saw the side rails of the bridge.

There were three columns of rail, broken off, leaving a huge gap in the side of the bridge. Half a dozen cars could go through at the same time. “Oh my god!” he cried.

The police were called, along with the Coast Guards, after three cars were found bobbing in the river below.

“What happened?” An angry commissioner asked the Inspector. “Sir we still aren’t sure, but I think the convoy was plunged into the sea by the kidnappers.”

“What! But why?”

“I don’t know sir.”

The Coast Guards arrived, in all their might, to recover the cars. Half an hour later, they reported. “Sir, these are brand new cars. Perhaps just from the showrooms. No one was found inside.”

The Inspector was stunned. “No bodies?”

“Nope. But we did find some anchors at the bottom of the sea…wonder where they came from…”

The Inspector walked back onto the bridge, his mind racing with thoughts. He knew what had happened. The cars were rammed over the bridge, and then dumped into the sea. But then why was there no trace of the original cars?

As he stood near the rails, a thought hit him. The rails had a dark red color glow, as though… “Oh God!” The Inspector cried.

“Coast Guard, I want a rapid routine check on all ships that passed under the bridge!” “Yes sir….but its take three minutes!”

As the Coast Guards checked their list, they came across a name. ‘The Vanisher’.  “Hey, which is this ship?” The Head Guard asked. The computer files were checked.

A man in a black mask smiled as he stood onto top of his ship. It had been extremely easy, by his standards. The muffled cries of his captured politicians could be heard behind him.
“Sir, I think there was a problem!”

“What is it?” The Inspector cried. “Well sir, you remember the time when you requested full Coast Guard support? Well that was the time when a ship, a cargo ship, was passing by. We would have checked it...but you called us…”

The Inspector closed his eyes. His phone rang again. It was the chemical analyst. “Well, you are right, Inspector. The rails on the bridge were broken using thermite explosives. Doesn’t cause sound. But gives off a lot of white smoke. Would have to be a lot of explosives, though. Probably a jeep full of it!”

The man on top of the ship smiled. The GMC Suburban was filled with thermite explosives. It was all well planned. The vendors properly placed the electronic signal jammers under the limousines. Within seconds, all electronic systems, including alarm and locking systems would be jammed. Then, there were the four unarmed Toyota cars. They were handled easily by the vendors. It was the two police cars at the back which created problem. Though nothing that a cement mixer couldn’t fix.

After that wonderful crash, the policemen in the front were bound to be alerted. But, yet again, the ingenious composition chloroform injected into their car’s air-conditioning system…there wasn’t a glitch.

“Commissioner, I am sorry to say that the targets have been kidnapped.”

“How?”

“Well, there was an ambush on the bridge. They were overpowered.”

“On the bridge? But I thought we had officers guarding the exits of the bridge! How could they escape?”

The Inspector waited before breaking the news. He was sure that the Commissioner wouldn’t like it…

Twenty five minutes ago, a cargo ship, with its empty containers moved under the bridge. Just then, the driver, paid a hefty sum for stopping the ship, pulled the brakes, and jumped off the ship. Ten seconds later, the thermite explosives blew off the rails. After that, the kidnappers jumped into the cargo ship and used the iron ropes. Within three minutes, all six cars were pulled into the ship, with the help of a ramp. Then, the scene was checked for one last time.

After that, with politicians and businessmen worth millions in ransom money, ‘The Vanisher’ vanished into the thick fog…