As it turns out, there were several buttons on the remote control and Vinny insisted that he had to be the one to push that special button that would deactivate the bomb surrounding little Clarence's crib. They had made the trip to Baltimore in two and a half hours.
It was now 4:30am and still very dark outside. There was no way the Feds could delay the media circus any longer and rubbernecks and spectators were filling up the parking lot to Tony's apartment complex by the minute. You could see several white vans with satellite dishes perched on top. It was ironic how a lazy part of the city could look so upbeat at 4:30 in the morning. Usually drug dealers and ticket runners had just fallen asleep at this hour.
Tony's five story apartment complex had been completely evacuated of the 65 residents that were threatening lawsuits towards the city. The bricky building was cordoned off with the usual yellow tape and nobody was allowed to come within 100 yards of the building unless you were authorized personnel. The police didn't want flashlights pointed towards Tony's apartment's outside window because they were afraid it might trigger a motion sensor and cause a big kaboom.
The infamous Gadget Man was being ushered by Carter, his brother, and three burly Marshals well over 200 pounds past the yellow tape and towards the apartment complex. They had to get in range for the remote control to function.
Vinny pulled on the antenna with his teeth making it two feet long. The remote control looked similar to ones used on radio controlled cars that sold in toy stores. The remote in Vinny's hand had 4 different buttons and the Feds prayed that those other nonessential 3 other buttons didn't blow something else up or they would really look stupid.
Vinny's holding of the remote in his hands quickly got misconstrued for something else by the nosy crowd.
"Look! Those alphabet boys are going to let a madman blow the place up!" Shouted a disheveled bystander.
Vinny silently chuckled at the thought of this. He looked up towards the top of the building trying to remember which window was Tony's. Everything was completely dark and the place looked like a haunted house. When they got within 30ft of the building Vinny stopped dead in his tracks and flicked on the power switch to the remote. A little red light turned on the switchboard giving a red soft glow in his hands.
"This is far enough. The frequency should work from here."
The group halted and all eyes were focused on the remote control. Carter took in a deep breath then let out a sigh. This was it. The big moment.
"Go on. Push the button or I'll push it." Instructed Carter trying to sound tough.
They all watched as Vinny pushed the button on the top right corner. Everyone held in their breath expecting something terrible to happen, but nothing happened. Even the misinformed crowd 100 yards away grew quiet.
"That's it? It's all done?" Questioned Carter.
"Yup. She's all yours. You can take these handcuffs off now. I think I'm going to go grab a bite to eat." Said Vinny.
Carter placed a firm hand on his shoulder. "Whoa, whoa, hold on there buster. My men haven't confirmed it yet. I forget, how do we know it's been disarmed?"
"Oh that's easy. The big bright LED timer display should be completely turned off. You want me to go in and check?" He said crooking his neck way back and looking towards the top of the edifice.
"No that's quite alright. I'm going to send a member of the bomb squad in to check to make sure it's clear." He plucked the walkie talkie from his belt and barked a command. Within 30 seconds a bomb squad member dressed like Darth Vader from Star Wars made his way cautiously inside the building. Vinny surmised it was probably hard for him to see with the protective shield over his face and it being extremely dark.
"Grab me a beer from my fridge while you're in there!" Shouted an angry tenant. The crowd shut up as everyone waited patiently for the bomb squad dude to come back out and bear the news. As it turns out, 2 minutes later they had their answer.
Bomb squad dude came sprinting out of the building empty handed with no baby and people were getting worried. He raced right up to Carter who was now joined by a pissed off Max Trowell.
"There's been a mistake! We've got a big problem on our hands. He must've pushed the wrong button because the timer is counting down like the minutes are milliseconds! We might only have 5 minutes before she blows!"
All heads turned to Vinny for an answer. For once the Gadget Man felt himself shrink in fear. It was like facing a mean bull about to charge you. These people were clearly irate. Carter grabbed a fistful of Vinny's shirt getting ready to throw a punch.
"You son of a-"
Alvin quickly stepped in between them. "Hold on! Maybe he accidentally made a mistake and it can be fixed." He said trying to alleviate the situation.
Carter loosened his grip and stepped back and tried to regain his composure. The Gadget Man was in a trance and lost somewhere in outer space. Alvin lightly tapped his brother's cheeks bringing him back to earth.
"Hey, big guy, we need to know what's going on. Can this be fixed?"
Vinny sadly shook his head no. "I screwed up. There's nothing we can do. She's gonna blow." He said feeling true guilt for the first time. He was finally learning that he did indeed have a conscience.
Carter pushed Alvin out of the way and pushed his finger into Vinny's chest. "I'm going to see to it personally that you get the needle you sick bastard!"
The Gadget Man retaliated. "Ask me if I care you soft curly haired freak!"
Alvin stepped between them once again. "Just chill out a second. There's gotta be something we can do."
"How?" Questioned Vinny, "I've got at least 30 activated motion sensors in that room. If anything bigger than a fly enters that room you can kiss that baby goodbye."
Suddenly a thought entered the Gadget Man's mind that could save them all. Maybe all except for him. Vinny whispered into Alvin's ear and by the time he was done whispering a tear had welled up in Alvin's eye.
"You sure you want to do this?" Questioned Alvin. Vinny slowly nodded his head yes.
"What? What's going on?" Carter wanted in on the secret.
"He's going to sacrifice himself for the sake of the baby." Alvin quickly spat out. He didn't think it was such a bad idea. He'd rather see his big brother go out with a little style then watch an unjustified crowd set their minds at ease watching him get the needle.
Carter wasn't buying it. He didn't trust the Gadget Man as far as the eye could see. "This is ludicrous! If you think we're letting Vincent go in that building alone you're highly mistaking Officer Young."
Alvin shot back. "You got a better idea?"
Before Carter could answer Max stepped in between them. "Gentlemen! Quit wasting time! We've got a 6 month old baby in there that we don't even know is still alive and an angry crowd that's gonna see to it we all lose our jobs." He looked at Alvin, "What's this great plan of yours?"
Alvin proceeded to tell Max Vinny's genius idea. According to the Gadget Man once the motion sensors were triggered there was between a 4 to 5 second delay as the fuse ignited. Vinny was prepared to rescue the baby but would probably die in the process.
Alvin pointed up to Tony's window which was slightly ajar as he spoke. Max looked up at the window but could see nothing because it was so dark. He took his word that the window was slightly open. Meanwhile...
Carter was pacing back and forth nervously like he was trying to come up with the right words to tell an ex-girlfriend.
Max clapped his hands together sealing the deal. "Good. Let's make it happen. We're running out of time. I'm going to have my men watch all sides of the building in case he tries to escape." He looked directly at Vinny, "Do you understand that? My men won't hesitate to shoot you."
Vinny solemnly nodded his head. Max barked into his radio and the plan went into action.
Police officers ran across the parking lot and took up their positions. Max allowed Alvin to remove the handcuffs from his brother and have some final words. Alvin tried to be gentle as he carefully removed the cuffs.
"You know mom would be proud of you. You're doing the right thing. When everyone finds out you saved that baby you'll be considered a hero."
Hero? Vinny mused at the thought of this. For a brief moment he thought of Bridget. Yes he had used her for a patsy but he did have a soft spot for her. Would she be proud of him too? Would this be how the story of the legendary Gadget Man ends?
Vinny could feel his body going back to it's roots from years ago and contemplating on doing the right thing. It was time to be a man and do what was right. Another tear dripped from Alvin's left eye when he loosened the last cuff. He could tell by the look on Vinny's face that the ploy was over and he was prepared to fix the mess he'd made. He hugged his big brother and whispered into his ear. "I love you bro."
The Gadget Man just nodded and remained stoic. Together the duo wended towards the building only Alvin stopped and stood directly under Tony's bedroom window and gazed up at the 5 floors. The Gadget Man proceeded to walk into the building alone as the lawmen took up their positions watching every corner of the building.
It was finally show time and the raging crowd grew quiet. Vinny moved swiftly up to the 5th floor trying to be loud to break the eerie silence of what felt like a haunted house. While reminding himself that the armed crib was adjacent to Tony's bedroom window which was partially opened, he rehearsed his game plan in his head. Okay, I've got to run in the bedroom as fast as I can and do my thing in 4 seconds. He thought to himself. His rescue plan was still a crapshoot, but it just might work. After all, it was the only way.
Meanwhile...
The onlookers, rubbernecks, and angry tenants watched from 100 yards away Officer Young standing nervously outside of the building under Tony's bedroom window. A few minutes had passed but nobody could see what was going on inside Tony's bedroom because everything was dark as the Ace of spades.
Just when they least expected it, it looked like that horrific Michael Jackson scene all over again. 6 month old Clarence was dangling from the window then quickly released into mid air.
The crowd gaped in disbelief as they watched the infant fall 5 stories plummeting towards the ground. Halfway during the fall, a loud whooshing sound mixed with a thunderous echo rang out followed by a great big gaseous ball of fire nearly blinding the public. Shards of glass from Tony's window shot in every direction as the aftermath of the explosion started the building on fire.
Alvin caught little Clarence in the nick of time and quickly ran out of harms way and towards the crowd. Little Clarence was completely unscathed and crying for his momma. Alvin ran with Clarence in his arms and made his way towards the crowd and found Keisha crying tears of joy.
The crowd applauded as Alvin tenderly handed off little Clarence to his mother who thanked him repeatedly. Alvin completely forgot about Vinny's sacrifice and sopped up all the attention for himself.
There were more cameras flashing at him than the leading kickoff to the Super Bowl. Carter had to push people out of the way just to shake hands with Alvin and congratulate him on a job well done.
Fire trucks immediately went to work on the conflagration to try and salvage some of the building.
The nightmare was finally over. Or was it?