TICKER tock BOOM

A short story of 2 friends, a freelance computer technician moonlighting as a hacker and an ex-employee stock analyst, stumble into a plot by a shadowy company, to profit from an explosion at a local chemical plant. Meanwhile 2 city detectives discover the plot with mere hours to go and race to prevent the explosion, save the 2 friends now being held captive and apprehend the criminals within the time limit.