by Laura Scott
No! This couldn’t be happening! This guy had actually planted the bomb as a way to get to her! She tried to capture other people’s gazes, but no one was paying the least bit of attention to her or the man who held her at knifepoint. She thought about trying to scream or shout but couldn’t bear the thought of this guy setting off the bomb, hurting Max and Sam, not to mention dozens of other innocent lives.
Please, God, help me!
She glanced over her shoulder, trying to get a glimpse of her assailant’s face. As before, he had a dark hat over his hair and a scarf pulled up to cover most of his face. But then she caught a glimpse of his eyes and instantly recognized him.
Bryon Avery. The pat-pat-patting suddenly made sense. Bryon had often displayed that nervous tick. She hadn’t connected that before, maybe because she’d found it so hard to accept that one of the Geek Quad could want to hurt her.
“Why?” Her voice came out a croak. “I don’t understand.”
“Shut up.” Bryon tightened his grip, making her wince with pain. “Don’t bother playing up the innocent act with me. You know very well why I’m doing this.”
“I don’t!” She squeezed the words past her tight throat. “We were friends. I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
“I told you to shut up!” He held up his cell phone with his other hand just enough so she could see it. “Or should I go ahead and detonate the backpack?”
No! Max! Sam! She sucked in a harsh breath and bit her lip to keep from crying out. There was no doubt in her mind that Bryon would do as he threatened if she stepped out of line.
They hit the street level and he took her the same way he’d escaped that very first night. The night he’d tried to stab her. In a desperate move, she pulled off her red-knit glove and dropped it to the ground. Maybe, just maybe, Max and Sam would find it.
But as he urged her forward, farther away from Max and Sam, her despair grew, filling her with fear.
By the time Max realized she was gone, it would be too late. Bryon Avery, her onetime friend turned tormentor, would have her just where he wanted.
* * *
“Come, Sam.” Max held his breath until his partner turned away from the backpack and trotted back to his side. He clipped on Sam’s leash, then faced the few gawkers that remained. He needed to secure the perimeter and was irritated that some people didn’t seem to have basic common sense. “Everyone get back! I want you to clear the area!”
The lingering people scattered. He scowled as he abruptly realized Eden wasn’t nearby. Had she gone up to the street level to wait for his backup? The sirens were growing louder, indicating they were on the way. While a part of him was glad she was far away from the backpack bomb, he didn’t like not seeing her.
“Eden?” He shouted her name, his voice echoing off the concrete walls of the subway station. “Eden!”
No response.
A tingle of fear snaked down his spine. “Eden!” He urged Sam farther from the backpack, until they were near the bottom of the stairs. He looked up, hoping to see her, but there was no sign of her red coat.
Where was she? Max pulled out his cell phone to call her, then hesitated and glanced at the backpack. What if the stupid thing was set to detonate when she used her cell phone?
Shoving the phone back into his pocket, he reached for his radio, getting in touch with the desk clerk at their Brooklyn K-9 precinct. “This is Santelli. I need to be connected with Danielle Kowalski from the NYC K-9 Command Unit in Queens, ASAP. I need her to locate Eden Chang.”
“Eden’s missing? Hang on.” There was a moment of silence before he was patched through to the Queens unit.
“This is Danielle.”
“Officer Santelli from Brooklyn. I believe Eden has been abducted from the Bay Ridge subway station by an assailant dressed in black. I need you to get eyes on her.”
“Okay, give me a sec.”
He tightened his grip on the radio, feeling certain they didn’t have a second to waste. He tried to estimate how much time had gone by. Ten minutes? Fifteen? He wasn’t sure. As much as he wanted to instantly follow her, he couldn’t leave the stupid backpack bomb unattended.
Where was the bomb squad? They should have been here by now.
“I think I see her,” Danielle’s voice sounded hesitant. “They’re heading north down the street away from the subway station.”
They? Max realized the perp was taking the same route as he had the night of the stabbing. “Keep your eyes on her,” he ordered. “Is anyone close enough to tail her?”
“Not yet.”
“Get someone on it. As soon as my backup arrives, Sam and I will head out, too.”
“I will,” Danielle promised.
The reassurance didn’t help him feel better. The sirens were loud enough now, indicating help had arrived. Still, it seemed to take forever for the officers to make their way toward him.
He quickly filled them in on what was going on. “I need to go after Eden.”
“You can’t leave,” the officer protested.
Max ignored him. He jogged up the stairs to the street with Sam keeping pace at his side. He tried to think of something he could use for Sam to track her scent.
If only he’d taken her computer bag from her! He fought the wave of panic, sweeping his gaze over the area as he headed in the direction Danielle had indicated.
A red-knit glove caught his eye. Eden had been wearing red gloves. It looked relatively clean as if it hadn’t been there very long. With a surge of hope, he carefully picked it up. He couldn’t detect her spicy scent but knew Sam could.
He reached for his radio. “Danielle? Where’s Eden? Did she drop a red glove?”
“Yes, video shows her drop the glove mere moments before she and the guy in black disappeared from view.” There was a pause. “I think I’ve lost her, Max. I’ll keep watching the cameras, but for the moment she and the man who abducted her are out of sight.”
“Okay, thanks.” Max stopped and held the glove out for Sam. “This is Eden. Seek Eden!”
Sam sniffed the glove for a long minute before turning back to the street. He lifted his nose in the air in a way that Max knew meant he was trying to hone in on Eden’s scent.
“Seek Eden, Sam,” he repeated.
Sam moved forward eagerly. Max kept him on leash but didn’t hesitate to break into a jog when his partner picked up the pace.
Please, Lord, show me and Sam the way!
Sam backtracked once, then continued moving down the street. Max looked at the various shops, recognizing the ones that stayed open late from the day he’d investigated the attempted stabbing.
He felt certain Sam wouldn’t let him down. That God was actually watching over them, helping to guide them down the right path.
It was impossible to imagine life without Eden, so he shut down any negative thoughts. They would find her. And she would be okay.
Sam alerted at the front door of a shop located near the end of the street. It was a touristy kind of place, the sort that sold lots of different types of trinkets from images of the Statute of Liberty to the Empire State Building.
There were even a couple of snow globes exactly like the one that had been made into a bomb and sent to Eden at the station.
His pulse shot up as he realized they were hot on this guy’s trail. He pinned the counter clerk with a fierce glare. “NYPD. Which way did they go?”
“Huh?” The guy looked confused.
“I’ll arrest you for aiding and abetting a criminal. Tell me which way the woman in the red coat and the guy dressed in black went!”
Sam growled as if sensing Max’s frustration.
“There.” The clerk lifted a shaky hand, pointing toward a narrow doorway.
He pulled the door open, finding a flight of rickety stairs heading downward. He glanced ba
ck at the clerk. “Are you sure?”
The clerk nodded. “It leads to tunnels beneath the city.”
He’d heard of the tunnels but had never been in them. Max turned on his flashlight and headed down, hoping and praying that Eden was still alive and unharmed.
TEN
“Bryon, please, tell me what’s going on.” Eden had dropped another glove once he’d dragged her down into the tunnels beneath the city. It was all she could think of as a way to help Max and Sam find her. But she had no idea if they were still at the bomb scene.
She’d heard of the tunnels but had never been down here. And didn’t much like them now. Bryon had a small light, but she couldn’t see much. The walls were dark and damp, and she feared there were rats or other creepy-crawlies surrounding them. The very idea made her shiver. When she felt something scuttle over her right foot, she swallowed a scream.
There had to be something she could do to get away from him. To get herself out of this mess. She forced the panic back so she could think. She had one more item to drop, and that was her red-knit hat. Would Bryon notice if she wasn’t wearing it? Maybe not. She was beginning to think he wasn’t quite sane.
“Why do you think the government is trying to recruit you?”
His abrupt question made her frown.
“I—don’t know,” she said.
He let out a low hiss of disgust. “Because they fired me, that’s why. And I learned you were the NSA’s first choice all along. Pretty, perfect Eden Chang.” Venom dripped from his tone.
“I—I’m sorry to hear you lost your job. That must have been terrible.” It was news to her that she’d been their first choice, but she doubted that alone had any bearing on the government’s decision to fire Bryon.
He pulled her deeper into the tunnels, seemingly knowing exactly where he wanted to go. “Rochelle dumped me right after I was fired. I lost everything, and it’s all your fault.”
“Me?” Her voice came out in a high squeak. “I didn’t do anything. I don’t even want the job.” The minute she said the words, she knew they were absolutely true. Working for the NYPD’s Brooklyn K-9 Unit was where her heart was.
Not to mention Max. And the other members of the team.
But mostly Max.
Lord, please help Max and Sam find me!
“Yeah, right,” Bryon scoffed, as he led her deeper into the darkness and farther away from any possibility of rescue. “I heard they were going to offer you double what I was making, and it has to be far more than whatever measly salary the NYPD is paying you. Only an idiot would refuse the job.”
There was more to life than money, but arguing would be useless, so she tried to switch tactics in an effort to keep him talking. “And what about Patti Wang?”
“She was nothing other than a way to throw suspicion on your brother’s idiot friend. I barely scratched her.”
His flat admission was terrifying. It was as if he had no empathy for others at all.
“Did you hack into the subway video feeds? Is that how you avoided the cameras?”
“I’m better than you, Eden. Too bad the NSA doesn’t agree.”
Keep him talking. “I still don’t understand why you’re trying to hurt me. I thought we were friends. I would never turn against you, Bryon.”
His grip on her arm tightened painfully. “Sure you would. Besides, it’s not just about you, Eden. It’s about proving my worth to those idiots at the NSA.”
Proving his worth? “You mean the way you created the bombs to be triggered by a specific phone number?”
“Exactly.” Satisfaction rang from his tone. “Soon they’ll know exactly what they missed by letting me go.”
Her mouth was dry with fear at his veiled threat. “What are you planning?”
“You’ll see.” She didn’t have to see his face to know he was smirking.
They turned down another tunnel, and Bryon slowed down as if he were searching for something. In the faint light, she could see a rickety ladder leading up, maybe to another shop much like the one they’d used to come down.
She quickly dropped her hat to let Max or Sam or anyone know which direction he’d taken her.
If Max and Sam were following at all.
No, she refused to give up her faith. God was watching over her. Max was too smart not to realize she’d been taken. And she knew in her heart he and Sam would do whatever necessary to find her.
It was her job to stay alive long enough for him to accomplish that goal.
* * *
Max could hear voices in the tunnel up ahead, but the concrete walls distorted the sound such that he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.
He was grateful they weren’t too far ahead. Keeping his hand covering the head of his flashlight to douse most of the illumination, he quickened his pace, trying to come up with a plan.
Unfortunately, his phone wasn’t getting service down here and using his radio would be too loud. He didn’t want the perp to know how close he was. He’d given his last location to Gavin just as he entered the tunnel.
Members of his team should be there soon.
Sam abruptly stopped. He turned to see his partner had found another of Eden’s red gloves. “Good boy,” he whispered, giving Sam’s coat a good rub. He offered the glove for Sam to sniff. “Good boy. Seek Eden.”
Sam eagerly surged forward, dragging Max along with him. The voices up ahead were getting louder now, and he didn’t dare delay much longer. Sam wasn’t just a great bomb-sniffing K-9. He’d also attack on command.
The only concern that weighed heavily in the back of his mind was the backpack bomb. He felt certain the guy who’d grabbed Eden wouldn’t hesitate to set it off. The bomb squad was there and hopefully taking care of getting the device into a safety box, but what if they hadn’t managed that yet?
What if the device blew up in their faces?
He couldn’t bear to think about that, so he concentrated on closing the gap.
“Please don’t do this, Bryon. Think about all the innocent people who don’t deserve this.”
Eden’s voice was clear, as if she were only a couple of yards away. Sam alerted again on her hat. Max picked it up and offered the fresh scent to Sam without speaking. He also slipped the K-9 off leash.
They turned the corner and Max caught a glimpse of light from halfway up the wall. No! They were heading up a ladder leading out of the tunnel!
“Get him!” Sam let out a series of ferocious barks, surging ahead, and grabbed the back of the guy’s jacket, hanging on with his steel-trap jaws and using all his weight to hold the guy back.
Several things happened at once. The guy’s head jerked back as Eden’s boot lashed out, clipping his chin. The Rottweiler’s strength brought the guy down several rungs, although he somehow managed to hang on.
Max let the flashlight drop, grabbed the guy’s arm and yanked hard. “Stop! You’re under arrest!”
“Let me go, or I’ll detonate the bomb!”
Eden kicked out again, and the perp lost his grip on the ladder, his arms flailing as he fought for balance.
Between Max and Sam, they managed to pin the guy down. From the light radiating from his flashlight, he searched for a cell phone, but the guy’s hands were empty.
Which didn’t mean he didn’t have another way to trigger the device.
Sam continued to bark in the perp’s face in a scare tactic that worked wonders. The guy—Eden had called him Bryon, which meant he was one of the Geek Quad friends—put his hands up to cover his face. “Get him off me!”
“Where’s the trigger for the bomb?” Max pulled his handcuffs off his belt. Eden came down to stand beside him.
“His name is Bryon Avery and his phone’s in his right pocket.” She sounded breathless. “He told me he’s created a way to trigger a bomb from a specific cell
number.”
After cuffing Avery’s wrists, he searched for and drew out the guy’s cell phone, holding it gingerly by the edges as he dropped it into an evidence bag. Then he used his radio to call Gavin.
“Sam and I found Eden and have Bryon Avery in custody. What’s the update with the bomb squad?”
“They have the backpack device secured. Tyler Walker and his K-9, Dusty, should be coming through the tunnel any minute.”
“Max? Eden?” The detective’s voice echoed off the concrete walls. “Are you okay?”
“We’re fine.” For a moment Max hung his head, as the magnitude of how close he’d come to losing Eden hit hard. He hadn’t wanted anyone else after losing Jessica. He hadn’t wanted to fall in love again.
But it was too late. His heart already belonged to Eden.
“Max? Are you okay?” Eden placed her hand on his arm, drawing his gaze.
“I’m fine, but what about you?” He raked his gaze over her. “Did he hurt you?”
“No, but he mentioned some grand plans to make the NSA sorry for firing him. I’m worried he has more bombs planted.”
Just what he didn’t want to hear. “Okay, we’ll have to send a notice to all precincts to be aware of any suspicious packages.” He gripped Avery’s arms and drew him upright. He quickly recited the Miranda warning, then asked, “Where are they? Where did you leave the bombs?”
Avery sneered. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
Max had to bite back a flash of temper. “If those bombs hurt the public, you’ll be looking at multiple counts of murder. Is that really what you want?”
“We need to check The Center,” Eden said. “Our hangout.”
The involuntary twitch at the corner of Avery’s eyes betrayed him. Max grabbed his radio. “Send the bomb squad to a gaming place called The Center to search for another device.” He glanced at Eden. “Where else?”
