Third Hour

by Lisa Phillips

  “I’ll call the FBI,” Victoria said. “Welvern is recovering, but I should be able to get through to the Director and get us some backup.”

  Mason frowned. “The route the motorcade took wasn’t public knowledge. It wasn’t even decided until the last minute. Do they have enough men to have stationed some at each possible route, or did they get passed the information?”

  He thought there might be a mole in the Secret Service?

  “Agent Armstrong?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Stanton was quiet for a second. “You’re there with Victoria?”

  “On our way and ready to lend a hand. Get this situation squared away.” He glanced at Talia, then focused on the road again. “Talia got winged at the stadium but it’s patched up, and we’re headed to you.”

  “Yes…good. Glad to hear it.” Stanton paused. “Let me know when you get here.”

  . . .

  “You need to—”

  She cut him off. “Stay in the car?”

  “He’s right.” Victoria slammed the rear door and went to the trunk.

  Mason crouched by the open driver’s door. Talia didn’t look happy, but she also wasn’t arguing. “Be safe.”

  “I should be telling you that. You’re the one walking into a building filled with an overwhelming force of armed gunmen.” She took a breath like she was trying to control the pain. “But I need you to get Alvarez and that other guy back, so I don’t have much choice but to push aside the fear. Do I?”

  “And the Secretary of State.”

  “I care about the people I care about, and that’s how it is.”

  Mason wanted to smile, but didn’t because there wasn’t time. “I’m not going to tell you to stay here. That might get you killed. I need you to do whatever you need to do to stay safe.”

  “Copy that.”

  Victoria passed a radio and earbud headphones to Talia. She handed another to Mason, then turned on her own pack. “Channel two.”

  “Copy that.” Talia keyed her mic.

  Mason got his turned on and slipped one earbud in.

  “Mic check.” She kept talking, and he walked a few paces away while he listened through his earpiece, then adjusted the volume.

  Mason said, “I read you.”

  “Me too.” Victoria went back to the trunk. She tossed him a vest. When he’d strapped it on, she held out a rifle. Extra magazine.

  Mason nodded. “The FBI?”

  “They’ll be here momentarily.”

  Five minutes later, they approached the warehouse along with a group of FBI agents, armed response agents, local police officers and SWAT. Even state police had shown up. If there had been time, Mason might have taken a moment to let it sink in that this was a multi-agency operation. And it seemed very much like Victoria was the one in charge.

  Stanton hadn’t shown up, but there wasn’t time to wait for him.

  Victoria got on the radio. “All positions move in.”

  Not wasting any time. Mason respected that. Each position reported in that they copied, and everyone moved. They breached the warehouse from every entrance, even a couple of windows. It spread them thinner than anyone would’ve liked, but he figured the main fight would be congregated inside. Where they’d end up once they got through the stragglers on the way to the huge central room where Talia said most of the cell phones were currently located.

  A man turned the corner at the end of the hall. Mason saw the gun and fired. The man fell. Each person breaching the building had been sent an electronic photo of Alvarez, and one of the man with him. Someone named Drew Turner.

  Sounded familiar, but Mason couldn’t place the guy.

  His group turned the corner, and he took out another guy. The SWAT officer beside him took out a man as well. They kept going, that steady half-walk-half-run that ate up the feet of space between them and the main room, but meant they didn’t rush headlong into a situation that was going to get them pinned down and outnumbered.

  Speed and caution were the name of the game.

  He prayed Talia was all right back in the vehicle as they approached a set of doors. Mason veered to the side and motioned for everyone to hit the walls. Then he peered through the tiny glass panel on his side. The SWAT officer did the same.

  A round pierced the glass on the SWAT guy’s side, and pink mist sprayed into the hall. He dropped to the floor.

  Mason moved. He shoved the door open, already firing.

  Older guy with a rifle. Down.

  The one who’d killed that SWAT officer?

  Mason scanned and put another guy down. He heard boots enter behind him, keeping track. They needed to get this done. They’d be able to assess the damage later. He didn’t like losing anyone.

  They pressed on as a group. Encountered resistance again and again. The last door before the warehouse was the worst. Mason and his group nearly didn’t make it through. He was fast running out of ammo.

  Talia got on the radio. “Charlie team is pinned down in the west hallway if anyone is available to assist.”

  Mason glanced back at his guys. Two police officers shifted and glanced at each other.

  One said, “Yeah?”

  The other nodded. “Let’s go.”

  Mason keyed his radio. “Help is on the way.”

  Talia said, “Copy that.”

  He turned back to the hallway ahead of them.

  “How many of these guys are we going to have to put down?”

  Mason nodded, entirely agreeing with the FBI agent’s sentiment, knowing it wasn’t an actual question anyone wanted to answer. But there was no time to voice it. He was right, though. These guys were like ants pouring out of the woodwork. “Ready?”

  “Yep.”

  They breached the doors hard and fast. The collection of men and a few women in the room turned. At the same time, two other doors were breached. The middle of the warehouse was bare except for pallets and piles of boxes.

  “Guns down! Hands on your heads!”

  “FBI!”

  “Seattle PD!”

  “Secret Service!”

  The circle in the middle shifted. Handguns and all manner of rifles swung up to greet them, even a shotgun.

  They all dove for cover as gunfire erupted. This was going to turn into a bloodbath quickly with them around the edges and the targets in the middle.

  Mason rolled and came up behind a pallet.

  Bullets ricocheted off the floor beside him. The noise in the room was deafening as shots were fired, one after the other. No pause. No time to gather his thoughts or make a plan.

  He shifted and took a look. Lifted his gun and fired twice. A gunman dropped. Beyond him, on the far side, a law officer with a vest—the protective gear being the only way to tell the good guys from the bad guys—ducked behind cover.

  “Keep your shots clean!” Mason yelled it twice, just to make sure. He didn’t want anyone getting taken out by friendly fire.

  Wood from the pallet exploded above his head. He flinched and gritted his teeth. Splinters were bad but getting your head blown off was arguably worse. He looked around for a better spot, while all around the warehouse people were dropping like flies. Would they actually be able to do this?

  He keyed his radio. “Anyone got eyes on Yewell?”

  Talia responded. “Room off to your seven o’clock.”

  He glanced in that direction. “Cover fire!”

  He didn’t know who it was, but they yelled, “Go!”

  Mason raced for the door. Bullets sang past his head, but he kept it down and kept going. He barreled into the room so hard the door splintered. Gun up.

  A group of guys. In the center, a man sat on a chair. The Secretary of State. Yewell and three of his men surrounded the man. Alvarez and his guy were both on the floor by the far wall, guns pointed at them.

  “Stand down.”

  Yewell grinned.

  “I’m not sure we’re going to do that.”

  Mason spun.
“Stanton?”

  “You just refuse to die, don’t you?” His boss looked at him with so much disdain, Mason had to wonder why he hadn’t seen it before.

  Alvarez and Drew both jumped up and slammed into the men holding weapons on them.

  The Secretary of State yelled at his son.

  Stanton swung out. Mason blocked it, then slammed the butt of his rifle into his boss’s face. He crumpled to the floor in a heap.

  Alvarez and Drew stood up in tandem, like they’d choreographed it. Unconscious men at their feet.

  Alvarez grabbed a gun. “It’s over, Yewell. Your plan failed.”

  Chapter 29

  Talia watched them walk Yewell from the warehouse. She let out the breath she’d been holding. Mason came out, walking a handcuffed Stanton by the elbow. She cracked the door and got out.

  The huddle of people was at least a dozen. Several law enforcement agencies, but that world was a small one. Local feds knew local cops, especially lieutenants and captains. They milled around, getting caught up with what had happened.

  The group pinned down in the hallway had been helped, and they were out now. Dead bodies probably littered every square foot of the warehouse, and more were walked out of the building in cuffs.

  Talia moved to meet up with Mason. “The assistant director?”

  He made a face while Stanton shifted to glare at her. Mason said, “Don’t even think about it.”

  Stanton grunted. Mason handed him off to a couple of FBI agents, explaining who he was.

  She turned to watch as Yewell was brought out, followed by his father. Only one of them had been cuffed. Victoria moved with them, explaining the severity of the situation to the FBI guy in charge of the scene. This man represented a serious threat, and she wanted him in federal prison ASAP. The Secretary of State just looked shell shocked.

  Mason touched her elbow. Talia glanced over. He made a face.

  “Yeah, she’s pretty intimidating when she needs to be.” But Victoria wasn’t what she wanted to talk about. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded. “You?”

  “I’m good. Ready to get out of here, though.” She needed a shower and two days of sleep. After that she was going to give Dakota back her tennis shoes. “I’d like to check on Niall.”

  That was assuming Mason intended to accompany her where she was going next. Maybe he couldn’t, or didn’t want to. There was probably too much for him to do here. Paperwork. His boss had been arrested.

  She had no idea—

  Mason shifted, close like when he’d kissed her. “Can I drive you? If it’s all right with you, I don’t think I’m okay letting you out of my sight right now.”

  Well, now. That was sweet. And sweet always needed a little sassy. Like a cherry on whipped cream. Talia stuck out one foot and put a hand on her right hip even though the movement made her left side spark with pain. “You’re the one that got abducted. And nearly killed. And nearly swept away by water in a tunnel.”

  Mason grinned. “And shot?”

  “It’s a graze.” She waved at him. “You look like death warmed over.”

  “You look beautiful.” He gathered her in his arms and kissed her, until someone close by cleared their throat.

  Both of them turned to see Victoria, standing there with a very smug smile on her face. Behind her, Dakota was outright laughing. Her fiancé stood beside her, the dog at his feet. Apparently they’d all shown up, and she hadn’t even noticed.

  “How’s Niall?”

  Relief flashed over Victoria’s face. “He woke up pretty groggy, but they’re hoping that things will start coming back fast.”

  Talia still wanted to see for herself. “And Welvern?”

  “He’s good. Called to ask me if I’ve managed to steal away his entire team yet.”

  Alvarez walked over, tall and slender. Beside him was a muscled man—not as big as Mason—who stuck his hand out to Victoria. “Drew Turner.”

  “Mr. Mayor.” She smiled. “Of course. How’s the sheriff?”

  “Good. Thank you.”

  Talia gaped. “What…”

  “You’ve been distracted.” Victoria’s eyebrows angled together. “I wouldn’t have expected you to run a background check on our undercover friend.”

  Like Talia needed a background check? She said, “Northcorp Inland Holdings.”

  Drew’s head jerked around to her. “Are you Talia?” She nodded, and they shook hands. “Small world.”

  “That it is.” Victoria glanced between them.

  Mason said, “I feel like there’s a whole story here that no one’s told me.”

  “I’ll catch you up later.”

  Mason took her hand. “I’d like that.”

  Dakota made a noise. “Is he gonna come on board with the team as well?”

  “What if he did?” Talia challenged. “What would be the big deal about that?”

  Before Dakota could say anything, Victoria cut in. “He isn’t.” She held up a hand to Mason. “No offense. But Mason has a lot of work to do now. After all.” She grinned. “He’s the acting assistant director of the Secret Service office in Seattle.”

  Talia blinked. “He is?”

  “I am?”

  Alvarez snorted. “You guys are clueless.”

  Well, it wasn’t like Talia hadn’t figured out everything up until that point. Besides, the hacker had incriminated her in a security breach. He couldn’t get into a relationship with her when she had that hanging over her head, could he? The hit to his career, and reputation, would be significant.

  “Whatever just happened on your face,” Alvarez said, “didn’t look all that good. But I’m thinking you don’t need to worry about it.”

  Talia felt all of their stares. She didn’t want to be the center of attention, but here she was. She needed to say something, so they didn’t try to fix all her problems. It was what they did, and she loved them for it. But trying to convince them she was fine never worked. Too bad it seemed like they were going to keep doing it anyway.

  She lifted her chin. “We caught the bad guy, didn’t we?”

  “And then some,” Josh said.

  “Everyone is alive, or they’ll heal. Right?” She looked around.

  “True.” Victoria smiled.

  “So why are we standing around here? We should go celebrate!”

  Dakota laughed, strode over and planted a kiss on Talia’s forehead. “You’re right. Dinner? I’m thinking stuffed-crust pizza.”

  Talia said, “I’m thinking steak.”

  Alvarez slung his arm around her shoulder. “I second the steak.”

  Mason stood watching them, a big grin on his face. “As soon as we get that graze stitched up, we can go get steak.”

  “Graze?” Alvarez looked at each of them, then her. “You got hurt?”

  “It’s a graze.”

  He spun to Mason. “You let her get shot?”

  Mason lifted both hands. “I didn’t—”

  “Calm down.” Talia tugged on Alvarez’s shirt, then tried to shove him away. “Don’t think I won’t stun gun you.” Where was her device? She had no idea. But when she found it, Alvarez was going to learn she was serious.

  Talia headed for the car, listening to them argue behind her.

  “How bad is it?”

  “Dude.”

  “Someone tell me.” He didn’t sound happy.

  “Let’s just go.”

  Josh said, “I want a loaded baked potato.”

  “I gotta get home. It’s a long drive, and I want to be there before Ellie goes on the night shift.”

  Talia glanced over her shoulder. “Bye, Drew!”

  He waved over his shoulder and walked away in the opposite direction.

  “I’ll drive.”

  “No, I’m driving.”

  “I’m the one who has the keys.”

  Neema barked.

  Talia’s heart swelled as the voices blended together. The team was in one piece. Life went on. Things
would go back to normal. Cerium was a problem for another day.

  Mason got to the car door first and held it open for her.

  Dakota said, “How come you never do that for me?”

  Josh sighed. “Would you really let me?”

  “No, but you’re supposed to want to do it anyway.”

  “I do.”

  “Oh.”

  Talia grinned. She lifted up on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to Mason’s lips. “She’s totally jealous.”

  He laughed.

  “I am not!”

  Coming fall 2019

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  About the author

  A British ex-pat who grew up an hour outside of London, Lisa attended Calvary Chapel Bible College

  where she met her husband. He's from California, but nobody’s perfect. It wasn’t until her Bible College graduation that she figured out she was a writer (someone told her). Since then she's discovered a penchant for high-stakes stories of mayhem and disaster where you can find made-for-each-other love that always ends in happily ever after.

  Lisa can be found in Idaho wearing either flip-flops or cowgirl boots, depending on the season. She leads worship with her husband at their local church. Together they have two children and an all-black Airedale known as The Dark Lord Elevator.

  Lisa is the author of the bestselling Sanctuary (WITSEC town series), the Double Down series, and more than a dozen Love Inspired Suspense novels.

  Find out more at www.authorlisaphillips.com