Edge of Danger (Edge Security Series Book 3)

by Loye, Trish

  Her mind went over and over what she knew of Reynolds. As Al Shabah, the woman had terrorized the coalition troops in the Middle East. Now she’d brought that terror to the United States. To New York. She would want to make as big an impact as she could.

  That also meant that whatever she had in mind, it wouldn’t happen until all the guests had arrived—including the guest of honor. The Secretary of Defense was scheduled to speak at eight. That gave them three hours to find the bomb and evacuate the guests.

  Damn, she wished they could stop this event. But not even Zach and his E.D.G.E. team had the ability to cancel the Hero’s Gala, not since the FBI claimed to have the situation in hand. Someone in the Secretary of Defense’s office had given the gala the go-ahead.

  Cat, an explosives expert, spoke to them over the radio bud in her ear.

  “The bomb would have to be big if it’s going to take out a place this size. If it’s big, then it’s going to have signatures. Scent or perhaps an electromagnetic signature from the timing mechanism. If one is used. But I’m not seeing anything.”

  Frustration mounted in Alyssa. This had to be the location. What if they were wrong? What if Al Shabah was going to bomb somewhere else?

  The guests started arriving and began congregating near the three large bars at the edges of the room. It would take a while to get every guest through security. How was Al Shabah going to get a bomb past the front security or the dogs near the kitchen and side entrances? Reynolds must have thought of that already.

  Alyssa silently swore as she scanned the room again.

  “If you hold that glass any tighter, it’s going to break.” Zach stood beside her, also scanning the room with a fierce gaze.

  “You just need a British accent and I’d think you were James Bond.”

  “Except I’m black,” he said.

  She shrugged. “You’re more James Bond than Pierce Brosnan ever was.”

  “I wouldn’t have taken you for a Bond fan.”

  “Just Daniel Craig’s version.”

  His gaze moved over her face, her up-swept hair, and briefly glanced down over her body. “You look lovely.”

  Her stomach fluttered at his words and she glanced down at her champagne, away from his magnetic eyes. “Thank you,” she said. Then she raised her chin. Time to be professional. “Let’s walk the room.”

  He held out his arm and she stared at it for a moment. “Seriously?”

  He grinned. “You want to blend, right?”

  She rolled her eyes but took his offered arm. Her fingers curled around the hard muscle of his bicep, which she could feel even through his suit. She set her champagne down as they passed one of the tables set with china and crystal. She wanted at least one hand free. Her Glock was strapped to her calf, but she still felt vulnerable with her back bare. She should have worn a man’s suit, but her fancy jacket was too tight in the shoulders and she wanted to be able to move.

  They walked a circuit without speaking. More and more people entered the ballroom. The music could barely be heard over the din of conversations.

  “We’re missing something,” she said.

  “I know,” Zach said. He stopped moving and did a sweep with his gaze. “Where would our lady tango hide it?”

  Alyssa sucked in a breath. “She didn’t.”

  Zach looked down at her. “What do you mean?”

  “She wouldn’t hide it here. She’d know that we would turn this place upside down.” Her lips pressed together as she thought. “In fact, she’s counting on it. She wants us to give the room the go-ahead.”

  “So she’ll bring the device in later?”

  “Or it’s big enough that it’ll blow through this room.”

  “All those boxes from the storage locker.”

  “We need to evacuate the room,” Alyssa said.

  Zach looked around, easy enough for him since he stood taller than most in the crowd. “There’s a fire alarm.”

  They started to make their way toward the wall where Zach had spotted the alarm when Agent Masters stepped in front of them.

  “Where are you two off to in such a hurry?”

  “We’re going to pull the fire alarm,” Alyssa stated baldly. “There’s going to be an attack and we need to get people out of here.”

  Master’s scowl was ferocious. “The fire alarm?” He shook his head. “We have Al Shabah in custody.”

  There wasn’t time to convince him Hajjar wasn’t the mastermind, Alyssa decided. She needed a different tack. “What if he’s not working alone?”

  “You mean the girlfriend?” Masters sighed and raised a hand, signaling someone behind him. Four agents in identical navy suits came forward. “We have swept this whole floor, including all conference rooms and the basement. We found nothing. I’m going to ask you to leave now. I won’t have you unnecessarily panicking the public. I don’t care who hired you to consult.”

  The four agents stood around Zach.

  “My men will escort you from the hotel if necessary,” Masters said.

  “Are you serious?” Zach asked. His deep voice vibrated with anger. A woman in red silk took her date’s arm and edged away.

  “My team has everything under control. This will go easier on everyone if you both just walk away now.” Masters nodded at the goons behind him.

  Alyssa had no doubt by the look on Zach’s face that the four agents did nothing to intimidate him. Zach’s arms loosened and his stance sunk just a bit. He almost vibrated with a dangerous energy. He would not be taken, she knew.

  She touched his arm lightly. He glanced at her. She held his gaze, trying to communicate what she wanted. He straightened.

  Alyssa turned to Masters. “We’ll patrol the hallways. That keeps us happy and out of your hair.”

  He narrowed his eyes as he regarded them. “Fine,” he said. “Just don’t disturb any of the guests.”

  Alyssa pushed past the agent goons surrounding them. Zach followed. She could feel his anger beating against her back. She stepped through the open side doors onto plush carpet into a gleaming hallway. Elevator doors chimed in front of them as guests of the hotel got on and off. Two agents, as well as a police officer with a German shepherd, watched the doors. Guests looked over at the ballroom with interest as they flashed key cards at the concierge in order to go up to their rooms.

  “What are we going to do out here?” Zach asked. He stared at the guests in their velvet-cordoned line as they waited to see the concierge, who would verify their key card to let them onto the elevators. One man averted his gaze, while a mother stepped in front of her children, as if shielding them from Zach and his anger.

  Alyssa moved to block Zach’s line of sight. “Stop it, you’re scaring the guests.”

  He focused that intense gaze on her. It didn’t scare her, though maybe it should have. “Zach, we need to think. Reynolds isn’t going to have a simple plan. If there had been a bomb, we would have found it by now. That’s not her game here.”

  “You don’t think she’ll use a bomb?”

  Alyssa frowned as she thought. “No, she’ll use one. Just not the way we’re expecting. We have to think like her.”

  “Well, we need to think faster,” Zach said. “Dinner will be served soon. And the Secretary is en route.”

  Alyssa let her gaze wander. Security personnel stood stationed at each doorway watching the glittering crowd. No bomb had been found. She shook her head slightly. This didn’t make sense.

  “I know it doesn’t make sense,” Zach said. She must have spoken aloud. “Okay, let’s go over this from the beginning. What’s her endgame?”

  She watched through the ballroom doors as Masters greeted an up-and-coming politician, the FBI man smiling broadly like he didn’t have a care in the world. Bastard.

  “She wants people to admit the war was wrong.”

  Zach shook his head. “More. Dig deeper.”

  Alyssa almost felt like she stood with Dr. Martinez. “She wants people to feel the sa
me pain she did.”

  “More.”

  “She wants revenge.”

  Zach nodded. “On top of everything else. She’ll want to kill the men and women who sent the troops to Iraq. She doesn’t just want to kill random citizens, she wants to kill the Secretary of Defense.”

  “She wants to show New York what it’s like in Iraq.” Alyssa turned to the press line, where guests in all their glittering finery paused for pictures on the makeshift red carpet and answered questions thrown at them by the press. “And she’ll want the world to see it.”

  She hurried toward the press line. The men and women there had dressed for the event, but all had lanyards with their credentials around their necks. They lined both sides of the red carpet. “We pulled the press line inside when we did the threat assessment for the gala. Outside, a sniper would have a good line of sight.”

  Zach followed her out of the building. The sunlight shone strongly still and would until late evening. It reflected gold off the windows of cars parked on the street. A space in front of the hotel had been left open for the line of town cars and limousines expunging their passengers. More press lined this short walk. These journalists hadn’t been given passes to be inside the event, and they dressed for the weather rather than the gala. Alyssa watched some model-thin woman in a slinky dress pause before the small crowd and smile. Flashes went off.

  “Pulling the official press inside just allowed more room for others to take their spots outside,” Alyssa murmured.

  Zach didn’t bother questioning her instincts. He pressed the PTT radio button on the mic under his collar. “College, this is Doc, over.” He spoke to her brother Jake.

  Alyssa could hear the conversation in her ear bud.

  “This is College,” Jake said. “Sitrep.”

  “There’s a possibility of a sniper at the front entrance. Can you advise security? Get the Secretary to come to the back?”

  “On it. Stay frosty. Out,” Jake said.

  Alyssa looked over the gathering crowd held back by more velvet ropes, holding up their cell phones to see the headliners. Tall buildings lined the street, their windows glowing in the setting sun.

  Alyssa shifted her feet, her gaze swiveling from one location to the next. The crowd seemed to grow before her eyes. Her heart started to beat faster. Anything could happen in a crowd. They were sitting ducks for a sniper or a bomb. “I really want my bulletproof vest right now.”

  Zach’s eyes flicked over her. “I want you to have it, too. Though I do like the outfit.”

  She knew Zach wore one under his shirt, but her clothes just hadn’t allowed it. At least she had her gun.

  “Let’s go back inside,” Zach said. “We’ll wait for the Secretary by the service entrance.”

  They showed security their IDs and went back to the foyer. More hotel guests lined up under the sparkling chandelier for the elevators, while guests for the gala got backlogged with the security measures. The whole place felt crowded and the pressure of it hammered against her skin.

  Something was going to happen soon. She could feel it. But she didn’t know what…or how to stop it.

  22

  Zach moved through the crowded foyer, his senses on high alert. Alyssa followed him. She looked pale, but was holding together. He knew the crowd was probably triggering her PTSD, but it couldn’t be helped. He needed her on her game.

  “You with me, Firecracker?” he asked.

  She frowned at him and it made him smile. “Of course,” she said. “Who the hell is in charge of this sea of humanity? Why aren’t they clearing people faster?”

  The Secretary of Defense had arrived and it had caused a backlog of security in the front, as personnel had been pulled to the back to make sure he was safe.

  Alyssa paused in front of a uniformed officer and showed her badge. She spoke with him a moment, pointing to the hotel concierge and the elevator line. The officer nodded, spoke into his radio, and headed toward the man.

  “Let’s move,” she said to Zach.

  Zach cleared a path to the elevators and the side door to the ballroom. Amazing how being a large black man made some people step back without him having to do a thing. At the elevators, they showed their IDs again and then again as they neared the back entrance.

  He shook his head. Agent Masters had actually done a decent job. The place was crawling with FBI. Reynolds would have to be a crazy fool to try something here.

  That made him pause. She was crazy, yes. “But she’s no fool.”

  “No,” Alyssa said. “She isn’t stupid. That’s why this feels off to me, too.”

  He smiled. She was sharp. He’d known having her as a partner would be a benefit.

  He stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “We’re running like scared children. What is she doing?”

  “She’s going to blow something.”

  “It’s not here. There’s no way to get anything in.”

  “So she’ll blow something close by.”

  “The basement has been checked.”

  “What about the rest of the hotel?”

  Zach pushed his PPT button. “College, this is Doc, over.”

  “Go ahead, Doc.”

  “We need the hotel checked. Room by room.” His gaze met Alyssa’s. “We’ll start with the first floor.”

  “Copy that. Valkyrie and I will go to the second.”

  Zach consciously had to slow his heartrate as they waited for the hotel concierge at the front desk to get them a maintenance key, which would open all the hotel rooms. They headed for the stairs and had to go past an agent, showing ID again. They finally raced up the stairs to the first floor of rooms.

  “Let’s start with the ones closest to the ballroom,” he said.

  They started pounding on doors, showing ID when someone opened them. Using the maintenance key card when no one did.

  “Anything?” Zach asked Jake over the radio.

  “Negative,” Jake said. “Though Valkyrie has been propositioned twice.”

  Zach snorted. “Tell her to stop playing around.”

  “I heard that, Doc,” her voice came over the line.

  “Do you people joke all the time?” Alyssa asked on the radio.

  Zach rapped on the next door in the hallway they worked down. Alyssa and he approached separate hotel rooms. She stood one door down. He didn’t like her on her own, but he trusted her to take care of herself. Besides, they didn’t have time for him to play protective boyfriend.

  Boyfriend? Where had that thought come from? He pushed it aside. There would be time to delve into that after this was over.

  No one answered at his door. He slid the key card in and out. The door clicked open and he grabbed the handle to twist.

  Another click sounded. The hairs on the back of his neck raised. He looked over at Alyssa, who was just knocking at the next room.

  Fuck.

  He leapt toward her, but a blast of sound, light, and pressure threw him back against the opposite wall. His head struck and the world went dark.

  * * *

  The shocking sound and light stuns her, throwing her back. When she comes to, she wanders the destroyed souq looking for Scott. She needs to find him.

  The dust begins to clear, revealing a surreal scene like something from an apocalyptic movie. Rocks, dirt, and debris lie everywhere, surrounding a ten-foot crater in which nothing has survived. Bodies lay strewn amidst the wreckage, some moving, most of them still. Sounds of wailing and screams begin to penetrate the ringing in her ears. A dog barks. Distant sirens shriek. Ambulances and police are coming.

  Where is Scott?

  She passes other bodies wearing ACUs—the soldiers she’d seen. She checks for pulses if she thinks there’s a chance of survival. Most she passes without stopping, trying not to look too closely.

  “Fucking hell,” a man groans from nearby.

  “Scott!” She runs to where he lies on the cobbled lane, by a push cart loaded with crates. He is further fro
m the blast center than the others. Debris covers him.

  “Thank god you’re alive!”

  He smiles, even as blood trickles from the corner of his mouth. “Al! You’re safe. Where’s Brian?”

  She drops to her knees beside him. “He’s…” She shakes her head.

  “Fuck,” Scott says. He drops his head back onto the ground, pain wracking his features.

  “Let’s get this shit off you,” she says. She starts to move some of the larger pieces of rock. Scott groans every time she jostles him. “Hold on, Scott. I’ll get you out of here.”

  A hunk of stone lies on his left thigh. Blood soaks his pant leg around it. “Crap, Scott. I’m no medic, but I don’t think we should move that one.”

  The sirens are close now. Scott glances around before swallowing so heavily she can see his Adam’s apple rise and fall. “My leg is broken. I’m not walking out of here without a lot of assistance.” He grabs her hand and squeezes. “Go get help.”

  She shakes her head. No way is she leaving him. She takes the first aid kit off her webbing. “Hold tight. I’ll do what I can, but help is coming.”

  “No, Alyssa.” He grips her arm, stopping her from unzipping the IFAK. “Go back to the base. Get real help.”

  She sits back on her heels and opens her kit. “Are you crazy? Help is almost here. I’ll stay with you.” She takes out the tourniquet.

  “Jesus, why do you have to be so stubborn?” He drops back onto the sidewalk, panting. “Al, you’ve got to leave. There’s going to be a second bomb.”

  She glances around. The market square is starting to fill with people helping the injured. The ambulances and police are only moments away.

  “Think, Al. It’s the MO of all these guys. First IED is small—”

  “That wasn’t small.”

  “It draws in people to help. Then the second one goes off. You have to get out of here.”

  She clenches her jaw. “You’re coming with me.” She will have to move the stone and then tie the tourniquet quickly. She only hopes she can do it with one arm.