Killer Assignment

by Black, Maggie K.

  “No.” Her hand grabbed his. “I’m going with you. I know where I belong and it’s not abandoning you to save myself. If this building explodes, who knows how big the blast radius is going to be or even if I’ll be able to get far enough away. If I’ve only got a few minutes left on this earth, I know where I want to be.”

  “Okay.” He swallowed hard. “Let’s go do this.”

  * * *

  They ran into the hallway and for the stairs. The stench of gasoline and motor oil floated down toward them. Mark squeezed her hand, then stopped and beckoned her to step behind him. He glanced through the broken door. The radio unit was humming on the middle of the floor. Buckets lined what remained of the shelves around it. “Fertilizer bomb, I’m guessing,” he said. “Smells like one anyway. Probably a mixture of gasoline, motor oil and good old ammonium nitrate.”

  “Can you disable the bomb?”

  “Hardly, I wouldn’t know where to start, and I wouldn’t want to try. But if there’s one thing I know how to do it’s how to stop the unit from sending a signal.” Mark slid his feet cautiously across the floor as though it was a layer of razor-thin ice. “Whatever you do, don’t touch anything. Don’t even breathe if you can help it.”

  Intuitively, his fingers ran across the keyboard, and the unit sprang to life. “Now, come on, baby,” he whispered under his breath, typing in his password. “Show me what they did to you.”

  Invalid password. He groaned and tried the default password.

  Invalid password. “Fine, if you want to play it that way...”

  “You locked out?”

  “They changed the passwords, yeah.” His fingers flew over the keyboard like a storm. “But don’t worry. I built in a back door. What can you tell me about the buckets?”

  “There are six of them, and they have wires.”

  Screens filled with ASCII text popped up in front of him. “You see a timer?”

  “There’s half a cell phone.”

  “Don’t touch it. A bomb has got to have a detonator. Otherwise no bomb-maker would ever make it out alive. So either you set a timer that automatically trips the switch when it goes off...or...you...” The main menu popped up on the screen. “Or you set it off with some kind of remote signal.”

  He’d made it to the broadcast scheduling screen. There were three pending radio broadcasts—all set moments apart. The first was scheduled to start in less than five minutes. “Like a radio signal.” He spun the laptop around to face her. “We’ve got five minutes before things start exploding. The good news is that the lovely bomb in the corner is probably not supposed to detonate until the unit is done setting off the other ones.”

  “And how long does that give us to get out of here?”

  “About eight minutes.”

  “Well, get on with it then.”

  Mark grinned. Now all he had to do was shut down the signals. It should just be as simple as opening the schedule and canceling...

  Up came a warning box: You do not have authorization to delete or modify these broadcasts.

  “Can’t you just turn it off?”

  “No.” He sighed. “We set it up with a backup timer system so the transmitter would come on automatically whenever a broadcast was scheduled even if the power was off. I can’t disable that from here.” The transmitter was integrated, too. There was no way he could disable it without breaking the entire unit open. He pounded in the DOS in vain, trying to open the device manager.

  “How long have we got?”

  “Seven minutes.”

  A second warning box jumped onto the screen. You do not have authorization to modify device function. He groaned and ran his hand through his sweat-soaked hair. The one time he wanted the unit to fail it was running exactly the way he’d designed it to. If he could only get it to crash like it had when he’d shown Katie the default emergency broadcasts—

  “Tsunami!”

  “What?”

  “Get back downstairs and get ready to run when you hear me coming. I can’t stop this place from blowing up—but I can stop the other bombs.” Mark let his fingers flow over the keys, shutting his mind to the warning beeps as he hit permissions’ block after permissions’ block, until finally the screen filled with the list of emergency broadcasts.

  He scrolled down and hit the key for Tsunami. A series of sound waves popped up on the screen. He hit Play and eased his way back across the floor as the sequence of eight long beeps played. The machine froze. The screen went black.

  He nearly laughed out loud. “I got it!” He ran for the stairs. “Katie! I managed to stop the—”

  Then he heard her screaming. He sprinted down the hallway as Katie’s cries for help echoed around him. She wasn’t in the lobby. Or the dining room. Then he heard a crash from the direction of the lounge.

  He rounded the corner in time to see Ethan yanking her by the hair, pulling her backward into the stairway.

  “Let her go!” He barreled toward them.

  Ethan glanced up toward him, only for a second, but it was enough for Katie. Swinging her arm back, she elbowed him hard in the gut. He grunted and let go. She ran forward, but within seconds, Ethan had jumped on her again, throwing her hard against the floor. “You...can...not...leave...me...”

  Mark grabbed Ethan by the shirt and yanked him upward. Ethan squirmed. His eyes darted back and forth wildly. His pupils almost completely engulfed his eyes in a sea of black. The man was so high Mark wouldn’t be surprised if he was hallucinating now.

  “We’ve got to get out of here.” Mark shook him by his shoulders.

  Ethan spat in his face. “I’m not going anywhere—”

  They didn’t have time for this. Mark caught Katie’s eye. She nodded. He decked Ethan in the jaw. Her boss crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. Mark hauled up Ethan’s limp body and slung it over one shoulder. “I don’t know how big the blast radius is going to be. Our best bet is to get back to the boat and try to put as much distance as we can between us and the explosion.”

  Katie slid her arm under Ethan’s other shoulder.

  “Go,” Mark shouted. “I’ve got him.”

  “I told you we’re in this together. I’m not leaving without you.”

  “Have I told you I love you?”

  Katie grinned. Then he saw her grit her teeth. They ran, dragging Ethan’s limp body between them. The cement was rough. Trees pressed up against the path, threatening to pull Ethan’s body from their grasp. Ethan began to groan.

  “I’ve got him. Untie the boat.” He dragged Ethan into the boat and dropped him on the floor. She untied them from the dock and scrambled in. Then she reached under the seats, grabbed a paddle and pushed the boat away from shore. Mark pulled on the engine cord. Nothing. He yanked again. It coughed and sputtered, then stopped. He yanked the cord again. He’d flood the engine if he wasn’t careful.

  Ethan swore. “No, no, no.” He stumbled to his feet. “The story can’t end like this. I have to go back and be the hero.”

  The tiny boat bumped against a rock. Katie nudged the boat toward the middle of the lake.

  “Take me back, or I will blow your head off!” Too late they saw the handgun in Ethan’s hand. Narrowing him in his sights, he pointed the gun at Mark’s head.

  Mark raised his hands. “Listen to me. There is a bomb in the clubhouse. Any second now there’s going to be nothing left but a fireball and a pile of ashes.”

  Ethan clicked the safety off. His finger reached for the trigger. Katie swung the paddle through the air like a baseball bat. The wood caught Ethan hard across the shoulders. The boat rocked violently. He pitched sideways and fell over the side of the boat into the lake.

  “Drop the gun and get back in the boat, Ethan!” she shouted.

  “I lost it!” He swore, thrashing around in th
e waist-deep water. “Where’d it go?”

  “Forget the gun.” She stretched her hand toward him. “Grab my hand, and we’ll pull you in.”

  “I’m the hero. I need to be here when the bomb goes off.”

  “You won’t survive the blast,” Katie said. “Please. Let us save you.”

  “No.” Ethan stumbled through the water back to the shore. He scrambled up the bank.

  “Ethan!”

  He disappeared into the shadows. Mark yanked hard on the engine cord. It caught. The small engine roared to life, sending the tiny boat flying up the lake.

  “Ethan... He just ran...” Katie collapsed onto the bench.

  “I know.”

  “But he’s going to...the place is going to...”

  “I—” But he never got a chance to finish his thought. Because in that second a noise like the slamming of a heavy door exploded through the air around them. A spout of flames and smoke shot up through the trees. The air cracked. Fire fell down around them like rain.

  Shielding his eyes, he held her tightly against him. The small boat sped away.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Mark edged the boat against the side of his island. Then he leaped out and tied the rope around a tree. They’d barely made it halfway across the lake when the engine had finally given up and died for good. He reached for her hand and helped her out.

  “How long do you think until they find us?”

  “Not long.”

  She curled her fingers through his. He led her up the rock to its peak. The sky above the clubhouse still burned red with fire.

  But he turned her face to where a small cascade of lights twinkled gently against the night sky. “See those lights? That’s the party.” His arms slid around her waist. She leaned back into the warmth of his chest. “As you can see, the bombs they planted in the gala never went off. We did it.”

  She turned toward him, her body caught inside the circle of his arms. Static hissed from inside his pocket. “Mark? Are you there?”

  “Albright!” He let her go. “When the broadcast unit exploded, it must have stopped blocking the signal.” He pulled the walkie-talkie from his pocket. “Yeah, I’m here.”

  “It’s good to hear your voice. Our emergency crews are on their way to the explosion at the clubhouse.”

  “Katie and I are okay. We’re on the island. Ethan Randall—” he took a deep breath “—didn’t make it.”

  There was a pause on the other end of the phone. “I’m sorry to hear that. You might also be interested to know police have Allan Blau in custody. For some reason, he stumbled directly into your father’s backyard. Your father insisted on handling it personally.”

  Katie hid a smile. “You told him which way to run?”

  He nodded.

  “Shall I send a boat for you?”

  “Please. But first give us a few moments.”

  “Very well.” Mark slid the walkie-talkie back into his pocket. He turned back to Katie. A grin spread across his face.

  She could feel the corner of her lips turning up. “So what happens next?”

  “How would you feel about flying to Lebanon with me?”

  “Really? You’re still jetting off across the globe tomorrow?”

  “Well, maybe not tomorrow.” His arms took back their place around her body. His fingers stroked the small of her back. “I think I should spend a few days here first. Sort things out with Dad and Sunny—if she’ll talk to me. Plus I’ve got to make sure TRUST and Nick are in good shape before I go. Reporters are sure to be swarming all over us, so I’m definitely going to need your help in preparing for that and figuring out how to come up with something coherent to say. I’m counting on you to save me from a media meltdown. So, maybe we fly next weekend?”

  She laughed. “You’re not worried at all about my safety traveling to the Middle East?”

  “I’m more worried at the thought of my being anywhere without you. I need you there to remind me there’s a life beyond my workshop table.” His lips flitted gently over the line of her jaw. “I need someone to remind me of just how very much I need the touch of another human being. I need you with me.”

  She slid her hand up to his face and pushed him back. “Right now you need an ice pack. You have a pretty serious black eye.” She tilted his head from one side to the other “No—make that two of them. And your mouth’s seen better days too, I bet.”

  Mark chuckled. “I’m willing to risk it.” He took her hand in his and pulled it away from his face. “You’re no beauty queen yourself right now, babe,” he said gruffly. “But so help me, I am so in love with you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Then gently, carefully his lips found hers. Tentatively at first, kissing her lightly as if he was afraid she might disappear into the mist. Then growing stronger, wrapping his arms around her. He pulled her to him like a lifeline—with an intensity that took her breath away.

  EPILOGUE

  A warm June breeze drifted through the open window. Mark straightened his tie and ran his hand through his hair. At least he’d remembered to get a haircut. Of all the papers that had been signed and decisions that had been made since the formation of SHIELD-TRUST eight months ago, the importance of this one would eclipse them all.

  There was a knock on the door. “Ready, son?” Jonah’s head appeared around the corner.

  “Just about.”

  His father nodded. “Your sister is here. Hiding in the back and threatening to walk.”

  Unexpected joy swept through Mark’s heart. “But at least she’s made a step toward reconciliation.” He hadn’t seen her since the day after the clubhouse exploded. While chaos still reigned and police swarmed the property, she’d walked into their father’s cabin and handed him the signed legal papers she’d privately had drawn up and then left without saying a word. The fifty-fifty split of Jonah’s legacy was done. She would buy out his half of the company for a fair price. He got financial freedom. Sunny got Shields Corp. He grinned. She’d done incredible things with the company—starting by building affordable housing communities.

  “Now, come on.” Jonah put a hand on his shoulder. “Believe me. Some things can’t wait.”

  Mark swallowed hard and followed his father out into the sanctuary of a downtown Toronto church. He stood at the front between his father and Zack, willing his legs to stay still. His eyes swept the crowd. Then the back doors of the church opened, and he felt his world freeze.

  Under the gaze of a simple lace veil, Katie’s eyes met his. Trusting. Loving. His.

  Peace swept through his heart as she walked up the aisle toward him, her wedding dress flowing out like waves on the beach.

  Thank You, God, for this woman who pushes me and challenges me. Who has stepped down from her job to travel the world by my side and be my equal partner in founding our new charity. Who is now, today, willing to join me in reclaiming the tarnished Shields family name as our own, and, God willing, would help me raise a whole new generation of Shields who love the Lord, those in need and each other.

  Katie stepped up beside him. Her fingers brushed against his. A smile lit her eyes.

  Mark Shields held his bride’s hand tightly as they turned toward the pastor, and he whispered, “Welcome to the adventure.”

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from In Pursuit of a Princess by Lenora Worth.

  Dear Reader,

  Just like Katie and Mark’s journey, writing this book took some unexpected twists and turns for me. Years ago, I was working as a journalist overseas, visiting real-life heroes and heroines who are working to make a difference in our world. Their dedication inspired me, and snippets of Mark’s experiences are based on their stories. Just like Katie, I wanted to stay
in my job forever.

  Then my life took an unexpected turn. We were blessed with two baby girls, after doctors had warned us to expect a life without children. I stepped down from globe-trotting, and we moved to a small community in Canada, where I juggled motherhood with interviewing those in my own backyard. While it hasn’t always been easy, my life and my characters are richer for it.

  Maybe your own story is not heading where you expected it to. Maybe you feel knocked off course, by changes in your job, family or relationships. I hope like Katie and Mark you’ll be able to find comfort in the knowledge that nothing will take you out of God’s sight. As the Bible reminds us, Jesus is the author of life. Every one of our days—even the confusing and unexpected ones—is written in His book.

  Thank you for sharing Mark and Katie’s story with me.

  Maggie

  Questions for Discussion

  Throughout the book, Katie trusts her instincts about people, and often makes quick decisions about them based on their appearance. What do you think of how Katie makes snap judgments about people? How do you think her first impression of Mark impacted the course of their relationship?

  Have you ever had to make a decision about the honesty and trustworthiness of another person before you hired, listened to, or believed them? How did you make your decision? Were you right?

  Both Katie and Mark enjoy helping other people, but find it hard to accept help from others. Why do you think they find it so difficult? Do you find it easier to offer help or accept it?

  When Katie tried talking to people at church about her problems at work, she felt they didn’t understand. If Katie had talked to you about her struggles with Ethan, what would you have told her?