by Lisa Harris
“I have to go.”
“Wait. It’s Salazar, isn’t it?” She reached out and grabbed his arm as he stood up to leave. “Tell me what he says.”
“He’s given me a meeting place. He’s expecting that list.”
“Where?”
“I don’t want you involved in this. Salazar doesn’t just want that list. He wants me. And he’ll use you to get to me, just like he’s using Ivan.”
“Tell me where.” She grabbed his hand holding the phone and pulled it toward her.
The Addison Hotel.
“Stay out of this, Olivia,” he said.
She stumbled away from the table and tried to follow him through the crowded food court. He dodged the woman cleaning a table, sidestepping her cart by slipping through a bunch of rowdy teenagers.
“Excuse me.” Olivia pushed her way through the group. If they lost him now …
She caught sight of him again briefly, heading down the crowded corridor of the mall. He was pulling out a jacket and a ball cap from his shopping bag and slipped them both on as he disappeared into a sea of shoppers. Her stomach cinched. He’d planned for everything, and now they were going to lose him …
A moment later she was finally at the edge of the congested food court. And her father was gone.
She spoke into the mike. “He put on a jacket and cap …” Her words trailed away. She hadn’t been close enough to be able to describe them. And she had no idea where he’d gone.
Avery met her at the edge of the food court and swept her down an empty hallway, toward the back exit.
Olivia forced down the rising despair. “We lost him.”
“Maybe,” Avery said. “We’ve still got men on all the exits.”
“They won’t find him.” He’d spent his life staying one step ahead of the cops. “But he received a text message right before he left. He’s meeting Salazar at the Addison Hotel.”
Avery passed on the information to the rest of the team on her radio, then turned back to Olivia. “We can have backup there in the next ten minutes, and we’ll pick up Salazar and Valez.”
“Ivan could be there too.”
“I’ll have security start searching the video footage from the time he was taken until now.” Avery rested her hand on Olivia’s arm. “If your brother’s there, we will find him. For now, Carlos is waiting to pick us up outside.”
Olivia wanted to cry, wanted to scream, but all she could do was follow Avery down the hallway, letting the shock of her father’s words consume her. “We’ve just lost all our leverage to save my brother. They want the list. Ivan’s life for that stupid list, and if they don’t get it they’re going to kill him.”
How could she save Ivan when there was no way to give them what they were demanding?
32
Olivia struggled to keep up with Avery as she escorted her out of the mall and into the cold Atlanta night. “Where’s Carlos going to take us?”
Avery buttoned the top of her coat. “The captain secured a safe house where you can stay out of the line of fire until it’s over.”
They paused in front of an unmarked car at the edge of the parking lot, making Olivia feel as if she were trying to escape the paparazzi.
She slid into the seat ahead of Avery. “I want to go to the Addison Hotel with you. If my brother’s there, I can help find him.”
“I need you to trust me. It’s not safe, Olivia.”
As soon as Avery shut the door, Carlos drove off. “Where’s Michael?”
“He’ll meet us at the safe house.”
Olivia leaned back against the seat as they pulled out of the mall parking lot and tried to relax, but all she could think about was her brother. They would kill him without the Canary List, and the list was worthless. How had doing the right thing turned into this?
Five minutes later, Carlos pulled onto the freeway, passing neighborhoods still lit up for the festive holiday season. For most people it was another ordinary Friday night watching television and eating pizza. For her, nothing was ordinary about today.
God, the past few days have felt like one nightmare after another. And this time … this time I can’t see a way out. We don’t have what they want. Can’t get what they want.
Her fingers gripped the armrest. Ivan could be at the hotel, but the reality was they could have taken him anywhere.
Olivia looked at Avery, who’d just answered her cell, trying to gauge by her expression what was going on.
“What is it?” she asked as soon as Avery had hung up.
“They found something.”
“Please. Tell me what’s going on.”
Avery hesitated as if deciding whether or not she should tell her. “Security at the Addison Hotel started going through the footage for us, and they think they found your brother.”
“So he’s there? Where my father is going to meet Salazar.” Olivia gripped Avery’s arm, the first seed of hope she’d felt all day springing to life. “Where is he?”
Avery shrugged. “That’s the problem. They don’t know. Not yet, anyway. Ivan was caught on the security footage as he got into one of the elevators with two men, but the problem is that there are over a thousand rooms, 150,000 square feet of indoor meeting spaces, laundry, pools, underground parking …”
There had to be a way to find him. “So you’re saying he’s at the hotel, but you have no idea where.”
“I’m sorry, Olivia, but at least we have his whereabouts narrowed down.”
“They’re going through the rest of the footage to see if he left.”
A chill ran up Olivia’s spine. “I want to see the footage.”
“The captain doesn’t want you involved in this.”
Olivia shook her head. “Please. Ivan is smart. He might have found a way to communicate.”
“They said there’s nothing there—”
“Please. Just let me see it.”
Avery made another call, then spoke to Carlos.
“You’re in luck,” she told Olivia. “The captain agrees you should look at the footage, but then I want you out of there.”
Olivia nodded. “Thank you.”
Avery’s expression softened in the light of the passing cars. “Listen … I know this has all been hard, but you did what was right. And I promise we’ll do everything we can to find your brother.”
Then why did doing what was right make her feel as if she’d just betrayed someone? “Do you think my father was telling the truth? That he really is concerned about Ivan’s life, or do you think he just wanted the list for himself?”
“I wish I could answer that question for you, but I don’t know. All we can do right now is focus on finding Ivan.”
Carlos took the next exit, heading for the hotel. Avery was right, but Olivia still couldn’t help but wonder what her father was thinking. Wonder what his real motives were for asking her to come and help. Was it because he cared about Ivan, or because he needed the list for himself?
Something told her it was the latter. He’d spent his entire life building his empire, oblivious to what was going on in her and Ivan’s lives. They had been an inconvenience to deal with and nothing more. It was easy to have an accountant write a check every month. How could she ever have expected anything more?
At the hotel they entered through a back entrance, and Olivia was ushered into a nice-sized office behind the front desk, where Tory was working with one of the employees at a computer.
“Tory, I need you to show Olivia the footage of her brother,” Avery said.
“Give me just a second,” Tory said. “The resolution isn’t great, but it’s clearly Ivan. This is Brett Fuller,” she continued, making quick introductions. “He’s with the hotel security.”
Olivia nodded at the balding, uniformed officer, then turned her eyes to the computer screen, her heart pumping fast in anticipation. If Ivan was here, with or without the list, they needed to find him.
With a few clicks of the mouse, the footage appeared on the screen. “Thi
s is what they found of Ivan getting ready to get on the elevator.”
Olivia braced her hands against the desk, studying the footage. Ivan walked between two men. He looked up at the camera as they passed by right before getting into the elevator.
Five seconds later, Tory froze the footage.
“Where did they get off?” Olivia asked.
“That’s the problem. We don’t know. It looks like two of the cameras aren’t working, since we never see him get off the elevator. We’re still trying to find out why.”
Which meant this was all they had to go on.
“Can I see it again?” she asked.
“Sure.” Tory rewound the grainy footage, then played it again.
Olivia watched Ivan look at the camera again. His hands were behind his back. He looked away … “Stop. Rewind the footage ten seconds, then zoom in on my brother’s hands.”
“Okay.”
“There. Slow down the speed.”
Olivia held her breath as she watched the footage replay in slow motion. Ivan glanced up …
“Stop … Right there.”
“What’s he doing?” the guard asked.
Olivia smiled. “Signing. My brother’s deaf. He can read lips, and he must have caught something important that he’s trying to tell us.”
“What is he saying?”
“Run it back one more time.”
Olivia watched for the fourth time. There was no mistake. “Three hundred twenty-two. It must be a room number.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Michael slipped into the hotel lobby behind Mason and clicked on his radio. “Avery, we’re here. What have you got?”
“Olivia found something in the surveillance video. Looks like Ivan might be in room number 322.”
“I’m on it.”
“Can you meet us there with a key?” Mason asked.
Michael passed a row of elevators, opting instead for the stairs at the end of the short hallway, praying as he went. Praying for Olivia and Ivan … and for a way to end all of this without anyone else getting hurt.
He paused to catch his breath at the third floor before opening the metal fire door.
I need to find him, Lord …
Avery met them at the room, where he shoved the key card into the lock and waited for the green light to come on, then burst into the room.
“Ivan!”
They swept the room and bathroom, but there was no sign of Ivan.
Michael turned to Mason, frustrated. Another dead end meant they were back to square one. “He’s not here.”
“Do you think Olivia made a mistake with the numbers?” Mason asked.
“I don’t think so.” Michael picked something up off the floor and walked across the room to where Mason and Avery were opening drawers, looking under the chairs, anything to find a clue.
“What’s that?”
“Part of a detonator.” Michael’s heart pounded. “There’s a good chance that bomb is somewhere here in this building.”
“What about the bomb squad?” Michael asked Avery.
“I’ve already got them here on standby, just in case.”
Michael turned back to Mason. “If Salazar wanted to make a statement, where would he set it off?”
“Wait a minute.” Avery had pulled back one of the chairs from the table and looked underneath it. “I think Ivan left us a message.”
Michael knelt down beside his sister and read the message scratched into the underside of the table.
Balrom.
“Balrom?” Mason asked.
“Ballroom.” Michael checked his watch. “I glanced at the schedule earlier. There’s some kind of event going on here tonight in the ballroom, and the master of ceremonies is scheduled to speak right about now.”
Michael turned to Avery. “Have the bomb squad meet us on the first floor with the bomb dogs to make a sweep … and start evacuating the hotel.”
“I’m on it.”
Michael radioed Tory as they started for the stairwell and gave her a quick update. “Have you found Valez?”
“Not yet.”
“And Olivia?”
“She’s here with me.”
“Make sure she goes somewhere safe. Please.”
“I will.”
“And pray we find that bomb before it goes off.”
Three minutes later, Michael ran through the lobby, his pulse racing. The fire alarm screamed in the background. Staff members were trying to keep order with walkie-talkies while guests hurried toward the exits.
One of the K9 handlers called Michael and led him down a hallway behind the ballroom. “I think we might have something. It’s a storage room, but it’s locked.”
“Can we get a key?” Mason asked.
“We don’t have time for a key.” Michael kicked open the door of the storage closet with his heel and flipped on the light. Ivan and Valez sat tied up and gagged in the shadows beside the bomb.
Michael pulled out their gags.
“Don’t bother with me—get him out of here,” Valez said. “We’re out of time.”
Michael radioed the captain. “We’ve found the bomb. It’s in the storage closet behind the main ballroom.”
“How much time?”
Michael glanced at the timer. “Five minutes, twenty-nine seconds.”
Ivan was trembling. “You should go.”
Michael shook his head. “Are you kidding? I’m not leaving without you, Ivan. You did good, leaving the message under the table.”
The bomb squad moved in and got to work defusing the bomb. Michael worked on the duct tape wrapped around Ivan’s wrists that secured him to a metal pole behind him, while Mason worked to free Valez.
“Listen, there’s nothing for you to worry about. The bomb squad knows what they’re doing.” Michael freed Ivan’s second arm with his pocketknife. “Besides, there’s someone waiting for you outside. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t forgive me if I let something happen to you.”
He started on freeing Ivan’s legs.
He glanced at the bomb as he struggled to unloose Ivan. The fire alarm screamed in the background.
Three minutes, fifty-two seconds.
“Come on … come on …”
With three minutes left on the timer, Mason finished freeing Valez, who refused to budge until Ivan was also free.
All four men ran toward the hotel exit.
They found Olivia standing behind the yellow police line with Carlos, who was talking on his radio.
“The bomb squad just gave the all clear,” Carlos said. “It’s over.”
Ivan flew into his sister’s embrace, then stepped away, nodding at Michael.
Adrenaline still raced through him. But that wasn’t the only reason his heart was pounding. He took a step forward, cupped her face between his hands, and paused a moment to breathe in her sweetness. “I was so afraid I might lose you.”
She smiled up at him, and he kissed her softly before pulling her into his arms. “You didn’t lose me, Michael. You didn’t lose me.”
33
Michael sat in his car outside his parents’ home, feeling the weight of how his choices hadn’t just affected himself. He turned to his father sitting in the passenger seat, thankful for his strength and presence. “How has she handled the news that I’m alive?”
“It’s been a shock. I’m not sure she’ll truly believe it until you’ve been home for a while. For months, she’s believed her only son was dead. Someone once told me that you can lose a spouse or a parent and move on, but losing a child is different. It’s something that isn’t supposed to happen. And I saw on a day-to-day basis how that’s affected your mother.”
Michael whispered, “Do you think she’ll ever forgive me?”
“She already has.” His father laid his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “But that doesn’t take away the consequences of that decision. Your mother—both of us—love you. Losing you was like losing a part
of ourselves. It doesn’t matter if you’re five or fifty-five, we still see the little boy and all the hopes and dreams we have for you.”
Michael pressed his fingers against the armrest, replaying in his mind what the outcome would have been if he’d done things differently. If he’d gone to his father from the beginning instead of trying to play the game on his own. He’d believed he was protecting his family. In the end, it felt as if he’d hurt so many people.
“The bottom line, son, is that the choice has already been made. And while your decision brought about a lot of pain, it also brought about a lot of good. I can’t say that your mother will ever agree 100 percent, but I’m proud of you for taking the difficult road. For standing up for justice and what you believed to be right, even knowing that the cost would be great.”
Michael shook his head. “I’m no hero. I feel as if I still need to apologize. To you and to Mom … to the whole family. What I did affected everyone, and while I don’t regret what I did, part of me—a big part—wishes I’d never had to make that choice. Wish I’d walked away from it all before I ever got in as deep as I did.”
“You’d never have met Olivia. What happens now that all of this is over?”
It was the question Michael had asked himself over and over the past few hours. “Part of me feels as if I haven’t known her long enough to make that decision, but another part of me knows I don’t want to let her go.”
“I’ve seen the two of you together. She’s good for you.”
“You sound like Avery and Emily. So you think it’s time for me to settle down too?”
“I know your mother would appreciate another grandchild or two.”
“Whoa … let’s not jump ahead there yet. I’m looking forward to spending some time getting to know Olivia outside a situation where we’re constantly running for our lives. And then in time, who knows? You might get that extra grandchild.”
Michael couldn’t help but smile at the thought. It had been a long time since a woman made him want to settle down and find a hint of normalcy in his life. They might still need time to explore their feelings together, but as far as he was concerned, she’d already stolen his heart.
He set his empty coffee mug down between them and cleared his throat. “There is one other thing I need to tell you before I go inside.”
