by Janie Crouch
Lillian pursed her lips. “All right, simmer down there, Hulk-Smash. Give me the goddamn phone.”
Saul hit the send button for Jace.
“Hey, you.”
Just hearing his deep voice helped settle her. Like it always had.
“Hey.” Her own voice came out husky.
“Where are you? Derek was expecting you nearly thirty minutes ago.”
Saul narrowed his eyes at her and brought his knife up in Philip’s direction.
“Jace, tell Derek it’s going to be a while before I make it in. Don’t be mad, but I caught Carnell sneaking into the marked-off basement and I followed him. I caught him, Jace. Have him in custody. I’ll explain later, but Carnell is definitely the mole.”
“You’re sure?”
She had to find a way to warn Jace. She hoped this worked. “One-hundred-percent. I swear on my brother’s life I’m telling the truth.”
Jace laughed. “You don’t have a brother.”
Lillian gave the most lighthearted chuckle she was capable of. “Fine. Then I swear on your brother’s life that I’m telling the truth. You know how much I love your dear brother.”
“Yeah, a lot of love.” The slightest change in Jace’s tone clued her in. He knew there was something up. She had his attention now. “You need help bringing in Philip? There’s nothing going on around here until the bigwigs arrive.”
Saul shook his head in warning.
“Nah. I can definitely handle Carnell. You stay where you are. He won’t get the drop on me down here again.”
Would Jace understand? It was all so vague.
“You sure?”
“If Philip keeps running his mouth, he’s going to end up just like that perp Daryl. You remember me telling you about what I did to Daryl?” She chuckled again to try to throw Saul off. “Carnell is going to end up just like him if he keeps talking trash to me.”
“Hey, you be good,” Jace finally said. “And be careful. Don’t want you to get in any trouble for roughing up a suspect.”
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
Saul hit the disconnect button as soon as the last word was out of her mouth. She could only pray Jace understood what she was trying to tell him.
“Who the hell is Daryl?” Saul hissed. “Why’d you bring him up?”
“He’s just some guy I fought with once. And I brought him up because if I treat Jace like we’re nothing more than professional colleagues, he’s going to know something’s up, okay? You got what you wanted, Saul, you damn coward, so just shut the hell up.”
She saw his face turn red with rage, as his arm flew toward her. The world spun to black as he cracked her in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.
Chapter Eighteen
The second Lillian’s call disconnected, Jace was running out into the hallway to find Derek.
“We need to evacuate the building right now.”
Derek immediately put away the papers he was looking at. “Why? What happened?”
“I just talked to Lillian. She’s in trouble. And there’s a bomb in the building, probably in the basement.”
“She told you that? Why didn’t she radio it in? Call the bomb squad?”
“She was talking to me under duress, trying to get me a message. She was talking about my brother, Daryl.”
Derek looked confused. “Your brother, Daryl, planted a bomb?”
“No, my brother, Daryl, is dead. But he died in an explosion. Lillian was trying to get that across to me by mentioning him.”
Derek shook his head. “No offense, Eakin, but are you sure? Maybe she was just bringing him up as part of a conversation.”
Jace stepped farther into Derek’s personal space. They didn’t have time to waste. “She told me she had proof that Philip Carnell was the mole. That she caught him. That she would swear on her brother’s life that it was him.”
“I didn’t know Lillian had a brother.”
“She doesn’t. When I brought up that point, she said she would swear on my brother’s life that Carnell was the mole.”
“Okay, weird. But what makes you think she’s under duress?”
Without providing details about Daryl that Lillian might not want to share, Jace explained what she had said about Daryl and what she was trying to explain to them.
Jace knew without a shadow of a doubt that Lillian had risked her life to get him that message. He wasn’t going to waste what she’d done, regardless of whether Derek agreed or not. He didn’t want to have to go over Derek’s head, but he would if he had to.
Jace trusted Lillian. Trusted what she was trying to tell him. He couldn’t even allow himself to think about the fact that she had now served her purpose for whoever had forced her to make that call and might already be dead. Because that damn well wasn’t going to happen.
“Derek, I’m right. You know Lillian would’ve handled this differently if Carnell really was in custody. She wouldn’t just leave us in the middle of an important lockdown when every person on the team is needed. Not to mention, she would’ve died before calling and leading us astray unless she had a plan to try to warn us. Mentioning Daryl was that plan.”
“All right, I trust you. And moreover, I trust Lillian. Let’s get this building cleared now. But calmly.”
Within seconds Derek was on the comm units with the rest of the Omega team and the added security personnel. Thankfully, because of the LESS Summit, half the people who would normally be working here had been given the day off. Within minutes everyone with security clearance was helping to escort people quickly out of the building.
All Jace wanted to do was find Lillian and make sure she wasn’t harmed. But he knew she would want to make sure the building was secure first. That innocent people were safe. And while Jace didn’t like that, he would respect her wishes. He had no doubt she’d paid a price to get that info to him. He wouldn’t let it be wasted.
As they were escorting the last of the people from the building, he could hear Derek explaining on the phone what was happening to an obviously livid Congresswoman Glasneck.
“Glasneck refuses to cancel, so we’re going to the emergency third location.” Frustration was etched on Derek’s face.
“I didn’t even know there was a third location.” And to be honest, he didn’t care about the LESS Summit anymore. All Jace’s attention was focused on getting to Lillian.
“The Clarke Building. An ordinary office building about three blocks away.” Derek provided the address. “Small, unimpressive, nondescript. A conference room with no windows on the second floor. Opposite of what Glasneck wanted.”
“I’m not coming, Derek. I’ve got to find Lily. She’s in trouble.” Jace respected the man but didn’t care. What could Derek do, fire him? Even if this was his real job, Jace wouldn’t care.
But Derek just nodded. “Find her. LESS is now going to be bare-bones anyway. The ceremony and pomp will have to be done some other way. This is just going to be Congresswoman Glasneck and a couple other key people flipping a switch.” He provided a few more details about where they would be.
Jace was already taking off toward the lobby. “I’ll report in as soon as I know something about Lillian. And we’ll get to you if we can.”
He prayed they’d be able to.
The last of the civilians were being led out the main entrance and police were clearing all the protesters in the vicinity of city hall. Jace had already tried calling Lillian’s phone a dozen times. Each time the call went straight to voice mail.
“Jace.”
He turned to find Saul behind him. “Is your sector clear?”
Saul hesitated a second before nodding. “When last I checked.”
“Okay, I think the building’s clear, then.”
Saul didn’t give his usual grin, just nodded. “Good. I’m gla
d you figured out that there was a threat.”
“It was all Lillian, she clued me in, even though I’m almost positive she was under duress. Have you seen her? Or Carnell?”
“Um, yeah, a while ago, before we started the evac. I think she was just getting here. Said something about having proof about Carnell.”
“Yeah, that’s what she told me, too. I’m sure Derek can use your help securing the new LESS location. The Clarke Building, two blocks east of here. It’s bare-bones, most of the VIPs won’t be a part of it now, but LESS is still going live.”
Saul’s lips thinned. “Okay, I’ll head over there right now. I’ve just got one thing to do first.”
Jace didn’t know what could be more important than getting directly over to the summit, but he honestly didn’t care. Protecting the summit was Derek’s concern now. This building was clear and Jace was damn well going to find Lillian.
“Eakin!” Saul called as Jace ran toward the stairs. “When I saw her as she came in, Lillian mentioned something about the roof. I don’t know if that’s where she is, but maybe.”
Jace gave a wave of acknowledgment but didn’t slow down. As he turned the corner bringing him to the main stairwell, he had to make a decision. Up or down. If Saul was right and she was on the roof, Jace didn’t want to waste time looking in the basement section.
He won’t get the drop on me down here again.
Those had been Lillian’s words. Down here.
Maybe she’d been heading toward the roof when Poniard saw her earlier, but she wasn’t there now. Or at least hadn’t been when she called him to get the people out of the building. He headed down the stairs, memories of finding Lily’s swinging form haunting him from the last time he’d taken these stairs. He prayed he wouldn’t find something worse.
A few minutes of storming through rooms—even the ones behind the padlocked door—had Jace worried he’d made the wrong decision. Maybe she was up on the roof. He was about to make his way up there when he heard a sound coming from the supply closet—like a call for help.
But Jace knew before he even opened the door that couldn’t be right, the sound was from too far away to be coming from the supply closet.
He reached for the handle and found it locked. That was strange. It hadn’t been locked as they were securing the building the past two days.
He heard the sound again—a muffled male yell—and stepped back to kick in the door. The door flew from its hinges when his foot hit it and opened.
Nothing. Nobody bound and gagged, like he expected.
He wiped a hand over his eyes. Wishful thinking. The stress was getting to him. Obviously the sound couldn’t be from here. He would check the roof, since he’d already checked every possible room in the basement.
But as he was closing the door he heard it again. Jace’s head jerked up. That damn well hadn’t been wishful thinking or stress. That had been a yell for help. And it had been coming from right in front of him. Right through the wall. A wall that should lead nowhere, according to the building plans he’d studied extensively.
Jace immediately began knocking against the far wall, more frantically, when he heard the yell again.
“Who’s there? Keep yelling,” Jace yelled back. When he moved a shelving unit he saw the hole. Doubling his efforts, he threw the shelf to the side and crawled through the hole.
What the hell?
“Help. Please.”
The voice was becoming weaker.
“I’m here. Keep yelling.”
“Eakin? We’re here. Help us. Hurry.”
“Carnell?” What the hell was going on? Jace moved farther into the large room. What was this? “Where are you?”
“Here. God, hurry, Eakin. There’s a bomb.”
Jace ran toward Carnell’s voice and found him tied up in an adjoining room. Bleeding heavily.
Lillian was tied up and gagged next to him. Very much alive. She was not only alive, but had also somehow gotten her pocketknife out and, with her own wrists secured behind her back, was attempting to cut through Carnell’s tied hands. She’d already gotten his gag out, and would’ve had them both untied before too long.
Jace glanced at the explosive device. But maybe not fast enough.
“You’re hurt,” Jace said to Philip before diving down to help Lillian.
“I’ll be fine. Thank God you’re here,” Philip said as Jace cut through Lillian’s bonds first then did the same to Philip’s. “We’ve got to get everyone out of here. That bomb is set to go off in less than twenty minutes.”
“We’ve already evacuated the building.”
As soon as her hands were free, Lillian reached up and pulled the gag out of her mouth. “You understood. Thank God.”
Jace reached over and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her forehead against his. “Mentioning Daryl was smart. Clued me in immediately.”
“It was my only option,” she whispered. “Poniard was torturing Philip. Threatening to grab a mom and kid—”
“Poniard? Poniard is the mole?” Jace let out a blistering curse. “I just saw him. He was acting a little weird, but everything was already crazy with the evacuation.”
“Thank God you stopped the summit,” Philip said as Jace got Lillian to her feet and helped him stand. “I didn’t even get to the part that sent me down here in the first place. The much worse part.”
Phillip looked from Lillian to Jace.
“What?” they both demanded at the same time.
“You know how Saul has been traveling to police stations all over the country for the last eight months to help with the setup of the LESS system? What he conveniently failed to mention was that he also rigged those stations with biological weapons. If LESS had gone live today, Saul had rigged it so the connecting systems all over the country would’ve released the biological hazard. The death toll would’ve been in the thousands, maybe tens of thousands. All law enforcement.”
Lillian’s ugly curse was the exact sentiment Jace was feeling. And she didn’t even know the half of it.
“That’s a pretty big problem,” Jace said. “Because we got this building clear, but the summit is still on at a different location. And I just told Poniard where it’s being held.”
Chapter Nineteen
Jace was reaching for his cell phone before he finished his sentence. He immediately cursed before putting it away.
“No signal. Poniard had to figure I would eventually end up down here. He probably set up some sort of jammer.”
Jace and Lillian both ran over to the bomb. “We’ve got to get this thing disarmed,” she said. “If the building comes down, there’s no way there won’t be complete panic outside.”
“I’ll take care of the bomb. You guys have to get over to the summit and stop Poniard.” Jace told them where the summit had been moved to, then began studying the explosive device more closely.
Lillian’s gut clenched. “Jace, there’s no way for you to call for backup. For you to get the bomb squad in here. You’ll be completely on your own.”
Jace stood, wrapped his hands on either side of her face and brought her in for a hard, quick kiss. “There’s no time for them to get here even if I could get a call out. Law enforcement is maxed out outside. We’re on our own.”
Lillian grabbed his wrists and kissed him again. They both had jobs to do. He was trusting her to do hers, and she had to trust him to do his. “Then I’ll see you soon. You damn well better make it out of this.”
His grin sent heat to her core. Almost enough to melt the ice of fear surrounding her for him. “Bet on it.”
He let her go and turned back to the explosive device. Lillian studied Philip. “We’re going to have to move fast. Can you make it?”
“I have to. I’m the only one who can get LESS shut down in time to stop it from killing thousands of people.�
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They were through the passageway, out of the building and running into the Denver streets as fast as the crowds would let them. Backing people away from the City and County Building had just made the other areas more crowded. The sounds of chants and jeers were nearly deafening.
Lillian cleared a path for Philip, who was looking more and more pale. But he was right, they didn’t have any choice: he had to make it. She had a new respect for the determination in his eyes.
They finally made it to the small, almost unnoticeable building between two much taller ones. This was everything Congresswoman Glasneck hadn’t wanted for the LESS Summit.
Not knowing the building specifics put Lillian at a tactical disadvantage, but Saul hadn’t known about this backup location, either, so he couldn’t have left them many surprises.
“We’ve got less than fifteen minutes,” Philip said as they made it inside. “And we can’t just go barging in. Saul has had this set up for months. He’s only waited for the LESS Summit because he wanted to have these law-enforcement offices and stations around the country to be as crowded as possible. All he has to do is flip the switch to make LESS live, then start the computer program that opens the containers. He’s probably already got it saved to a single keystroke. That’s what I would do.”
Lillian let out a string of curses. “So you’re saying if we knock the door down and shoot him, he still might have a chance to put the program in motion and release the biological weapons.”
“Exactly. I’ll bet you any amount of money he’s walking around with either a keyboard or a phone. Either can be used as his trigger. All he needs is a second to end the lives of thousands of people.”
“Okay, then I’ll knock the phone or keyboard out of his hand.”
Philip shook his head. “That buys you time, but not much. He has a timing device as a backup plan. That’s how I stumbled onto this whole thing to begin with, the countdown. Once LESS goes live, one minute afterward the canisters will release.”
This just kept getting worse. “Can you stop it?”
“Yes. If I can access Poniard’s digital trigger, whether it’s a phone or a computer, I can stop it. I’ll have to work the system backward, but I can do it.”
