Edge of Danger (Edge Security Series Book 3) (16 page)

A
lyssa ran
down the hall to the stairs, Zach right behind her. They left Masters yelling into his radio to evacuate the building. Cat had stayed behind with Jake to see if they could defuse the bomb.

Alyssa pounded down the stairs to the main floor. Her head thumped in concert, but she pushed it and her body aches away.

Later. She’d deal with them later.

Hopefully.

On the main floor, agents ushered guests from the hall. A team surrounded the Secretary and held him inside the doors to the ballroom as they considered their strategy. The bomb’s location upstairs prevented them from using the back entrance. If it blew early, it could take out the back half of the hotel. Alyssa knew from studying the floor plan that the single side entrance led to a very narrow alley, that even now had guests and staff evacuating though it. A congested mess.

Alyssa pointed to the Secretary and the swarm of agents around him. “Their only option is going to be through the front doors.”

“Let’s recce the area,” Zach said. He pushed his way through the crowd, with its air of barely suppressed panic. Sometimes it really helped to be over six feet and two hundred pounds of muscle, she thought.

Outside, people gathered. Some were in their finery while others were in normal clothes, obviously having been in their hotel rooms when they were told to leave. The crowd, bewildered and scared, grew as she watched, joined by the flow of people from inside. A boy of maybe ten stood in the middle of the street, tears falling as he looked around. A middle-aged woman rushed up to him, hugged him, and ushered him across the road. A dog barked somewhere.

Agents directed people off the sidewalk in front of the hotel, while the few police officers who had been assigned to the event handled shifting the people as they drifted onto the street and directed them to congregate on the far side. Parked cars lined both sides of the street, impeding the progress of the evacuation, making the crowd flow around them like a stream around boulders.

The escalating whine of sirens drew closer—more help for the determined officers directing the evacuation. One officer stood in the middle of the street in front of the hotel directing the evacuation, but his German shepherd hindered his progress, refusing to move, staring at the crowd on the far side of the street. Alyssa could sympathize; the swelling crowd made her want to freeze, too.

“We could clear the sidewalk on this side of the street,” Zach said, “and get the Secretary down the block to a car, but I’m worried about a sniper.”

They both looked up. A sniper would be able to easily take out anyone out here.

Alyssa shook her head. “That’s not her MO.”

Agent Masters and his team came on the scene, forcibly moving the crowd along. The shepherd barked once. The officer snapped a command and the dog heeled.

Alyssa felt as if time slowed. Memories coalesced in her mind, making every sensation overwhelming. The sirens in the distance. A child crying. The dog barking.

She grabbed Zach’s arm. “There’s another bomb.”

“What?” he said. “Where?”

“Here.” She waved her arm around her. “It’s exactly what she did in Iraq. An initial small bomb. Everyone rushes to the site. Then a secondary and much larger explosion.”

Zach scanned the crowd. “Where?”

The dog. It was a sniffer dog. Alyssa turned. The officer spoke with an agent while his dog sat, staring at the street.

Not the street. The car near it.

“Car bomb.”

“Fuck,” Zach said. “Tell Masters. I’ll radio Jake.”

Alyssa ran to Masters, who spoke into his own radio as his agents cleared a path down the sidewalk on their side. “Get ready to move the Secretary. We’ve almost got a path cleared.”

“You can’t bring him out,” Alyssa shouted.

Masters scowled at her. “What now?”

Alyssa indicated the dog. “Car bomb. At least one. It’s Al Shabah’s MO. You can’t bring him out.”

“We can’t leave him inside. They haven’t defused the bomb in the hotel yet.”

Alyssa looked around as if searching for an answer. “We need to find the car bomb. Maybe we can defuse it.”

“In the eight minutes we have left?” Masters snarled. Alyssa knew he wasn’t angry at her, but frustrated at their situation.

“Let that dog go,” she ordered the officer who stood near them. He frowned at her, but released the dog’s leash. The dog ran to a silver Ford Escort parked across the street and sat by it. The car’s back end hung low to the ground. Something heavy was in the trunk.

Alyssa looked through the car window. Closed boxes sat on the backseat. She reached for the front door handle, but Zach stopped her.

“It could be rigged.” He touched the PTT button by his collarbone. “College, this is Doc. We have a situation.”

“Another one?” Alyssa heard her brother’s voice in her ear.

“Car bomb,” she said into her own radio.

“Fucking hell,” Jake said. “Doc. Take care of it. We can’t leave this one. It’s too close to the stairwell that everyone’s using, the damn building could collapse. Valkyrie and the bomb squad have almost defused it. We’ll be there ASAP.”

“Copy that. Doc out.” Zach then dropped to the ground and looked under the car. “This is not our day, Firecracker.”

Alyssa dropped to the ground next to him. The bomb was attached to the undercarriage. “There’s no timer.”

“There’s got to be an antenna. She’s going to remotely detonate it.”

“Can we jam it?” Alyssa asked.

“I can try,” Zach said. “It’s more Cat’s forte than mine, but I know what to look for.”

“The bomb techs are coming, but with the crowd they’ll be a few minutes.” Masters stood above them listening to their conversation. “We’re evacuating the street. What do you need?”

Zach listed some tools while Alyssa stood back up. Agents and police corralled people at the ends of the block. A stream of hotel and gala guests continued to exit the building, being hurried to one of the corrals by officers who continued to arrive on scene.

“She would have to have line of sight, right?” Alyssa asked Zach.

“From the looks of this, yes,” he said. He shook his head. “She could be in any of these buildings with a decent view. I’m going to work on the bomb. It’s our only chance.”

He lay on the ground and an officer ran up to them and handed over the tools Zach had asked for. Zach scooted his head and shoulders under the car. He didn’t need to go far. If it blew, there was no way he’d survive. Alyssa swallowed and looked again at the boxes in the backseat. If it blew, no one in the area would survive.

Zach stuck his head out from under the car. “I’ve got this. The bomb techs will be here soon. Go look for Reynolds. Check inside the buildings.”

He wanted her to go? But what if he needed help? Besides, Masters already had men checking the buildings around them. She wouldn’t do any good knocking door to door. She frowned at him. His eyes pleaded with her, a plea she’d seen once before on her friend’s face. “You want me away from here,” she said.

“Go, Firecracker. Please. This could go any second and it’s freaking me out that you’re standing here.”

“I’m NYPD, Zach. I don’t run from danger.” She forced a light tone to her voice. “Besides,
partner
, who’s going to save your ass if you get in trouble?”

His jaw clenched before he smiled grimly. “Stubborn and sexy,” he said. “A combination I can’t resist.” He slid back under the car.

She pushed away the little thrill his words gave her and focused her gaze on the crowd. She hated standing there feeling helpless, waiting to see if a bomb went off. Nausea rolled through her. Her breathing quickened.

Focus, Alyssa. Don’t lose it.

Zach was counting on her.

“Where are you, Beth Reynolds?” Alyssa said, more to herself.

“You see her?” Zach’s sharp voice came from under the car.

“Not yet. But she can’t be far. She wants to see you die as well as the Secretary of Defense. She’s got to be here.” Alyssa ran a hand through her hair.

Parked behind the Escort was a black SUV. Alyssa hopped up on the hood, thankful yet again she’d insisted on boots, and climbed onto its roof. No car alarm went off, so it was probably a fed’s car, open and ready to use. She turned and looked at both ends of the street.

People poured from the hotel and streamed down the road and opposite sidewalk in both directions, like a multicolored fountain of water coming from the main doors. Masters’ agents had most of it under control, keeping everyone moving and suppressing panic.

Alyssa watched for faces. Most people looked where they were going, away from the hotel. She wanted the face that looked back. Not in fear, like the man in the power suit who glanced over his shoulder. She wanted the one who looked at them with calm focus. She swiveled her gaze up and down the street, her heart racing at the crowd swelling around her.

How would she be able to find Al Shabah? She was literally standing next to her death, waiting for someone to push a button. The street was too narrow to contain everyone. The sirens were getting closer. Alyssa knew that as soon as the emergency personnel got here, Reynolds would set off the bomb. They had a minute at most.

“How are you doing?” she asked Zach.

“Almost there,” he said.

Hurry, Zach.
She clenched her fists, fighting her memories as she searched the crowd for her enemy.

Z
ach took
a last glance at Alyssa, who stood on the car behind where he lay. She reminded him of a picture he’d once seen of a Celtic warrior woman as she surveyed those around her. Her silky red hair was coming out of the complicated twist she’d had it in. Her gaze was strong and determined, just like her. She wasn’t going to leave him, no matter what he said. He could see that now.

So he needed to get his ass in gear and defuse this bomb.

Now.

He shifted his head back under the vehicle, a tight squeeze for a big guy like him. At least he had a clear view of the device attached to the gas tank. If the car bomb was anything like what Al Shabah had used in Iraq, then the lethal blast range would be anywhere from 100 to 125 feet.

He’d already unscrewed the bomb’s cover and detached the motion sensor and the thermocouple for heat changes. Now, Zach held clippers next to the wire he believed needed to be cut. He had to separate the blasting cap from the accelerant. He traced the wires again with his eyes and cautious fingers. Some went behind the box, where he couldn’t see. He reached around and kept following one in particular with his hand.

He had to be sure. Alyssa still stood over him like a guardian. He couldn’t let anything happen to her. And not just because she was his buddy’s sister. She was a woman he wanted in his life.

A New York cop and an E.D.G.E. operator would have a tough time making any kind of relationship work, but he knew he wanted to try. Now he had to defuse this bomb so he could convince her to take a chance, too.

The wire he traced ended at a panel up behind the box. The electrical impulse would travel from this detonator to the blasting cap. He needed to separate the connection between the two.

“I’m making the cut,” he said.

Three. Two. One.
He clipped the wire.

Nothing.

He expelled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. But he didn’t wait before pulling himself out from under the car. “We’re good. The bomb techs can finish.”

Alyssa’s face was pinched tight as she scanned the crowd from her perch. She had her hands clenched into fists, but her breathing remained steady. He grabbed one of her fists and forced it open, using both his hands to knead her palm and help her force her memories back.

She let out a long breath and finally looked down at him. “I’m good. I want to catch this bitch.”

“You and me both, babe. Keep looking. I’m going to talk to Masters and give your brother an update.”

A
lyssa kept studying
the growing crowd. The bomb had been disabled, but her heart still thundered. They couldn’t let Al Shabah get away again. Zach moved toward the main doors, where Masters stood at the entrance.

Alyssa turned in the other direction. A slim woman in jeans, sweater, and a Yankees ball cap stood two blocks away typing into her phone. She looked up and Alyssa saw the pale skin of her face. Their gazes connected even at that distance and Alyssa’s muscles tensed. It was her.

The woman raised her hand with the phone, as if to show Alyssa she had the power. Alyssa’s heart stopped and her breath froze.

Please let us have found all the bombs.

Al Shabah pulled her hand back down and typed into the phone again.

Alyssa wasted no more time. “I see her!” she yelled as she pulled her Glock from the holster on her calf and jumped down from the car. She sprinted down the sidewalk, weaving in and out of the crowd.

One block left. Reynolds disappeared around the corner. Fuck. Alyssa poured on the speed, pushing people out of her way.

Her earbud came to life. “Alyssa. Talk to me.” It was Zach’s voice.

“It’s her. South on Lexington. Jeans, dark sweater, Yankees ball cap. Cut her off.”

“On it.”

She could hear Zach coordinating the other E.D.G.E. operators to help with the chase. Her feet pounded the pavement and she spun around the corner. Reynolds had crossed the road and now ran on the other sidewalk. Ahead of her were stairs going underground.

“She’s heading for the subway,” Alyssa panted into her radio. Her thighs burned trying to close the distance between them. Reynolds rushed down the steps.

Fuck. She was not going to lose her here. Alyssa made it to the stairs and jumped down four at a time. She leapt over a turnstile and ignored the mutters from the other paying riders. This station had multiple trains running through it in different directions. People bustled everywhere on the open main floor heading for stairways to different platforms to make their train. Spinning in place, Alyssa searched for a running figure.

Where was she?

A flash of a pale face and blonde hair. Alyssa raced to a far set of stairs going down. “The number-four line,” she said into her radio. “I repeat, number four.”

Static crackled back in her ear. Dammit. It would be her luck that she’d found one of the few stations that still had signal problems and dead spots.

“NYPD! Move!” She thrust people aside as she ran. The stairs led to a long platform with a track on either side. A similar platform ran parallel to it beyond another track. A small crowd of people stood at the far end of the platform, their heads all craning as they looked down the track, pointing. Alyssa could just make out Reynolds running into the darkness.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” she muttered. She called in her position, but again only heard static. The digital sign said the next train was expected in three minutes. She bit her lip.

I can’t let her get away.

She leapt past the people watching and down onto the tracks amidst the garbage and muck. A few members of the crowd gasped.

What the fuck am I doing?

Al Shabah looked back at Alyssa as she ran. And she smiled.

Smiled? Crazy bitch.

Alyssa sprinted harder than she ever had in her life. All her years of running seemed to come down to this moment. She pumped her arms and drove her legs, pounding her feet over the tracks and uneven ground.

She gained on Reynolds.

A thundering sound and vibration echoed up the dark tunnel behind her.

She pushed herself to run faster. Her breath almost a sob. She gained more ground, but the thunder behind her gained as well.

What have I done?

She couldn’t think about that. Unbidden, a memory of Zach smiling came to her. She could do this. She would survive. If only to see that smile again.

She started to look for a door or a way off the track. The next platform wasn’t even in sight. She’d never make it before the train barreled down on her.

“Reynolds!” she screamed. “The train is coming! We have to get off the track!”

Laughter echoed above the noise, barely. The thunder grew overwhelming. A horn blared and she almost fell.

She was going to die.

The train roared by on the track next to hers. Relief swept over her, so palpable that she stumbled. The crashing sound had a rhythmic quality as each car passed her, like a booming heartbeat. The wind of its passing sucked at her.

She kept running. It was a short reprieve, she knew. The thunder lessened as the train disappeared down the track, but it didn’t disappear. Instead, it grew again. She looked for Reynolds ahead of her.

She was gone.

She was gone, and Alyssa could see lights barreling down on her from behind.

“
W
here the hell
did she go?” Zach asked. He turned on the spot. He’d located the subway station Alyssa had run into, but couldn’t see her. Had she gone to the uptown or downtown side of the tracks? Fuck. Where was she? Horrible scenarios of her being hurt somewhere and waiting for him to help almost overwhelmed him. He hated just standing there.

Jake stood next to him. He spoke into his phone on speaker since their earbuds had stopped working. “Dani, I need you, babe. Where’s Alyssa?”

“I’m tracking her cell now,” Dani said. “The signal’s intermittent. There’s a lot of interference. I’m triangulating her last ping… This can’t be right.”

“Just tell us, Dani,” Zach growled.

Jake laid a hand on his arm and he shook it off. The subway commuters around them eased away from him, giving him lots of room.

“If she’s underground, then the coordinates place her in the middle of the four tunnel heading south.”

“What the— ” Jake said.

“Stop the train,” Zach ordered, starting to run. “I don’t care what you do, Dani, but stop that train.”

“I’m trying,” Dani said.

They raced for the stairs to the number-four line and made it to the platform. “Did you stop it, Dani?” Zach demanded. People crowded the far end of the platform looking down into the dark tunnel.

What the hell did you do, Alyssa?

“Dani, di—”

A vibrating thunder overwhelmed his last words. His heart stopped as an express train zoomed past the platform they stood on and down the tunnel Alyssa had taken.

F
ear seared Alyssa’s thoughts
. She had no idea if she should jump to the other track or if that would quicken her death. The third rail separated the tracks and if she accidentally touched it, she’d be killed by the 625 volts running through it.

She kept running, trying to calm her thoughts. She only had seconds.

Where had Reynolds gone? She couldn’t just disappear. Alyssa slowed as she neared the spot where she’d last seen her. All of her instincts screamed to keep running as fast as she could, because death was coming.

Darkness hindered her vision, but she could make out graffiti on the brick walls.

What kind of idiots tagged down here?

She ran up to the wall. Her fingers moved over the rough brick as she jogged down the track. The rumbling of a train grew closer and she increased her speed, her panting breath harsh in her ears.

“Where did you go, you crazy bitch?”

The thunder of another train approached. She chanced a glance over her shoulder. The headlights shone on her track. It was coming so fast.

Adrenaline spiked and surged through her. She ran.

A dark patch appeared on the wall ahead. She raced forward. An alcove was cut into the wall. She leapt into it. The train roared past. She braced herself against the sucking wind that tried to rip her from her small niche of safety.

The train finally passed.

Her breath shuddered out of her and she dropped to her knees, her legs unable to support her. She focused on breathing.

Alive. She was alive.

She tried her radio again. Static.

Once the train passed, it became dark again. She huddled on her knees, wondering what her next step should be. She’d lost Al Shabah and almost her life in the process. Bitter disappointment surged through her.

As she started to get to her feet, she noticed a sliver of light where the cement floor met the wall. Her hands probed the area and her fingers met cool metal, not brick.

A door.

She couldn’t feel a handle, but she kept searching until she found the crack of the door’s edge. Using her fingernails, she was able to pull the door open. More light rewarded her efforts. It was still dim, but she could just barely see what was beyond the threshold.

A narrow hallway greeted her. She ran down it, leaving the door open behind her, sure this was the path Al Shabah had taken. But how had the woman known this door was here? How much time had she spent studying the subway tunnels?

At the other end of the dark hall was another door. Alyssa pushed this one and it creaked open. Another tunnel, but this one had no track. She jumped the three feet down into it. A thick layer of dust coated everything. The humid, dank air and scurrying sounds made her think of a dried-up sewer line. Lights from somewhere further down the tunnel line allowed her to see. She raised her Glock and approached the light.

An abandoned platform lay ahead. The tiling had been done, but no stairs or escalators led here. No electricity either, from what she could see. Only the lanterns that had been set on the platform allowed her to see in this dusty place. A rolled-up sleeping bag and a camp stove sat beside one of the lanterns.

Beth Reynolds was nowhere in sight.