The Sixth Man (52 page)

Sean and Michelle eyed the little boy. Michelle tensed her body to leap.

Roy rose from his chair.

His sister said, “Eddie! No!”

“Enough people have died because of me, Kel. No more. Nobody else. Especially not a little boy.”

“They told me you had a big brain, Roy,” said Harkes. “Just right over here, please. Bunting, you too.”

They watched as Bunting and Roy stepped forward. On a nod from Harkes the men released Megan, who stumbled toward Sean and Michelle.

Sean’s gaze had not stopped moving. He had gone grid by grid, reaching far away with his gaze and then pulling it back in, step-by-step, like casting a fishing line and slowly reeling it in, looking for threats. It was like he had never been away from the Secret Service. He had pulled post on the Mall many times while with the Service. What to look for and how had been drilled into his mind until there was no difference between conscious thought and instinct.

As soon as Megan joined them Sean saw it. A man who was paying them a little too much attention while trying very hard not to seem to be. His hand went to his pocket. An optics flare followed as he took aim.

Sean leaped, his body parallel to the ground.

The shot was fired.

The round hit Sean squarely in the chest. He grunted once, hit the grass hard, and slid.

“Sean!” screamed Michelle.

The men who had been on either side of Riley suddenly went down fast, before they could pull their guns, their bodies writhing in pain. Men swarmed them, held them down, the glint of gunmetal flashed in the sunlight.

“Where’s the shooter?” one of them screamed.

In the face of the shot, the crowds on the Mall acted like a wave gathering strength. This stampede built speed and mass, and soon the wave was beyond control.

James Harkes was on the move. He dropped two men with his weapon. They fell to the grass out of the fight. Harkes kept going, his gaze darting in all directions. He didn’t know who had fired the
shot, but it had severely messed up his plans. His carefully arranged tactical positions were now being swept away.

But all he could do was keep going, keep striking.

Michelle knelt next to Sean.

“Sean!”

He struggled to his knees. “Go. Go. Finish the plan. I’m okay.”

She looked at the rip in his body armor where the slug had hit.

“Are you sure?”

He grimaced, one hand pressed against his chest. “Michelle, just get them out of here! Now!”

She squeezed his arm, leaped up, grabbed Megan and Roy by the wrist, and shouted, “With me, now.”

They raced off across the Mall, fighting their way through the screaming crowd that was now running flat-out in all directions.

Harkes finally spotted her and tenaciously fought through the crowd to get to the woman.

Kelly Paul’s broad back was to him. He was inches away.

“Paul!”

She turned, saw him, raised her gun, and fired.

The man behind Harkes grunted once as the rubber bullet hit him smack in the chest. He fell forward, and the gun he was about to fire at Harkes slipped from his hand.

Paul joined Harkes. He looked down at the fallen man as FBI agents ran up and cuffed the injured fellow.

“Thanks,” Harkes said.

“I think he spotted you taking out Quantrell’s boys and realized what you were really up to.”

She pointed to her left. “I got two more of them. The FBI has them as well.”

Harkes nodded and held up his Taser. “I got two. Plus the two with Riley. That’s five more to go, then,” he said. “We’ve got the Mall locked down. They can’t get away.”

“Where did that first shot come from?” she asked.

“No idea. But it didn’t help us a damn bit. Your brother? Riley?”

“On schedule. Where’s Bunting?”

He pointed across the street where two FBI agents had escorted the man to safety.

“Good job,” she said.

“Been after these folks a long time. Things could have blown up at any point along the way.”

“But they didn’t.”

“Good working with you again,” said Harkes.

“Couldn’t have managed it without you, Jim.”

Michelle, with Megan and Roy in tow, pushed and clawed her way through the panicked crowds. She finally saw a sliver of daylight and pulled them through it.

Roy shouted, “Look out!”

It was an unnecessary warning. Michelle had already seen it coming. She let go of his arm, twisted her body in the air, and laid the attacker out flat on his back with a thunderous kick, breaking his jaw.

“My God,” said Roy, staring down at the fallen man who weighed about two-fifty. “How did you do that?”

“I’ve got brains in my feet,” she barked. “Come on. Move, move!”

They sprinted across the Mall. A few seconds later, they reached the van. Michelle fired up the engine and slammed it into gear.

Edgar Roy looked back at the chaos on the Mall.

“Didn’t go exactly according to plan,” he said.

“Almost never does,” replied Michelle as the van sped off. “But we’re alive, that I’ll take.” She glanced in the rearview mirror. “Megan, are you okay?”

Megan sat up in the seat and pushed her ratty hair out of her eyes. “I am now. I didn’t think I was going to make it.” She rubbed at her swollen wrists. “They beat the crap out of me.”

“I know. We found your sweater with blood on it.”

Megan touched her shoulder. “Knife,” she said simply.

“But you’re okay?”

“They just needed some blood to leave behind to make sure you knew they were serious. And I got really toughened up over the last few days,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry about Officer Dobkin.” She
drew a long breath. “It was pretty damn awful. They kicked in the door and just shot him. He never had a chance to pull his weapon.”

“I know. But at least you’re safe,” said Michelle.

Megan looked at Roy. “I’m glad they got you out.” She held out her hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”

Roy shook her hand and said shyly, “You too. Sorry about before. Not communicating with you and all.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Megan. “All I want right now is a hot shower and some clean clothes.”

“Got just the place and it’s close by,” said Michelle. “Be there in five minutes.”

Megan looked behind them and said in a panicked tone, “Michelle, I think there’s someone following us.”

“There is. FBI. They’ll provide perimeter security at the safe house. Later, when everything is over, we’ll go to WFO. They’ll need detailed statements from you, Megan.”

“More than happy to give them.” She smiled. “But can I have the shower first?”

“You got it.”

They drove on. The black SUV tailing them sped up and drew closer.

Q
UANTRELL’S TWELVE MEN
were all subdued, cuffed, and hauled away in FBI transport vans. The participants in the peace rally probably thought the gunshot was from some jerk that didn’t share their enthusiasm for a less violent world. The crowd had congregated at the far end of the Mall, away from the less than peaceful activity.

Sean, Kelly Paul, Bunting, and James Harkes met in the middle of the Mall. Sean was listing to one side.

“How bad?” said Paul, as she looked at the hole in his body armor.

“Bruised rib, but it’s a lot better than being dead.”

“You saved Eddie’s life,” she said, gripping his arm.

Harkes said, “They obviously didn’t fill me in on the entire plan. Didn’t know they were going to do that.”

Paul said, “Might have just been someone looking to get a kill bonus.”

“How’d you spot the shooter before anyone else did?” asked Harkes.

“Used to do it for a living,” replied Sean.

“Status of the others?” asked Paul.

“Checked with Michelle,” said Sean. “They’re at the safe house. Megan is pretty beat up, but with some rest, clean clothes, and some food she should be okay. The wound on her shoulder was nasty, but Michelle cleaned it up. When she goes into WFO to make her statement they can check her out more thoroughly.”

“Good,” said Paul. She looked at Harkes. “Next move?”

“I get to visit a couple of my favorite people and tell them things
that will literally change their lives in a way they hoped would never happen.”

“Please give Ellen Foster and Mason Quantrell my best.”

“They thought they were using Megan to get Bunting and Roy. I’ve got nothing against the lady lawyer, but we were really using that to get them to a face-to-face.”

Paul added, “Only way it was going to work.”

“Are you sure you have enough to put both of them away?” asked Bunting anxiously. “They’re both very good at deflecting blame. I have vast personal experience of that.”

Harkes said, “I know you do, Mr. Bunting. But we’ve had this sting going for some time now, and the prosecutors are pretty confident we’ve got what we need. And I’ll make a star witness. If it wasn’t just he-said-she-said legal issues, I could have arrested her before now. The cost for waiting was huge. A lot of people died. The hit on Agent Murdock will haunt me the rest of my life.”

“He found out about the E-Program, my brother said.”

Harkes nodded. “They had the prison cell tapped. They freaked and authorized the kill without talking to me about it. I found out Murdock was dead when everyone else did.” He paused. “But now we’ve got the bastards.”

“I hope so,” said Bunting without much confidence in his voice.

Harkes picked up on this and said, “Just to reassure you, we also got a nice little bonus on the evidence front.”

Bunting perked up. “What?”

“We checked out the satellite angle that you gave us,” said Harkes. “It was better than we could have hoped. Foster signed off on the sat position change over Edgar Roy’s home for a three-hour period on a Wednesday night a week before Roy was arrested.”

“And that’s when the bodies were put in the barn,” said Sean.

“Right.”

“But why was it better than we could have hoped?” asked Paul. “You just have the sat change. That’s instructive but not necessarily incriminating. There could have been other reasons for the change, or at least she could argue that.”

“No, she really can’t.”

“Why?” asked Bunting sharply.

“Because it turns out Mason Quantrell also had a pair of eyes on the barn the whole time from his private platform. It was like you said, he wanted some extra insurance in case Foster turned on him.”

“So you’re saying we have video feed of the bodies going in?” asked Sean.

“Yes we do. Nice and clear. And it turns out the guys who did the deed worked with Foster when she was stationed in the Far East. I guess she didn’t trust Quantrell to do the job right. We’ve picked up these men, and let’s just say they are being cooperative with the Bureau in building the necessary case.”

“Couldn’t have happened to two nicer people,” said Bunting, who looked and sounded far more confident now.

Harkes patted him on the arm. “Sorry I had to keep you in the dark on everything. And for roughing you up and threatening your family. The people I was dealing with were very smart and they were watching me the whole time. I had to play it right next to the edge to get them to trust me.”

Bunting said, “I have to admit, my suspicions about you were aroused after you let Avery live, even after I pushed the button.” He paused. “But now he really is dead.”

“No he isn’t. He’ll be waiting for you at the New York office on Monday.”

Bunting’s face collapsed. “What? But the phone call?”

“They wanted to kill him. But I convinced them we could always do it later. So we just did a little subterfuge on you instead. I wasn’t going to let them kill the kid.”

“Thank God for that.”

“And your family is safe and sound under federal eyes.”

“I know. I spoke to my wife.” He hesitated. “I’m thinking about taking some time off. I believe the E-Program can survive without me for a bit.”

“I think that would be a great idea,” said Paul. “And quite frankly Eddie needs a break, too. And he and his big sister are going to start spending more time together, starting right now.”

Harkes walked off to finish what he’d started a long time ago.

“A good guy to have on your side,” said Paul, as she watched him go.

“I’m sure he said the same thing about you,” replied Bunting.

“How did you two meet?” asked Sean.

“Let’s just say it was a mutually beneficial arrangement.”

Sean was about to respond when his phone buzzed. He looked down and recognized the caller’s name.

It would be a call that would change absolutely everything for Sean King.