Andrew Peterson - First to Kill

“Which channel?”

“Any of them.”

A knot wrenched his stomach. He grabbed the remote, swiveled around in his chair, and pressed the power button. The Fox news channel filled the screen. The image was taken from a helicopter orbiting high overhead. Dozens of emergency vehicles, with their red-and-blue lights flashing, lined the streets surrounding a two-story building with a gaping hole in its side. Smoke belched from the opening. Above the damaged structure, a black column climbed a mile into the sky. Booms from ladder trucks were spraying jets of water into the open gash and onto the rooftop.

Stone turned up the volume.

He caught Shepard Smith in mid-sentence: “…know so far. A bomb has been detonated at the Sacramento field office of the FBI. We have no information on the number of people killed or wounded. From what local authorities have indicated, this is clearly an act of terrorism, and not an accidental explosion. The bomb was detonated very close to ten am Pacific time-”

“Get everyone in here.”

“They’re already on the way,” Watson said.

His secretary appeared at the door. “The president’s on three.”

He nodded to her. “Leaf, I want a chemical analysis on the material we seized in California. Find out if it matches this new bombing. Make it happen fast. I’ll call Quantico and tell them to expect your call.” Stone disconnected and punched the blinking button. “Mr. President.”

“Stone, I need a briefing as soon as you have anything.”

“Yes, Mr. President, you’ll get it.”

“What’s your initial assessment? Is it Al Qaeda?”

“I don’t think so. I have no way of confirming it, but my instincts tell me it’s related to the raid we made in California several days ago. I don’t think it’s a coincidence the FBI was targeted, or that the bombing occurred in Sacramento. I think this is revenge-driven, sir.”

“Anything you need?”

“Time. My people are doing a residue analysis as we speak. I think we’ll find it’s a match to the seized cache of Semtex.”

“When will you know for sure if it’s a match?”

One thing Stone knew when dealing with the president: Never, ever, bullshit the man. If you don’t know, say so. “I don’t know, but I’ll find out within twenty-four hours max.”

“I don’t need to tell you the repercussions of this, Stone, especially after your press conference regarding the Semtex raid yesterday. This is getting wall-to-wall coverage on every major network.”

“I’m on it, Mr. President.”

“Call me, I’ll make sure you’re put through. I need to be one-hundred percent sure.”

“Understood.”

The president never said good-bye in the conventional sense. When the conversation was over, he just hung up. Well, this conversation was over.

Stone punched the intercom button. “Heidi, put me through to Kevin Ramsland at Quantico’s materials lab right away. If he’s not in his office, have him paged and hold the line until they find him. See if you can reach Director Lansing, but Ramsland’s call takes priority.”

Stone frowned. Larry Gifford worked in the Sacramento field office. His frown deepened when he realized Nathan also remained in the area. Though seldom used, his son’s phone number was one of twenty-five speed-dial presets.

Just before he dialed Nathan’s number, Heidi’s voice came through the intercom. “I have Kevin Ramsland on line one.”

Stone punched the line and picked up the handset. “Special Agent Ramsland, thank you for taking my call.”

“No problem, Senator.”

“My man Leaf Watson needs a bomb-residue analysis ASAP. Can you see to it personally?”

“Yes, absolutely. I’ve already called down to the lab. We’re just waiting for the trace to arrive.”

“How long will it take once you have it?”

“For the best result, we’ll need to detonate a small sample and compare it to the trace from Sacramento. It shouldn’t take more than an hour once we have it. Can you get someone to fly the samples out here personally? That would save a bunch of time.”

“I’ll make it happen.”

“Who did this, Senator?”

“I’m not one-hundred percent sure, but I’ve got a pretty good idea.”

“I’m beyond angry.”

“Channel the anger, Mr. Ramsland. Stay focused. I’ll call you back about the courier.”

“We’re ready over here.”

Stone hit the intercom button. “Any luck reaching Lansing?”

“He’s on the phone,” Heidi answered. “His secretary promised a callback within fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, that’s good. Call Leaf back. Ask him to get a copy of any security video taken from the Sacramento field office. Tell him to have a sample of the Semtex recovered at Freedom’s Echo and a sample of the bomb residue from the Sacramento field office flown over to Quantico by an FBI courier right away. First available flight. I want those Semtex samples flown directly into Quantico’s airfield within five hours. I don’t care if the courier has to be strapped into the backseat of a California Air National Guard Strike Eagle if that’s what it takes.”

Nathan’s cell woke him. He immediately scanned his surroundings, unsure of where he was. The ER’s waiting room. Having confirmed Holly had survived but remained in surgery, Nathan had planted himself and promptly fallen asleep. He looked at his watch. Four hours had passed. Sitting directly across from him, Bruce Henning had also dozed off, but Nathan’s phone had awakened him as well. The LCD indicated a restricted number.

“Hello.”

“Mr. McBride?”

“Who’s calling?”

“FBI Director Ethan Lansing.”

Nathan didn’t respond.

“Are you there, Mr. McBride?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve got your green light. Don’t do anything until we talk again.”

The line went dead.

Henning looked haunted. “Holly’s awake, barely. She needed emergency surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. She wants to talk to you.”

“How’d she look?”

“Not so good. She’s been in and out of consciousness for the last hour. They’ve got her pumped full of morphine.”

“Her burns, how severe are they?”

“How do you know about that?”

“I called her cell. A paramedic answered it.”

“They’re mostly on her legs and back. Not too bad, considering where she was. The doctors think something large struck her head, a piece of a desk or chair. Could’ve been anything.”

“Where were you when it detonated?” Nathan thought it strange he hadn’t asked this until now.

“Second floor, far side of the building. The air… It seemed to shimmer for an instant.”

“The compression wave. How are your ears?”

“Still ringing. I hope it goes away.”

“It should. Might take a day or two. Can you take me up to see her?”

“Yeah, sure. I didn’t want to wake you. You know, I… ah… never thanked you the other night for saving my wife’s life up at the compound.” Henning attempted a smile. “I hear she tried to kill you.”

“ Tried being the operative word. Is she okay? Was she in the building?”

“No.”

“I’m on your side.”

Henning nodded. “I know that now. I’m sorry about being rude the other night.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“Will you keep your visit brief? She needs to sleep.”

“No problem.” Nathan followed him through the emergency room’s foyer, past four Sacramento police officers, and down a narrow hall lit with fluorescent lights.

At a bank of elevators, Henning pressed the button and took a step back. “We’ve got twenty-one dead, fifty-eight with serious injuries. Seven of them critical.”