Лиза Джонс - Hot Secrets

“And?” Royce and Luke asked at the same time, as Luke sat down on the edge of Blake’s desk.

“You know from last night that the package had an amateur grade explosive device,” Blake said. “The interesting part though, is that it had a timer. It’s possible that it went off at the incorrect hour with a malfunction. But,” he sat up, “think about this. A package that went off in the middle of the night when everyone was asleep. A snake that wasn’t poisonous. And this bomb wasn’t directed at Lauren.”

“Two days before she starts jury selection,” Royce commented.

“Right,” Luke said. “She hasn’t scared off yet, so the pressure increases.”

“This doesn’t mean she’s not in danger,” Blake said. “This could be some sadistic bastard who wants to torment her before he kills her.”

Royce shot him a glowering look. “Thanks for the ice water in the face.”

“Anytime bro,” Blake said.

“Could be a sick obsession with her,” Luke said. “This guy”

“Or woman,” Royce inserted. “It could be a woman.”

“Either way,” Luke said, going back to his prior thought. “He filmed her. He followed her. He watched her.”

Royce pushed to his feet and walked to the glass door of the small office, the only window to the street, staring out at the people passing by without seeing them. The clear way this person was stalking Lauren was eating him alive. “And we have nothing but a long list of suspects,” Royce murmured, half to himself, before turning. “We need an end game, damn it. We need it now.”

“We know he, or she, is after Lauren,” Blake said. “Make her bait. Set her up in the open in a way that doesn’t seem planned and bring him to her.”

“Oh, what the fuck, Blake?” Royce said, stepping towards him, anger curling inside him ready to explode.

Blake jumped to his feet and met Royce toe-to-toe. “End this, Royce. End it before this SOB ends it for her and us.”

Luke stepped between them, hands on both of their chest. “Enough. This does us no good.”

“Damn it, Blake,” Royce said, ignoring Luke. “This isn’t the woman you love or you wouldn’t say shit like that.”

”No,” Blake hissed as if burned. “The woman I loved is dead. I don’t want Lauren to join her.”

Royce felt the slap of those words, the instant deflation of his temper. He scrubbed his face and turned back to the glass door, pressing his hands to the surface, feeling more helpless than he’d felt in his entire FBI career.

“Let’s just eliminate suspects,” Luke suggested. “Sheridan’s brother is in Germany. He’s not our guy unless he contracted a professional.”

“Which means he could still be our guy,” Blake said, the chair creaking with his weight. “The one who can call off a contract to kill Lauren, if one exists. Anyone could have contracted a professional. That means the list is too damn long to do this. We aren’t going to get answers quick enough. Gamble on the trial. It’s about this week, about what is current and what is now.”

“Sheridan’s execution” Luke started.

“Has been minutes from happening several times before now,” Blake argued, “and nothing happened. This is about this trial.”

“He’s right,” Royce said, turning around, his gaze touching Blake’s. “You’re right. It’s about the trial. Everything else is a diversion.”

“The trial could be the diversion,” Luke countered. “I don’t think being short sighted is the answer here.”

“Who has the most to lose or gain from this trial or the diversion it might cause?” Blake asked. “The top three names that come to your mind, Royce.”

“The brother,” Royce said. “He hates her. If I had to gamble, I’d put his name in all three spots.”

“I put a man on him after you visited him,” Luke said. ”We have nothing to say he’s the one. Nothing.”

“It’s him,” Royce said. “And he knows he’s being watched. You can count on it.” He glanced at Luke. “Did we get his military record?”

“I’ve tried,” he said. “It’s being guarded tightly which tells me he’s a very bad dude, or he’s so damn good that he’s involved with some deep government shit.”

“Or both,” Royce said.

Luke’s cell phone rang and he answered it, then snapped it shut. “Lauren’s building is being evacuated. People are pouring out of it.”

“Lauren?”

“The crush of people is too intense,” Luke said. “Our guys are working with the building security and the police to locate her.”

Royce was pushing open the glass door before Luke ever finished the sentence, not about to risk New York traffic delays to get to Lauren. He dialed her phone, cursing himself for trusting someone else to protect her.

“I’m coming with you,” Blake said following on his heels. “If it’s a bomb again, I want to be there.”

Royce cursed and shoved his phone back to his belt. “Her phone went straight to voice mail.” He cut to the left and down the subway stairs.

“We have three men there,” Blake told him, keeping pace. “She’s okay.”

“I should never have left her with someone else,” he said, piling into the crush of people inside a car.

The next six minutes in the tunnel were hell for Royce. The car stopped and he burst out of the door and jumped the exit gates, Blake by his side. It was a block to the building and the instant Royce brought the fire trucks and police cars into view, he cursed and picked up speed, heading for the yellow tape and the gaggle of officials.

“I’m going in in case she’s still up there,” Royce shouted, his gut telling him she was in there, that she needed him.

“I’ll deal with the Robocops,” Blake called, “and I’ll call you if I find her down here.”

Royce targeted an entry point without officials and ducked the tape, wondering where the hell his other three men were. Someone shouted at him, but he didn’t stop. He climbed the stairs to the building, burst through the glass doors, and instantly spotted Kyle.

Kyle, who knew how to work his connections, headed towards him immediately. “It was a bomb threat,” he said. “A special team is already working the building.”

“Where is she?”

“Daniel got positive confirmation from a cop that she was outside but when he got to the place he was told he could find her, she wasn’t there. He can’t find anyone who even saw her. Daniel and Rick are searching the crowd. I was about to hit the stairs to go up to look for her. The elevators are shut down.”

Royce started to walk backwards, towards the stairwell. “Call Blake. He’s outside. Tell him what’s going on.” He turned and started running, yanking open the heavy steel door and charging upward. Every step was torture, another obstacle to getting to Lauren.

Ten floors later, he pulled the Glock from his ankle holster and eased the door open. Nothing. No one in sight and there was complete silence. His cell phone vibrated and he looked at the caller ID and answered. “Tell me you found her, Blake.”

“No, get in and get her out. This guy has proven he knows explosive devices. Don’t fuck around, Royce.”

Royce hung up and shouted, “Lauren!” To hell with caution. Blake was right. If there really was a bomb, time was everything. He was halfway to her office when he paused, hearing a muffled pounding noise.

“Lauren!”

More pounding. He ran towards the noise, and then, thank God, he was at the bathroom door and heard the sweet sound of her voice. “Royce! I’m in here! Help. Please, help me.”

“I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

“Oh God, thank you. The door is stuck and my phone won’t work and”

“But you’re okay?” he asked, his gaze catching on the wooden doorstop jammed in the door.