Shattered Lies

by Kathleen Brooks

  Val had had enough. She would take this son of a bitch out now and be done with it. She didn’t care that sirens were approaching. They had less than three minutes left and she refused to let Locke or anyone from Mollia Domini win.

  “Two minutes!” Crew called from the helicopter hovering above the exchange.

  Val bent to brace her arm into place across Locke’s throat when pain exploded in the side of her head. Valeria screamed as a man bashed the side of her head with his closed fist. “Miss me?” Manuel’s thug dug his hands into her hair and dragged her away from Locke who flashed a victorious smile.

  “You didn’t think I’d come alone, did you?” He laughed as Valeria struggled. Grant was up with his gun drawn, leaving Dalton to grapple with Locke.

  “Get the bomb!” Val ordered to Grant. “I can take care of myself!” Valeria placed her hands over the man’s hands on the top of her head from where she sat on the ground. She brought her knees up, planting her feet on the ground and pushed off her right leg. She used the force and momentum to kick with her left. The toes of her sneakers slammed into his forehead as she tried to twist away. Suddenly he let go and Valeria was free. She rolled away from him and leapt up to see Lizzy standing over his unconscious body.

  Another man was already closing in on them while Val scanned the area. People were pouring out of all exits at the exchange, screaming. The officers had their hands full with the evacuation to the point they didn’t even see Dalton lying across Locke as he tried to pry his fingers open. And another man was raising his hand with a gun aimed right for Grant.

  “Grant, watch out!” Valeria yelled from where she threw a punch at one of Locke’s men before pulling out her gun and shooting him. The man with the gun aimed at Grant and fired as Grant dove behind one of the steel barrier posts lining the sidewalk. Bullets pinged off the post and into the Kevlar of Grant’s shoulders and back.

  “I got him,” Lizzy yelled over the panic as she closed in on the new man coming at Valeria. Valeria took off toward the man storming at Grant. She was behind him as she fired. The man fell forward to the ground, blood running from his head.

  “Forty seconds,” Crew yelled over the loudspeaker as he buzzed the area, ordering people to evacuate.

  Grant was already up and running toward her as they both hurried to Dalton’s side. Valeria stopped next to him and aimed the gun at Locke’s head.

  Locke just laughed. “It’s over. The bomb detonates on its own. You get to go to hell with all these people and me. What a dilemma. You take the bomb, but then I press this button and it explodes in your hand. You fight me for the fob and the bomb explodes anyway because you’ll never get it before the timer goes off.”

  “Get the bomb!” Lizzy yelled as she delivered an uppercut that sent another Locke goon crashing to the ground.

  “Take it and we all die right now, but in another twenty-five seconds we’ll all die anyway.” Locke gave a bloody, toothy smile of victory as he looked at Dalton to his right.

  “I don’t think so, Locke.”

  Locke’s head spun to the left as Jason stabbed a knife into Locke’s wrist, slicing through the soft tissue it came in contact with. Blood sprayed across Valeria’s legs and the fob dropped to the ground. Grant grabbed it as Locke stared in shock at his mutilated hand and up to Jason’s cold face.

  “Wolski, you bastard. It’s too late. You’re a dead man.”

  “Get the fuck out! Fifteen seconds!” Crew shouted as he pulled his helicopter up and started to fly out of the blast zone.

  “I’ve been a dead man since your group killed my wife. But I’ll be damned if I let you take another person to hell with you.” Jason pulled the gun from his holster and fired.

  “Run!” Valeria yelled as Locke stared back at them with open eyes and a trickle of blood running from the bullet hole in the center of his forehead.

  Grant grabbed Val’s hand and Dalton was already taking off after Lizzy, but Valeria turned at the last minute and saw Jason grab the bomb. “JASON! NO!”

  “Eight, seven, six,” Dalton was counting down as they ran. Grant tugged her to follow and the last thing Valeria saw was Jason stuffing the bomb in a thick cement flower planter.

  “Three, two—” Grant flung Val forward around the corner of the building across the street and covered her body with his as the earth shook. Windows cracked as heat and debris filled the air. Then silence. The only thing she could hear was the ringing in her ears.

  Valeria looked around, seeing Dalton and Lizzy farther up the street from them turn and look at the exchange. Val felt Grant flip her over. His mouth was moving, but she didn’t hear anything except for the ringing.

  Valeria looked over Grant’s shoulder at the exchange. She couldn’t see it through the smoke and dust. It had to still be standing or Mollia Domini would have won, regardless of Locke’s death, because if the exchange went down, the markets would be completely wiped out. There would be no more trading, no more stock market, it would be even worse than the 1929 crash. And in today’s global economy, if any of the bombs succeeded, then there would be a ripple effect and every market around the world would suffer.

  “Val!” Off in the distance, a whisper of her name drew her attention. It was Grant, right next to her, yelling her name.

  “I can barely hear you,” Valeria yelled.

  “Are you hurt?” Grant screamed, even though it still sounded like a slightly louder whisper.

  Valeria shook her head, but then it came back to her. “Jason!”

  25

  Birch looked at Tate and Humphrey. It was ten o’clock. The phones began to ring off the hook. It had happened.

  “Mr. President,” Jessica said quietly from the door to the Oval Office. “Director Kirby is on the phone for you.”

  Birch picked up the phone with dread. Was his team safe? Did they stop the explosion? “Yes?”

  “There was an explosion at the New York Stock Exchange.”

  “Damage?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’m on my way up there, and the New York office is calling me in a couple minutes when they arrive on site. We got the call through 9-1-1. There were reports of two Secret Service agents on site. Would you know anything about that?” Kirby asked.

  “I do. They’re my men. Secure the area. I’m on my way to the site.”

  Director Kirby paused for a moment. “Are you sure about that?”

  “Only terrorism would cause an explosion at such a location. I’m determined to show them the US won’t back down. We’ll meet there, and I want all the intelligence you have on this.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Birch hung up and looked over at Humphrey. “Did you get hold of them?”

  Humphrey shook his head as Tate covered her gasp with her hand. Tate looked down at her phone. “Governor Orson Benning is calling in the New York National Guard and has just declared martial law. He’s sending private security to all major targets including water and electric.”

  “Get my helicopter and get Orson on the phone,” Birch yelled as Humphrey called in Marine One.

  “It’s ringing,” Jessica called out as Birch grabbed his secure line.

  “This is President Stratton, get me Orson now,” he demanded of Orson’s secretary in a stone-cold voice as Tate rose.

  “I have to get to the press room. Any comments?”

  Birch shook his head. “Tell people to remain calm, and I’ll address the country as soon as I know something concrete.”

  “Let me know the second you hear from our team.” Tate tried to be strong. She was strong. She’d proven it. But the thought of her friends dying was crushing.

  * * *

  “Someone answer the fucking phone,” Alex cursed as he paced the hotel room. He was trying to contact his friends while Roxie was talking to Fire Dragon and Dark Surfer.

  “There were reported explosions in each location, but nothing yet on where those explosions took place,” Roxie called out as Alex hung up on Lizzy’s voicemail.


  “I was in the process of shutting down the market when the president of the exchange froze all trading.” Alex angrily hung up when he heard Dalton’s voicemail pick up. He dialed Valeria and closed his eyes. The news was reporting the explosion, but nothing was known at this time. “I can’t stand this. Let’s go.”

  “Go where?” Roxie asked as she looked up from her laptop.

  “To the exchange. I can’t sit here wondering if my friends are all dead.”

  Roxie typed something quickly into her laptop and closed it. “Let’s go. They’ll email me when they hear anything.”

  “It’s not secure.”

  Roxie shrugged as she reached out for his hand. “I know someone who will recue me if I get arrested. Let’s go see about your friends.” Even though she said it reassuringly, there was worry in her voice. The same worry he felt as they hurried to the street and took off running.

  * * *

  “Are you two hurt?” Lizzy asked as she limped toward where Grant was helping Valeria from the ground. The back of Grant’s vest was torn to shreds from debris and bullets, and he was covered in dust and glass.

  “I’m banged up, but Grant took the brunt of it,” Valeria yelled a little louder than she needed. “But, Jason. He took the bomb and shoved it in a planter. There was no time—”

  She didn’t need to finish. They all turned to look at where the large rectangular cement planter had once been. There was nothing but a hole in the ground now. The windows from the exchange were blown out, the stone was covered in black powder, and a fire burned the American flags hanging from the exchange.

  Fire trucks, police, and agents were flooding the scene. “We have to find him,” Grant said, looking to Dalton.

  “They’ll try to kick us out,” Lizzy told them as they limped, cursed, and hobbled their way toward the center of the explosion.

  “You can talk them out of it,” Valeria said with confidence.

  “I won’t leave a man behind.” Dalton tightened his jaw as he and Grant pushed past the flood of nearby police rushing toward the scene.

  Valeria and Lizzy shared a worried look as they followed. There was smoke, people crying, screams as people looked for friends or family, and the wails of sirens. But Lizzy didn’t hear it. Instead, she felt as if the world stopped moving when Dalton and Grant stopped running and dropped to their knees next to the entrance of the exchange.

  No. No, please, not Jason. Lizzy stopped behind Dalton and Grant. Valeria reached out and took her hand. As one, they stepped forward.

  Jason was lying on the sidewalk against the building. Blood streamed from his neck where a large sharp piece of concrete was embedded. That wasn’t his only injury. Blood flowed from his stomach and leg. Grant and Dalton worked in quiet unison to stop the bleeding, but even though Lizzy wasn’t a trained paramedic like Grant and Dalton, she knew the result. Jason wasn’t going to make it.

  Valeria squeezed her hand and dropped it. She moved to wedge herself between the wall and Jason’s head and placed her hand on his shoulder. Lizzy hurried to join her and reached for his hand. His face was black from the fire, and he had debris and glass lodged all up and down his body.

  “You saved us by putting the bomb in the planter,” Valeria told him as she stroked his cheek.

  “Hang on, Wolski. That’s an order,” Dalton commanded as he ripped his belt from his jeans and applied a tourniquet to Jason’s thigh where blood was flowing out.

  “I’m sorry,” Jason whispered softly. “It’s an order I can’t follow. It’s an order I don’t want to follow.”

  “No, Jason,” Dalton said harshly. Emotion was choking his voice and he refused to look at Lizzy. He kept his eyes on the wounds as he and Grant worked quickly to stop as much bleeding as possible.

  Lizzy squeezed Jason’s hand as tears fell silently down her cheeks. “Love each other,” Jason whispered, even more faintly this time.

  “No!” Dalton yelled. “It’s an order, dammit!”

  “It’s okay, Dalton. I’ve been trapped in a cage of misery since Michelle. Don’t you see? I’m free now. I get to be with my love once again.” Jason’s lips curved up into a soft smile as his eyes focused heavenward.

  Lizzy couldn’t hold it together anymore when Dalton and Grant began CPR. She raised Jason’s scraped hand to her lips and pressed her lips against the back of his hand. “Thank you, Jason. Be at peace.”

  Valeria wrapped an arm around Lizzy as EMTs and police surrounded them. Dalton and Grant refused to give in to their grief until Lizzy and Valeria pulled them off. Dalton’s eyes were red as anger and grief warred within.

  “It’s over,” Lizzy said softly, rubbing her hand over his cheek and down to his chest. She held him then as the body bag was closed over Jason’s body.

  “It’s not over until I kill them all.”

  “I’m good with that,” Valeria agreed. “But right now we need a plan. And we need to get our teammate home.”

  Seconds later, they were surrounded by FBI. Their fingers were laced behind their head as they were searched and weapons were seized. Nobody said a thing when they were questioned and handcuffed.

  * * *

  Birch hung up the phone with the British prime minister and let out a breath. They’d been stopped. No exchange had been brought down. It had been close, but they’d survived. Trading had been frozen and would remain frozen while this threat was dealt with. But catastrophic damage had been avoided.

  Governor Orson Benning, on the other hand, was trouble.

  “What’s the word?” Humphrey asked from his spot on Marine One.

  “The exchanges are safe. All assailants were killed. Bombs were either detonated through a remote or by the timer. There was damage to the outside of the buildings and cars, several civilian injuries, and a couple deaths of police officers. The threat has been neutralized. For now.”

  “There’s a reason you couldn’t get through to Orson. He just happened to be in New York City today. He’s heading down there with the guards to make a statement at the bombing site. He’s saying you’re weak on terrorism, and he’s not going to let his city burn while you do nothing. Martial law has been enacted. A curfew is set. No large public gatherings are being allowed. And he’s ordered the reopening of the stock exchange as a show of strength.”

  “Son of a bitch.” Birch slammed his hand on the leather couch. “Get me Alex and Senator Epps.”

  * * *

  “Stop!” Grant growled when an EMT went to remove Jason’s body. “He’s our man, and we’re not leaving him.”

  “Look, right now I’m thinking you might be one of people responsible for this,” the agent said. “So, I give zero shits about what you want right now. Not until you start answering questions. The officer over there identified you two as the ones pretending to be Secret Service moments before the explosion. Until you tell me who you are working for, you’re coming with us.”

  “Get Director Kirby on the line,” Lizzy said as they watched Jason’s body being lifted onto a stretcher.

  The agent snorted. “You want me to just ring up the director?”

  “Yes. And you tell him you have FBI Agent Elizabeth James in custody and that she’s requesting she be released immediately. Then see what he says.”

  “You’re FBI?” the agent said skeptically as the other men around them chuckled as if this were a joke.

  “I was. Kirby wants me back. Call him.”

  “She’s legit,” a female agent said, holding her phone over for the agent questioning them to see.

  “Hey, boss!” the agent called out to a man directing other agents and talking to the police. “This woman is a former agent and says she wants us to call Director Kirby. She’s with the two men pretending to be secret service.”

  The boss put a phone to his ear as he walked toward them. He was in his late fifties, and Lizzy knew he had been running the New York office for the past eight years. He was a tough as nails agent, but a reasonable person. He wore the
standard-issue dark suit with an American flag on the lapel. His dark brown hair had gray around the temples, but otherwise you would have pegged him to be a decade younger than he was.

  “Yes, sir.” He lowered his phone and looked right at her. “I’m Special Agent in Charge Cromwell. What’s your name?”

  “Elizabeth James.”

  He repeated it into the phone and then nodded. “And you guys are my two Secret Service agents?”

  Dalton and Grant nodded.

  “And who are you?” Cromwell asked, pinning Valeria with a stare.

  “She’s with me,” Lizzy said in her best agent voice.

  “FBI?”

  “DEA,” Valeria answered with the same no-nonsense agent voice.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll hold them here.”

  “I want to go with my fallen partner,” Dalton requested with a nod to where Jason’s body was being loaded into an ambulance.

  Cromwell spoke into the phone with Kirby and then hung up. “You may go with your partner. I don’t know who you are, but the president has ordered your release. The rest of you stay here. I have questions for you, and Director Kirby will be arriving shortly.”

  Dalton turned to Grant, and with a single hard look, Dalton conveyed his instructions to him. “Be careful,” Dalton whispered to Lizzy before kissing her quickly on the cheek.

  “We’ll see you back in DC,” she told him, sounding more confident than she felt. Right now she wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen.

  “What were you doing here?” Agent Cromwell asked.

  “I’ll only talk to Kirby,” Lizzy told him as her team all stepped back and took a seat on the sidewalk in unison.

  Cromwell stared down at him until his phone rang. “Cromwell,” he answered and then suddenly stood up straighter. “Mr. President.” Cromwell’s eyes shot to them sitting on the sidewalk as he nodded. “I’m sorry, did you say National Guard? What the fu—? Sorry, sir.”