Petersen turned Iris so that her leg was accessible.
“Naaaa,” Iris said, actually scowling at Tucker.
“Just hold still,” he told her.
“Naaaa.”
He touched the series of buttons that engaged the activator. On the display screen a simple bar graph appeared. It was yellow and hovered near the bottom of the screen, but the closer it got to the triggering device embedded in Iris’s leg, the higher the bar rose.
Iris tried to push his hand away.
“Naaaa!” she yelled.
Tucker glanced up and saw that Ms. Stanton was looking in his direction.
“Just a little tired,” he said. “After the drive and everything.”
“Maybe she should wait inside with the others,” Ms. Stanton said.
“She’ll be fine,” Tucker assured her. “I have a juice here for her. That should calm her down.”
Ms. Stanton didn’t look convinced, but she didn’t push any further.
“Hold this,” Tucker said to Petersen. He handed him the device. “Just don’t touch any of the buttons.”
Petersen shifted Iris so that he was holding her with only one arm, then took the activator from Tucker. Tucker reached into his pocket and pulled out a juice packet that looked exactly like its more deadly cousins inside, only it was the real thing. He’d grabbed it for just such an emergency. He freed the straw, stuck it in the hole, then held the whole thing out to Iris.
She looked at it, at first acting like she didn’t want it.
“It’s good,” Tucker said. “Come on, take it.”
She finally grabbed ahold of it, and started sucking on the straw.
“Good girl,” he said.
He retrieved the device from Petersen, then moved it over the implant. As the bar on the display filled the screen, he pressed the # and the 7 keys at the same time. The bar graph was replaced by a circle that began turning white in a slow wave, following an invisible second hand as it moved around the dial.
“Hold her still,” he said.
When the advancing white filled three-quarters of the circle, the words Configuration Confirmed flashed twice before disappearing, and the edge of white accelerated. In less than two seconds the circle was complete, and the words Activation Confirmed flashed above it.
“Mr. Lee. Mr. Jones. Are you coming?” It was Ms. Stanton again.
She was near the door, holding it open so the last of the greeters could head outside.
“Coming now,” Tucker said.
He slipped the phone into his pocket. As soon as he could, he’d dump it. He didn’t need it anymore. The triggering implant inside Iris was now active. Less than a minute after the girl got within twenty-five feet of the binary explosives, they would detonate.
“Sorry about that,” he said to Ms. Stanton as he stepped outside. “She’s fine now. Just needed a little juice.”
He smiled at her, but the look she gave back was less than approving.
God, he couldn’t wait to get away from all these kids.
The parking lot where they’d arrived in the bus was now devoid of all but a couple of government vehicles. But they wouldn’t be a concern. During the upcoming confusion, Tucker would simply be able to run out the gates like he was afraid for his life, then walk the few blocks to the car that had been staged for his escape. Less than thirty minutes after the spouses of the G8 leaders had been killed, Tucker and his men would be on the 101 Freeway headed south toward Los Angeles. And once in L.A., no one would ever find them.
“All those holding children please move to the center,” Ms. Stanton said.
Petersen glanced at Tucker.
“You know what to do,” Tucker whispered.
Petersen walked over to where the other child minders were gathering. His job would be to get one of the VIPs to carry Iris into the auditorium.
“The rest of you, split up so you’re in equal groups on either side.”
Tucker moved to the left and took position at the far end of the group, graciously declining offers to be closer to where the action would be.
“I’m just along for the ride,” he said. “You all did the real work.”
One of the agents walked over to the group.
“My name is Agent Dettling,” he said. “I’m in charge of the arrival. I just wanted to let you all know we’ve just received the five-minute warning. So please, no wandering around at this point. And when the cars arrive, Ms. Stanton will step out to greet the First Lady and her guests, but the rest of you should remain where you are like we discussed earlier. Now, are there any questions?”
There weren’t; most of those present were either too excited or too nervous to say anything.
“Great,” Dettling said. “Then everything should go smoothly.”
As he stepped away, the woman standing next to Tucker said something in a low voice.
“Excuse me?” Tucker said.
“What?” She sounded startled. “Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I was … well, I was practicing what I was going to say.”
Tucker laughed. “No problem. Completely under—”
“Stop or I’ll shoot!”
Tucker whipped his head around, looking toward the voice. It had come from somewhere beyond the street.
A man dressed in dark jeans, black T-shirt, and a jacket had entered the parking lot and was walking toward where Tucker and the others were waiting, his hands raised in the air. Several Secret Service agents already had their guns drawn, and aimed at the man as they walked quickly toward him.
“Sir, you need to stop right where you are.” The voice was that of Agent Dettling, but it hardly registered to Tucker.
What caused him to freeze was the man with his hands in the air.
Jonathan Quinn.
“Fuck me,” Tucker said under his breath.
* * *
Quinn stopped twenty feet into the parking lot, his arms still raised above his head.
A quartet of Secret Service agents walked toward him. Each had a gun trained on his chest. Behind Quinn, back toward the exit to the street, he could hear at least as many police officers closing in.
Quinn focused on one of the men in front of him. “I need to talk to the agent in charge.”
“Sir, get down on your knees, then lay down on the ground,” the agent said.
“I need to talk to the agent in charge.”
“Get down on your knees, then lay on the ground. Now!”
Quinn knew they were going to rush him, but if they did, he’d lose what advantage he had.
“You need to call off the event,” he said. “There’s a bomb.”
Everyone stopped moving.
* * *
Tucker pulled out his phone and the piece of paper he’d been given when the helicopters had landed. Somewhere out in the streets surrounding the school there were two parked cars with enough explosives to get everyone’s attention. The plan was to set them off thirty seconds after the bombs in the school were detonated, helping to create even more chaos so that Tucker and his men could get away. All he had to do was call the phone number on the paper, then the first would go off a moment later, the next twenty seconds after that.
He glanced at Petersen. “Be ready,” he mouthed.
* * *
One of the agents lifted his wrist to his mouth and spoke too low for Quinn to hear.
“I’m not joking around,” Quinn said. “Call it off. There’s a bomb in the building.”
“On the ground,” the first agent said.
Quinn looked past him toward the crowd gathered on the sidewalk. It was a mix of adults and children, all staring at him, the children in curiosity and the adults in fear. All, that was, except the large man standing toward one end. The look he gave Quinn wasn’t fear. It was anger.
Hello, Leo, he thought.
And several people away from Tucker, toward the middle of the group, was one of the men Quinn had seen at Yellowhammer. He was holding Iris in his arms.
“It’s him!” Quinn said, still keeping his arm raised, but pointing in Tucker’s direction. “The bomber. He’s right there!”
The agents didn’t turn around, their training keeping them focused on what they considered to be the primary threat. But Quinn had said it loud enough to reach the crowd at the sidewalk. Several of the adults and two of the agents who had held back looked where he was pointing.
“On the ground n—”
The agent’s voice was cut off by the near-deafening boom of an explosion.
CHAPTER 41
The crowd both inside and outside the school grounds started screaming. People began running in all directions. Before they could get even a few feet, a second bomb went off. Like the first, it was somewhere in the streets beyond the school grounds.
The chaos became total. Three of the agents watching Quinn took off in the direction of the explosions, leaving only the fourth to guard him.
“Over to the sidewalk,” the agent said.
He held his position, waiting for Quinn to pass by him. But when Quinn came abreast of the agent, he dropped low and rammed his head into the man’s gut. The agent expelled a loud breath, then fell to the ground.
Quinn pinned the agent’s arm down with a knee, preventing the man from using his gun. Then he punched the man twice in the face. It took a third hit, though, before the agent lost consciousness.
Quinn jumped up and sprinted toward the sidewalk near the school entrance. He all but expected another agent to come at him, but they were occupied elsewhere.
People were running everywhere. To the school, away from the school, in all directions. Some of the people who had been in the streets had moved onto the grounds, seeking shelter and adding to the frenzy.
Where the hell is Tucker? Where is the other man? Quinn thought. They were nowhere to be seen. Had they taken Iris? If so, were they inside or had they left?
Ahead at the door that led into the school, two women were trying to get the last of the children inside. The final child was a little girl who couldn’t have been any more than five. African-American. And like the boy who had reached out to Quinn in the room at Yellowhammer, she also appeared to have Down syndrome.
“Come on, Iris. Let’s go inside,” one of the women said.
“No!” Quinn yelled.
The women looked up in terror, then grabbed the girl and rushed her across the threshold.
Quinn raced down the sidewalk and threw the door open. He had to get to Iris before she triggered the explosives hidden somewhere inside.
That was if he wasn’t already too late.
* * *
Tucker ran as fast as he could. Petersen, who had been built for strength more than speed, had fallen several paces behind.
Smoke, dust, and debris from the car bombs had begun to descend over the neighborhood, creating a milky haze. Some people were still screaming as they ran. Others had faces covered with tears, while a few tried to act the hero and urged everyone to remain calm.
“Get out of my fucking way,” Tucker said as he shoved a teenage boy into a parked car.
He just needed to get a few more blocks. A blue Honda Accord was parked waiting for him on Anchor Street. With so many Hondas on the road, it would provide a certain amount of anonymity. Tucker had memorized the license plate number, and been told the keys would be under the front seat.
The crowd thinned the farther he got from the school, some choosing one street thinking it would take them to safety, while others chose another. By the time Tucker was within a block of the car, there were only a handful of people still running with him.
He glanced over his shoulder to see how far back Petersen had fallen. He could only see four people. A man and a woman on the other side of the street, gripping each other’s hands as they fled. And on his side, farther back, a teenage girl, and behind her several paces a woman.
Nowhere did he see Petersen.
Jesus Christ, he thought. Hell if he was going to wait more than a couple minutes tops. If Petersen didn’t make it by then, he’d have to find his own way out.
Tucker began scanning the street for the Honda. It was only a few moments before he spotted it near the end of the block. As he started to open the driver’s door, he heard steps running on the asphalt behind him. But before he could turn to see who it was, a voice yelled out at him.
“Don’t even think about moving.”
* * *
The chaos outside the school was intensified inside by the restricted space of the lobby Quinn found himself in. There were adults and children everywhere, screaming and crying and consoling and whispering. They were all too preoccupied to notice Quinn joining them.
My God, he thought. If the explosives are in here, we’re all already dead.
He knew he couldn’t let that stop him. He whipped his head around, searching for Iris. There were kids everywhere, some even holding juice boxes, but he couldn’t see the girl.
A set of double doors that led off the lobby flew open. From inside, several Secret Service agents rushed out.
“Get everyone into the auditorium with the others,” one of the agents yelled while his colleagues ran toward the doors to the outside.
The auditorium, the man had said. With the others. It was where the First Lady and the other spouses would have been taken. Where the best opportunity for total success would be. That’s where the explosives would have been taken, Quinn realized. He had to keep Iris from entering the room.
The crowd surged forward, everyone but the agents wanting to get as far away from the outside as possible. Quinn tried to push through them to get to the front so he could see Iris before she went through the doors.
He was only ten feet away when someone said, “Oh, my God. You’re him. The guy from outside.”
Several people cried out in fear, while others tried to move away from him as fast as possible. Quinn glanced back at the doors to the outside, and was relieved to see all the agents were gone. Civilians he could deal with, Feds with guns were slightly more problematic.
“Out of my way!” he yelled as he rushed forward through the door to the auditorium.
The room was large. The stage at the other end of the room was at least a hundred feet away. Those inside were gathered near it. Some looked at him curiously, having no idea who he was. Against the wall near the stage was a low stack of boxes. Trays, really. He’d seen them before in markets. A couple dozen juice boxes plastic-wrapped to a cardboard base. Oh, God.
He scanned the room looking for Iris, but the girl wasn’t there. He returned to the lobby.
Most of the people there had moved to one corner and were crowded together, staring at him as if they expected him to attack them all. As he started to raise his hands in front of him in an effort to make them relax, the door to the outside opened.
Quinn retrieved the gun he’d taken from the agent in the parking lot out of its temporary holding place under the waist of his pants behind his back, and pointed it at the widening gap.
“Hey. Chill out. I’m just here to see if you need any help.”
It was Nate.
Quinn allowed himself a relieved breath, then asked, “Orlando?”
“Don’t know. I’ve been alone since you left.”
Quinn nodded. With the chaos, it would have been surprising if they had found each other. He turned his attention back to the group cowering against the wall.
“Who’s in charge here?” he called out.
There were a few murmurs, then several people looked toward a woman standing near the middle of the group. She appeared to be in her fifties, and had the look of a school administrator, caring but strong.
After a second, she said, “Leave us alone. We won’t bother you.”
“So you’re in charge?” he said.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m in charge of this school.”
“What’s your name?”
She hesitated. “Ms. Stanton. Now please, leave. You’re scaring the chi
ldren.”
“I’m sorry,” Quinn said. “We’re not here to hurt anyone.”
“Then what do you want?”
“I’m looking for a girl. She’s about five, and African.”
“I’m not letting you take any of the children,” Ms. Stanton said.
Quinn ignored her. “The girl’s name is Iris.”
One of the women, a teacher perhaps, moved slightly.
“You have something to tell me?” Quinn said, looking at her.
“No,” she said.
He glanced at Nate, then pointed at the woman. “Check.”
Nate walked over.
“Please step out,” he said to the woman.
The woman began to tremble, but she didn’t move.
“What are you going to do to her?” Ms. Stanton asked.
“We’re not going to do anything to her,” Quinn said.
“Please, I need you to step out,” Nate repeated.
For another couple of seconds she remained where she was, then her resolve crumbled and she moved forward.
Behind her was Iris.
Nate reached out to her. “Hey, sweetie. Come here.”
The girl didn’t move, so Nate leaned in and picked her up.
“Got her,” he said to Quinn.
“You can’t take her,” Ms. Stanton said.
“I want you to listen to what I’m going to say very carefully. The man who brought this girl to your school today also brought several others. Correct?”
Ms. Stanton nodded. “Mr. Lee came up from Ventura.”
“Mr. Lee?”
“That’s who you’re talking about, right?”
“Mr. Lee isn’t who he said he is.” Quinn paused. “He came here for one reason, to kill you and your special guests this morning.”
“What?”
“Those bombs that went off outside? There’s more, only here in the school.”
“Impossible,” she said, though she looked terrified that it might be true.
“He brought juice boxes along with the children, didn’t he?”
“Sure. Everyone did.”
“Well, there isn’t juice inside his. I’m guessing the ones he brought are in the auditorium right now, just waiting to go off. Get everyone away from them, then tell one of the agents.”
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