Deep Cover

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  * * *

  The doubt in her voice surprised him. Noah stared at the complex wires, at the missile in the center of it all. He pulled the mouthpiece on his headset down and spoke into it. “We’ve got the right boat, but I don’t know if we can disarm it.”

  “There isn’t time to evacuate the area.” The pilot’s voice came back over. “The response team is on its way.”

  “ETA?”

  “Two minutes.”

  “That’s too long to get someone onto the boat and disarm this thing. They’ve already disarmed the bombs in the other cities. See if they can relay instructions to us.”

  A brief pause. “They’re switching to our frequency.”

  The next voice that came over was deep and no-nonsense. “You should have three control boxes. Open up the one attached directly to the missile.”

  “I’m already there,” Kelsey said, still studying the wiring.

  “Find the red and yellow wires.”

  “All of the wires are black,” Kelsey told him. “And there are two detonators within this box. I can’t tell if one is a dummy or if they’re both active.”

  Noah’s chest tightened, and he looked up to see a second helicopter moving in fast on the horizon. He didn’t look at his watch but instead looked out over the water. Less than five minutes and they would be in the kill zone for the stadium. “If we can’t disarm this, we need to figure out how to stop the boat or redirect it.”

  Now Kelsey looked up into the sky. “Do we have any fighter planes already in the air? We could call in a missile strike.”

  The pilot’s voice responded, “I already asked. It was a no-go. The higher-ups wouldn’t approve a strike this close to a civilian population. They said it would increase the blast radius.”

  He could already see three patrol boats currently evacuating the area. Another patrol was moving up fast behind them. “We have to crash.”

  “What?” Kelsey looked up at him, a horrified expression on her face.

  Noah turned his attention to the men hovering above them and relayed instructions. “We need harbor patrol to park one of those patrol boats between us and the stadium. If we can get the boats to crash in the middle of the river, most of the blast radius will be over the water. The damage should be minimal.”

  “Stand by.” A moment later, his voice came over the headset again. “They can’t be sure the current won’t move the boat. They’re setting up a blockade with two of the boats.”

  “There’s nothing more we can do. Let’s get out of here.” Noah didn’t give Kelsey a chance to argue. He grabbed her hand and tugged her out on deck.

  The blockade was now in place in their path, the crews abandoning the vessels and climbing aboard the third patrol boat. Their own speed was increasing, and they were closing fast on the vessels in front of them. Above them, the rope from the helicopter was already dangling over the deck.

  He could see Kelsey look in front of them, and he saw the awareness in her eyes. There wasn’t enough time. Even if the crew above tried to reel them in together, they might not clear the kill zone before the boats crashed. The crewman above him must have seen the same thing, signaling wildly for both of them to attach their harnesses.

  Noah reacted instinctively, quickly connecting the rope to Kelsey’s harness. He waved his assent, fumbling with his own hook. Then the line went tense under his hand. Kelsey grabbed for him, and he reached for her. Within seconds they were dangling in the air, clinging to the rope and to each other.

  “Hold on!” she shouted, panicked. Her grip tightened around him, but Noah knew their grips wouldn’t be strong enough to withstand the force of the impending explosion.

  He could see the sheer terror on her face and feel her fingernails biting into his arm. Trusting that her grip would hold, he shifted and snaked one arm firmly around her waist. He then released her with his other hand, fumbling to hook his harness to the line. The rope burned his hand, and he felt himself slipping. Ignoring the pain, he managed to seize the line once more and link his D-ring onto it. Then he shifted his grip to hold Kelsey more firmly against him.

  Chapter 45

  He should have known. He should have known better than to give the response teams so much time. Obviously someone had figured out that DC was a target. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be this chaos going on in front of him.

  At first he hadn’t paid any attention to the patrol boats on the water, his focus fully on the white fishing boat in the distance. Even the helicopter hadn’t drawn his attention since the Navy Yard was close by. Then one of those patrols had crossed into his view, and he had lowered his binoculars and realized what was going on.

  He was mildly disappointed that the vessels on the water were being cleared to a safe distance. He had hoped to see a chain reaction when the bomb hit, the boats and cars in the blast radius creating more debris and destruction. At least there didn’t appear to be any activity within the stadium.

  Not that they had time now to evacuate anyway. If they tried, the chaos would be just as deadly and newsworthy as the strike itself. Besides, he had prepared for this possibility. After all, hadn’t he made sure the bomb couldn’t be disarmed just in case someone found out about it?

  Selfishly, James didn’t want to see the authorities’ efforts succeed. This was supposed to be his moment.

  He noticed the boats moving into the bomb’s path a short distance away and felt his first stirrings of self-doubt. If the fishing boat struck another vessel before it hit the target, the damage would most definitely shift. He couldn’t be sure if the explosion would do any real damage to the stadium. He tried to estimate the blast radius, wondering how being on the river would affect the impact.

  Then he realized. This spot he had chosen, one he had been certain would be outside the bomb’s range, was now vulnerable. Beyond vulnerable. If the boats really did collide, this whole stretch of road would be wiped out.

  He dropped his binoculars, the strap around his neck keeping them from falling to the ground. Stumbling, he struggled away from the bank of the river and back toward his rental car. Fumbling with his keys, he found himself praying for the first time in years, praying he would make it out of here alive.

  * * *

  Kelsey could barely breathe, her heart pounding so hard she was surprised it didn’t burst. The scene below was unfolding too quickly. The barricade drifted to the left, the path clearing between the speedboat and the stadium. She stared in horror. Despite their efforts, the bomb was heading right for thousands of baseball fans and her family.

  As the river’s current continued to push the blockade farther toward the Frederick Douglass Bridge, she uttered a prayer, her words drowned out by the intense noise of the helicopter blades thrumming above them.

  Just as Kelsey thought they had failed completely, the current shifted once more, one of the patrol vessels moving back into the fishing boat’s path.

  In the instant before impact, Kelsey felt Noah’s hands grip her even tighter.

  The explosion shot through the air, flames and debris flying everywhere. The ground rocked. The air shook.

  Their pilot fought for control, Kelsey and Noah swinging wildly below. Flames speared over the water and onto the roads on either side of the river, a car on the Anacostia side of the river exploding instantly as flames consumed it. Kelsey couldn’t worry about the few who might be caught in the explosion’s path. Her focus remained on the stadium, the thirty-five thousand fans seated inside, and the wall of fire that rolled twenty feet up the side of the concrete structure.

  Cars along the road in front of the stadium screeched on their brakes, a utility van unable to avoid the flames. A second explosion rocked the ground when the gas tank ignited, but the crowd in the stadium remained oblivious that a bomb had nearly killed them all. In the same instant the bomb detonated, Bryce Harper’s bat connected with the ball and the crowd jumped to their feet with a roar that rivaled the sound of the explosion.

  The ball soared
over the centerfield wall, and the cheering continued as Harper rounded the bases to put the Nationals in the lead.

  Chapter 46

  Kelsey flinched slightly when she took the seat offered her in the director’s conference room, her body still stiff from the impact of the bomb the day before. Their helicopter had been speeding out of the debris field when the boats had impacted. Another thirty seconds and she and Noah probably wouldn’t have suffered any injuries. As it was, they both had their share of cuts and bruises after the experience.

  She looked around the empty room, struck by how odd it was not to have Noah here beside her after all they had been through together. She knew that he too would spend today briefing the Bureau on the information they had uncovered and that all that remained for the taskforce to do was write the final reports.

  Lewis Tate walked in and sat beside her. “I understand you’ve already identified Salman and his sons?”

  “Yes.” She had teleconferenced with one of their overseas offices and confirmed that the SEALs had extracted the men responsible for the attack in DC and the attempted attacks in four other cities.

  “We just received updated numbers on the casualties from Saturday.”

  “How bad was it?”

  “Three people were killed from the bomb, and another eleven sustained injuries as a result of the blast. Another dozen were hospitalized because of automobile-related accidents.”

  “How badly was the bridge damaged?”

  “Surprisingly, the damage was minimal. The concrete wasn’t affected by the flames, and because the blast was on the water, the debris field wasn’t as extensive as it could have been. Transportation expects it to reopen later this week.”

  “Any word about James?”

  “Actually, yes,” he told her. “He was one of the three casualties from the blast.”

  “What?”

  “We think he rented a car and parked near the Anacostia so he could watch the results of his labors. Apparently, he wasn’t able to get out of the way when he realized the bomb was going to go off on the water instead of at Nationals Park. His body was found inside the rental car on Robbins Road.”

  She let the news sink in, recognizing the irony that James had ultimately been the victim of his own devious plans.

  Lewis shifted in his seat. “Now that this crisis is over, we need to talk about what comes next.”

  Kelsey tried to push aside thoughts of James, preferring to focus on her future instead of her past. “Has a decision been made about the branch chief position?”

  “Yes, but I have another assignment in mind for you. I’m sending you back to the Middle East. You’ll be the deputy chief of station in Israel.”

  Kelsey stared at him, absorbing his words. Six months ago, this would have been her dream job. Living overseas without being deep undercover, knowing that she could travel home for visits on regular intervals. Now she hated the prospect of leaving Virginia.

  “It sounds like a great opportunity, but I have to admit, I was really hoping to stay here at headquarters for my next tour.”

  “I’ve talked about this extensively with Graham. We both feel that with the potential of retaliation from someone in Salman’s organization, it would be best if you are in the Middle Eastern region. It would be safer for you, and you can help make things safer for our country. After a couple of years, we can talk about having you reassigned back here.”

  “I see.” She thought of her earlier realization that she didn’t want to live this life anymore, but she found herself too afraid to leave the familiarity of it. As much as she wished for a life centered on home and family, it was an option that had yet to be offered to her. Now she wondered if it ever would.

  Lewis stood up and extended his hand. She stood as well, automatically putting her hand in his. “I’m sure you’ll do a great job. Congratulations.”

  Kelsey forced a smile. “Thank you.”

  * * *

  Noah opened the wooden box on his dresser and stared at its contents. The diamond engagement ring glistened from its recent cleaning. He drew it out and stared at the simple setting and modest-sized stone. His mother hadn’t been wearing her engagement ring the day of the accident; she had left it safely inside her jewelry box in his childhood home.

  Weeks had passed before he forced himself to go through his family’s belongings. Many of those possessions had made their way into his home here in Virginia. His mother’s dining room table, their old piano, his great-grandmother’s rocking chair in the guest room. And his parents’ and brothers’ many volumes of journals tucked safely away in the trunk at the foot of his bed.

  It was in one of his mother’s journals that he had found hope for his future after feeling so lost. So many of her entries had not been about her; they’d been about her hopes and dreams for her children. One of those dreams had been for his brothers and him to marry in the temple. She had also expressed her desire that her engagement ring, the ring that had once belonged to his great-grandmother, would be passed down to one of her future daughters-in-law.

  As the only son who had survived her, he had kept it on his dresser, wondering if he would ever find anyone he would love enough to share it with.

  Now he couldn’t think of anything else. It was too fast, he reminded himself. He had only known Kelsey for a few short months, yet they had already been through so much together.

  He hadn’t realized at first that he would have to chip through so many layers to discover who she really was, but he knew her now. The real her. And he loved her completely.

  He loved the woman who had needed his help and had been willing to accept it just as he loved the woman who slept with a gun under her pillow and knew how to use it. He loved how she could be so steadfast and confident in the office and then be so easygoing and domestic at home.

  Now he prayed that somehow they could build a future together that would last forever.

  The doorbell rang, and he snapped the box shut. He was getting ahead of himself. It was too soon to think about the future he wanted. Kelsey was still in shock after everything that had happened. He supposed he might still be too, but he didn’t want her to think that his proposal of marriage was a knee-jerk reaction to what they had been through. He knew it was more than that.

  His heart had led him to this decision, his prayers only adding emphasis that he and Kelsey belonged together. As much as he wanted their eternity to start right away, he knew he needed to wait. A few months from now, a little more time together, when they weren’t faced with a terrorist attack and Kelsey would know how much she really meant to him.

  He jogged down the stairs and pulled open the door. His smile was instant when he found Kelsey standing on his doorstep. “Hi there. Come on in.”

  She looked down as she stepped over the threshold, her expression serious.

  Suddenly wary, he asked, “Is something wrong?”

  “I just got back from the office.”

  “Bad news?”

  Her shoulders lifted. “I had a teleconference this morning and identified Salman and his sons. The SEALs were successful in capturing all three of them.”

  “That’s good news.”

  She stood in the entryway, her shoulders stiff. “They also found James’s body. He was one of the casualties from the explosion.”

  Noah felt relief and found himself wondering how Kelsey felt about that information. “Is that what’s bothering you, or is it something else?”

  “I just received my new assignment. It wasn’t what I expected, but they are giving me the next six weeks off.”

  “What happened with that job you told me about here at headquarters?”

  “My bosses didn’t think it was a good fit for me at the moment.”

  “So what job did you get?”

  “I can’t tell you exactly.”

  Noah stared down at her, understanding the source of her tension. “But it’s overseas.”

  “Yes.” She nodded, regret hanging i
n her voice. “It’s overseas.”

  Noah absorbed the punch of her words and felt his grasp on his future slipping. “Did you ever consider turning it down?”

  “I tried. I asked if I could have something else, something here at headquarters, but Lewis felt that with the possible retribution by Salman’s family or associates, it wouldn’t be good for me to be here in the United States, where I could potentially be a target. They also feel that overseas I can make a difference.”

  Temper and frustration snapped inside him. “Kelsey, you can make a difference wherever you are.”

  “Noah, what do you want me to do?” Kelsey asked, her own frustration evident in her tone. “Whether I like it or not, this is my career.”

  “Kelsey, your career almost got you killed.”

  “I’m very aware of that,” she said edgily. She blew out a breath and dragged her fingers through her hair. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

  “I want you to say that your family is important to you. That you can put them first, that you want to put me first.”

  “Of course my family is important to me. And you know how I feel about you. It will be different this time,” Kelsey insisted. “I won’t be so deep undercover. I’ll be able to come home for holidays and vacations.”

  “How long is the assignment?”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Two years.”

  “Two years?” His voice rose. “Kelsey, I don’t want to put my life on hold for two years. I don’t think you want to either.”

  “What do you expect me to do? Am I supposed to quit my job and sit around my parents’ house all day watching soap operas? I can get my exercise walking the dog?”

  “You don’t have a dog.”

  “Exactly! I can’t just quit.”

  “There are other jobs in the intelligence community if you really wanted to stay.”

  Her expression became guarded, almost as though she were afraid to let him see her true emotions. Still, he could hear fear and uncertainty in her voice. “My cover ran too deep. It isn’t like I can go tell everybody what I did. Plus, I’m a specialist in the Middle East. There’s no guarantee that another agency wouldn’t try to send me over there as soon as I was hired.”