She wasn’t going to say a word. She’d be free or dead before she ever made it to court.
Nicole was used to stakeouts and long periods of waiting; she remained calm. Very calm. An alert dream state.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Nicole smiled deep inside, so deep that her blue eyes remained blank and her mouth a thin, straight line. Her plan was nearly foolproof. She had contingencies on top of her contingencies, which was why the DEA had never known she was the most dangerous fox in their henhouse.
The transport van slowed as they approached a red light, after the lead SUV drove through the intersection. The guards glanced at the cross traffic. There were supposed to be no stops on the short, ten-minute drive from the jail to the federal courthouse. The lead car had a sensor that turned red lights green so they wouldn’t even have to slow down.
Full stop meant trouble.
They stopped. A school bus was coming through the intersection, they couldn’t risk a collision.
Nicole couldn’t see the bus from the back of the van, but she knew it was there.
She didn’t smile. She didn’t react at all.
But she’d been ready for a very long time. Her heart pounded in her chest, adrenaline surging in anticipation. And still, she remained motionless.
If Brad Donnelly had been in charge of the operation, he would have changed the route and time at the last minute—it was his M.O. But Nicole took the gamble when she planned her escape that the AUSA would follow standard protocols for a cooperating prisoner, and that Samantha Archer wouldn’t even tell Donnelly the where or when because he’d been so angry about the plea agreement. That was one of those factors that Nicole couldn’t control—who said what to whom, and if what they said would matter. But Sam Archer was predictable, and if she had told Brad about the transport, she wouldn’t let him anywhere near it. One reason Nicole had pushed him so hard earlier—both when she was his partner and after her arrest—was to keep him on the edge. Sam Archer got nervous when Brad was in maverick mode. She much preferred to work with cops who took direct orders without question.
And Nicole’s gamble worked.
It also helped that she’d stacked the deck, so to speak, by having someone on the inside to ensure that the AUSA didn’t deviate from protocol. And if they did deviate? She had another plan, though that would have resulted in a higher body count.
This time, she didn’t need it.
The guard sitting directly in front of her spoke into his radio. “Report.”
The passenger said, “Traffic stop.”
The guard was suspicious. Too smart for his own good. He said, “It’s supposed to be green all the way.”
“The lead car is holding up across the intersection, we have the tail car, nothing out of the ordinary.”
The guard said, “Run it.”
“Pedestrians. A school bus.”
Nicole smiled and closed her eyes.
The school bus full of children rolled into the intersection and stopped, blocking the transport van.
“Shit,” the driver said. He radioed immediately. “Alpha-One, we have a situation. Code Yellow.”
The lead SUV responded. “Back up, re-route parallel to the north.”
“Negative,” Alpha-Two responded. “Civilian vehicles behind us, no way to turn around without exiting the vehicle and directing traffic.”
Alpha-One said, “Code Red, be alert. Back-up en route.”
The school bus didn’t move. Three masked men emerged with fully-automatic weapons and opened fire on the front of the transport van.
The windshield was bullet-proof, but enough pressure from high-caliber weapons and even bullet-proof glass breaks.
In less than ten seconds both cops in the cab were dead.
It had been Nicole’s idea to use the school bus. No cop would return fire when her crew was shielded by innocent kids.
The guards in the back of the transport van had their guns out—one aimed at Nicole, one aimed at the rear door. The smart guard who’d sensed a problem before the problem occurred, reported through the open mic, “Two officers down! We’re under attack. Three shooters minimum, possible hostile driver, multiple hostages in the bus.”
There was no response.
“Alpha-One, this is Zeta-One. I repeat, officers down. Under attack. Hostages in bus. Confirm.”
Silence.
“Alpha-Two! Are you there?”
Silence.
One of the two masked men climbed up the front of the truck, through the broken glass, and extracted keys from one of the dead guards. The other men guarded the area.
“You’ll never get away with this,” the smart guard told Nicole. “They’ll hunt you down like a rabid dog.”
She didn’t say a word, just stared at him.
He turned his gun on her. “I die, you die.”
“And then all those children die,” she whispered.
His face fell. She smiled. Just a small smile, but her excitement was growing and she couldn’t contain her glee.
Sirens roared from seemingly every direction, coming closer.
“Open the door,” Nicole said.
The armored transport van had to be unlocked from the outside, but opened from the inside. Her team could get in because they had the right tools, but it would take longer.
Time was critical.
“Officer, if you do not open the door in ten seconds, my people will start killing those children, one by one, until you do.”
“Don’t do it, Isaac,” the second guard said.
“Seven seconds. I’m not bluffing.”
The smart guard, Isaac, was torn. She saw it in his eyes. This was the type of dilemma they’d been trained for, even when the threat was rare. Did you let a prisoner go to save innocent lives? It was a fair trade, as far as Nicole was concerned. But in training, you never gave in to terrorists. In the textbooks, there were hard and fast rules. All criminals were terrorists. Do not negotiate with terrorists.
“Four seconds.”
Isaac glanced out the front and saw a fourth gunman come out of the bus holding a child in front of him.
But children … that was a wild card. You can train for it, but until you were in a situation with the barrel of a gun at the back of a child’s head, you really didn’t know what you would do.
Isaac got up and turned the knob. The click told her it was open.
“Put the gun down and you’ll be spared,” she said.
“Don’t do it! They’ll kill us both!”
She looked Isaac in the eye. “I’m not lying.”
The door opened, and Isaac put his gun down and his hands up.
The other guard didn’t. He didn’t get a shot off before a bullet pierced his skull.
One of the masked men quickly unlocked Nicole’s shackles. She picked up the gun that Isaac had dropped. “No one will believe it, but Isaac, sleep well because you will save those kids.”
“Will?” he said through clenched teeth.
“Time?” she asked one of her men.
“Eight fifty-four and thirty seconds. Thirty-one, thirty-two—”
Nicole cut him off and turned back to Isaac. “You have five minutes, twenty-ish seconds to get those kids off the bus before the bomb goes off. And if you are wondering? There really is a bomb. And it really will go off at nine a.m.”
Nicole ran alongside her rescuers. The police would be closing in fast, but they had an escape route already in place. A car idled in the alleyway off the main street, and Nicole and the others jumped in. The other two men who’d stayed with the bus had their own escape route.
The driver glanced at Nicole. “You cut your hair.”
She touched Joseph’s face. “It’ll grow back.”
“I like it.”
She smiled as Joseph sped away. She pulled a gun, watch, and cell phone from the glove compartment box. They didn’t get too comfortable. They didn’t talk. They listened to the police band as Joseph
traversed through downtown San Antonio. It didn’t take long for Isaac the smart guard to alert authorities to the bomb threat.
It was no idle threat.
She glanced at her watch, her stomach tingling with anticipation. She stripped off the jumpsuit and pulled on the simple black dress that Joseph tossed her.
They were almost to Amistad Park when she heard the explosion in the distance.
Distractions always worked.
The explosion was the cue for the helicopter to land. It had been painted to look like a news chopper. She and Joseph got out of the car and ran across the soccer field to where the chopper had landed. The men in the back jumped into the front seats and drove off to dump the vehicle and pick up something clean. Less than three minutes after the explosion, Nicole and Joseph were strapped in the helicopter, lifting off from the grass.
Joseph leaned over and kissed her hard on the lips, then held her face in his hands and looked at her. He didn’t have to say anything—couldn’t over the sound of the blades whirling above them—but his eyes said everything.
She was loved. And she was free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author ALLISON BRENNAN is the author of more than twenty-five novels, including the Lucy Kincaid and Max Revere series, and many short stories. A former consultant in the California State Legislature, she lives in Northern California with her husband Dan and their five children. Visit: www.allisonbrennan.com or sign up for email updates here.
Also by Allison Brennan
Compulsion
Notorious
Dead Heat
Cold Snap
Stolen
Stalked
Silenced
If I Should Die
Kiss Me, Kill Me
Love Me to Death
Carnal Sin
Original Sin
Cutting Edge
Fatal Secrets
Sudden Death
Playing Dead
Tempting Evil
Killer Fear
Fear No Evil
See No Evil
Speak No Evil
The Kill
The Hunt
The Prey
Praise for the Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan novels from New York Times bestselling author Allison Brennan
Stolen
“The evolution of Lucy and Sean’s relationship has been a critical piece of what makes these novels so compelling. Brennan is a true master at providing byzantine plotlines that keep readers guessing as the danger amplifies.”
—RT Book Reviews (4½ stars, Top Pick)
“All the excitement and suspense I have come to expect from Allison Brennan.”
—Fresh Fiction
Stalked
“Once again Brennan weaves a complex tale of murder, vengeance, and treachery filled with knife-edged tension and clever twists. The Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan novels just keep getting better!”
—RT Book Reviews (4½ stars, Top Pick)
“The novels featuring Lucy Kincaid and her cohorts are marked with deep characterizations and details of the workings of investigations by private eyes, the police, and the FBI … Catch the latest in this series as Lucy continues to evolve in strength and wisdom.”
—Romance Reviews Today
Silenced
“Brennan throws a lot of story lines into the air and juggles them like a master. The mystery proves to be both compelling and complex … [A] chilling and twisty romantic suspense gem.”
—Associated Press
“The evolution of Lucy Kincaid from former victim to instinctive and talented agent continues in Brennan’s new heart-stopping thriller … From first to last, this story grabs hold and never lets go.”
—RT Book Reviews (Top Pick)
“An excellent addition to the Lucy Kincaid series. Lucy and Sean continue to develop as complex, imperfect characters with a passion for justice … The suspense [is] can’t-put-it-down exciting.”
—Fresh Fiction
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Contents
Title page
Copyright Notice
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Epilogue
Story—MAXIMUM EXPOSURE
Intro page
Letter
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
TEASER
About the author
Series card
Praise for the first three Lucy Kincaid/Sean Rogan novels
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BEST LAID PLANS
Copyright © 2015 by Allison Brennan.
“Maximum Exposure” copyright © 2014 by Allison Brennan.
Excerpt from No Good Deed copyright © 2015 by Allison Brennan.
All rights reserved.
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eISBN: 978-1-4668-7002-4
St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / August 2015
St. Martin’s Paperbacks are published by St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Best Laid Plans Page 48