“It was worth it,” Walker said to his wife down at the opposite end of the table. “Did you get it?” Walker asked turned to Cassidy.
Cassidy held up her phone. “That’s so going viral.”
“Wait,” Morgan said. “It’s a setup?”
“No. I actually need to take the test, but as soon as we saw where Walker was sitting tonight we knew we had to have some fun with it as payback.”
Morgan was smiling again as she shook her head. “You are your father’s daughter.”
“Get these tables out of the way!” Miles yelled as he raced back into the house holding a pregnancy test kit. Cousins, aunts, and uncles jumped into action and the tables were cleared and put away in less than a minute.
Jackson moved to stand with his arm around Evie. “You survived. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” Evie said as she fist-bumped Jackson’s dad on his way by. “And thank you, Cole. I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
His dad winked at her and Jackson turned to Evie. “My dad helped you?”
“Yup. He told me how to win your grandmother and mother over. I have to say, if this is what family dinners are like, I want to do this every week.”
Jackson looked down at her and when she looked up at him with an excited smile, he kissed her right then and there. “I love you, Evie.”
Evie looked surprised, but as the house was in uproar because Miles had tried to follow Layne into the bathroom as he read the test instructions, Jackson’s life changed forever as Evie rose up on her toes and kissed him back. “I love you too, Jackson.”
Jackson pulled her into a hug and rested his head on hers. He never wanted to let her go. “I love you very much,” her muffled voice said from where it was pressed against his chest. “But I really want to know if your cousin is pregnant.”
Jackson let go of Evie, but kept her hand in his as Layne made her way out of the bathroom.
“I got the egg timer!” Grandma Marcy called out as she set it.
“Dad, I thought you didn’t want Walker to touch me because you know how babies are made and he better not be doing that. You gave us that speech almost daily and now you’re telling me you want to be a grandfather?” Layne asked as Walker held her against his side.
“Honey, when you were little and I told you not to do something, what did you do?” Miles asked with a roll of his eyes.
Layne and Walker gasped. “You played us!”
“Like a fiddle,” Miles said smugly.
The place went into an uproar again but then the timer went off and everyone went quiet. Layne and Walker walked into the bathroom holding hands and a minute later came out.
“Well, sir,” Walker said with a sigh. “It looks like I was right. I’m already a father.”
“I’m pregnant!” Layne happily yelled.
Jackson watched as Miles’s face lit up with happiness as he hugged his daughter. Morgan was crying as she and Grandma Marcy hugged Walker before turning to Layne. Morgan held her arms open and Layne came running into them.
Evie sniffed beside him and Jackson looked down at the look on her face and then turned when he heard the sound of a high-five coming from his parents. Yes, it was true. Your life really could change in a split second because right now his entire future—filled with love, laughter, and children with Evie—flashed through his mind.
31
Evie held Jackson’s hand as they walked to the SUV. Talon and Lucas couldn’t stop talking about the dinner as they moved to unlock the vehicle. The front yard of the Davies farm was filled with laughter as the entire family celebrated Layne and Walker’s news. Three grandbabies were due to arrive next year. Evie couldn’t stop smiling as she watched a true family filled with love, teasing, fights, and forgiveness all come together because they loved each other.
“Whoa!” Lucas screamed in a high-pitched voice as he ran away from the SUV.
“Dad!” Jackson shouted as he shoved Evie behind him, but she’d seen it. Thousands of big hairy spiders were cascading from the SUV and running in all directions.
“Tarantulas!” Lucas screamed as he began shooting at them.
Evie stood rooted in place in absolute horror as Talon bent down to pick one up. Hands clasped on her arms and then a wall of people closed in around her. Before Evie knew it, she was inside.
Sweet, pregnant Layne was standing with a gun. Somehow Sophie produced what looked like a mini flamethrower from her diaper bag, and Annie was complaining about how she’d left her machine gun at home. People were shoving towels at the base of windows and doors as the men yelled outside.
“You’re safe. It’s time to take control of your mind now, Evie. Look at me. It’s just you and me now. You are safe.” Evie blinked her eyes into focus and found Sienna inches from her face. “There you go,” she said calmly. “Take some slow deep breaths.”
Evie dragged in her breaths as Sienna talked to her. “What’s happening outside?” Evie asked finally.
“They’re not tarantulas. They’re wolf spiders. While they are big and hairy, they are not poisonous to humans. You would have laughed, Talon had to stop Lucas from climbing a tree as he ran from them.”
“A command center is now being set up. Jackson is giving orders and everyone is following them. It looks like Pierce and Jake are playing exterminator. This is better than a movie,” Annie said from the window.
Evie realized she was still clutching Sienna’s hand and turned to her. “I need your help.”
Sienna nodded. She knew exactly what Evie was asking for. “Let’s go upstairs where it’s quieter.”
* * *
Jackson and his family searched the entire farm and most of Keeneston. There were no signs of anyone suspicious. However, it told Jackson that Jonathan knew exactly where Evie was and was his way of telling them he could reach her at anytime. It was time to move her.
“I need someplace completely secure to move Evie,” Jackson told his family as they stood in the front yard after completing their searches.
“There’s always Desert Farm. She could stay in the security building,” Nash told him. “There’s also that cabin on the back part of the farm.”
“The FBI has some safe houses I can put you in,” Ryan told him. “However, I think she’s safer here with all of us watching her. The cabin Nash is talking about is close to my house. But then the security building it, well, is completely secure.”
“I’m not risking it. Can we stay in the security building?” Jackson asked Nash.
“I’ll call Nabi and let him know we’re on the way.”
Jackson went inside and found everyone in the living room except for Sienna and Evie. “Where is she?”
“Sienna took her upstairs about an hour ago,” his mother told him, a rifle still strapped to her back. Ryan was right. This town protected their own and this was the safest place to be.
Jackson left Talon to fill everyone in and quietly walked upstairs to find Evie. She must have been in shock. Spiders and clowns were her biggest fears. Jonathan was serving them up in nightmare portions.
“This is it,” Evie said, looking down at a piece of paper. “You did it, Sienna.”
“No, Evie. You did it. You’re the one saving these people. I just helped you remember.”
Jackson’s eye widened. Had it worked? Evie had remembered enough to identify the target? He wanted to shove the door open and run inside, but she had had enough scares for one day so he knocked gently instead.
He saw the women turn to look. Evie’s face expressed shock and relief as their eyes met. “Jackson. I remembered.”
* * *
Evie sat in the middle of the living room now filled with every Davies family member, including Riley, even as her father protested. Word spread quickly and DeAndre arrived with Aniyah and the Rose sisters. Luke and Cody from the sheriff’s station also rushed over. And right now they were all staring at her. Jackson set up his tablet on the coffee table in front of her and a second later she saw Abby and
Dylan on the screen.
“Okay, tell them what you remember,” Jackson nudged.
Evie took a deep breath as Sienna, who was sitting on her other side, squeezed her hand encouragingly. “With Sienna’s help, I went back to the day I walked in on my brother’s meeting. I didn’t think I’d seen anything, but I did. His computer was open on the desk and I looked at it for just a few seconds. There was a symbol A on it. I thought it was the anarchy symbol, but with Sienna’s help, I remember seeing that the background wasn’t just artistic, it was overlaid on a map.”
Evie picked up the paper on which she’d drawn what she remembered. There was an A in red. She’d remembered the online map had green under the horizontal line and had colored it in. Then she remembered the blue of water and some more green. Sienna had told her to just focus on the abstract and she had.
“I drew what I remembered. The A and the small circles at the top point of the A and the two at the bottom. I remembered the horizontal line wasn’t so much a slash across the A, but more like an oblong bubble.”
Evie held up her drawing. Right away Abby cursed.
“I think this is Washington, DC,” Evie told the group.
“It is,” Abby confirmed. “The waterways are the giveaway, but the straight line of green across the A . . . that’s the National Mall. Those parks start at the Lincoln Memorial and go in a straight line to the Washington Monument, the Mall, and the United States Capitol. You extend it just a bit and it encompasses the Supreme Court.”
Evie nodded. “I was afraid of that.”
Jackson had a map up on his phone and let out a curse. “The A overlays not only what Abby said, but the top point is the White House. The bottom left of the A is the Pentagon. See how it extends across the Potomac?” Jackson pointed out. “But the other side stops short of the river.”
“That’s around the Navy Yards,” Abby said. “But there isn’t anything government-related there. It’s a residential area with parks and some businesses.”
“When did Jonathan say they’d hit the main target?” Nash asked as he looked down at his phone.
“Tomorrow,” Evie said and the room went silent.
“Tomorrow at four there is a holiday event for government workers at the Navy Yard. We have to assume that’s the time the bombs are set to go off. Is Congress in session?”
“Yes,” Abby said. “Good work, Evie. We have to go.”
“Be safe,” Tammy told her son and daughter-in-law.
“See you at the wedding,” Dylan said a moment before he ended the video call.
“What do we do now?” Evie asked.
“We take down American Rebellion,” Jackson said, picking up his phone and calling his boss just as Ryan was calling his. Half the people in the room were on their phones reaching out to every connection they had in order to warn them.
Evie sat silently as chaos ensued around her. At one point, she would have sworn Nash said King and Jackson said President. She watched as the time moved closer to midnight. Marcy shoved coffee and pie at her at some point and ordered her to eat and drink. But she was watching Jackson. She saw the moment he, Talon, and Lucas looked at their phones simultaneously.
Jackson turned toward her and frowned. “My team is being called to Washington. All of Hostage Rescue is being organized along with other Tier One operatives. A plane is waiting for us at the airport in Lexington. I’m sorry, Evie, but I have to leave you.”
Evie saw the anguish in his eyes as she stood up. “There isn’t anyone I trust more than you to take Jonathan down and to save all those lives.”
“Evie will stay with us,” Cole told his son.
“Yeah, having a sister will be so much more fun than having brothers,” Greer said with a little smirk meant to reassure her brother.
“Are you sure?” Jackson asked Evie.
“This is your job. I’ll be safe here. I’m proud of you, Jackson.”
Jackson leaned down and he kissed her in front of his entire family. Evie didn’t care either because she loved him, and she loved the part of him that protected innocent people, which meant he had to go.
“I love you,” Evie told him as she cupped his face with her hands.
“I love you too. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Evie dropped her hands and held her breath as she watched the man she loved and the two men who had become like true brothers to her walk out the door.
32
Jackson and his team were assigned to the Lincoln Memorial. They’d done a sweep of the entire area at two in the morning and found no bombs. They hadn’t left the area since. As it drew closer to four in the afternoon, he and his team were dressed in street clothes with their weapons hidden under winter jackets. He only had five undercover FBI agents walking the area. The rest of the available FBI agents were spread thin at the Capitol and the Mall, leaving the small elite HRT teams at both memorials and other key targets.
Jackson and his team were walking around the monument checking out every person who approached. Jackson had seen the blonde woman holding hands with a dark-haired man walking toward him but had quickly discounted them as potential bombers. The man moved with the confidence of someone in the military.
“I have a potential suspect,” Jackson heard Worski say over the coms. “Black jacket and jeans carrying a backpack that looks weighted down. He’s about a hundred yards out approaching from the east with a group of tourists.”
“I see him,” Jackson said as his eyes went back to the couple walking toward him. The woman smiled and waved. There was something familiar about her. But why was she waving at him?
“Jackson, it is so wonderful to finally meet you in person. I have heard so much about you, but we can chat later. Right now I want to tell you about the two people carrying bombs this way,” the blonde said as she hugged him.
“Who are you?” Jackson asked with his hand on his gun.
“President Birch sent us. I’m Elizabeth and this is my husband, Dalton. We’re friends of Abby’s. The president is secure. The White House is locked down and Secret Service have suspects in sight.”
Ah. The mysterious “others” Abby had mentioned when she’d finally told Jackson about working for a secret group who reported only to the president.
“I have eyes on the man seventy-five yards out and closing with the black jacket and backpack,” Jackson told them.
“What about the woman with a stroller approaching from the west behind the building?” Dalton asked.
“Dammit,” Jackson cursed before relaying the info to his team.
“I have eyes on her. Fifty yards out. She’s pushing a stroller and carrying a diaper bag. I heard a baby crying and I dismissed her. Sorry, Parker.” Drummel said over coms.
“One more scan. Does anyone see anything else?” Jackson asked.
“I have a case of baby fever, Dalton. Let’s go see that cutie.” Elizabeth smiled and winked at Jackson before they headed off around the side of the building.
“One female and one male friendly approaching woman with stroller,” Jackson told the group so no one fired on them. “Report.”
“Nothing,” Garcia reported from where he stood in front of the Abraham Lincoln statue.
“I can’t see anyone else either,” Talon reported.
“No one else looks suspicious,” Lucas reported from his sniper position.
Jackson looked down at his watch. It was five minutes until four. There were teams all over the city. They were ordered to move on any and all targets in two minutes. Once there was confirmation of a bomb, they were ordered to take the bombers dead or alive. First and foremost was the protection of innocent lives.
“Ronson, separate the tourists from our target,” Jackson ordered. Ronson stood from the bench and moved to the group leader. He talked with them and then held up his hand to the group and took over as their tour guide. It was subtle, but he began to turn them back toward the reflecting pool. The man with the bomb was exposed.
; “I need Worski and Garcia to meet up with Talon and take the man down on my command. Drummel, assist with the stroller takedown,” Jackson ordered. “Get me a perimeter now. Move.”
Jackson turned around the building and saw Elizabeth and Dalton closing in on the woman. He saw Drummel moving from his location at the far side of the park and the few FBI agents who were undercover discreetly pulling their weapons and encircling the area.
“Take them down,” Jackson ordered.
Suddenly Elizabeth leapt forward and tackled the woman to the ground. Jackson was about to run toward her when he heard Drummel shout and saw a teenage girl running toward the building. She wasn’t carrying anything, but when she ran her front bounced all at once as if she had a large potbelly. The trouble was, she didn’t. She had an explosive vest on.
“Third target at three o’clock,” Jackson yelled as he saw her running straight for a group of students.
In a split second, Jackson saw that no one could reach her before she reached the students. Drummel was too far behind her, Dalton too far to her side, and Jackson too far away as well. “FBI! Stop running or I’ll shoot you dead!”
“I have a shot,” he heard Lucas say from his sniper position.
The teenager looked at him and he saw her hand move. She flicked open the top of the detonator and now all she needed to do was push.
“Take the shot,” Jackson ordered.
A loud shot rang out, but by the time he heard it, the woman had already fallen to the ground with her thumb on the trigger.
Students and teachers were running and the agents were closing in the perimeter. Jackson turned to see Elizabeth deliver a punch to the face of the woman, knocking her out as Dalton pulled a bomb dressed up as a baby from the carriage.
“Talon, report?” Jackson asked as he sent Dalton a nod and he finished running toward the dead teenager. Jackson pushed her hand away from the trigger and closed the safety cap. Damn it, she couldn’t be more than eighteen.
“Suspect in custody. Alive. Bomb in hand.”
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