“Call me immediately if anything changes.” Twenty minutes was pretty much all Mother Nature would give her anyway.
Truman pressed his lips together into a thin line and then nodded before walking away.
Charlotte put her head down and began her search again. The wind howled around her, and she shivered despite her cold weather gear. If this storm turned into the full-on blizzard it was predicted to become, then everyone would need to retreat until the snow stopped and they could reassess the situation from base.
The sense of anticipation was growing, as if this storm was foreshadowing something big. But Charlotte wasn’t superstitious, and she wasn’t about to give into panic. She was sure the camera contained clues about Brenna’s last moments. Figuring out how the girl had died was worth a few minutes of temporary discomfort.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Soil dusted his hair, coated his nostrils and mouth, and crept inside the neck of his jacket. TJ coughed as he clawed his way through another mound of dry earth. He felt like a worm wriggling blindly through the soil. Every breath made him choke.
“We’re getting there, son.”
It didn’t feel like it. They’d already dug through ten feet of soil and debris. TJ was convinced they were going to be trapped down here and buried alive.
Every time terror threatened to take hold, he concentrated on one more clawed handful of dirt, one more hard-fought inch of forward progress. He’d almost lost it a dozen times already, but there was nowhere to go. Even if he lost his mind and started screaming into the void, he was still stuck in an underground pipe. Plus, he could hear his dad shuffling along behind him. The idea of looking like a coward on top of bringing every level of hell to their world because he’d made a lousy decision a few days ago was unbearable. TJ concentrated on scraping through the dirt inch by inch, even as the concrete pipe seemed to become smaller and smaller, until it squeezed his shoulders.
Was it his imagination? Sweat broke out on his brow.
“Almost there, son.”
Relief made his teeth chatter. Or maybe that was the cold.
TJ reached a manhole cover set in concrete above his head—the outside world once again within reach, along with the inherent danger it contained. But he’d rather face anything that lay outside than spend one more minute in this underground hell.
He twisted and sat up, tried to unscrew the opening mechanism on the hatch. It was nice to be upright again, but at first the cover didn’t budge, and alarm began to swell again, sweat slicking on his brow. Perspiration was the last thing he needed if they were heading into a blizzard. He wiped his face on his sleeve.
He needed to get out of here. To get to the tree. He needed to see if Kayla was there. He was pretty sure that’s what she’d tried to tell him in the video. To meet him at the tree.
He repositioned himself to get better torque. He put every ounce of his strength into forcing the mechanism to move, and finally the satisfying grind of rusted metal on rusted metal screeched out as the wheel started to turn.
Once the lock was undone, the heavy cover still didn’t budge.
“It’s the grass roots, TJ. Keep trying. It’ll open,” his dad encouraged him.
“As long as there isn’t an FBI agent sitting on top.”
They both laughed, the humor relieving the excruciating tension. He looked down at his father lying in the tunnel beneath him.
“How did you know you were going to need this one day?” he asked curiously.
His father looked away, a pained expression crossing his features. “You know me, son, I like to have a backup plan.”
TJ nodded. TJ’s whole life had involved plans and backup plans and contingency plans. He’d always assumed it was an Army thing.
TJ once again put his shoulder into shifting the heavy metal cover. It lifted an inch, and dry clumps of soil rained down on them. His father cursed and backed down the tunnel a little to avoid getting dirt in his eyes. TJ tried again, feeling the grass roots begin to separate and pull apart.
When it finally gave, the cover went crashing over but landed with a cushioned thump.
He climbed out into a barrage of horizontal snow. His father passed him both packs before following him out.
TJ rubbed the dirt out of his hair and pulled a black knit cap from the webbing of his pack and dragged it over his head. Damn, it was cold. His father replaced the cover on the manhole and then slid his own pack over his shoulders, bouncing up and down to adjust the straps.
“This way,” Tom ordered, checking his watch.
When TJ didn’t immediately follow, Tom turned around.
TJ’s mouth went dry. “I need to check to see if Kayla is at our meeting place.”
Tom’s mouth dropped. “No. No. The Feds will be all over that area.”
TJ looked around and saw how far they’d traveled underground. Maybe quarter of a mile. His dad must have built this years ago because TJ didn’t recall it at all.
“Dad, she sent a video. I think she sent me a secret message. To find her at the tree where we first met.”
Tom’s eyes were wide. “It’s a trap.”
“No.” TJ shook his head.
“TJ, use your head. You can contact her after we get away.”
“How? Anyway, how are we going to get away, Dad? I mean we might escape in the short term, but long term? They’ll know we’re missing. Malcolm will see to that, even if the others don’t say anything.”
“They won’t say anything.”
“And you call me naïve,” TJ said.
His dad flinched.
“I need to see Kayla. If she wants to come with us, great. If she doesn’t, I’ll turn myself in.”
“No. No, son, no.” Tom’s mouth opened and closed as he gulped air. “All the sacrifices we made. Everything I did to protect you. You’re going to throw it all away for some girl who might not even be true to you?”
TJ’s anger flashed. “She’s true to me. I know I made a mistake. You don’t have to come with me. In fact, you should go.” Tears burned, but TJ blinked rapidly as if it was the snow getting in his eyes. “I’ll meet you at the deer hide later tonight if she isn’t there.”
Tom grabbed his arm. “I can’t let you throw your life away!”
“I’m not a little kid anymore, Dad.” He pulled away, which he could see his father hated. “I need to make my own decisions. I need to see if Kayla is by the tree.” He shielded his face with his arm. “I need to make sure she’s safe. The way you would look out for Mom.”
Tom swallowed and took in a slow ragged breath. “I’ll come with you. If this Kayla girl is there and didn’t bring the Feds with her, we’ll take her with us.”
“If she wants to come.”
Tom’s lips pinched, then he started giving out more orders. “Quickly. Let’s move through the trees. Careful, they’ll have people out here.”
TJ agreed. He knew the way. But the snow was so thick now visibility was down to ten feet. They’d literally have to bump into someone to be discovered. TJ knew it was foolish to head into a possible trap, but he also knew nothing and no one else really mattered. Only Kayla.
* * *
As the situation inside the compound rapidly deteriorated, HRT put their Immediate Action plan into play.
Novak rode a tall bay mare up the mountain with McKenzie at his side. Riding was faster than driving and then walking up from the road. They should be able to catch up with Echo team who’d left thirty minutes prior to get into position, preparing to instigate an assault that involved ballistic shields and enough C4 to bring down the main gate. Charlie team was planning to stage fifteen minutes away, waiting for the order to go. They would fast-rope down inside the concrete walls and blast the door where they’d spotted the kid entering and exiting a few times. Snipers teams were still in place, but the visibility was so reduced Novak planned to move them closer as soon as the others were in position. Snipers couldn’t shoot what they couldn’t see.
; Romano had stayed in the barn, manning the drones with a few FBI techs and several local agents, including the gorgeous Agent Fontaine, assisting him. Novak knew without a doubt the guy would rather the female agent stay behind than his surly ass.
McKenzie was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt with his FBI windbreaker thrown over the top and rode like he’d been born in the saddle.
Snow kept getting in Novak’s eyes, and the weather looked set to become a full-on blizzard. They slowed the horses to a walk as they began a steep climb. “You seem pretty comfortable on horseback.” He raised his voice to be heard over the wind.
“I grew up working on ranches in places like this. Winter is as godawful as I remember it,” McKenzie said, shielding his eyes with his arm.
Novak grunted.
“I meant to tell you earlier.” McKenzie gathered his reins and urged his horse to move closer. “DNA results came back on Brenna Longie. No semen but unidentified skin cells from three different people were isolated off her body. Get this, one was flagged in the Missing Persons database.”
“What?” Novak frowned as he batted a tree branch out of his face.
“The lab is running the test again to confirm. The missing person DNA was processed in a different way, so someone is also rerunning that sample as we speak. Said they’d have definitive answers in a couple of hours.”
They only needed a few skin cells to run Touch DNA tests, but it was also notoriously easy to get cross contamination, affecting results.
The incline eased off, so they urged the horses into a canter again, rapidly eating up the ground. They cut across the mountain south of Harrison land, hitting the now familiar stream bed before once again starting to climb.
They reached the place where the negotiators were set up and dismounted. Novak glanced around but didn’t see Charlotte. Disappointment flooded him. Was she purposefully avoiding him?
Eban Winters lowered the bullhorn, abandoned his position in the trees, and headed in their direction. “What’s happening?”
He and Novak eyed each other warily, but they both had a job to do, and that came before any personal grudges.
Novak wanted to ask about Charlotte, maybe tell Eban he wanted another chance with her, but he doubted it would change Eban’s opinion of him, especially now. And it was Charlotte’s opinion that mattered.
“Looks like the people inside staged a coup. They were chasing Tom Harrison and TJ. Maybe it means they’ll all surrender now?” McKenzie sounded hopeful.
Eban grimaced. “A change in leadership generally means the situation inside is becoming more volatile, and new leadership usually takes a harder line.”
Novak swore. “Where’s SSA Blood?” he asked, unable to stop himself.
Eban stared at him for a fraction of a second longer than was comfortable before saying, “She went to scout around the crime scene to look for the dead girl’s camera before the snow buried it. She took Truman with her.”
An evil glint lit Eban’s gaze. One that said he knew Novak was jealous as fuck of the pretty-boy agent. But when Truman came tramping through the trees toward them, they both frowned.
“Why aren’t you with SSA Blood?” Novak demanded.
Truman answered, “Fontaine told me that McKenzie wanted me here. SSA Blood insisted on finishing searching the crime scene perimeter for Brenna Longie’s camera. She won’t be long.”
Anger had Novak’s teeth fusing together. The snow was getting thicker now. He clawed back worry at the idea of Charlotte being alone out there on the mountain.
“I want her back here now,” McKenzie said. “Situation has escalated.”
Novak could have kissed him.
Truman called Charlotte on the radio. After the second attempt failed, the hairs on the back of Novak’s neck sprang upright.
He checked his watch. “I know where the crime scene is. I’ll return before anything kicks off here.”
“And if you’re not?” McKenzie asked with an edge.
Novak rubbed the soft nose of the mare he’d ridden. “Angeletti ran through this scenario a thousand times without me because of your orders. HRT know exactly what they need to do, and I’ll be back in time to watch them execute.”
Romano came over the radio. “We found C4 in the bottom level of the bunker, directly below the cafeteria area like you predicted, Novak.”
Shit. Novak clenched his fists. He wanted to go after Charlotte, but explosives meant people’s lives were in imminent danger.
“Appears to be on a timer.”
“How long?” Novak demanded.
“Twenty-three minutes twenty-five seconds and counting.”
Fuck.
Dominic Sheridan squawked to life on Eban’s radio. “Someone new just picked up the phone.”
They were standing in a small huddle now, McKenzie, Eban, Novak and Truman, using the horses to help block out the noise of the wind.
“Ask if Tom Harrison is within hearing, Dom,” Eban said loudly.
Dominic replied after a few moments. “Harrison isn’t there. The guy on the radio said all the people who’ve been running the show have disappeared, and the rest of them want to get the hell out ASAP.”
“Tell them to put down their weapons and come outside as there is the threat of a bomb inside the building,” said McKenzie.
“Wait,” Novak said sharply. “We can’t be sure the doors aren’t rigged to blow. Tell them to congregate in the center of the compound, unarmed with their arms up in surrender. We’ll need to make sure the rear gate isn’t rigged with explosives before they open it. Tell them to make sure everyone is wearing winter jackets, especially the kids, because they will need to walk off this mountain, and this storm is going to be a bitch.”
“What’s the ETA on the bomb tech?” Dominic asked over the radio.
Angeletti was the designated tech.
“Fifteen minutes away,” Novak said and then swore. As much as he wanted to find Charlotte, he was the best explosives tech on site and couldn’t simply walk away during a crisis, no matter how much he worried about her.
She was a professional.
“I’ll do it.” He expelled a long breath then gave Echo team instructions to split up and wait for people to exit the facility.
“Where the hell has Harrison disappeared to?” McKenzie asked, taking hold of Novak’s mount.
Had the guy somehow slipped away? Or was he hiding in some deep bunker, while creating a doomsday scenario for all the other people who lived in the compound?
“Let’s hope he stays out of the goddamn way until these people are clear of danger.” Novak took off running toward the fortified walls. It was a risk, but at least he wasn’t naked this time. He shivered anyway.
Where the hell was Charlotte? Was she purposefully avoiding him?
No, she’d never be that chicken.
Had she found something? Was she in trouble?
Dammit. He needed to wise up and clue in else his lack of concentration might mean he’d never see her again. He’d never get to say he was sorry. That he was an asshole who was so terrified of being dumped again that he’d retreated from getting emotionally involved with anyone who wasn’t one of his teammates. People who were dependable and accepted him for what he was. People he could be close to without getting eviscerated.
But he certainly didn’t want from them what he wanted from Charlotte, which was a deeper connection. He wanted to find a genuine, lasting relationship with a woman he could share his life with.
Even though the likelihood of her wanting him was minuscule.
He arrived at the rear gate without any bullet holes in him, which was a plus. Unless it was too cold to feel gunshot wounds, in which case it was still a plus.
He scanned the edges of the rusted metal. No obvious wires anywhere. He got on his radio. “Inform them a Federal Agent is climbing the walls to come inside. Tell them to keep the hell back, and no one will get hurt.”
“Negative. It’s too risky.” McKenzie�
�s voice came over the radio.
Novak was already scaling the outside of the bunker using his fingertips and the stiff soles of his boots wedged into the thin observation windows. He found finger holds in the cracks that marred the surface of the concrete and used the small lip at the apex of the narrow slits to lunge for the top. Shaking with effort, he hauled himself onto the wall and lay there catching his breath. Thankfully, the wire surrounding the compound wasn’t electrified, and he snipped it so he could walk through.
He saw a terrified-looking man watching him and decided to hold his hands up showing they were empty. He had to yell over the howling wind. “I won’t hurt you.” Charlotte would be proud of him. “Get everyone into the courtyard. Someone planted explosives in the lower level of this structure, and your people are in danger.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” the stranger yelled back.
“Wait twenty minutes, and you’ll find out the hard way.”
The man turned tail and ran back to his fellows.
Novak ignored him and the others who came out. People were tearing up his radio, but all he could hear was Charlotte’s voice in his head.
There are babies in there, Novak.
And he’d do his damnedest to get them out alive. Twenty minutes wasn’t a lot of time to do it in, but there was no rushing this particular task.
He saw the wires that confirmed his worst fear a few moments later and followed them down to a hay bale. Behind the bale, he saw a large block of explosives attached to a mechanical trigger. It appeared as if the trigger would activate when the gate opened. He walked across to the other side of the door and found a matching device. No matter which door opened, a bomb would go off.
He was about to take a step closer to the gate when he spotted a tripwire set about ten inches off the floor.
Sonofabitch.
He hunkered down. The bomb-maker, presumably Harrison, had created this as a deadly welcome for Novak’s men. Fury began to grow, but Novak pushed it aside. He needed to examine the devices and disarm them. Quickly. Before Harrison detonated the ones beneath him which would also trigger these suckers.
Cold Wicked Lies Page 28