Burning (PAVAD: FBI Romantic Suspense Book 11) Page 16

  They parked and locked Mari’s car. “Sin has Lucy, and I’m pretty sure he’ll be near your husband.”

  “Yes, they have hit it off, haven’t they?”

  “I don’t think it’s easy for Sin to make connections. It’s easier for Seth and Seb.”

  “Yes, I’ve noticed. He holds himself tightly in control. I can understand that. It’s a fear mechanism.”

  Yes, it was. And she understood it. Sin’s mother had made the decision when their father had died to separate her four kids. Just like Tyler, who’d lost his own mother and been thrust on a father he didn’t know.

  God, she wanted to see the both of them. She understood the man a little bit better now.

  They started up the walking path toward the part of the park where the division was holding the picnic. It was a weekday, so it wasn’t as crowded as it could have been.

  And PAVAD agents were pretty consistent. They hung out at the edge of a place, not the middle. She and Mari shared a laugh at that.

  Someone called Marianna’s name. They paused.

  A man a little older than Marianna’s husband ran up. Cody recognized him easily. “Marianna, I thought that was you.”

  “Lowell, what are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

  “Just that I needed to talk with you. And it’s fortuitous that you are with Agent Cody. I was going to look for her next.”

  The man had been there when she’d been run off the road, and she was grateful for his help. “Hello, Agent Bell. I wanted to say thank—“

  He pulled a weapon from his waist and pointed it directly at Cody. “Because of a little message I want to send to Agent Lorcan. And because it’s about time Ed Dennis lost what mattered to him most. Give me your weapon, Agent Cody. And go to the last van on the left. Any sudden movements, and I shoot her now. You, too. I don’t need either of you alive for this part. Remember that.”

  He led them to the van. Cody took a good look at it. “It was you that night, wasn’t it? The one who ran me off the road?”

  “Very observant. I wondered if you saw me well enough to know. Get in. Dr. Glendower, lay your bag on the floor there. And take that rope. Tie Agent Cody tightly. I suspect she may be more problematic than you. She looks like more of a fighter. I am sorry to have to involve either of you. Especially you, Agent Cody. You have Sin Lorcan to think for your current position. If he hadn’t proven to be such a damned bloodhound you’d be holding that daughter of yours right now. I am sorry for that. And for your car, and Terry York last week. And even Brady, I suppose”

  He waited until Cody’s hands were tied before doing the same to Mari’s.

  Chapter 49

  “You can try to scream. It won’t change things. The only way out of this van is from the inside, and I’ve modified the locks. Only way out is with the key.”

  He laughed then stepped outside.

  Cody looked around, avoiding meeting the terrified eyes of her friend. She couldn’t think about that right now. Not if she wanted to find a way out.

  He couldn’t have modified the locks that well. If she could get her hands free, she could get them out. Somehow.

  Right?

  Even if she had to break the windows to do it.

  “What are we going to do?”

  Cody finally looked at Mari. “We’re going to get out of here. And then we’re going to knock him on his ass.”

  “In my bag. Front pocket. Manicure scissors.”

  It would work if she could get to them.

  She turned, back to the bag. Why had he left them with such access? He hadn’t searched Mari’s purse or Cody’s bag. He’d taken their cell phones and that had been it.

  There were even tools strewn over the backseat. Was he not even thinking they’d try to escape?

  And why did he have so many tools?

  She lowered herself to the floor of the van until she could root around in the bag. The scissors were right there within easy reach.

  She pulled them free. “Mari, you’ll have to do it. I can’t get my hands around them right. Turn your back to me.”

  She did. And then she started sawing at the thick rope. “Cody, this is going to hurt you.”

  “Just do it. I’ll survive a few cuts. Just don’t get the veins and I’ll be fine.” She took the time to study the van. There had to be a reason he’d set it up just this way. And parked it just outside the main parking area. She could see the sun through the window, could feel the heat rising in the van. “He didn’t just leave us here, Mari. He has something else planned. He said he wanted your husband to lose what he loved. I doubt he meant through heat exhaustion.”

  She looked around again, a lot closer.

  Various metal items were everywhere. The van was old and bulky, with tons of cargo space. And the back seat was a poorly made customization. There was plenty of storage space beneath the seat.

  And that was when she saw the wires. Red and blue.

  Metal, wires. A van full of tools to use as shrapnel. And they were parked in the middle of a park filled with FBI agents and their families.

  “Mari, we need to hurry. I think there’s a bomb in here with us.”

  Mari started cutting faster.

  Chapter 50

  Dennis mobilized the PAVAD agents in the park within two minutes of the first message. Active agents had gathered around their leader within seconds. Forensics and support staff had taken over the task of getting everyone to one end of the park.

  According to the message they had two choices: evacuate, and the bomb was immediate. Don’t evacuate, and have more casualties when the detonation happened.

  Why?

  He wouldn’t think of that now. Not with her out there. She had to be terrified.

  Someone tugged at his shirt and he looked down. Her daughter. His son.

  In the park, with a bomb nearby. He grabbed Lucy and lifted her off her feet. He looked at the people around them. The families. His family.

  Payton Lucas was nearby, her face white and terrified. He put Lucy in her arms. And Tyler in her husband’s. Lucas had guards. Had them on himself, his wife, his sister, his brother. And he suspected on Lucy and Merrick.

  Guards on Merrick. “Lucas! You have men on Merrick, don’t you?”

  “No. On Lucy. Cody threw a fit and demanded I stop. I shouldn’t have listened.” The regret on the man’s face told Sin the true story. Lucas cared about Merrick too.

  “Then I’m asking you to take Lucy and my son while I find her. I’m not going to stop until I do.”

  “We’ll keep them safe. You have my word on that.”

  ***

  Cody’s hands were raw, and she thought Marianna may have cut her wrists in a few places. But with her hands free they had a better chance of escaping.

  Her friend was scared. Worried. Afraid she wouldn’t get home to her children. The man she loved.

  It was the same fear going through Cody. Payton and Luc would take care of Lucy, but what would it do to her daughter to lose another mother?

  She wasn’t going to let that happen. But the entire park was filled with families. Her family. Marianna’s. Payton’s, Kelly’s, all of the people she cared about.

  Lucy and Tyler and baby Maddie.

  With a car bomb large enough to kill dozens if not more.

  “Mari, get out. Now. Find Ed and Sin. Tell them if they can’t get the people out of the park, then I will move the bomb. Get out.”

  “Cody, no. I can’t let you do that.”

  “Mari, my kid is in this park. And so are yours and Ally’s. Go. The longer we waste talking the less of a chance this will work. Go.” It was an older van, and she could get it started. There was a trick to it, but she had worked on cars since she was ten years old. All she’d need was a screwdriver and a drill.

  And she found those things in the back of the van. She drove a hammer into the window of the door until she had a hole big enough that Marianna could slide through. “Go!”

  She too
k the drill and it worked. Thank God it worked. She positioned it on the keyhole and drilled in deeply enough to remove the lock pins. After that it was just a matter of inserting the flathead screwdriver into the ignition and praying those years in the garage weren’t in vain.

  They weren’t.

  It started. Rumbled and coughed, but it started. Now she just hoped it wasn’t going to be too rough of a ride that that the explosives would ignite.

  Now that she had the van running she needed to find a place to put it. Where it wouldn’t hurt anyone. And there were people everywhere, visible through the windshield. They wouldn’t be able to get the kids out of the way fast enough, would they?

  No. Their only choice was to get the van away from everyone else. For her to get it away.

  Water. She needed water. That wouldn’t be enough to completely neutralize the explosives, but it would increase the safety perimeter considerably. The only problem was what would happen if she was still in the van when it went into the water. Or when it blew.

  She was hoping she didn’t have to find out.

  Chapter 51

  Someone ran through the crowd, and Sin saw every armed agent tense.

  The runner stopped in front of Dennis.

  Threw herself into his arms.

  “Where’s Merrick?” Sin was seconds away. He didn’t give the woman time to catch her breath. “Where is she?”

  “She’s still in the van. She hotwired it. Going to get it away from everyone.” The woman was gasping for breath, and tears streaked down her face. But she looked at Sin straight on. “It was the only thing we could think to do.”

  “Where was she going?”

  “She headed toward the ponds. I’m not sure what she’s doing.” Her fear was there as she looked at him. “It’s Lowell Bell. The traitor is Lowell Bell, and he’s got the entire van wired to explode. I’m not sure she can stop it.”

  Chapter 52

  She drove straight into the water of what she guessed to be the deepest pond. Pressure kept the van door tight against the frame when she attempted to open it, but there was always the window. Which he’d somehow fixed to not roll down.

  And the bastard had left several hammers lying around. For shrapnel. She refused to think about what it would do to her body if she didn’t get out in time. She went straight to the hole Marianna had climbed out. She was wider in the hips and shoulders than her friend, but she would do her damnedest.

  She had her head out when someone grabbed her under her arms.

  She looked into terrified green eyes. “Sin! Get out of here.”

  “Not without you!” He yanked her free.

  “We need to run!”

  They stumbled out of the pond, not stopping when they got to the bank. He never let go of her hand.

  The percussion from the van’s explosion knocked them to the ground. Cody rolled over on her back and looked. “It worked. I didn’t think it would work. I had just hoped…”

  Strong arms wrapped around her. “I am so proud of you. And I love you. I haven’t said it, and I should have. So I am saying it now. And every day for the rest of our lives if you will have me.”

  “I think I may just do that.” She threw her arms around his neck and just held on. “Where are the kids?”

  “I honestly do not know. I gave them to that damned billionaire. I’m sure he has them somewhere. We’ll find them eventually.” And then he was kissing her.

  Right in front of every PAVAD agent who had come running to help. And as far as Cody could see that was damned near everyone they knew.

  Including both of his brothers.

  Who were looking at them without a single hint of censure—or surprise—in the green eyes so like Sin’s.

  Her gaze met Seb’s, and he nodded at her before wrapping his fingers around Carrie’s.

  Sin helped her to her feet. “Let’s get the kids and go home. I’ve had enough of PAVAD for a long time.”

  “I can agree with that.” A long vacation sounded pretty good to her, too. “But what about that guy? Did anyone catch him?”

  “He’s Dennis’s problem now. I have other things to deal with, like training robopets, and putting together castle bunkbed, and hunting rocks with my son.”

  Cody knew exactly what he had in mind. And it sounded pretty damned perfect to her, too.

  Chapter 53

  Ed looked at the man he’d once considered a friend. The man he’d fed dinner several times. Lowell Bell had actually held his granddaughter in his arms. Why?

  The sense of true betrayal was unbearably strong.

  “Lowell, this is nothing that I could possibly understand. Just tell me why?” The Lorcan brothers had made it their mission to find Lowell Bell personally after Sin had taken Agent Cody and their children home.

  Ed would make a point of stopping by her home and personally thanking her for the sacrifice she was willing to make. She hadn’t had to tell Mari to leave that van and get to safety. But she had.

  She had. And Ed would always be grateful.

  Sebastian and Seth Lorcan had found Lowell Bell casually sitting in his office at the St. Louis field office. The man had honestly thought he’d gotten away with what he had done.

  They’d dragged him out of the building and on to the street where they had marched him through every PAVAD and St. Louis agent and clerk and support staffer that had congregated around the buildings. And they had made it known what he had tried to do.

  Made it known that he had put the families of all of the PAVAD agents in jeopardy.

  Ed was surprised Lowell Bell hadn’t been stoned there on the streets for everyone to see.

  And if Seth Lorcan’s elbow had slipped and caught Lowell in the nose in the elevator…well, accidents happened, didn’t they? That was why they were called accidents, after all.

  And Seth Lorcan was very, very clumsy at times.

  “Why?”

  “Agent Stanislaski. Me. My wife.”

  “You’re divorced. Stanislaski is dead. And what did I ever do to you?” Agent Stanislaski had been a close friend. One Ed mourned often.

  Lowell held up his cuffed arm. The old burns were easy to see. “Do you think that I ever forgot you weren’t there? And that you and the director made excuses to cover what you did?”

  What he had done? Lowell had been his teammate, as had Stanislaski.

  And Hell. Hell had been there, as well. The day Lowell had been injured and Stanislaski had died was the day Ed’s sixteen-year-old daughter had been attacked by another agent bent on revenge because of something Ed’s wife had done to him. Georgia had just ben collateral. As had Lowell, in a way. Lowell had been injured, and Ed knew he most likely wouldn’t have been if Ed had been there like he was supposed to be.

  Ed had been taking care of his daughter when his teammate had died, and they had almost lost Lowell.

  He had lived with the results of that decision every single day. And while he had some regrets, he knew he had made the right choice. Georgia was alive and whole because of the choice that he had made.

  Ed pulled a pad of paper and a pen free. He dropped it in front of his former friend. “Write. You know the drill. You have something to say? Well, say it. This is your final warning.”

  Lowell had lost everything because of seventeen years of anger and hatred, and they both knew it. Would face the repercussions of it for the rest of their lives.

  This was a day Ed knew he would never forget. But when it came down to it—he had Marianna waiting, and Agent Cody was safe with the man who loved her.

  And that made this day a win, as far as Ed was concerned.

  Still…

  If there was one leak in PAVAD, who was to say that there weren’t even more…?

  Also Available from Calle J. Brookes

  WAITING

  Chapter 1

  HER face hit the floor and one thing was absolutely certain—Anastacia Sorin was screwed.

  Her opponent had her—and they both knew i
t. It had been as fair a fight as it could be. Both women were small in stature, of the same build and age. Both had at least eight years’ training in the martial arts and hand-to-hand. Both were skilled supervisory special agents with the Child Exploitation Prevention Division of the FBI.

  But Georgia hadn’t been up all night fighting nightmares. And she coolly, methodically wiped the floor with Ana.

  “Do you yield, Ana?”

  “Yield.” Ana’s relaxed every muscle in her body, pressed closer to the rubber floor beneath her cheek. Submitted. “Dammit, George. Get off me! Your knee’s sharp!”

  Georgia laughed when she helped Ana to her feet. Ana limped to the shower room, her friend right behind her.

  “Spill,” Georgia ordered a few minutes later, as they changed out of their sparring clothes. “You’re not up to par today.”

  “What do you mean? Just because you beat me...” Ana slipped her trousers over her hips before glancing at her friend. Georgia always managed to look great no matter what she wore; Ana looked at her own outfit. There was dust on one navy knee, and a safety pin held the trousers together.

  Even when she borrowed Georgia’s clothes, she never managed to look quite as good. Sometimes that was more evident than others.

  “You were missing blocks you shouldn’t have. Your attention was anywhere else but on me. And, well, you were making yellow-belt mistakes.” Georgia never sugar coated. And as a profiler and behavioral psychologist, she most often knew exactly what Ana was thinking or feeling. It made it hard to lie to her.

  “Nightmares,” was all Ana said. It was all she needed. No one knew her as well as Georgia.

  “Same ones?” Georgia paused to study Ana’s face.

  “Yes.” Ana didn’t elaborate. She’d told her friend what had happened to her within a month of them first meeting. They were the only female members of the seven-agent team and had been friends almost from their first day on the same team.