Price Of Honor

Chapter Twenty-seven

“Son of a bitch,” Virtucci echoed. “Do you think she’s bluffing?” He stared up at the ceiling of the command car as if he could see through it to the roof.

“I doubt it. We can’t take the chance. Game’s up.” Cam linked to Evyn Daniels, lead on the PPD in the president’s car. “Do you have eyes on the track ahead? Is the drone still there?”

“It just lifted up a couple of seconds ago,” Evyn said, her voice calm. “What’s the situation? Do we wait?”

“The bird is in the air, two minutes out, but the UNSUB’s got live ordnance on the roof. If she sees the bird coming in, she could detonate it.”

“Roger that. I’ve got Eagle armored up. We can get a hundred feet from the car in under a minute if you can lay down cover fire.”

“We’re trying to get a fix on the UNSUB’s position now, but until we can concentrate our firepower, it’s too risky trying to blanket the area. She claims she’s got a suicide switch.”

“What’s the range of the explosives?”

“Unknown. We’re waiting for intel from the agent on scene. The video didn’t pick up the drone, but she had eyes on.”

“We’ll be ready to evac anytime.”

“Stand by.” Cam switched to Stark’s channel. “How’s the agent?”

“Still unconscious,” Stark said, “but as far as I can tell, nothing’s life-threatening unless the head injury’s worse than I think.”

“The UNSUB’s moved the second drone to the top of the command car. She’s threatening to blow the first half of the train. Prepare to evac.”

“Right,” Stark said. “I’ve got a civilian here.”

Cam didn’t need to tell Stark what she already knew. Egret was the priority. “We’ll get a second team up there as soon as we can.”

“Understood, Commander.”

Cam knew what Stark wouldn’t say. They’d been more than colleagues for a long time, had saved each other’s lives more than once. She trusted Stark to take care of Blair when she couldn’t. “Let me talk to her.”

“Cam?” Blair said a moment later. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. You?”

“What’s happening? Can you get my father off the train?”

“Soon. Listen to me. You need to go too.” Cam pushed away the thoughts of the payload of C4 a few feet above Blair’s head, the explosion, the death. Fear would cripple her, and too many people depended on her right now. Blair wouldn’t want to leave—would resist efforts to safeguard herself while others were at risk. Blair needed to do what neither of them wanted to do—leave those they cared about behind. “We’re bringing in a helicopter for you and your father. Evyn will be with POTUS. You will stay close to Stark and keep your head down.”

“I’ve got a reporter here with me, an injured agent, and two of my detail.” Blair whispered, but she might as well have been shouting. Her anger came through loud and clear. “Just who do you want to leave behind?”

“Stark will get you on the helicopter.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be here until—”

“Until what, Cam? Until she detonates the damn bombs?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I think her brother is on the train,” Cam said. “And I plan to find him.”

“How do you know?”

“If I tell you, will you promise to evacuate when we give the word?”

“That’s blackmail.”

“I’ll use anything I have to keep you safe.”

Blair sighed. “I’ll do what has to be done. If you promise me you won’t be a hero.”

“You’re tough to bargain with.” Cam blew out a breath. “We intercepted a transmission. We think he’s in one of the press cars.”

“One of the corps?”

“Probably, but we can’t be sure. Anyone could have gotten into that car. We’re running checks on every male in the press corps from here, right now.”

“That’s it? That’s all you’ve got? Hell, Cam. How long will that take?”

Cam gritted her teeth. Blair had been around too long—she knew how these things worked. “I’ve also got Jennifer’s photo, and one of the techs here is running an algorithm to adapt it for a related male. I might recognize him from that.”

“There’s a reporter here with me,” Blair said. “Could she help ID him?”

“Possibly. I’ll send the photo as soon as I get it. One minute.”

“You’re going after him no matter what, aren’t you?”

Cam sorted through her options. She’d run out of bargaining power. She wouldn’t lie to her, but she needed Blair safe. She couldn’t do anything until she was sure of that. “Blair, I—”

“Damn it,” Blair said. “I already know the answer. I love you.”

“I love you too. Wait a second…we’ve got the image.” Cam downloaded the computer-adapted image of a man with Jennifer Pattee’s hair and eye color, similar eye shape, and general facial structure. She didn’t recognize him. “Sending through to your phone now.”

Blair said, “You don’t have much time, do you?”

“No. Get ready. Stark will know when it’s time.”

“Cam,” Blair said, “don’t get hurt.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

*

“You need to put this on, Ms. Powell,” Stark said, holding out chest armor.

“I’m not leaving unless my father leaves,” Blair said, “and we get everyone off this car.”

Stark straightened, her face taking on that calm, intense expression Blair had seen a thousand times before. At first glance, Stark always impressed people as being too young for the job. Too green, too pliable. They didn’t know her well at all. Blair braced for the upcoming argument.

“Ms. Powell,” Stark said without raising her voice, “if and when the word comes to evacuate, you will be evacuated.” She glanced at Brock. “Pick her up and carry her if you have to.”

“Roger that, Chief.”

“Paula,” Blair said threateningly.

“This is not a drill,” Stark said. “And it’s not negotiable.”

Blair bit back a retort. She was beaten and she knew it. She glanced at Vivian. “They’re not going to abandon you. It’s just—”

“It doesn’t matter.” Viv met Blair’s gaze, looking as calm and steady as Stark. “I’m not leaving here without Dusty.”

“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” Stark said to Viv. “As soon as Ms. Powell is evacuated, we’ll have other agents in here to cover you and Nash.”

“Maybe it won’t come to that,” Blair said when her phone signaled and incoming message. She held out her phone to Vivian. “Do you know this man?”

Viv took the phone, her brow furrowed. “Should I?”

“Cam thinks this man is part of the attack, and she needs to find him.”

“She thinks he’s on the train?” Viv asked. “But why would I know him?”

“He might be in the press car.”

“You’re not saying he’s one of us?” Viv stared at the image. She didn’t know him. “He could be one of half a dozen guys. Is there anything else she knows about him?”

Blair shook her head. “They think whoever is behind the attack on the train is a woman, and this man is probably her brother.”

Viv shook her head, unable to make sense of the information. “How can it be? Every one of us is vetted and background checked.”

“Backgrounds can be fabricated. Some members of sleeper cells are undercover for decades.”

Viv worked to absorb the news. She understood the idea of a sleeper cell in theory, but trying to imagine that someone she knew, someone she talked to on a daily basis…her mind shied away from the reality. She thought back over the faces of the people she greeted in the morning, said good night to long after the sun had set, traveled with, ate with. She couldn’t put a face to an enemy. “I don’t know him.”

“Don’t look at it for a minute,” Blair said.

Viv turned the phone away, happy to oblige. She wanted to know him, if it meant possibly saving them all. But she couldn’t point a finger at an innocent man.

“Think about the last few days,” Blair said. “Has anyone seemed off to you—excessively nervous, maybe disappearing unaccountably, off their game in some way?”

“I don’t know,” Viv said, frustration a bitter taste in her throat. “We’re cooped up on a train and the only time we leave is to cover an event. I haven’t noticed anything.”

“Something you heard, then?”

“No! I—”

You know what security is like. We might as well be trying to breach the White House.

That couldn’t mean anything, could it?

“What is it?” Blair said.

“I’m not sure. Just something—probably nothing.”

“Look at the picture, Viv,” Blair said sharply. “Who is he?”

*

Cam’s com clicked and she switched to Stark’s frequency. “Tell me she’s refusing to go.”

“No, Commander,” Stark said. “Egret is perfectly cooperative.”

Cam marveled at Stark’s ability to lie with such absolute confidence. “What—”

“We might have an ID from the photo.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Gary Williams.”

“Stand by for evac.” Cam closed the link and signaled for body armor.

*

Jane dialed the president’s number for the last time.

“In three minutes, I’ll detonate the second drone. It will take out your command center and half a dozen other cars.”

“You never told me your name,” the president said.

“My name doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does. Right now, though, I’d like you to fly the drones to the following coordinates.” The president calmly read out a series of numbers. “You’re to leave them there so we can defuse them.”

Jane laughed. “I’m afraid you aren’t giving the orders, Mr. Powell.”

“If you would look at the command car,” the president said quietly, “I think you’ll change your mind.”

Jane sighted through her rifle scope at the center of the train. Her drone sat atop it, and she could clearly see its payload. “What—?”

A tall, dark-haired woman and a man stepped down from the car into the snow. Robbie’s hands were cuffed in front of him. Ice stole through her blood. She knew the woman. Cameron Roberts. She’d held Roberts captive for twelve hours, and then Roberts had killed her father. She focused on the center of Roberts’s forehead.

“We have your brother,” the president said. “You can’t detonate that drone unless you want him to die with a lot of other innocent people.”

“We are prepared to die for the cause,” Jane said, but the words were acid in her mouth.

“No one has to die. Remove the drones and surrender. You and your family will be safe.”

Jane cut the connection. Lies. She didn’t need to hear his lies. If she killed Roberts right now, they’d still have Robbie. If she detonated the second drone, Robbie would die, but so would Roberts. Then the president would know she was not bluffing and she wouldn’t bargain. He would have to set Jennifer free. Robbie would die but Jennifer would live.

Her father’s words sounded loudly in her head.

We all must be prepared to sacrifice. Even those we love.

Robbie stared up toward the hillside, his eyes searching for her. He couldn’t possibly see her from that distance, but she felt as if he did. Could she trade Jennifer for him?

A brother for a sister? She had only seconds to make the choice.