understand what Reid wasn’t saying. It took a lower quantity of a chemical explosive to flash and explode than other materials. The packaging could look small, but it was an illusion. The oxidation process would be rapid and violent. If that occurred we’d never know who was inside, if anyone, and quite possibly, Sam too would be engulfed in the explosion. The Kevlar vest that saved Reid from a slug wouldn’t save Marsha as the ambulance and everything around it went up in a flash of flames.
My lip went between my teeth as I watched Marsha crawling under the tailgate of the ambulance. Only her legs were visible as we all waited.
“I fucking wish I could see what she’s seeing,” Reid said.
Sterling’s gaze didn’t leave the screen. With each passing second, his neck grew tauter with muscles and cords popping to life. His arms too were crossed over his chest and his breaths were measured.
We waited.
The silence grew heavy around us, thick like a fog when we all took a breath. Marsha’s legs moved, inching her out from under the back of the ambulance.
“Fuck, she did it.” Sam’s deep voice filled the command center as we all exhaled. The moment reminded me of war-room scenes in movies when everyone watching waited for the real players to succeed or fail, knowing they were acting upon the former’s orders.
“Now look inside,” Sterling said, obviously not yet ready to offer lavish praise.
Even though Marsha had said she’d disarmed the explosives, I held my breath as she and Sam reached for the door handles. The picture was jumpy as they moved about. Much like paramedics would do, once the doors were opened, they pulled the stretcher from the confines of the ambulance. The black body bag secured with the two belts jiggled as the stretcher’s legs extended to the ground.
Marsha took the phone as the picture steadied.
A wave of nausea came over me as Sam unzipped the top of the bag.
Dark brown hair was the first thing I saw as I reached for a nearby chair. “Oh God,” I muttered. “It is her.”
The big man’s large hand went into the bag. “Mr. Sparrow, she has a pulse.” His head shook. “She’s unconscious, but boss, she’s alive.”
“Call Patrick,” Sparrow said to Reid. He spoke to Sam. “Unzip that fucking bag. I want to see that she’s unharmed.”
Sam didn’t hesitate as he unlatched the belts and pulled down the central zipper. He turned toward the camera. “Miss Kelly looks like Sleeping Beauty, sir. I don’t see anything to suggest she was harmed.”
“I’m going to fucking find out who fed her the poison apple,” Sterling said under his breath.
Seeing the intensity in his expression, I smiled, at this moment unwilling to explain the difference of Snow White versus Sleeping Beauty.
“Marsha and Sam,” Sterling said, “you fucking did it. Bring her to the Sparrow tower.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lorna
Present time
I stared in amazement as Laurel finished her story. Hell, my stomach was in knots even though she’d started it with the knowledge that Ruby was found and unhurt.
“Laurel just told us,” Araneae said into her phone. “I want her up here in the penthouse. They won’t be for a few days. Yes. I love you, too.” She smiled as she disconnected and turned to us. “Sterling is having her brought up here. Patrick and Madeline will be at the hospital until at least tomorrow. He also said Renita is on her way.”
Shaking my head, I smiled. “I think Mason was right. She needs an office here.” A thought occurred to me. “What about Mason?”
Reid
“The text message to Ruby was from you,” I said to Sparrow as he disconnected his call with his wife.
“What the hell?”
I read from the screen before me.
“RUBY, THIS BLOCKED NUMBER IS STERLING. I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOUR MOTHER. GO BEYOND THE NURSES’ STATION. THERE’S A MAN WAITING FOR YOU.”
“From me? I wouldn’t send Ruby a message luring her away from her protection,” Sparrow said.
“Let me see your phone.”
His dark gaze narrowed. “It’s never out of my fucking sight.”
“Sparrow.”
He pulled it from the inside breast pocket of his suit jacket and placed it in my hand. I didn’t move. I couldn’t access his phone, the same as he couldn’t access mine, not without a complicated backdoor option, the one Patrick used on mine when it was left at Maples’s house.
Sparrow lifted it from my palm, allowed the retina scan to open his screen, and handed it back. I quickly accessed his text messages. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t