Nobody else heard her. “We can do that,” the lead agent said, her hands up, her voice soothing.
Beck had to keep them off-balance. “Not just any limo! Senator Pierce’s limo! Bring it out front! Right now!”
The female agent made a face. She was confused. “Okay, we can certainly look into that—”
Beck couldn’t let her waste any time. He had to keep things moving. Keep Damocles—and everyone else—guessing.
“Now!” he said. “Right now!”
“All right, all right,” she said, trying to placate Beck again. “We can do that.”
She spoke rapidly into her radio.
Beck waited. Pierce hissed at him, “What do you think you’re doing?”
He ignored her. He felt the sweat slide down his ribs, under the suicide vest. He could feel his heart beating under the C-4. It could go off at any second.
There was nothing he could do but wait.
Another few minutes ticked by like an eternity.
Then he saw the limo crawl slowly to the front steps, visible through the lobby windows. Just like the president’s car.
“Let me see inside that car!” Beck demanded. “Open all those doors!”
The agent frowned, but she spoke into her radio again. Outside, Beck saw an agent get out of the driver’s seat, and then open all the limo doors. Another agent reluctantly got out of the back. Beck could see the whole interior now.
There were all the screens and radios that Howard had been using. It was the same car.
But no sign of him, or Susan.
Where were they?
Chapter 41
Susan was trapped in the mob. She couldn’t move. The crowd of people trying to escape from the performing arts center had come up against the people from the media trying to get in for a better look and the other cops, causing the mass of bodies to become gridlocked.
The police and security were doing their best to manage the mess, but they weren’t helped by the sudden cry of alarm from someone near the front door: “He’s got a bomb! Run!”
Susan was jostled back and forth as the panicked crowd surged for the security barriers. The media still wasn’t moving, despite the shouts and threats of the authorities.
The only good news in all of this was that she hadn’t seen Howard or Morrison. At least, not yet. But she felt exposed, like she had a target on her head for a high-flying drone strike.
She didn’t know what Randall was doing in there, but she had to find a way to help him. He was alone, and risking his life. So she’d have to figure out a way to help save them both.
She had the laptop. It could prove everything. But there was no way to get it to the right people, not right now—
Then Susan wanted to hit herself in the forehead. She was surrounded by the right people. They were pushing her from every direction.
Susan looked around for the closest person with a video camera.
While she was scanning the crowd, she saw two eyes burning behind a mask of bandages, a scowling face painted with drying blood.
Howard.
He locked eyes with her at the same moment, and began shoving his way through the mass of people, holding his badge over his head. “Secret Service,” he bellowed, loud enough for her to hear despite the distance and the noise of the mob.
She started moving in the other direction, sliding between people as best she could.
Then she couldn’t move any farther. She was pinned against a news van.
She looked over her shoulder and saw Howard coming for her, moving through the crowd like a shark through the water, eyes fixed on her.
She tried the van’s door handle and pulled.
It opened.
A woman wearing heavy makeup turned and stared at her. So did a man with a scruffy beard, and a producer sitting in front of a board of equipment.
The woman spoke first. “What the hell are you doing?”
Susan stepped up into the news van, and slammed the door behind her.
She recognized the woman. Danielle Crain, one of the field reporters for CNN. She smiled a lot more on TV. Right now, she was glaring at Susan.
“The guy in there with a bomb?” Susan said. “I know him. And I can tell you everything about him.”
Danielle was suddenly all smiles. “Sit down,” she said. “Start talking.”
Chapter 42
Beck decided he didn’t have time to worry about where Susan and Howard were now. He