Washington, D.C.
Cal paced through the room as his teammates worked their assignments. He’d been leaning over the device for an hour now, and the muscles in his neck had stiffened, so he’d taken a break. He paused by the pictures he’d snapped of June’s device and mounted on the wall next to the dummy x-rays.
He was missing something, but what?
He noticed again the small hole on the right side of her bomb. After seeing Keeler’s perfectionism in aligning the seam of the dummy device, Cal doubted the hole was made in error. Which meant it had a purpose.
He flipped through Tara’s drawings and noted a bright red circle drawn around a small hole located in the same place as the one he observed on June. Okay, so Tara must have seen it in Keeler’s drawing this way, and the hole wasn’t an error. Cal needed to see the x-rays of June’s device to determine a reason for the hole. Problem was, he didn’t have them.
He’d left June’s farm before the tech had finished taking x-rays, and when Cal called to follow up on his lack of an e-mail copy, the tech had said they were having internal server issues, and he couldn’t forward them on until the issues were resolved. If that didn’t happen in the next fifteen minutes, Cal would pick them up himself.
His cell rang, and hoping it was the tech now, Cal eagerly grabbed his phone. Brynn’s name popped up instead.
“Tell me you have something for me,” he said.
“It’s a long shot, but maybe.”
“Go ahead.” He wished she was in D.C. rather than at the lab so they could talk face-to-face, but a call would have to do.
“I was waiting for a DNA sample to process and started looking at Keeler’s journals. I—”
“I’ve read those things cover to cover and back again too many times to count,” he interrupted, and continued pacing. “So has Shane. You couldn’t have found anything we missed.”
“It’s not Keeler’s words that are intriguing me. It’s the paper.”
Cal came to a stop. “Say what?”
“I noticed that the pages of the two most recent books were more textured than the paper found in mass-produced journals. So I analyzed a sample of the fibers. I discovered it’s treeless paper made from grasses and bamboo. This type of paper is frequently produced in India.”
India. Cal’s heart started pounding. “We think one of the switches Keeler used could have come from India,” he said. “If the paper is from there as well and we find a place where the import of both items intersect, we might find Keeler.”
“Okay, good.”
“You’re brilliant! If you were here, I’d kiss you.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m not there.” She laughed, but he could tell she was proud of her discovery, and well she should be.
“I’ll get Kaci on searching for a connection right away.” He almost ended the conversation, but stopped. “Thanks, Brynn. I mean it. Thanks a lot.”
“Yeah, well, name that lovely child after me that you and Tara are going to have someday.” Laughing, she hung up.
“Kaci,” Cal shouted as he rushed across the room. “I have a lead, and you’re just the person who can save the day.”
* * *
The cold PVC pipe rested against Tara’s neck. Ironic, she thought, when it contained items that if Oren so chose would combust and create a swirl of fiery warmth.
He bent over her wrists and snipped the zip ties. “There. Now that you know I can end your life at any moment, you won’t do anything foolish, and I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
Really? Did that thought actually make sense in his twisted brain?
“So you plan to kill me,” she said, no longer avoiding the elephant in the room.
“I have no choice.”
“Because of your belief that I’m promiscuous.”
“No, no, you cleared that up for me.”
“Then why go through with it?”
He sat in a chair facing her. “Because of the hold you have on me. You distract me from my cause. I can’t let that happen.”
Unbelievable. “I have to die because you can’t control your thoughts.”
He jutted out his chin, the scraggly whiskers catching the overhead light, making him appear even more evil. “Everyone who doesn’t embrace our beliefs will die eventually. So why not now?”
He was crazier than she thought. “You really think ISIS is going to kill off every person who doesn’t embrace their ideology?”
“Eventually.”
“You’re delusional.” She needed to get up. To move. “Can I stand or did you put the same motion control in this one?”
“You can stand.”
“Why change up my device?”
“I’m not going far before…” His voice fell off, and he shrugged. He didn’t have to say any more.
She got it. “Then what about June?”
“I don’t plan to harm her. Never did. She’s always been kind to me.”
Tara sagged in relief. “But I’m different, right? I haven’t been kind in your eyes?”
He ran his hand over the beard, and she thought he was trying to look scholarly or wise. “Exactly.”
“As much as you say your bombing tirade is about your religion, I think it’s about rejection. These bombs started at the time I told you I wouldn’t go out with you.”
“Fat lot you know.” He jumped to his feet and shot a look around the room.
“So it’s a coincidence that your first bomb went off right after we ran into each other again?”
“Yes.” The word hissed out.
She’d hit a sore spot. “You say yes, but your body language tells me something else.”
He glared at her. “I saw you at the farm. You kissed Secret Agent Man.”
“And your point?” she asked, though technically she hadn’t kissed Cal in the car.
“You’re in love with him.”
His comment turned her thoughts to Cal, the honorable, honest man who was willing to do everything it took to stop criminals like Oren. Who gave of himself in sacrifice for her since the day she’d first spoken to him. Sure he was pushy, but he was also kind and caring and compassionate. She was thrilled that she’d found a man like him, and yes, it was time to admit aloud that she was in love with him.
“I do love him,” she said, and it felt so good not to question or doubt her feelings. “He’s an amazing, principled man who works for the good of others. Most women would fall for him.”
Oren’s frown deepened, but at the same time, resolve claimed his expression. He spun away from her and stepped across the room to turn on a small television sitting on a long credenza. He flipped the channels until settling on a local news special report on the bomb that Cal had gone to disarm.
A blond reporter with perfect teeth stood outside a police perimeter. A county bomb truck sat in the background and lights from police cars strobed behind her as she indicated she was reporting live from the scene.
Tara searched the screen, hoping to catch a glimpse of Cal, but didn’t see him.
“The FBI in a joint operation with County deputies disarmed a number of bombs here tonight,” the reporter said. “Several hours ago, police arrested a woman believed to be behind the bombing attempt.”
The video cut away to a Middle Eastern woman dressed in a man’s Western attire. Cal had her by the arm, urging her into the back of a police car.
Yes! Cal was fine.
Oren cursed and slammed a fist into the screen. “Your boyfriend has gone too far. He cannot arrest Nabijah. Allah has big plans for her.”
Nabijah. So Cal had found her. “Looks like those plans are going to have to be achieved with her in prison.”
Oren spun on Tara. “He’ll free her. Just you wait and see. She’ll be back by my side or taking her prisoner will be the last thing your boyfriend does.”
* * *
Washington, D.C.
Cal paced behind Kaci, his heart racing as fast as his mind.
Max stepped over to join them. “My Customs contact e-mailed a list of import companies. We can compare it with Kaci’s research.”
“No need.” Kaci shot to her feet and handed Cal a slip of paper.
“‘Unique India Arts,’” he read, and recognized the address as being near Dulles Airport. “Is this the company?”
Kaci nodded. “I’m ninety-nine percent certain. The address I gave you is an industrial park where they lease warehouse space.”
“Make that one hundred percent,” Max said, looking at his phone. “The company is on the Customs list.”
Cal’s excitement had his hands trembling. “We need a warrant and blueprints to raid the place.”
“I’ll handle that,” Max offered as he jogged to the door.
“I’ll print satellite photos.” Kaci sat behind her computer.
“Shane and I can gather our gear for a building breach,” Rick said.
“Oh, yeah,” Shane replied, already on his way to the door.
Cal’s phone chimed. Hoping the text was from the bomb tech, Cal glanced at the screen. “It’s from an unknown number.”
“It could be from Tara,” Kaci replied without looking up from her computer.
Cal navigated to his messages and found a picture message. Cal tapped on the image and it popped up, revealing Tara sitting at a desk, one of Keeler’s bombs circling her neck.
Blood rushed from Cal’s head, and his knees buckled. He grabbed on to Kaci’s chair and took deep breaths to keep from losing all control. Nothing had ever sent him spinning like this. Nothing.
Protect her. Please protect her, he begged.
Kaci peered up at him. “What’s wrong?”
Unable to voice the horror racing through his body, he held out the picture.
Kaci gasped. “I’m sorry, Cal.”
He didn’t want her sympathy. He wanted a way to find Tara. “Can you track this text?”
“Give me the phone, and I’ll try.”
Cal handed it over and fought down his paralyzing fear.
Kaci’s fingers flew over her keyboard, and then she glanced up. “The number is one of the ones listed on Meer’s phone. I’ve already tracked those numbers. It’s unregistered, and we won’t locate additional information.”
Cal’s gut tightened. “This at least confirms Keeler has Tara.”
Kaci handed the phone back to him. “You think the picture was sent to taunt you?”
“Keeler’s sick and sadistic like that, so I guess that could be his reason.”
“On the bright side,” Kaci said, “Tara appears unharmed in the photo.”
“True.” Cal’s phone dinged. “Another text from the same number. This one has a message.”
Cal read it aloud. “‘Free Nabijah and I will let Tara live.’”
“Looks like he wants to make a trade,” Kaci said. “That’s a good sign.”
“Good sign. How can this be good? Our country never gives in to terrorists’ demands, much less frees an ISIS operative.”
“It’s good because if Keeler wants Meer bad enough, he’s not going to harm Tara.”
Cal’s anguish eased a fraction.
“Send me the photo so I can take a good look at it,” Kaci said.
Cal forwarded the picture to Kaci, who wirelessly transferred it to her computer. She put it on the big screen and used a magnifying tool to search the background. She let the tool hover over traditional Indian clothing hanging on the walls.
“Unique India Arts?” he asked.
“Let’s check their website for matching clothes.” Kaci brought up the site. She flipped through clothing in their online store, finding several outfits matching the ones on the wall.
“Good. Good. Keeler’s likely taken her to their warehouse.”
“And Max will soon have our warrant to raid the place.”
“We’ll need a plan,” Cal said, his mind already on ways to breach the building while ensuring Tara remained unharmed. “We can dress an agent in a hijab and have her sit in the car so Keeler can see her from the front door and think she’s Meer. I’ll go to the door and tell him I’ve cuffed her in the car and won’t allow her inside until I have some assurance that Tara is unharmed. While I keep him occupied, the team can enter through the back and disarm him.”
“Sounds like it could work.”
Cal could visualize the scenario in his mind. See himself at the front door, the team in the back, sneaking inside. Easing up to Keeler, and then…oh, yeah, then they would test the veracity of Keeler’s bravado.
* * *
Dulles Airport area
Oren continued to flip through television channels and pace the room. Tara had asked him several times to disarm June’s bomb, but he’d refused, as he planned to use it as additional leverage in convincing Cal to release Nabijah.
“Why hasn’t your Secret Agent Man responded to my text?” Oren stopped moving to glare at her. “Or doesn’t he care about you?”
There was nothing she could say, but she had been wondering the same thing.
A sick grin twisted his mouth. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if he doesn’t care? You’d finally find out what it’s like not to lead your charmed life and have a man reject you.”
“I’ve been rejected.”
“I doubt it.”
She’d never actually had a man choose someone over her, but Nolan rejected her in the most important way, by turning against her. She would never tell Oren about Nolan, though, so she opted to remain silent.
He faced the television again. The same reporter appeared on-screen with an update, but she rehashed her prior report.
“Still no news on Nabijah,” he muttered.
“What’s there to say beyond the fact that she’s been arrested?”
Oren looked up, a puzzled expression on his face. Perhaps he knew something about the bombing, and he expected the reporter to figure out the information and share it with the public, making him seem like a hero in his sick mind. As Shane had said, Oren sought attention, which could mean he wanted to hear his name on the news.
She met his gaze. “You’re not waiting for them to mention you, are you? Because I’m sure Cal and his team would never share Nabijah’s connection to the Lone Wolf Bomber.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t like that name. Stop using it.”
“Or what?” She had less fear of angering him now that he wanted to free Nabijah and wouldn’t kill her or June until that happened.
He glared at her but didn’t speak, perhaps because he didn’t know what to say when his plan wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped.
Tara had a sudden thought. What if he wasn’t the mastermind behind the bombs—not the savvy man who’d been pulling one over on an incredible team of FBI agents? Perhaps Nabijah was the brains behind the plan and had succeeded in keeping Oren out of jail thus far.
With Nabijah in FBI custody, maybe Oren worried that he couldn’t keep things together. His demand insisting Nabijah be released was further evidence that he wasn’t thinking things through. Anyone who watched the news understood that authorities in the U.S. didn’t negotiate with terrorists, and Nabijah would be no exception.
Which meant Oren wouldn’t give Cal their location for the exchange, he wouldn’t be coming to her rescue, and the only way to save June was to immobilize Oren so he couldn’t detonate her bomb.