Chapter Thirty-five
Josh smelled the soldiers and their gun oil gathered around the fountain. Thank god, they were finally out of this mess. He and Candy could go home and spend the rest of their lives together. A couple of the guys approached just as he bent the lid back far enough to stay put.
Before he could turn to greet them, he felt hands under his armpits and his body was hoisted away from trap door. He didn’t think much of it until he was slammed down on his back. The butt of a rifle smashed against the side of his head. His wolf burst forward ready to tear into the bastards stupid enough to attack him.
His hands morphed into claws and he swung haphazardly, gouging chunks of flesh out of the unfortunate legs that got too close. A few kicks got through, but nothing his wolf couldn’t fix. His main fight was keeping his animal at bay. It wanted to maim and rip apart.
“Stand down!” he heard his mate scream. Several of the men bristled, undoubtedly surprised by the command coming from a female under a water fountain. “I am Sergeant Major Candace Obermier. I order you to stand down.” Those with guns backed off, but the men kept beating up on Josh. And he wasn’t stopping his defense of himself, claws included, until they did.
A booming voice shouted, “She gave you a command, men. Disregard it further and I will have you arrested for insubordination.” That worked. They all snapped to attention and he lay back on the ground.
Whispers of “the president” erupted in the group. Suddenly his little mate was there helping him to his feet. She pushed the men in her way and muscled him back to the president’s side. In the distance, a man in uniform ran toward them across the lawn.
“Mr. President, sir,” the man hollered as he neared. He stopped and saluted, waiting for the president to reciprocate. All formalities done, the soldier continued. “I’m Captain Hayden Bridges, sir. Second to Colonel Dresden. We have a car ready for you, sir.” He turned to the house and waved. A black SUV jumped the curb and roared toward them.
“Oh,” the first lady groaned, “not through the flower garden.”
“It’s all right, dear,” the president said. “We’ll invite a class of children to come help you replant. You can teach them how birds mate and flowers pollinate.”
She popped him on the arm. “They are way too young to learn about birds and bees.” Discreetly, she hit him even harder. “And I can’t believe you made such a lame joke and I fell for it.”
Josh smiled at his mate. That’s what he wanted with her. Happiness and love strong enough to survive bad jokes. After the president and first lady were swept away to safety, the captain dismissed the soldiers gathered.
Candy was on her game. “Captain, status of Colonel Dresden.”
“Injured, but alive, ma’am. He was thrown down the stairwell next to the elevator, the biggest part of the blast nicked him.”
“Do you have a suspect for the bombs?”
“No, ma’am.”
“His name is Mikhail Steganovich. Russian terrorist. We killed his brother at the NIB earlier tonight. Has the bomb dog gone through the house yet?”
“Uh, we’ve . . . there’s a situation with the bomb dog and trainer,” the captain said.
“What?”
“When we weren’t able to contact him via phone, we sent someone to his residence.” He paused.
“And?” she pushed.
“They found his body inside the home. Shot once in the head. The dog was outside the fence, waiting to be let in.”
“Let in? I don’t understand, Captain,” she replied. Josh didn’t get it either. How did the dog get out if the man was dead?
“We’ve speculated, ma’am, that someone killed the trainer and impersonated him, including uniform and credentials, and brought the dog the first time according to protocol. That was how the bomber gained access to plant his bombs. Afterward, he dumped the dog and it found its way home.”
“Are you serious?” Candy shook her head. Josh smelled her anger building quickly. She’d done so well with her temper the past several hours. He knew she was trying. This fuckup, though, was irreprehensible.
She took a deep breath. “Captain, please help me understand how this unknown man could get through.”
“Ma’am, he had on standard paint and looked like the rest of us. And how would someone else know when we’d get a call to the White House? He had the credentials.”
“Stolen creds,” she mumbled.
Josh looked around at the hundred scattered men. The captain was right. Every man looked identical with matching uniforms and black face paint. He understood the problem humans could have with identification. That wasn’t a problem shifters had. They identified others by smell, which would be nearly impossible to copy.
“Captain,” his mate said, “if someone wants something bad enough, it’s hard to stop them. Our man, Mikhail Steganovich, had his brother set up a diversion at the NIB building.”
“Of course,” Josh chimed in. “Mikhail knew protocol would be for a group of men to go to the White House to secure the president, including the bomb dogs. He just had to blend in.”
“Well, son of a bitch,” she muttered. He heard the exhaustion in her voice. “Lock down the house, Captain. Keep everyone out of it in case there are more bombs. Tomorrow morning, we can debrief and have the ALFA group search for bombs. They are specially set up for that.”
She looked at Josh. “Think your guys can handle that?”
He nodded. “Yup, that’s what we’re trained to do.” They reached the driveway to the north entrance and stepped onto the concrete. Several men stood ready, assault rifles shouldered.
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll meet you in the PEOC at 0700,” the captain said.
“Make it 0800,” she replied. “I’ve had a hell of a day.”
“Yes, ma’am. Do you need a ride anywhere?”
“If you could have someone takes us back to the NIB, that would be great,” she said, sagging against him. He loved her delicious weight on him.
The soldier standing nearby turned to them. “Captain, sir, I’ll volunteer to drive them over.”
“Thank you, soldier. Take one of the Humvees. Report back to me when you return.”
The soldier started to one of the trucks then stopped to salute.
Candy turned back. “Captain Bridges.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“If you see anything remotely suspicious, I don’t care if it’s a groundhog waving a Russian flag out its ass, follow up on it until the end. Mikhail Steganovich is extremely smart.”
“Understand, ma’am.”
“Oh, and have an explosives team to diffuse a C-4 in the secret escape in the president’s bedroom.”
“Ma’am, I don’t know where that is—”
“I know,” she said. “In the morning. Just don’t let anyone in tonight.” His mate turned to him. “Take me home before anything else happens.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Gladly.