THE DINNER HAD BEEN GOOD and the conversation light and humor-filled. It had been a nice respite from the investigation, allowing them to recharge their batteries. Now the four of them had driven over to Brown’s home near Capitol Hill.
Jamison stared goggled-eyed at the luxurious interior. “Harper, this place is beautiful.”
Brown handed Jamison a glass of wine and said, “Most of it was my grandmother’s doing. She had the eye. But I’ve put in some of my own things too. A few paintings, that sculpture over there, and some rugs. And a special feature or two,” she added offhandedly. “It’s comfortable and cozy.”
“Yes, it really is.”
Decker and Mars were on the other side of the room. In lieu of wine the pair were each cradling a bottle of Dos Equis.
“Fun time tonight,” said Mars. He was dressed in jeans and a dark green turtleneck that seemed barely able to contain his chiseled physique.
“Always like hanging with you, Melvin.”
He looked over and caught Brown eyeing Mars. She smiled appreciatively and turned back to Jamison.
“And you obviously have a fan in Ms. Brown.”
Mars took a swig of beer and grinned like a schoolboy. “She’s fun. Lady’s been everywhere, done everything. I’ve been nowhere and done nothing.” He looked around. “And she comes from money but doesn’t act like it. That’s cool in my book. And she’s quite an athlete! I mean, she’s built like one, but she’s got the goods too, ’cause you never know, right? We went for a run early this morning.”
“Before your picnic?” said Decker.
Mars’s smile broadened. “I know. But we like hanging out together. Anyway, she had no problem keeping up with me. Hell, I think she might have been going easy on me.”
“And she’s kind to children and loves puppies. Quite the catch.”
Mars’s smile broadened. “I know, I know. I’m just rambling here, being kind of goofy. And I know we don’t really know each other all that well, but we just kind of clicked, you know?”
“I know, Melvin. And I’m really happy for you.”
Decker glanced at his watch. It was late, after midnight.
“I’m going to finish this beer and then call it a ni—”
The lights went out, sending them into darkness.
“What the hell?” exclaimed Mars.
“Did a circuit breaker trip or did a transformer blow outside?” said Decker.
He felt someone pass him and a few moments later Brown said, “Other homes on the street have power. It must be—”
She stopped, turned, and ran back over to them. She grabbed Decker and Mars by the arm. “Move it. Now! Jamison, to the right and down the hall.”
“What’s—” began Mars, but she had tugged on his hand and pulled them out of the room.
A few seconds later the front and back doors burst open and masked men poured in. They had short-barreled MP5s and night-vision goggles, and they opened fire as they swarmed through the house.
As Brown and the others sprinted down the hall, Decker, who was bringing up the rear, turned and emptied half his mag.
Bullets whizzed past him, exploding a lamp, ripping chunks of plaster off the wall, shredding paintings, and causing bursts of fabric and filling to erupt from furniture.
Decker emptied the rest of his ammo and Jamison opened fire too as they fled down the hall.
Brown kicked open a door at the end of the hall and pushed them all through it. She slammed the door shut and turned the lock.
“Over here, quick!”
Bullets thudded into the door but none burst through.
Decker glanced at her.
“Steel-lined,” she hissed back.
Brown took out her phone, hit a key, and a section of the wall swiftly opened. Behind it was a metal door. This opened on whisper-quiet hydraulics.
“Get inside, now!” she urged. “Hurry!”
They hustled into the revealed room and Brown hit another key on her phone. The door closed and the section of wall slid back into place.
A light came on in the room and Decker and the others looked around. There was a TV screen on one wall. It obviously had feed from just outside the door, because they could all see the room they had just been in.
As they watched, the door to the room burst open and the armed men moved inside.
Decker said, “We need to call the cops.”
“My security system automatically did that when I activated the door to the safe room.”
“So that’s what this is?” said Jamison, gazing around. “A safe room?”
“Steel-wrapped, soundproof, bombproof, bulletproof, with its own air supply, independent power source, and enough food and water for a week. Plus a portable potty.”
“Is this room your doing?” said Jamison.
“It’s one of the ‘special features’ I mentioned.”
“You need a safe room?” asked Decker.
“Given what’s happened just now, apparently so. And, Decker, you’re bleeding.” She pointed to his face.
He rubbed at the spot. “Something must have hit me there. It wasn’t a bullet. Maybe some debris stripped off by the gunfire.”
“I wasn’t that lucky.”
They turned to see Mars holding his bloody forearm. “Think it’s just a graze, but boy does it burn like a bitch.”
Brown grabbed a first aid kit from a cubby on the wall and began, with Jamison’s assistance, to treat Mars’s arm.
As Decker watched on the screen, the men searched the room.
“Cops are on their way,” said Decker. He could hear the siren sound from the audio feed tied to the TV.
Frustrated at not finding them, the masked men sprayed the walls with gunfire. Yet none of it could penetrate the shelter they were in. Then the men turned and dashed from the room as the sirens drew ever closer.
Four minutes later they all emerged from the safe room in time to meet the cops peering cautiously into the room. Brown pulled her creds and did the explaining.
The cops looked slowly around at the devastation. One of them said, “Somebody really doesn’t like you, lady.”
“Well, that’s why you have homeowner’s insurance,” quipped Brown.
After the police finished their search and took down particulars, they left, leaving the four to stare anxiously at each other.
“That was close,” said Mars. “How did you even know they were coming, Harper?”
“When I looked outside I saw the red dots on their night-vision goggles lined up with the middle of their foreheads. That’s because they were wearing an older-generation device. Our agencies have phased them out for obvious reasons. Way too big of a target.”
“Well, thank God for safe rooms,” voiced Jamison.
“I wonder what the hell they wanted?” said Mars. “Other than to kill us.”
“They must have been following us,” said Brown. “And cut the power before making their attack.”
“I wonder,” said Decker thoughtfully.
“You wonder about what?” asked Brown.
But Decker never answered her.