Page 64 of Burning Truth

“Yes, sir. Both the police academy and the Shipley building are being evacuated now. Johnson has put all police department substations on alert.”

“Okay. 19 and the Finale. How many substations does Columbus have?”

“Twenty,” Gabbie said. He heard clattering as her fingers flew over the keys. “And that station is probably the one that served the warrant and arrested him.”

Okay, so they knew three of the locations. Finale. Would that be his final IED?

What would be the most devastating place to attack?

Central Headquarters, definitely. The team bounced ideas around, but nothing else popped out at them. It had to be Central. Thoughts raced through his mind. If Russell gave them the login to his phone, Severn could probably figure out which numbers these were, but he had no idea how to reset the timers. And Russell was just as likely to set them off if they handed him his phone.

They needed to find the devices and dismantle them. That would negate the whole phone issue.

Knowing they were running out of time, Severn left the storage building to make a call. Addie answered on the first ring.He told her what they’d found, and the initials on the backs of the phones.

“Did he give you the impression he was willing to die?”

There was a moment of silence on the line. “Not really. He seemed excited. He’s still in the interrogation room, but he’s very subtly watching the clock. He did say it didn’t matter what the charges were.”

“Hm. Lieutenant George has teams going to three locations. But this last phone says Finale. That’s why I was asking if he’d said something. I can see him going out in a blaze of glory, if you know what I mean. And I worry that he would want to take you with him.”

She hesitated for a long moment. “That was the first thought in my mind when you told me what it said. Would he know where they would take him if he got arrested? Any chance he got arrested on purpose?”

Severn pursed his lips. “Well, most of the detectives have their offices in one place. Central, where you are now.”

“Oh,” Addie breathed softly. “It would kind of make sense. I mean, he’s so anti-cop, and this is cop central, literally. How much time is on that phone?”

Severn glanced at it. “‘Finale’ has forty-five minutes.”

“I have a team there now,” Lieutenant George said. “They’ll find the device.”

“Did you hear that, Addie?”

“I did,” she said softly. “If I leave, he’ll know something is up. Not that he can do anything about it.”

“Hang out with Johnson for a little while. I’m on my way there.”

She took a quivering breath, and he knew she had to be terrified.

“Hey, you’re going to be okay,” he told her. He made a motion to George, who waved him off. Severn ran back to histruck, and navigated through the downtown streets. “Tell me what you want to do when this is all over, Addie. What are your dreams?”

She snorted a laugh. “Well, it was very nice pretending to be your significant other. Maybe when this is all over, we cannotpretend. Maybe go to dinner or a movie. Normal people stuff. Without worrying about the city burning.”

“I’m totally on board with that, Addie,” he said, and he meant it. There was a fear in his heart right now that he wasn’t used to. The thought of Addie being in danger scared the hell out of him.

“Should I get Eric here to film? Johnson says it might make him showboat and give up some information.”

He hated the thought of her sitting across from that monster again, especially without him there as backup. But he hated the thought of her being dead even more. “If you think it will work,” he said finally. “But Addie?”

“Yes,” she said.

“If it gets down to the last ten minutes, I want you out of that building. Do you understand me? If you don’t hear anything from me by…” he glanced at the time on his phone. “Three thirty-five. If nothing happens by then, I want you out of there. Do you understand me?”

The thought of her dying in a fire made him physically ill, but he also knew he would walk into that fire to bring her out. The thought was startling, but he knew he loved her that much to do it.

He shook his head at the thought of love. Seriously? Yes, he was hooked on her. He thought about her constantly, and he wanted to touch her all the time, but did that equate to love?

“I hear the worry in your voice, Severn. And I will do that. I swear to you. But you listen to me, now. I love you. I don’t want you walking into danger just because you think you’re bulletproof.”

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