Page 65 of Burning Truth

Severn turned onto East High and accelerated. “I hear you, Addie. I know I’m not bulletproof. I’ll really try not to get dead today.”

She snorted softly. “Right…”

It was hard to hang up, but he needed to concentrate. Lieutenant George was calling the Chief to get him approval to join the search. In his gut, he felt like the IED at Central would be the biggest, because Russell would want to do as much damage as he could to the people he hated the most. And if his timeline played out, he would do the broadcast for everyone to see. And Severn didn’t doubt that he would take responsibility for all of the arsons. Because he wanted that notoriety. He’d never gotten it anywhere else in life, but he would get it in death.

Severn pulled up street-side and managed to find a place to park, then he ran inside. The cop at the reception desk nodded as soon as he came in and handed him a visitor’s pass. Someone must have called them and described him, because he hadn’t even supplied his name.

“The bomb squad is in the basement, sir. Just take that elevator.”

The helpful officer nodded her chin toward the bank of elevators to the right, and he headed that way. Anxiety churned in his gut as he waited for the elevator to drop him to the basement. This could all be a wild goose chase. What if the finale was some other place that had offended Russell? They were just running on guesses right now.

He called Johnson. “Has anybody confirmed that he actually toured Central? Or do we have any footage of him in the building?”

“No and not yet, but I have a team on it. It may have been something more casual. The Chief of Police has been known to host people up in his office. It may have been something like that.”

“There should still be footage, though,” he argued. “We have to find something that confirms he was here.”

“I get it, Moran, but the chief wants to evacuate the building, just to be on the safe side.”

“If you can do it without Russell knowing what’s going on, I have no problem with it. I just don’t want to give him that satisfaction.”

“I get it. I’ll see what I can do. And just FYI, your woman is going in again.”

His heart stalled in his chest. “You’d better damn well watch her, Johnson.”

“I will,” she promised, and they hung up.

The elevator doors opened, and another officer he didn’t know waved him down a hallway. “I’m supposed to lead you to the group,” he said, and started walking.

Severn didn’t like being led, and he only tolerated it because he needed to know where they’d already searched. The building was a massive structure, and it would take them time. If Russell wanted to do the most damage, he would probably go to the structure supports to try to take the entire building down, which meant down low. Or he could go for the big wigs up top. Hell, he wasn’t even sure this was the target. It could be the courthouse where the warrant was processed, it could be the Hardees where cops had lunch. He had no insight into Russell’s psychotic brain, but he had to go on what the guy had done before.

He glanced at the time on his phone and broke into a jog to get the cop to move faster.

20

Addie did not want to go talk to Russell again, but she felt like she had to do something. The big black and white clock on the wall steadily ticked down the time, and it was almost at the cutoff time Severn had given her.

Eric had just arrived with the camera, and she’d changed into a decent blouse she’d stuffed in her purse. Then she pulled the ponytail holder out and fluffed her hair. Pulling out her makeup bag, she added a bit of makeup. Within seconds, she was a little more presentable.

“Are you sure you want to do this,” Johnson asked, her mouth pursed.

“I feel like I have to,” Addie admitted.

“Is this place seriously about to explode?” Eric asked, his eyes a little wild.

“We don’t know,” Addie said, shaking her head. “That’s why we’re going in to talk to him. Don’t say anything, Eric, I mean it. You sit or stand in the corner and just film, no getting a better shot, and all that. The public is not going to see this footage, so it doesn’t matter. We don’t have time for your theatrics.”

He paled and his eyes widened a little, but he nodded.

“This is going to take some acting on your part,” the detective told her, stepping close. “He probably suspects we’ve found the storage units, but use that info sparingly.”

She shifted, pulling her cell phone from her pocket. “Excellent! They just found the IED at the Shipley building. And the one at substation 19 has already been dismantled. So, we’re still missing two. The police academy covers a pretty large area, but we have the cadets searching as well as the bomb squad. And I know the team is working from the basement up in this building. Russell is going to want to peacock, but try to get him to admit where he put them. I know that’s a reach, and your conversation will go where it needs to, but keep an eye on the clock. We have less than twenty-five minutes before I have to get you out. And even if the public doesn’t see this footage, it will probably be used in court.”

Addie nodded, filing the info away in her brain. This was going to take some finesse.

She gave Eric a hard look as they walked out of the room and to the other door. “Just keep your mouth shut, Eric.”

He nodded again, his eyes wide, as she let them into the room.

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