Page 105 of Resurrection

My chest tightens, and I peek over the thick cardboard edge, half-afraid, half-curious.

Time’s Up.The words flash across the screen in place of the timer. There’s a loud click, and I rear back but nothing happens. No explosion.

I run my hands along my body. Nothing happened. I’m okay. A joyous laugh escapes me. It’s a dud.It’s a fucking dud.

Then a second click sounds from the box, and the whole thing explodes. I scream and clutch my chest, falling back into my chair as confetti falls like rain. The colorful tornado spins and swirls to the ground.

It was a joke. I’m okay. It wasn’t a bomb.I’m okay.

My brain ticks through these realizations even as my desk chair rocks back and forth and confetti flutters around me, blanketing my office. Though the black machine wasn’t a bomb, it exploded. Whoever did this wanted me to think it was a bomb. They wanted me to sweat.

“Carys?” my secretary calls from outside the door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes!” I call, staring at the chaos of my office. I cover my face with my hands and ease my fingertips over my brows. My heart rate is returning to normal.

There’s a brisk knock.

Looking around, I take a deep breath and let it out. “Come in.”

The door opens, and two men and a woman dressed in dark suits file in. Before they have time to say anything, Lilly appears in the open doorway, panting. The internal phone lines are still broken.

“Carys,” she says. “The FBI are here.”

“Carys Van de Berg, you’re under arrest—” The lead suit continues to drone on about my rights as he flashes identification in my face. But I can’t seem to snap into focus. Surreal. The scene is surreal, like a nightmare.

The second suit removes a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and places it on my desk. An excited buzz starts outside my door.

“What’s this?” I ask, my brain sluggish.

“A search warrant for the premises. We already have agents on every floor.”

“What is it—” I stare at him for a moment. “What is it I’m accused of doing?”

“In short? Conspiring with a terrorist organization. We’ll get into the specifics in a secure location.” The suit comes around my desk and puts his hand on my arm. “We’d like you to come with us.”

“Do I have a choice?”

A hint of a smile flickers across his face. “Just about whether we use handcuffs.”

I grab my purse and snatch my phone off my desk.

“Those things need to stay here. They’re part of the warrant,” he says.

I drop them on my desk. Hopefully, my lawyer can sort through this bullshit so I can get back to Finn and Lucas sooner rather than later.

“Looks like you were celebrating early.” He indicates the papery mess while he escorts me out of my office.

My heels crunch across the confetti as I make my way to the door. It’s 4:32. I should be signing papers, freeing myself from this place, from whatever will drag me under.

“I guess it’ll have to wait a little while,” I say when we get to the door.

The agent gestures for me to lead our exit out the door. “More like a few years,” he mutters.

His comment gets my attention, narrows my focus. Whatever has led them here, they think they already know something, have evidence to get a conviction. Ice shoots through my veins, and my hand strays to my braid, tucking in a strand.

“I want my lawyer.”

I don’t say another word until Sook, my lawyer, is sitting across from me.

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