Page 96 of Zero Hour

He pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Anything?” His team was spread across the perimeter, eyes sharp for anything off. A lone figure breaking from the flow, a nervous glance, a second too long at security.

“All clear,” came Blade’s reply.

“Nothing on my side,” Phoenix added.

“South entrance is clean,” Viper reported.

“No movement at the north,” Cole confirmed.

Anna chimed in from HQ. “Surveillance is running smooth. No red flags yet.”

Yet.

Pat clenched his jaw. Six bombers. Where the hell were they?

Last night, after securing Ryan and tossing a bloodied Al-Jabiri into federal custody, FBI Special Agent Ed Hollis had called. They’d found Jasmine locked in the terrorist’s study,half-conscious on the floor. As he’d thought, she was concussed and taken to the hospital.

When Pat last checked, Ryan was with her.

As a security measure, he’d doubled security around the hospital. If Al-Jabiri’s cousin wanted revenge, he wouldn’t get within ten miles of her. But odds were, Riad was already gone. All it would take was a fake passport, a fresh disguise, and he’d vanish into the wind.

Pat’s phone rang. It was Anna. He frowned. Why wasn’t she using the comms.

“What’s up?”

“Boss, just a heads-up—Jasmine’s here.”

His stomach tightened. “What?”

“She came in with Ryan. Says she wants to keep working on ID’ing the woman she saw at the Metro station.”

Pat exhaled sharply. “She in any shape for that?”

“She’s determined.”

Of course, she was. Stubborn as hell.

“Fine. Set it up. Keep me posted.”

He ended the call and moved closer to the wave of fans. At the Boston Marathon bombing, the terrorists had used pressure cooker devices packed with shrapnel.

This would be worse.

He touched his earpiece. “Eyes sharp, people. There are six of them here. Let’s find them.”

His phone buzzed again. Withheld number. Official.

“Burke.”

CTD Tactical Commander Farrow was on the line. “We just took down two suspects on the west entrance—the Waheed brothers. Rucksacks. Both wired. Handheld triggers.”

Two down. Four to go.

Pat relayed the message. “Confirmed. Two carrying live devices. The others are close.”

A scream tore through the noise.

“North entrance. Shots fired!” Viper’s voice came sharp over comms.

---