Page 1 of Thin Ice

Chapter One

Nothing about the dark, abandoned apartment building in the Washington Highlands residential neighborhood of Southeast Washington, D.C. led Abby Temple to believe they’d find anyone alive inside.

Part of the 8thWard, this neighborhood was in a dangerous part of the city, which was plagued by drug dealers, thieves, and gangs. This building in particular was a known gang stronghold.

But it was in this building somewhere that the most powerful man in the country was being held. Would they find the president of the United States alive? Or were they too late?

Abby’s fears increased with each ticking second that mirrored her heartbeat. She zeroed the binoculars in on each floor. Most of the entire block surrounding the building hadn’t been occupied in a long time. “I don’t see any movement. We’re sure this is the place?” She had her doubts. Why would Legion hold the most important man in the free world hostage here of all places?

“This is the location where James pinged the phone of the person claiming to be with President Douglas. He’s in there. At least, the caller is. I just hope this isn’t a setup and we find him alive.” Her partner, Brookes Zachary, checked his phone for news. “Still no word.”

Several hours had passed since she and Brookes had any word from their team. After the temporary headquarters for Strike Force had been breached, the men and women who had been like family to Abby were forced to evacuate the mountain in Idaho. Hours had passed, and each one of them that passed without word did little to assuage her concerns.

Abby shifted to face Brookes in the dark interior of the SUV they’d been forced to hotwire. The chopper they’d flown in was stowed at a former shipwrecking yard that hadn’t been operational since the Clinton administration. They’d need to get in, grab the president, and get out as quickly as possible.

“I’m worried, Brookes. About our team. About Nolan.” Abby voiced her concerns aloud to the one person she knew would understand. She and Brookes had been through so much already. If it weren’t for him, Abby would be dead by now. She’d almost died in the hospital while recovering from injuries sustained when Legion’s goons had run her off the road. Her death had been ordered because of her association with Brookes.

“What happens when Legion learns we have the president?” Abby asked. “They won’t need Nolan anymore. He’ll be expendable.”

Former CIA Agent Nolan Emerson had been forced to fake his death along with the rest of his team in order to stay alive when the man in charge of the agents, Martin Collins, went rogue. Collins was later confirmed to be the true leader of Legion. Despite Nolan’s former allegiances to Collins, he was a good man and certainly hadn’t done anything deserving of the death sentence Legion would hand down.

Abby could feel Brookes’s dark gaze burning into her. They’d been tiptoeing around the edges of what they felt for each other for years. Now after all that had taken place—the recent bombings that caused major damage to most of the largely populated areas around the US—it seemed selfish to pursue a relationship when the world was on the brink of collapse.

Brookes reached for her hand. “I know. I ‘m worried, too, but we have to stay focused on saving the president, and Nolan is a former CIA agent. He knows what he’s up against.” He typed a message on his phone. “I’ve let James know we’re proceeding with the mission.” He paused. Waited for her to say something. When she couldn’t, he asked, “Are you ready?”

She wasn’t. Not by a long shot. But they had a job to do. “Yes. Let’s do it.” Abby sensed him smiling at her choice of words. They mimicked the ones he’d used when they first began this journey to Washington D.C. She knew him well. They’d worked together many times in Afghanistan. One of the things she loved most about Brookes was his ever-present smile. He was one of the most upbeat people she’d ever met.

“James confirmed earlier that there’s no surveillance cameras in or around the building. I guess Legion doesn’t want images of them holding the president captive to fall into the wrong hands.” Brookes glanced up at the building. “At least they won’t see us coming.” He disabled the dome light, opened the door, and got out. A beat later, Abby followed.

Only a couple of streetlights remained active. None close enough to alert anyone inside the building to their approach.

Leaving the protection of the alley behind the building, they eased toward it.

Her heart drummed louder than her frantic breathing. She flattened herself against the rusty red brick wall as Brookes took the lead and moved toward the rear entrance. A true man of valor. Leadership was ingrained in his being. Once a Navy SEAL, always a SEAL. They lived by a higher creed than most.

Brookes reached the door. “Using night-vision goggles,” he whispered and pulled them out.

Abby followed suit and slung the strap over her head. The power was off to the building. They’d have to rely on the technology of the goggles, as well as instincts to see where they were going.

Brookes tried the door. It opened freely in his hand. Tension played across his shoulders. Strange that Legion would choose to keep their most valuable prisoner in such an ill-protected location.

“I don’t like it,” Abby said. “It’s too accessible.”

“Copy that.” He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. “Let’s check it out.” Brookes opened the door and breached the threshold.

With a quickly drawn breath, Abby did the same. Pitch black greeted them.

Through the goggles, she realized they were in what appeared to have once been a lobby of the apartment building that consisted of five floors.

Mailboxes covered the far wall. Some were open. None had been used in years.

“Switching to thermal vision,” Abby said. If the president was still alive, the thermal vision would pick up his body heat along with any other living beings in the building.

Why would Legion pick here? It didn’t make sense . . . or maybe it made perfect sense. No one with a rational mind would come near this place.

After a search of the ground floor yielded nothing, Brookes moved to the stairwell. Abby kept him within a few inches.

He opened the first-floor stairs. The door squeaked, jarring her keyed-up nerves. Brookes waited a breath, then stepped inside with his weapon at the ready. “Clear,” he whispered, and started up the steps, his footsteps silent.

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