“How’s it going?” Evelyn asked.
“Slow.”
Caroline’s chest hurt, the fear that the building might blow sky-high pressed in around her. Feeling the dread in the pit of her stomach, she unbuckled and pushed out of her seat. She stood there, her gaze floating over the President’s cabinet and closest staffers. People were working away, like everything was A-okay.
It was anythingbut.
GREYSTONE
Greystone returned to the restroom,picked up the high-powered flashlight, and shone it onto the explosive device.
Forrest had been heads-down, studying the unit, then video chatting with his team. Once they’d synced up, Forrest pulled a variety of small tools from his go-bag and got to work.
Three more minutes passed while he and his coordinated teams continued disarming the units, carefully creating bypass circuits in preparation for removing certain wires.
Greystone couldn’t stop staring at the countdown timer, the seconds ticking away toward the end of his life… the lives of everyone in these buildings. Adrenaline pounded through him at a frenetic pace. He was already amped up from their mission at the apartment complex, but finding out the bombs were detonating early had turned the heat up to a white-hot level.
Despite the dread flowing through him, he’d stay solid for Forrest.
“Fuck, this is gnarly, but I’ve run into this before.” Forrest stepped away, picked up his laptop, and said to his team, “I’vegotten past the time and I’ve identified the detonator wires. Where’s everyone at?”
Each reported on their progress, matching his own. Four of the teams had heard from their canine units. To Greystone’s relief, they hadn’t found any additional bombs beyond the ones they’d already identified.
The bathroom door opened. One of the bomb techs with a canine said, “Forrest, the canine teams didn’t find any additional detection devices.”
“Good,” Forrest said. “Tell them to clear out.”
“Got it.” He and his canine left.
Forrest eyed his laptop. “Okay, team. We’ve got thirty-nine seconds. We’ve got to cut one of those wires. Which one is it, the red or the blue?”
Adrenaline surged through him. This was it.
Fuck. FUUUUUCK.
Greystone inhaled a slow, deep breath, keenly aware it could be one of his last.
“Blue,” one of them said. “I say cut the blue one.”
“Why can’t you cut both of them?” Greystone asked.
“Because there’s always a chance the designer implemented a fail-safe circuit in case both wires were cut at the same time,” Forrest replied, before eyeing his team. “Give me a few seconds.”
“We’ve onlygota few seconds,” one of them said. “I’m getting a little antsy over here.”
Greystone shone the light onto the device as Forrest hovered his wire cutters over the blue and red wires.
C’mon. Pick the right one.
“It’s the red one,” Forrest said, the confidence evident in his voice. “Cut it on three.”
Greystone held his breath as Forrest reached inside. “One, two,three.”
With a steady hand, Forrest snipped the bright red wire. The display on the timer screen went black.
Greystone released a breath with an audible sigh.
“Disarmed,” Forrest said. “Team, repeat on your additional units.”
