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“Are you good enough to do that, Benny?” Viv asked.

“I’ve been doing it for years. Wildlife gives me a tiny window, and I have to be super fast and very accurate to keep the animals safe.”

“Okay, let’s talk about safe. You can’t use a bear tranq. You’d kill him. And while going to prison for the next twenty years is better than having every bone in your body pulverized, then they throw you, like a beanbag, into the Potomac, it’s still not ideal.”

“Trust that I know what the hell I’m doing. What I’ve got on hand is basically like the cocktail they use for agitated patients in the emergency room. But thanks for that dammed visual, Viv.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Jeezis.”

“The driver’s going to grab the dart, pull it out, and look at it. His mind is going to stutter because it’s something he’s not trained for, and he’s never seen before in real life. He’s going to look at it—"

“And he’s going to scream for help,” Viv said.

“That’s not the training,” Wade said, leaning forward, a look of excitement lighting his eyes. “He’s going to leap into the car, lock the doors, and drive away.”

“Why would he do that?” Ben asked. “That’s stupid.”

“He’s not sure what the dart was all about. He doesn’t know what’s smart or not. Wade’s right, though; he’ll fall back on training. He won’t leave Amanda—it’s his job to protect her. He’s not going to pull her out of the car; that would expose her to getting hit by a dart, too. The only thing he can do is jump in and power forward until he gets someone on the phone to help—9-1-1, whatever—or he gets her to a safe location away from the attack.” Jay turned to Ben. “Is that plausible so far? What’s the tick-tock on your darts for a mammal about 200lbs of meat, little fat.”

“I can tell you what happened to a colleague of mine that took an accidental dart—maybe an on-purpose dart. He was pretty much a pain in the ass the whole study.”

“Ben,” Vivian said sharply.

“Fine. The guy’s going to feel like something stung him. There’s a little spring that pushes the meds in.”

“Anyway he could get it out before the drug goes in?” Wade asked.

“Not really. It’s pretty much instant. He’ll grab the dart and look at it. And as he registers what a dart could mean, he has a big old adrenaline dump resulting in a flight response. So I’m with Jay on this one; he’s going to want to get away. Opening the door and getting Amanda out is going to be a fight because she’s dead set on getting to her dog. She’s not going back in the house. So the only thing he could do is get in the car and drive away.”

Jay nodded, pressing his hands together and dropping them between his knees as he focused on Ben.

“So now we’re sixty seconds in. The meds will get absorbed.”

“His adrenaline will speed that up, right?” Wade asked. “Heart racing, pumping blood.”

“Adrenaline can constrict blood vessels, so it could actually delay things. He’s going to start to look confused or, depending on personality and training, he might seem agitated.”

“I would be. He’s trapped in a car with a woman freaked out about her dog,” Vivian said. “Do you think she can multi-task? Do you think she’d jump to the front seat and take over the wheel and get them out of there?”

“If that happens,” Jay said, evenly, “we abandon the plan and come up with another one.”

“But they’d extra protect her,” Wade said.

“Nothing happened. It was a random event, and she’s heading to Paris and out of reach.”

“Then what?” Viv asked.

“We come up with Plan B, Viv. Right now I want to focus on Plan A,” Jay said. “Ben, keep going. Where are we on the timeline?”

“At three minutes, the guy is going to seem okay. He’ll be acting normally. He might even think that he can handle this and get to safety. But around the five-minute mark, maybe as much as ten, he’s going lights out.”

“I’m worried about the phone calls he’s going to make,” Viv said.

“In a sec,” Jay held up a finger. “Ben, what does that last stage look like?”

“With the meds I’ve still got on hand? He’ll tip over. The drug peaks at the ten-minute mark.”

“Okay. Viv, the cell service away from the house is nada. And I have a friend, Mike, who can make sure there is no cell or radio connectivity. Once he drives out of the driveway, he’ll have no connectivity. They’re too far out in the country. He’ll probably forget as he tries to put space between himself and the shooter. The dart might be for him, but there might be a bullet for his protectee. And Alabaster limos are just regular cars. There’s no special tire or thicker glass or anything. And that’s important to the next step.”

“What’s next?” Ben asked.