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Decker grabbed Mars’s arm and pulled him away.
They reached the hole and went through it. Mars looked back at Brown, coughing and wheezing, her jacket over her nose and mouth, as she squatted over the bomb.
Then he and Decker raced down the tunnel. When they were far enough away from the gas he got a signal and called Bogart.
All Bogart said was, “Got it.”
Decker looked at his watch.
Mars did too. “Two damn minutes,” he said, staring at Decker. “I got to go back, Decker. I got to go help her.”
“Me too.”
They ran back down the tunnel. When they got close the gas was now so thick that they clutched their heads and staggered. Mars hit the wall, and Decker nearly sank to his knees, his head pounding.
“Come on!” screamed Mars, righting himself.
They stumbled down the tunnel, reached the hole, and fell through it. Both men were violently sick to their stomachs.
“Harper!” called out Mars.
He had dropped his phone and couldn’t see in the darkness.
Far above, Decker thought he heard rumblings.
They were evacuating the building, his muddled mind realized.
He and Mars got up and staggered forward, but they were now both disoriented as the gas overwhelmed their brains and their lungs.
“We’ve got to find her, fast!” said Decker. “Before we pass out.”
“Over there,” Mars managed to say.
They crawled forward.
The pile of rubble was still there.
But there was no sign of Brown.
Gasping, Mars reached the hole first. Decker joined him a second later. They both stared down at the burning red numbers on the detonator.
They were not moving.
They were stuck at four seconds.
Two wires had been pulled free from the device.
“Where’s Harper?” gasped Mars.
Decker, his jacket pulled over his mouth and nose, looked groggily around. Harper Brown had fallen into the tunnel two feet from the bomb, her body wedged between the pipe and the wall. Decker reached down, grabbed her arm, and pulled. Mars saw what he was doing, jumped across the hole, and helped him. With their combined strength, they quickly pulled her up. Mars slung her over his shoulder.
They stumbled to the hole in the wall and then picked up speed, racing along and occasionally bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. When they were far enough away to where they couldn’t smell the gas, they stopped and Mars set Brown down. They sucked in air, their heads clearing. Brown’s eyes were closed. She was turning blue. And there was something else.
“Decker, she’s not breathing!” screamed Mars. He dropped to the floor of the tunnel and started performing CPR, pumping her chest.
“Help me, Decker, help me!”
Decker dropped down next to him and started breathing into Brown’s mouth after pinching closed her nose.
“Come on, come on, breathe,” pleaded Mars. “Please, Harper, please. Don’t go. Don’t leave.”
He kept pumping.
And Decker kept breathing.
And despite all that, Harper Brown remained still.
CHAPTER
81
DECKER WAS IN a suit and tie. His hair was cut and neatly parted at the side. And plastered down with lots of hair gel.
Melvin Mars was next to him, dressed as formally as his friend. Behind them was Jamison, in a black dress and matching stockings.
Decker checked his watch. “It’s time.”
They walked down the hall to an auditorium. It was full, and Bogart and Milligan were already there in the front row.
Bogart looked up and caught their eye. He indicated the empty seats next to them.
On the raised dais was a podium with a microphone. Behind that was the United States flag on one side and the flag of the DIA on the other. On the wall behind was the DIA seal.
Decker stared at the seal and his mind went back to the first time he’d seen it and how Brown had described it to him. The black represented the unknown, while the flames and eagle represented knowledge and intelligence.
And didn’t those seem in short supply these days?
Yet they had broken through the unknown, hadn’t they?
But everything came with a price.
The director of the DIA appeared from the left side of the stage and approached the podium. He brought the ceremony to order and gave a few introductory remarks. Then he turned it over to a man who came out from stage right.
Everyone in attendance instantly rose to his or her feet.
Those in uniform saluted.
The President of the United States walked to the lectern. He had no teleprompter and he carried no notes. He adjusted the mike and looked out over the audience.
“Though exactly what happened at the Hoover Building has been largely kept classified for obvious reasons, we are here today to honor a patriot who acted with great heroism, without regard for her personal safety, and whose unselfish acts saved a great many people. As you know, this award is ordinarily given out by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. However, since I number myself among those that she saved, I owe our recipient a great personal debt. One which I’m afraid I will never be able to repay. As some of you already know, her name will today be added to the DIA’s Torch Bearers Wall, not far from her father’s.”
In the front row Mars put a hand over his eyes and bowed his head. Decker put a supportive hand on his shoulder.
The president continued, “Thus it is with tremendous honor and the greatest respect that I present to Major Harper C. Brown the highest honor the National Intelligence community can bestow, the National Intelligence Cross for valor and heroism above and beyond the call of duty.”
As one the crowd rose to its feet as Harper Brown, in her full dress uniform, appeared from backstage and wheeled herself out to the podium. From the chair, she crisply saluted the President. He returned the salute, presented the award, draping it around her neck, and then shook her hand.
They both turned to the audience as the President said, “Major Harper Brown, your National Intelligence Cross award recipient.”
Everyone in the room cheered, with Melvin Mars perhaps the loudest of all.
Brown looked over the crowd, waved, and smiled even as the tears rolled down her cheeks. Then her gaze searched for and found Decker.
She smiled and her eyes crinkled.
He smiled and gave her a salute.
Then she spotted Mars next to him.
She winked.
He grinned.
When she looked away, Decker said, “The doctors think she’ll be back to full strength pretty soon.”
“Thank God for that.”
“Why were you crying before, Melvin?”
“Damn, Decker, we almost lost her. The EMTs told us she’d probably died. But that we brought her back. It was that close.”
“I know. But she’s alive, Melvin. Keep focusing on that.”
He looked over at Jamison, who was still clapping and grinning. He caught her eye and she said, “She looks great, doesn’t she?”
“Never better,” said Decker, grinning.
“And you don’t look bad in a suit and tie,” added Bogart.
Milligan nodded appreciatively. “In fact, you’re starting to look like a real FBI agent, Decker. Maybe we need to start holding you to a dress code.”
Decker’s smile faded and he stopped clapping.
* * *
