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“Amen.” Gage softened. “We need everyone away from the building. No one goes inside.”
“And we need to find a bomb, before it explodes.” She turned away and strode to Simon, looking over his shoulder. He heardfirecrackerandprotocolbut nothing else.
Gage strode with Alex to his car, where he had the guy sit on the hood of his vehicle.
People moved away from the building. A few got in their cars and left.
The Vanguard building had no signage outside. Only one directory listing on the entrance to the complex, and nothing where he’d have thought huge lettering should be attached to the side of the building.
Maybe they didn’t really want to be found.
Clare talked to a couple of people, touching elbows and giving out warm smiles. Apparently they weren’t so concerned about the possible incendiary device. Then she turned and walked toward him, and he saw the truth on her face. She was terrified—but she’d put on a polite smile as the leader of the company.
Gage softened a little.
Clare strode all the way over until she was face-to-face with Alex. “How did you contact him?”
Gage had been wondering the same thing.
Alex started to bluster.
“You called him.” Gage glared. “He couldn’t have called you because you had no cell phone. So what number did you dial?”
Alex stayed completely still.
Clare said, “If you want Selena back—”
Alex cut her off. “It’s a burner. He made us memorize the number. He was weird about random stuff like that.”
“Where are you supposed to bring the diamonds?” Clare folded her arms.
Alex flinched. “You found them.”
Neither he nor Clare mentioned they were currently tucked in Gage’s pocket.
“Where is Selena?” Gage asked, even though he didn’t know for sure Alex had that information. The guy needed to know they were going to make saving his girlfriend a priority. Recovery of the diamonds was almost incidental. Plus, it seemed like Vanguard had the explosive device issue in hand.
Right then, a guy emerged from the back of a van, dressed in a bomb suit. He walked over to Simon and Peter, and they talked while someone else used a remote control to get a robot out of the van, down a ramp onto the ground.
“I have to call him,” Alex said, “and we’re gonna make the trade.”
Gage winced. “You realize last time your friend made that arrangement, he dropped the girl off early so she could die before anyone found her?” Though, thankfully they’d saved the doctor’s wife. “We need to set the location so we can control every inch of this operation.”
“So you’re gonna call him back,” Clare told Alex.
“And you’re gonna tell himexactlywhat we tell you to say,” Gage added. “No deviations.”
“Okay.” Alex hung his head. “I just want her safe. Whether she wants me anymore or not.”
Clare said, “There’s an abandoned factory on Arlington Road. You’ll meet him there and nowhere else, but he can set the time. Let him decide that so he thinks he has some control.”
Gage nodded. “He might balk at your location. But feed him a line about having no car. You’ve got to walk there, and that’s close.”
“He’ll know something is up.”
“Not if you don’t let him,” Gage said. “If he wants the diamonds, he’ll come.”
“He wants the diamonds.” Clare nodded.
