No Place to Hide (26 page)

Together.

THANKSGIVING DAY
6:35 A.M.

Jackie rubbed her eyes and tried to shove aside the fatigue that wanted to grip her in a headlock. She looked at the others around the table in the FBI conference room. David, Ian, Adam, and Sam, who’d left the hospital AMA—against medical advice—and looked like he was on the verge of passing out.

“We’re running out of time,” Jackie said.

Elizabeth looked up from her computer. “I know.”

The door opened and Scott Mitchell stepped into the room. Elizabeth shot to her feet. “Anything?”

“We’ve done background checks on all of the float companies and their employees that are working directly on the floats. There’s nothing that raises a huge red flag. There are some employees that have previous records, but no one with any outstanding warrants and no one with terrorist ties. There are only thirty-one floats. We’ve started checking them all, but it’s going to take time.”

“We don’t have time,” Jackie said and popped to her feet to pace the room. “There’s got to be a way to cancel the parade or at least warn people not to go.”

Sam snorted. “Do you know how much money is involved in that parade? How many people and volunteers? Spectators are already lining the streets as we speak. People camped out in Central Park last night. Canceling isn’t an option.”

“So how many people will die today because no one wants to call off a parade? A
parade
!” Jackie asked. “Would you want to die for that? Wouldn’t you want some notice if you were going to take your kids to watch it? At least a chance to say, ‘I’m not going’?”

Sam started to respond, then went white, grabbed his side, and settled back in his chair with a grimace. Jackie almost felt sorry for him. He shook his head. “No, I wouldn’t want to die for it, but I also understand that calling it off at this late date would be useless. Whatever they’re going to do, they can still do.”

“Then they have to be stopped,” Ian said. He held up his phone. “I still can’t get Maria.”

Jackie closed her eyes, the stress sending her blood pressure sky high. She pulled in several deep breaths, sending up a prayer of thanks for the ability to do so. When she opened her eyes, Ian was staring at her with concern. “I’m fine,” she said before he could ask.

She turned to the ADIC. “How many float companies are involved in this parade?”

“Three,” Mitchell said.

“Can you check their financials? See if any of them have made a significant deposit?”

“Of course. And we’re working on that. But if there are explosives involved or even someone in the actual parade who plans to unleash the virus among the crowd, there are over ten thousand participants to clear. We can’t do that in the next—” he glanced at his watch—“two hours.”

Jackie sighed and buried her face in her hands. Waiting for
something,
anything
, to come through, was sending her impatience levels soaring. She needed to be
doing
something. She lifted her head. “I’m going down there.”

“Where?”

“To where the parade begins. They’ll be lining up the floats shortly. I’m going to listen.”

“Listen?”

“To people talk. I’ll recognize the voices from the mortuary if I hear them.”

Elizabeth huffed. “That’s a needle in a haystack.”

Jackie strode to the door. “I know, but it’s better than sitting here doing nothing.”

Ian stepped beside her. “I’ll go too.”

She clasped his hand in hers and looked at Elizabeth. “We’ll need your badge to get into the secure areas.”

The woman studied her for a moment, then nodded and told Mitchell, “I’m going with them.”

“Thank you.” Jackie pulled open the door and headed for the elevator.

Ian stepped to the back of the elevator and dialed the nurse’s station on Holly’s neuro floor.

“Regional Neurology. How may I help you?”

“This is Ian Lockwood. I’m Holly Kent’s cousin. I just wanted to check on her condition.” The doors slid open and he followed Jackie and Elizabeth out to the car.

“She seems to be trying to wake up. Her vitals are good.”

He slid in the backseat of Elizabeth’s car and let Jackie have the front. He felt bruised and battered. Every muscle ached and he had a headache that made him halfway sick, but there was no way he was staying behind.

Ian closed his eyes and sent up a prayer of thanks. “Thank God. Will you be sure to call me as soon as she wakes up and can talk?”

“Of course.”

“And if she asks about her daughter, Lucy, tell her everything is just fine.” It wasn’t a lie. Lucy
was
fine right now. And they were going to make sure she stayed that way.

“I’ll be glad to.”

“Thanks.”

Ian hung up and leaned his head against the back of the seat.
Lord, please let her wake up.

“Any change?”

Jackie’s worried question brought his head up. “Yes, the nurse said she was trying to wake up, but wasn’t all the way there yet.”

She frowned and nodded. Her top teeth settled into her lower lip—a sure sign she was working on some problem. “Which float is Lucy on?”

“The toy store one,” Elizabeth said. “Manguson Toys.”

“If we pull her off of there, she’s going to hate us forever,” Ian said.

“If we can figure out what the threat is and where it’s coming from, we won’t have to pull anyone and no one will even know danger was anywhere near them,” Jackie said.

Elizabeth nodded. “That’s the plan. But if we don’t, then I want to get her and get out of there.”

7:10 A.M.

Leo rolled over with a groan. He was so tired. He’d been running on fumes the past week, trying to make sure he kept all of
his plates spinning. He reached for Maria and frowned when he only felt cold sheets. He forced his eyes open and they landed on the alarm clock.

With a curse, he shoved off the blankets. He’d overslept. Maria had turned off the alarm. Adrenaline blazing, he grabbed his clothes and his uniform and dressed in record time. He was supposed to be there. He couldn’t botch this. His marriage depended on it.

He raced into Lewis’s room to find his mother-in-law making up the child’s bed. “Naomi, where’s Lewis?”

She looked up and gave him that special frown she always seemed to reserve for him. He knew she didn’t approve of him, thought he wasn’t good enough for her precious Maria. And she was probably right, but . . .

“Maria wanted him and Lucy to be with her this morning.”

“What? Why?” He didn’t have time for this.

Her eyes slid back to the bed and she fluffed a pillow. Her shoulder lifted in a small shrug. “I cannot say.”

“Of course you can say. Why would she take Lewis and Lucy to work with her on one of the busiest days of her job? She won’t be able to watch him properly. The children could wander off and get lost.”

Naomi waved a dismissing hand. “They will be fine. It is a special day and I suppose Maria wanted to share it with them. She said you would be coming shortly.”

“Look, I know you don’t think I’m good enough for Maria, but I’m trying. I really am.” Why did he blurt that out? He cursed his wayward tongue. The stress was getting to him.

She lifted a brow. “No, you’re not good enough, but it doesn’t matter because no one would be good enough.”

“Well, you got that right.” He glanced at his watch. “I’m supposed to be working security at the parade and I’m late.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you go with her to help?”

“I’m an old woman. Parades are not for me.”

“Old woman? You’re only fifty-five years old.”

“Exactly.”

Leo rolled his eyes and raced back into the bedroom to gather his things. He spun to head to the front door and pulled up short when he came face-to-face with his mother-in-law. “What?”

“You think a trip to Mexico will make everything all right?”

Leo drew in a sharp breath. “What are you talking about? How do you know—”

“I know a lot of things. I may be an old woman, but I have friends. Like Greta at the travel agency.”

Seriously?

“It’s just a trip, Naomi. Don’t get snippy because you weren’t invited.”

She narrowed her eyes. “My daughter and grandson are everything to me. Hurt them and I’ll make you pay.”

Make him pay? Who did she think she was? He was the one with the gun. He shook his head. “I don’t have time for this.”

She stepped in front of him. “I’m serious. I think I will be coming to the parade after all. I think I will be watching you.”

He stared at her. “Watching me?”

“You plan to leave and not come back, don’t you? You plan to take my daughter and grandson and disappear.” She gave a laugh, devoid of humor, and her eyes hardened. “I don’t think you want to do that. You really don’t want to cross me.”

A sliver of unease traveled up his spine. He’d mostly ignored his mother-in-law over the past few years, but today, he took another look at her. And wrote her off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He shoved past Naomi and, with one last look around, stepped out the front door. Today was the day
he and Maria would start over and he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when he presented her with the plane tickets.

Satisfaction filled him as he grabbed his backpack and shut the door behind him, all thoughts of his mother-in-law’s threats already forgotten.

7:30 A.M.

Jackie waited for Elizabeth to flash her badge and gain entrance to the back area of the parade where everyone was already lining up. The air crackled with the electric excitement the participants exuded.

And the noise was deafening. How did she ever think she would be able to hear anyone talking in order to identify a voice? Everyone talked and voices blended together into one loud roar.

Jackie had to admit security was tight, tighter than she would have expected. Elizabeth had to show her credentials and explain their presence to more than one police officer. Finally, they arrived at the Manguson Toys float and Jackie stopped. Parents milled around, but no children were in sight. “Where’s Lucy?”

“I don’t know. I’m going to find her, though.” Ian gripped her fingers and stepped forward.

“May I help you?”

A pretty dark-haired, dark-eyed woman barred their approach. Ian held up his driver’s license. “I’m Ian Lockwood, Lucy’s uncle. I’m here to get Lucy Kent.”

The woman’s eyes widened. “I’m taking care of Lucy right now. I won’t let her go with you until I talk to her mother.”

“You’re Maria,” Jackie said.

“Yes.”

“Holly’s in a coma in the hospital,” Ian said.

Maria gasped. “What? Oh no.” Tears filled her eyes. “When she called me, she said it wasn’t good.” She wiped her tears and her gaze flicked over Jackie’s face. A small frown gathered between her brows and Jackie wondered what she was thinking. Then she sighed.

Elizabeth showed her badge. “Where is Lucy?”

“She’s with the class. They’re back at the warehouse about a mile and a half from here. Their teacher and several chaperones will be bringing them shortly. We didn’t want them waiting out in the cold for such a long time.” She glanced at her watch. “They should be heading this way shortly.” When she looked up, a brilliant smile crossed her lips. “Leo, you came! I thought you had to work right up until the—”