No Place to Hide (28 page)

Jackie stepped softly. Elizabeth drew in a deep breath and turned her body, keeping Leo’s attention on her. Ian knew the parade had already started, he could only pray Ron managed to stop the toy float from being a part of it.

“What is it you’re waiting on, Leo? The parade to start? Well, it has. Now what?”

“Just a little longer.”

Ian needed Elizabeth’s help. He held his hand in the universal shape of a gun and gestured to the right. Leo still held the weapon on his son and he needed it to be aimed at Elizabeth.
Please let her understand.
Then he changed his hand shape and pointed to her, then the floor. Would she get it? Was she even watching?

Elizabeth’s facial expression never changed. Not even a twitch or a blink. “I think it’s time for me to pull my weapon and call your bluff.”

Leo went still. “What?”

Elizabeth’s hand crept toward her shoulder holster. Leo swung the gun away from Lewis to aim it at the agent.

Ian exploded into action. He pulled his leg back and kicked straight out, catching Leo in the trunk. He cried out and staggered, but didn’t go down. Elizabeth hit the floor.

Jackie snagged Lewis from Leo’s left arm even as the man spun around, swinging the weapon with him, aiming at Ian’s solar plexus. Center mass. She bent with the child in her arms and gave a backward kick, keeping her body between the gun and the child. The side of her foot caught Leo in the throat, then scraped up and hit him in the chin. Holding Lewis knocked her off balance and she fell, rolling, protecting the boy.

She could hear Leo gagging.

And saw that Ian didn’t hesitate. He stepped forward and grabbed Leo’s arm with his left hand, turning his body clockwise and pivoting on his left foot. He grabbed Leo’s right hand and moved his left foot backward, throwing Leo off balance. The move allowed Ian to shove the gun aside, aiming the weapon up and away from his face. With one last move, he pulled, then twisted Leo’s hand. Leo went down with a hard thud on his back, his fingers flexing, leaving Ian in possession of the gun.

Which he pointed at Leo’s shocked face.

Jackie passed a shaking and whimpering Lewis to his weeping mother. She then spun back to the scene where Elizabeth had drawn her weapon and now held it on the subdued man who was still trying to catch his breath. Jackie grabbed Ian’s phone from her pocket. 9:06.

“We’re too late,” she said.

Leo gasped a pained laugh and said something.

She leaned closer. “What?”

“Yes,” she heard. “You are too late. It’s done.”

The door to the warehouse crashed open. Law enforcement rushed in, rifles held next to their faces, pointing low, ready to raise and fire in a split second.

Elizabeth didn’t look up from the man she still held her gun on. “Ian, pass me the weapon.”

He did and lifted his hands.

Jackie looked around for Lucy. The adults and children still lined the wall. Several wept and laughed at the same time. But Lucy simply huddled against one of her teachers, her eyes bouncing from Ian to Jackie. When she saw Jackie’s attention on her, she pushed away from the teacher and stood. Jackie met her halfway across the floor and picked her up to cuddle her against her. She inhaled her little girl fragrance. “Thank you, God, for keeping Lucy safe.”

“For keeping all of us safe,” Lucy whispered.

“Amen.”

Lucy leaned back and cupped Jackie’s face. “I want to see my mom.”

Jackie’s heart constricted. “Okay, honey, I do too.”

But she had to find out about the float.

9:20 A.M.

Jackie followed Elizabeth and Ian to the car. Elizabeth had ushered them out as fast as she could, flashing her badge and talking police lingo.

As they pushed through, she thought she saw Ron in the crowd and broke away. “Wait for me. I’ll be there in just a second,” she told them.

“Jackie—”

She ignored Ian’s protest and grabbed Ron by the jacket sleeve. He spun to gather her in a quick hug. “I’ve got to go,” she said. “Can you get Holly life-flighted to Mount Sinai where her oncologist is? One of Lucy’s teachers is taking her there now and will meet you.”

“Consider it done.”

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and bolted back to slide into the car. Elizabeth shot her a dark look, but kept her thoughts to herself.

Jackie had encouraged all of the students, parents, and teachers to vacate the city until they got word that it was safe. Elizabeth had echoed her suggestion.

Please let it be safe.

“Did they stop the float?” she asked Elizabeth.

The agent’s phone rang and Jackie groaned at the interruption. Ian wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. She lifted her head and kissed him. “You were awesome in there.”

He shrugged. “Just did what I needed to do.”

“Yes. And you were awesome.” The red tinge that rose in his cheeks fascinated her.

“You were pretty spectacular yourself. That kick was amazing.”

This time it was her turn to feel the heat in her face. “I just did what I had to do,” she muttered.

He laughed, but it was strained. She knew he was thinking the same thing she was. Had they stopped the float or not? Had they found the virus or was there still a danger out there?

Elizabeth looked in the rearview mirror. “Thanks for letting me play chauffeur.”

“Sorry,” Jackie said.

“Yeah,” Ian said. “Sorry.”

Elizabeth grunted. “Right. I hear the sincerity in your words.”

“The float?” Jackie demanded.

“It never moved. It’s still parked where it was when all of this started. It was quite a to-do to get Santa around it, but the parade is on and everything seems to be fine.”

“The virus?”

“No word on that yet.”

“I wonder how Ron convinced them to keep the float from moving?” she murmured.

Elizabeth smiled into the rearview mirror. “Someone stole the keys right out of the ignition. David has them in case they’re needed.”

“Yes!” Jackie hissed and pumped a fist in the air.

Ian nodded his approval.

Elizabeth put her light on the dash and moved through the empty street. She headed for the area where they’d left the float around the corner of 77th and Central Park West. The crowds had been ordered away from the area. Elizabeth had to weave through the mess of NYPD vehicles. ATF and FBI bomb techs, the backs of their jackets identifying their branch of law enforcement, littered the area. Jackie even saw a Department of Homeland Security vehicle.

Finally, after flashing her badge an infinite number of times, Elizabeth pulled the vehicle to a stop and grabbed her handi-talkie, a handheld radio referred to as an HT. Jackie popped the door. She stepped into the street, her gaze flicking from one person to the next. David sent her a concerned two-finger salute. She waved back and gave a nod, hoping he understood she meant she was all right. Two hazmat-suited professionals were visible on top of the float. They’d dismantled the large green dragon.

“You shouldn’t be here.” Scott Mitchell approached with a frown.

“Did you find the virus?”

“We’re working on it.” He glowered at her. “This better not be some hoax you two have hatched.”

Jackie frowned right back at him. “If it was just some elaborate hoax, Ian and I wouldn’t have been running for our lives over the past few days.”

He grunted and glanced up at the two on the float. “Parker! Anything?”

One of the alien-looking agents stepped to the side of the float. “We’ve got a positive. It’s in the bubbles. Right now it’s contained. As long as no one turns on the bubble machine, it looks like we’ll be all right, but we need to get a perimeter
set up around the whole float to prevent any particles from becoming airborne and then everybody in the vicinity needs on a hazmat su—”

A loud crack sounded, the man gave a sharp cry and went to his knees as a red stain started to spread across the front of his white protective suit.

“Shooter! Down!” Ian reached for Jackie at the same moment she grabbed his hand and yanked him to the sidewalk, up the stairs of the New York Historical Society Museum’s steps, and under the cover of the building’s overhang. The others weren’t far behind.

Mitchell was yelling into his HT.

Bullets continued to hit the float. David dove for shelter and something fell from his pocket next to the front of the float. Keys? The other agent in the hazmat suit had dropped off the other side. Ian assumed he was hiding out waiting for the assault to stop. Elizabeth was on her HT too.

“Where did he shoot from?” Ian asked Jackie.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. Somewhere from this side of the street.”

The gunfire finally stopped. Only to pick back up again. Ian’s ears rang.

“He’s shooting at the tanks!” he yelled.

Jackie paled. “He’s trying to release the virus. We’ve got to stop him!”

Ian glanced around to see David and several other agents had scattered to find cover. The other agent from the float had climbed back on and now worked to pull his friend away from the open area. For the moment the bullets had stopped.

Mitchell broke away from the cover of the building and raced
across the street to his agents. “Is he still alive?” Ian couldn’t hear the answer.

Sirens sounded, law enforcement descended once more. His gaze was on the float. “Did any of the bullets hit the bubble tank?”

Jackie drew in a deep breath as she stared too. An ambulance screamed in the distance. And once again, 77th and Central Park West was drop-kicked back into chaos.

But the gunfire wasn’t finished. The dinosaur popped and danced under the hail of bullets. Ian glanced at the keys on the ground. “I’m going to move the float. If the bullets hit that tank of bubbles, the virus will be released.”

“And if they hit you, you’ll be dead!” But her eyes were also on the keys.

With a prayer on his lips, he darted for the keys, ignoring Jackie’s harsh yell for him to stop. He snagged them, rolled under the edge of the float, and yanked the driver’s door open just wide enough for him to slide into the driver’s seat and onto broken glass. The windshield had been blown apart. He prayed he had the right keys. With shaking hands, he found the one he thought would work and shoved it into the ignition.

He turned it and was rewarded with a low growl. He could hear agents yelling at him as more gunfire hit the hood, pinging off the metal. He ducked down into the passenger seat and pressed the gas pedal. The float lurched forward. The bullets stopped. Ian lifted his head and peered through the tiny hole that was supposed to allow the driver just enough space to see, but not enough to ruin the magnificence of the decoration. Of course there were several holes to choose from at the moment, the bullets creating a kaleidoscope pattern. He floored the gas and prayed no one stepped in front of him.

No more bullets rained down. He glanced down to make
sure he wasn’t bleeding. Had he really managed to avoid being shot? He’d expected at least one or two bullet holes. Of course when his adrenaline calmed down, he might find one or two.

He opened the door and slid out of the battered float.

The first bullet caught him in the shoulder. He cried out and went down. The second bullet hit the pavement in front of him. He managed to roll under the belly of the flatbed of the float. The fire in his shoulder took his breath away. Booted feet stopped in front of his. The shooter dropped to the ground and dark green eyes met his through the slits in the mask. The gun centered on his forehead.

Jackie grabbed the legs of the person who’d shot Ian and yanked. The shooter gave a startled cry and rolled. Lifted the weapon. With a fast kick, Jackie disarmed the man, then balled her fist and struck the mask-covered chin. The person went limp. Jackie kicked the weapon away and stared down, making sure he wasn’t planning on moving again. Fiery pain shot through her knuckles, up into her wrist and arm. She didn’t care. It was finally over. She leaned over and yanked off the mask.

And gasped.

A gray-haired woman lay unconscious. Jackie blinked as she and the shooter were surrounded by law enforcement once again.