Falling(51)

Theo looked across the parking lot. One of the agents near the car turned and flashed Liu a clear thumbs-down.

Liu’s phone beeped. She read the message before sharing it with the group. “Phase one evacuations are almost complete in Washington.” Theo knew that meant the top-ranking government officials had been evacuated, the line of succession secured, and that the Secret Service was ready to move the president to the White House bunker at a moment’s notice.

No one said anything. Theo thought about the logistics of that operation. The whole situation was expanding, the web of people affected growing at a wild pace.

“What about… regular people?” Theo asked. “Does the public know? Is there an official statement?”

Liu shook her head. “And there won’t be—if we can find the family.”

A noise suddenly came through their earpieces.

“A moving van! Another Morse message—he says they’re in a moving van!”

The fingers on Theo’s bad arm tingled as a hopeful shot of adrenaline pulsed through the injured nerve endings. Liu turned to him. “Get on the phone with every moving company in the area and see what you can find.”

Stepping away from the group, Theo took note of the time and made a quick calculation. He figured the plane was less than an hour out from its final destination.

The gas attack would be happening soon.



* * *



Bill’s heart thumped with a newfound hope. He couldn’t zero in on his family’s exact location, but he was narrowing it down. If the FBI hurried, if they found the moving van soon, maybe Bill wouldn’t have to throw the poison into the cabin. Yes, there would still be a gun pointed at his head—but one thing at a time. He needed his family safe first. He could figure out the rest after that.

He looked to his family, but had to shut his eyes. It was unbearable to watch his wife, her hands bound, struggle against a ten-month-old in the throes of a temper tantrum. With his eyes closed, Elise’s incessant screams only intensified; his child, his defenseless little girl. The fact that she had no idea what was happening was unfair, her ignorance anything but bliss. Bill wondered if her diaper needed to be changed.

Hearing Carrie’s shushing intensify, he opened his eyes. Her forehead wrinkled with anxiety as she rocked the baby, but it made no difference. Scott put his hands on his sister’s feet and tickled lightly, sticking his tongue out at her. The baby’s eyes were screwed shut. Wide tracks of tears ran down her cheeks.

“It’s okay, Leesee,” Scott said, using the nickname he’d given her, the timbre of his voice rising with the baby talk. “Shhhh, it’s okay. Do you smell that? That campfire? Let’s pretend we’re camping. With Dad. In the woods.”

Bill caught his breath.

“We’ll make s’mores and look at the stars,” Scott said. “Pretend, Leesee. Pretend.”

Bill slowly dropped his left arm. Taking hold of his hand mic, he made sure it was below the chair where Ben couldn’t see. Methodically, he began tapping.

Elise screamed louder.

Sam took hold of the baby. Carrie gasped, pulling the child closer to her body. But Sam’s hands were laid gently; not as a threat, but as relief. The child, in a stabbing betrayal, pushed away from her mother, toward the man. Reluctantly, Carrie let go.

Bill’s skin chilled watching his daughter lay against the man’s chest, her cheek pressed against the suicide vest. Swaying from side to side, Sam became a metronome while Elise’s body throbbed in time with her gasping screams. Making small circles, he rubbed her back, the detonator intertwined in his fingers.

Sam began to sing. A soft melody, melancholy but sweet. The words were foreign, but to the baby, no words held meaning anyway.

Ben began to sing along, just loud enough for Bill to hear, but even then, barely.

Elise’s screams slowly turned into cries, surrendering shortly thereafter into whimpers. Her tiny body gradually stopped shuddering as she eased into relaxation. As he sang the final note of his song, the only movement was Sam’s gentle swaying.

No one said a thing in the peculiar moment of peace.

Bill wondered if the men regretted their choices. Regretted putting this baby, this little boy, this woman in the position they had. Perhaps it wasn’t too late. Even with everything that had already happened, maybe Bill could find a way to talk them out of it. He went to capitalize on the moment but Ben got there first.

“Bill. It’s time.”



* * *



Theo pressed the red button ending the call. It was the seventh moving company he’d contacted. Seven dead ends.

Looking across the lot, he saw Liu and the agents moving with purpose but no urgency.

The bomb squad was packing up and all the doors of the Hoffman car were wide open as agents went over it. Watching both teams at work, he knew their actions had been as fruitless as his.

Clenched in his hand, his phone vibrated.

The attack up here is about to start. But I wanted to tell you how proud of you I am. It’s all going to be ok, Theo. I love you so much.



Theo didn’t want to be in control. He didn’t want to be a part of this mission. He didn’t want to be the little boy who declared himself a man anymore. Adults handle situations; they fix things. Theo had been trying to do that ever since his mother drove them away from their home in the middle of the night. But he didn’t want to do it anymore.