Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(60)
“I’m calling this in,” the officer said, pulling out his walkie.
“Shit,” Dalton cursed as he shoved the guard in front of him out of the way and sprinted forward as Grant pushed the guards down and went into the middle of the street.
“Gas leak! Evacuate the area immediately!” Grant yelled a moment before a taser was shot at him. Grant rolled his eyes as he yanked it out of the vest.
“Locke!” Dalton yelled. The man stopped as he walked toward the front doors. In one hand was a duffle bag, and Dalton knew exactly what was inside it. If Locke made it inside and that bomb went off, Mollia Domini would win. The exchange would be crippled. The market would crash. Retirements, savings, pensions—all gone.
“Five minutes!” Grant yelled as he shoved people away from the exchange. Guards rushed him and the sound of a helicopter grew so loud that Dalton momentarily looked away from Locke.
“NYPD!” Dalton heard Crew’s voice boom out from a speaker on the helicopter. “Evacuate the area immediately!”
Locke looked around, and his eyes caught Dalton’s. They stared, and when recognition set in, Locke ran. Dalton hurdled the security blockade as he used every ounce of energy to push himself harder and faster.
Locke’s hand was on the door when Dalton tackled him. His shoulder rammed into Locke’s side, sending them crashing to the sidewalk. Dalton didn’t hear Crew continuing to evacuate the area from the air. He didn’t notice the doors to the exchange open as people ran screaming from the building. All he saw was what looked like a car’s key fob remote in Locke’s left hand and Locke’s finger reaching for the red button.
“I’ll blow us right now,” Locke grunted as Dalton smashed his hand into his stomach.
Dalton grabbed for Locke’s hand as Valeria came out of nowhere and slammed her foot into his face. Blood poured from Locke’s now crooked nose. “Key fob detonator!” Dalton yelled as Grant and Valeria joined the fight.
* * *
Valeria didn’t like the order Dalton had just given her to try to keep Locke alive, but it was an order from Dalton, and she’d follow it. She fought to get Locke in a stranglehold as Dalton and Grant grappled for the detonator. But Locke was a fighter, a dirty one at that. She should have seen it coming, but she didn’t. He pulled a knife with his right hand as he kept the key fob closed tightly in his left fist.
“Dalton!” Valeria screamed, but the warning was too late. The blade slid into Dalton’s hip. Dalton grunted as Locke twisted the blade. He smiled, his teeth outlined in blood from where she’d broken his nose.
Val had had enough. She would take this son of a bitch out now and be done with it. She didn’t care that sirens were approaching. They had less than three minutes left and she refused to let Locke or anyone from Mollia Domini win.
“Two minutes!” Crew called from the helicopter hovering above the exchange.
Val bent to brace her arm into place across Locke’s throat when pain exploded in the side of her head. Valeria screamed as a man bashed the side of her head with his closed fist. “Miss me?” Manuel’s thug dug his hands into her hair and dragged her away from Locke who flashed a victorious smile.
“You didn’t think I’d come alone, did you?” He laughed as Valeria struggled. Grant was up with his gun drawn, leaving Dalton to grapple with Locke.
“Get the bomb!” Val ordered to Grant. “I can take care of myself!” Valeria placed her hands over the man’s hands on the top of her head from where she sat on the ground. She brought her knees up, planting her feet on the ground and pushed off her right leg. She used the force and momentum to kick with her left. The toes of her sneakers slammed into his forehead as she tried to twist away. Suddenly he let go and Valeria was free. She rolled away from him and leapt up to see Lizzy standing over his unconscious body.
Another man was already closing in on them while Val scanned the area. People were pouring out of all exits at the exchange, screaming. The officers had their hands full with the evacuation to the point they didn’t even see Dalton lying across Locke as he tried to pry his fingers open. And another man was raising his hand with a gun aimed right for Grant.
“Grant, watch out!” Valeria yelled from where she threw a punch at one of Locke’s men before pulling out her gun and shooting him. The man with the gun aimed at Grant and fired as Grant dove behind one of the steel barrier posts lining the sidewalk. Bullets pinged off the post and into the Kevlar of Grant’s shoulders and back.
“I got him,” Lizzy yelled over the panic as she closed in on the new man coming at Valeria. Valeria took off toward the man storming at Grant. She was behind him as she fired. The man fell forward to the ground, blood running from his head.
“Forty seconds,” Crew yelled over the loudspeaker as he buzzed the area, ordering people to evacuate.
Grant was already up and running toward her as they both hurried to Dalton’s side. Valeria stopped next to him and aimed the gun at Locke’s head.
Locke just laughed. “It’s over. The bomb detonates on its own. You get to go to hell with all these people and me. What a dilemma. You take the bomb, but then I press this button and it explodes in your hand. You fight me for the fob and the bomb explodes anyway because you’ll never get it before the timer goes off.”
“Get the bomb!” Lizzy yelled as she delivered an uppercut that sent another Locke goon crashing to the ground.