Shattered Lies (Web of Lies #3)(63)

Birch hung up the phone with the British prime minister and let out a breath. They’d been stopped. No exchange had been brought down. It had been close, but they’d survived. Trading had been frozen and would remain frozen while this threat was dealt with. But catastrophic damage had been avoided.

Governor Orson Benning, on the other hand, was trouble.

“What’s the word?” Humphrey asked from his spot on Marine One.

“The exchanges are safe. All assailants were killed. Bombs were either detonated through a remote or by the timer. There was damage to the outside of the buildings and cars, several civilian injuries, and a couple deaths of police officers. The threat has been neutralized. For now.”

“There’s a reason you couldn’t get through to Orson. He just happened to be in New York City today. He’s heading down there with the guards to make a statement at the bombing site. He’s saying you’re weak on terrorism, and he’s not going to let his city burn while you do nothing. Martial law has been enacted. A curfew is set. No large public gatherings are being allowed. And he’s ordered the reopening of the stock exchange as a show of strength.”

“Son of a bitch.” Birch slammed his hand on the leather couch. “Get me Alex and Senator Epps.”



* * *



“Stop!” Grant growled when an EMT went to remove Jason’s body. “He’s our man, and we’re not leaving him.”

“Look, right now I’m thinking you might be one of people responsible for this,” the agent said. “So, I give zero shits about what you want right now. Not until you start answering questions. The officer over there identified you two as the ones pretending to be Secret Service moments before the explosion. Until you tell me who you are working for, you’re coming with us.”

“Get Director Kirby on the line,” Lizzy said as they watched Jason’s body being lifted onto a stretcher.

The agent snorted. “You want me to just ring up the director?”

“Yes. And you tell him you have FBI Agent Elizabeth James in custody and that she’s requesting she be released immediately. Then see what he says.”

“You’re FBI?” the agent said skeptically as the other men around them chuckled as if this were a joke.

“I was. Kirby wants me back. Call him.”

“She’s legit,” a female agent said, holding her phone over for the agent questioning them to see.

“Hey, boss!” the agent called out to a man directing other agents and talking to the police. “This woman is a former agent and says she wants us to call Director Kirby. She’s with the two men pretending to be secret service.”

The boss put a phone to his ear as he walked toward them. He was in his late fifties, and Lizzy knew he had been running the New York office for the past eight years. He was a tough as nails agent, but a reasonable person. He wore the standard-issue dark suit with an American flag on the lapel. His dark brown hair had gray around the temples, but otherwise you would have pegged him to be a decade younger than he was.

“Yes, sir.” He lowered his phone and looked right at her. “I’m Special Agent in Charge Cromwell. What’s your name?”

“Elizabeth James.”

He repeated it into the phone and then nodded. “And you guys are my two Secret Service agents?”

Dalton and Grant nodded.

“And who are you?” Cromwell asked, pinning Valeria with a stare.

“She’s with me,” Lizzy said in her best agent voice.

“FBI?”

“DEA,” Valeria answered with the same no-nonsense agent voice.

“Yes, sir. I’ll hold them here.”

“I want to go with my fallen partner,” Dalton requested with a nod to where Jason’s body was being loaded into an ambulance.

Cromwell spoke into the phone with Kirby and then hung up. “You may go with your partner. I don’t know who you are, but the president has ordered your release. The rest of you stay here. I have questions for you, and Director Kirby will be arriving shortly.”

Dalton turned to Grant, and with a single hard look, Dalton conveyed his instructions to him. “Be careful,” Dalton whispered to Lizzy before kissing her quickly on the cheek.

“We’ll see you back in DC,” she told him, sounding more confident than she felt. Right now she wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen.

“What were you doing here?” Agent Cromwell asked.

“I’ll only talk to Kirby,” Lizzy told him as her team all stepped back and took a seat on the sidewalk in unison.

Cromwell stared down at him until his phone rang. “Cromwell,” he answered and then suddenly stood up straighter. “Mr. President.” Cromwell’s eyes shot to them sitting on the sidewalk as he nodded. “I’m sorry, did you say National Guard? What the fu—? Sorry, sir.”

Lizzy, Valeria, and Grant looked at each other. National Guard? Cromwell continued to nod. “I want to make sure I understand my orders. You want me to stop the governor from visiting the bombing site and withhold all information about the investigation from him?”

“That’s interesting,” Lizzy whispered as Val and Grant nodded their agreement.

“Yes, Ms. James is here. One moment.” Cromwell walked over to her and handed her the phone. “The president wants to speak to you.”