Flash Point (38 page)

Ashlee stood, anger flowing through her aggressive posture. ‘He would be! But no! Instead, an idiot president who can't even correctly pronounce the word “nuclear” sent my brother into a war that no evidence indicated was warranted, because, of the guys who are supposed to look at these types of situations and make intelligent decisions about them, over half barely graduated those Ivy League universities their daddies got them into. So in order for these morons to get elected, what do they do? What any sub-par, stupid human being does: they pander to the subsets of people in their constituency who are too stupid to realize
they're
stupid too,' Ashlee ranted, pacing. She stopped, faced Jenna. ‘Why are you so sure I don't want to die? Because to be honest, my brother's dead, my husband's dead. Considering that doing it would be my final act to help Black Shadow finish what it started. What Beo talked me into joining. What we believed in – what
Beo
believed in – then it doesn't seem too bad a way to go.'

Two colors fought to come to the front of Jenna's mind. She pushed back the one she could worry about later, pulled the other into focus – the one that fought for dominance when Ashlee said Beo's name. Deep burgundy. Infatuation. Romantic love.

Yep. The others behind bars could wait, because unless that color was misleading her, the two who were out, about, and still very much capable of causing death and destruction seemed to happen to be the two whose networking to end up in the group hadn't
just
landed them with a connection to Black Shadow. It had also resulted in another
alliance
. That burgundy was very specific. An intense,
loyal
, alliance.

Interesting. And she doesn't know that Flint Lewis is Beo. How coy.

Unfortunately for one person in that incredibly infatuated, trusting alliance, only she subscribed to it.

‘He'll be proud of you, huh?' Jenna said. ‘Beo?'

‘Why the hell do you care?'

‘Why would you want the man who ordered your husband killed to be
proud
of you?'

Ashlee blinked, cocked her head. ‘What are you talking about? Ishmael. Ishmael ordered Atticus to kill anyone who stayed their hand during a raid. That's why JP was killed.'

‘Oh,' Jenna said. She pouted her lips, gave Ashlee a mocking frown. ‘You didn't know.'

‘Know what?' Ashlee said, her voice rising in irritation.

‘Ishmael, Ashlee. He's Beo. Ishmael
is
Beo,' Jenna said, stopping short of revealing the
other
role Beo stepped into from time to time. As much as they needed to find a way to keep Ashlee from blowing hundreds of people sky high at the Jefferson Memorial, they didn't need it's reprieve to occur because Ashlee Haynie learned Beo also masqueraded as Flint Lewis and had done so that day to try to get away scot-free after she was out of the picture. And maybe Flint
did
deserve an intimate date with C4 instead of the one he'd inevitably have with Butchie McPantsdown in prison, but his wife Ruthie didn't deserve it. Or little Nell. She deserved so,
so
much more. Unfortunately, though, Ashlee would be so angry and ready to send Flint to the moon that she'd likely slice through every wire keeping that bomb live by the time Jenna so much as opened her mouth to mention the latter.

Ashlee's face went blank, and she shook her head slowly from side to side. ‘That fucking dick.'

I couldn't agree more.

Ashlee threw her hands up. ‘So, what now? I've fucking lived for this cause for so long …' The word caught in her throat as she turned her back on Jenna, took a few steps away. She shook her head hard, kicked at the ground as she barely whispered. ‘You motherfucking, lying, bag of dicks.'

Jenna moved to her, touched her shoulder. ‘My supervising agent is on her way with a bomb unit. We can get this thing off—'

‘I already told you,' Ashlee cut in, ‘It'll set off the bomb attached to the Lewis family.' She leaned her head back, eyes squeezed shut. ‘Fuck!' She opened her eyes, looked at Jenna. ‘I don't want to kill any more people because I listened to that paranoid egotistical spaz maggot.'

‘But if we don't diffuse the bomb, you'll still do just that.' Jenna gestured her arms wide, reminding Ashlee of the hundreds of people who would be victims if the bomb blew.

‘So what do you propose, then?' Ashlee snapped.

Jenna squeezed her hand, then led her back to the bench. ‘I say we sit tight and you tell me some stories about you and Mitch as kids while we wait for the bomb team. The people running the government might not all have common sense or a degree in astrophysics, but the people coming to help
you
are some of the smartest the country has to offer – both by books
and
raw talent. Trust me, Ashlee. If anyone can figure a way out of this, it's the BAU.'

Within five minutes of radioing Saleda, Jenna saw her superior through the filter of scraggly branches covered in pale pink blooms raining so many petals into the wind it almost looked as though Saleda was jogging through snow. Jenna stood up, waved both her arms so her Special Agent in Charge would find her faster.

Still seated on the bench, Ashlee made a small noise. A squeak of sorts. She had to be scared. And she should be. Just because she'd been duped didn't mean she wasn't still a horrible criminal. Black Shadow hadn't just killed men and women who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. They'd also offed every child in their path, too. Hell, even Isaac Keaton had spared the kids.

But still, no matter what this woman had done, she was still a human being, driven by grief, anger. Jenna could be kind to her at what had to be one of the most terrifying and uncertain moments in her life. Plus, Jenna needed her to cooperate a bit longer.

‘Agent Ovarez is bringing the bomb team. They should be here in just a minute or two.' Jenna sat back down beside Ashlee, patted her hand as the young woman whimpered. ‘I know. Even though you knew this day could come – maybe even
would
come, nothing can prepare you for how it would feel. Fear, relief, shame, disappointment, defeat …'

‘Suspense, unease. Loss of hope,' Ashlee replied.

Focus on the now.
‘The best guys in the business are coming to work on this problem, and until they solve it, I'm going to stay right here with you. I won't leave you to go through this alone.'

Ashlee practically growled. ‘Unlike
Beo.
He actually told me Ishmael decided to send me to be the one for this attack. Said it was punishment for JP's mistake.' She laughed dryly. ‘And the whole time, he just wanted to get rid of me. Use me, then get rid of me. Fuckin' men.'

Jenna stood up, walked a few steps from Ashlee, biting her tongue.
I don't know, gal. Sometimes it's not just the men who mess with your head and use you. You can take that one to the bank.

Just then, Saleda stepped through an opening between two cherry blossom trees, let the two young, athletic guys from the bomb squad move past her. Neither were in their full gear; just tactical pants and team T-shirts – as plainclothes as bomb cops could get. Jenna looked from them to Saleda, the question on her face.

‘After talking to Dodd on the way here, we decided to contain and assess for the time being rather than set off a full-scale evacuation. First of all, panic would ensue in the general population – government-
induced
panic, which could very well play right into Flint's hands if there happens to be an as yet undiscovered third layer to this little scheme. But in the words of Dodd, while he can't tell if everything the lifetime Mensa member prick is spewing out of his mouth is true, some of the “malarkey” Flint's feeding him has him suspicious that Flint has eyes on Ashlee at the park, that maybe he's got a remote detonator he can blow the second he sees her stand up from a park bench and start walking away with a look on her face that even remotely suggests she's grown a conscience,' Saleda said. She looked past Jenna's right shoulder toward the bench where Ashlee sat, tilted her chin up. ‘That her?'

‘Yeah,' Jenna nodded.

Saleda cocked her head. ‘I'd have gone with a layered bob, myself.' Saleda turned to the two bomb techs with her. ‘Come on, guys, I'll introduce you to our
hopefully cooperative
UNSUB so you can take a look.'

The two guys and Saleda started toward the bench where Ashlee sat, but Saleda paused. Calling after the guys, she said, ‘Be there in a sec, but remember, look and assess. No hands, no tools until we know more.' Jenna's superior turned back and faced her. ‘Speaking of, get Dodd on the phone, will ya? I need to be standing by while these two start their process. By the time General Bullhead Ted gets here and starts throwing his weight around, I want to know every single detail we possibly can about the extent of whatever Flint Lewis has up his sleeve. If Teddy the Turbulent is going to blaze in, ready to stir up a storm, we'll need to be as ready as we can be to batten down the hatches.'

Jenna nodded.

‘I'm on it,' she said, her phone already out and dialing Dodd. If it came to that, duck and cover would be about all they
could
do. No matter what, Devil-may-care Bear would want to steer his own ship, and if the past was any indicator, he'd set his course without feeling like he needed intel from anyone else. They'd have little chance of influencing his opinion, so all they could do was be ready to play for one team only: theirs.

‘Yep, sure has,' Dodd said to Jenna after she asked if Flint seemed to have a lot to say. ‘Hang on, though. Let me get a few steps away so he can't hear what I tell you. All right, now. Yeah, he's been yammerin' ever since I got here. A cool cat, though. Nothing so overdone that I think he's scared, exactly, but—'

‘—but what?' Jenna cut in, a color she couldn't quite grasp yet trying to peek its way into her psyche.

‘Well, he's doing a lot of talking, most of it a rigorous campaign dedicated to convincing me that what he's said about the bomb attached to him and his family and the one on Ashlee Haynie is true,' Dodd replied. ‘It's not so much he isn't admitting to me that he's not to blame as it is he's making sure I can tell that to a judge he's never met if this thing works out for him.'

‘Back up, though. You said you don't think he's scared though? So the things he's saying to try to get you to believe him aren't begging to tell other cops not to attempt to disarm Ashlee's bomb because it'll kill him and his wife and kid?'

‘Not exactly.'

‘Exactly?'

‘Well, he doesn't seem to want to die or anything, but his pleas aren't so much focused on saving the lives of his family so much as they involve claims of future attacks. He swears the bomb attached to him and his family is real, and his big pitch is that if they stop Ashlee's bomb and the one on him now detonates, the only person who knows the future attackers and attack sites planned will die here, with his family.'

While he didn't really want to die, he also didn't think there was any way he would. His narcissism allowed for him to be positive he was giving the police an offer they couldn't refuse. He wanted to be relevant. Powerful. To hold information the cops, the FBI, the government, would be frantic for. Suddenly, he'd be valuable to them.

‘And of course, they couldn't let such an important person die with such an important secret,' Jenna said, rolling her eyes.

A long pause on the other end. ‘Dodd? You OK?'

Dodd's voice came back in barely a whisper. ‘Yes, yes. I just … I stepped into the balcony stairwell for a minute. Wanted to tell you one thing, just in case. Might be nothing, but worth keeping on our radar.'

‘What is it, Dodd?' Jenna asked, standing up straighter, alert.

‘There was … I don't know, Doc. It's was something he said. Or the way he said it …'

‘Cough it up, Daddy-o,' Jenna said.

She heard long, nervous exhales almost too close to the phone speaker. What Dodd
hadn't
said yet officially had Jenna's curiosity maxed out faster than any credit card she'd ever owned.

What
is
that?

‘Hey, Jenna, get over here. We've got company, and I've got no doubt I'm gonna need backup,' Saleda interrupted her train of thought as she tapped her on the shoulder from behind where Jenna had stayed on the sidewalk along the cherry blossom trees to call Dodd.

Jenna turned to Saleda, then followed Saleda's gaze to where it locked on a tall person striding toward them down the walk.

‘Thanks for the info, Dodd,' Jenna said. ‘I'm going to have to call you back, though. There must've been more protest signs than picnic baskets in the park, because Yogi's headed our way now, and he looks pissed.'

‘Dr Ramey, SA Ovarez,' he said, giving them each a curt nod that told Jenna he had no intention of observing niceties. ‘I'd ask why I wasn't informed of the situation at hand, but to do that would be to suggest I don't already know I'm being purposefully kept out of the loop.
However
, someone with authority that supersedes even the mighty FBI BAU wishes me to be informed of all developments so I can report to the secretary. He will want an accurate picture of the threat level and how traditional law enforcement is handling it when he makes his recommendation to the president today, of course.'

The general gestured around him to the people milling about – some tourists taking photos as well as locals enjoying the sun in addition to the protestors closer to the memorial. ‘And why are these people not being evacuated? That's obviously the first step in a situation like this—'

‘My apologies for interrupting, sir, but the other UNSUB? The one at the theatre? Since your people have done such an excellent and thorough job of keeping you informed, surely you're aware of his involvement, but in case you aren't, he has a bomb attached to himself, his wife, and his infant child which will detonate in the event that the bomb on Ms Haynie is disarmed,' Saleda said. ‘In add—'