Chapter 22

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

He didn't know what it would take to find Alisa, but some divine intervention might be required, Jason thought, as he and the rest of his team spent the next three hours studying security footage around the city in a desperate attempt to find a clue to Alisa, her father, and Novikov.

His eyes were blurring, his gut churning, and it took every ounce of energy he had not to scream from the insane amount of pain that ripped through him every few minutes when he thought about what Alisa might be going through. It was almost five, and she'd been gone too long. But it was unproductive to focus on the worst possible scenario because fear wouldn't get him to her any faster. It would only slow him down. But he kept seeing her face in his head, her eyes pleading with him to save her, and he didn't know how to do that.

The thought of losing someone who was becoming very important to him was almost paralyzing. But he couldn't afford to be paralyzed. He had to think, to act…

Stephanie suddenly showed up, taking a seat next to him as she put her cane against the desk. She'd come back to the office with the team, desperate to help, and Flynn had decided she was more valuable working for them than getting in the way. He had seen little of her since he'd returned, which had been fine with him. He still had mixed feelings about her going to see Alisa.

"Still pissed at me?" she asked, giving him a wary look.

"I'm too busy to be pissed," he returned, keeping his gaze on the security footage playing across his computer monitor.

"I just wanted to talk to you, Jason, and I thought I could find you at the hospital. I couldn't have predicted what was going to happen. If she hadn't been in the hallway, I wouldn't have even run into her."

"I've already heard this. Right now, I'm focused on finding Alisa, her father, and Novikov. That's all that matters."

"I agree, and I have a new lead from my CI."

He looked up from his screen. "What is it?"

"Pieter Moldev, an associate of Dominic Ilyin, owns three buildings in LA: a nightclub, a gym, and an automotive shop. The auto shop was closed last year. But my CI drove by and saw lights on in the back. I think it's worth checking out. Dominic or Novikov could be using the shop as a base for their operations."

"What's the address?" he asked, his gut tightening. Steph's CI had given them a lead on Dominic before, and it had been accurate. Maybe this one would be, too.

She rattled off the address, and he jotted it down on a notepad by his computer.

"What's going on?" Savannah asked, popping up from the cubicle across from him.

"Potential lead," he replied.

"Let's go," she said immediately.

"I'd like to come, too." Stephanie got to her feet, a little unsteady until she grabbed her cane.

"No. You stay here," he said with a firm shake of his head.

"Jason, I can help. At the very least, I can watch the door when you go inside."

"Thanks, but I can't involve you in this." He saw her frustration and felt some empathy for her. "You're helping by giving us the lead. That's going to have to be enough."

She gave him a long look. "I really want to nail that bastard."

"So do I."

She let out a sigh of resignation. "Good luck."

By the time, he left the building, he had Savannah, Nick, and Beck at his side. They took two cars across town, with an FBI HDU, otherwise known as Hazardous Devices Unit, set to meet them at the address. With Novikov and Dominic's love of explosives, they couldn't discount the possibility that the building could be rigged.

It took them about twenty minutes to locate the address in an industrial area near the airport. It was a little past six now and dark on a block with few streetlights. The front door of the shop was boarded up, as were the windows, but there appeared to be a light on in the back of the building, just as Stephanie's CI had described. There were no vehicles in front or back, but it was possible a vehicle could have been driven inside through one of the two large garage doors.

He parked on the street, with Beck and Flynn pulling in behind him.

They met on the sidewalk.

"HDU is five minutes out," Flynn said. "We need to wait."

He didn't want to wait five seconds, much less five minutes, but he forced himself to rein that feeling in. "I agree," he said heavily. "Three years ago, my father died chasing a lead like this, a lead so tantalizing he couldn't slow down for a second. He couldn't wait for backup. And neither could Stephanie. And if Patrick Hastings and I hadn't gotten delayed by a train, we'd probably be dead, too."

The other three agents stared at him in somber silence.

"Sorry. It all just came back to me." He paused as an HDU team of two men arrived.

Within minutes, they sent a robot around the perimeter of the building to check for heat signatures, vibrations, and other acoustic disturbances that might indicate the ticking of an explosive device. The robot was outfitted with numerous cameras and sent the photos back to them on a computer they had open in the back of the SUV.

"No heat signatures apparent," one of the officers said.

"Are you sure? There's no one inside?" he asked, disappointed by that comment.

"Doesn't appear to be. But depending on variables, we can't be one hundred percent sure," the officer replied. "We can have the robot breach the back door on your order," he added to Flynn.

"Do it," Flynn said. "Jason and Savannah, why don't you go around the back? Beck and I will watch the front door."

He nodded, following Savannah to the rear of the property, staying in the shadows of the adjacent building as they did so. When they got to a good vantage point, they watched as the robot moved toward the back door, its mechanical hand placing several small, focused explosive devices around the lock on the back door. Then the robot backed away as one of the HDU officers used a remote device to blow open the door.

It fell off with a dusty thud. The robot moved over the debris field and into the building. He and Savannah waited on either side of the building with their guns drawn.

No one came out of the building. It could be empty. This could be a dead end.

He took a few steps forward, wanting to at least take a look inside, but a second later, he was knocked off his feet by a series of thunderous explosions that sent a heavy spray of rubble all over him, and fires lit up the building.

A moment later, Beck and Flynn came running around the back, helping him up, and pulling him away from the fire.

Savannah had been further away and had some pieces of plaster in her hair, as did he, but otherwise, they were fine.

Breathless, he stared at the inferno, knowing if they hadn't gotten the HDU team to the site and sent the robot inside the building first, none of them would be alive.

But the real question was whether there had been anyone else in that building.

The robot hadn't picked up any heat signatures, but what if someone inside was already deceased?

His body clenched with the thought that Alisa might have been in that building. Maybe her father, too.

But his gut told him this entire scene was just another ambush, a way to kill him and maybe his team. The real threat still loomed ahead.

Which meant that Alisa and her father were hopefully still alive.

The clock was ticking, and every minute heightened Alisa's fear. Novikov had promised to punish her if her father wasn't done by six-thirty, and it was minutes to that now. "Dad," she said, knowing he was doing his best. He'd been working nonstop for the last few hours, barely speaking to her except to say he had to get this done. There would be time to talk later.

"Almost there," he replied.

She tried to breathe through the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. Aside from being allowed to use the bathroom once, she'd been tied to the chair, with various guards coming in and out of the makeshift lab to check on her father's progress.

Novikov had not reappeared since his first visit, but she'd heard voices outside the room where they were being kept, and she suspected he was out there with at least three other men.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask her dad, but it had been difficult to have a private conversation, and her father had been focused on his task. It had been strange to watch him making a bomb. For her entire life, she had thought he was a science teacher and just a very ordinary, normal man. She'd certainly never imagined he was a brilliant Russian chemist who had defected to the US so that he wouldn't be forced to build chemical weapons.

A man came into the room, barking at her dad in Russian.

"Five minutes," her father said in reply to whatever question he'd been asked.

The man left the room, probably to give Novikov an update.

"Alisa, listen to me," her father said quickly. "I've set timers on these explosives, but they can also be stopped manually by putting in a code."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"In case you need to know. This is what will happen. Arseni will take me to the venue to plant the bombs. As I mentioned before, I have a remote in my pocket, and if I can find a way to detonate the explosives in a location that will only take out me and whoever else is with me, I will do it."

"No, Dad. You can't."

"I have to. I can't let him kill thousands of people."

"There has to be another way."

"There's not. Not unless we get a miracle."

She was starting to lose faith in a miracle. Jason would be looking for her and Novikov. Everyone on his team would be doing the same and probably every other agency they worked with. But how would they know where they were?

"There's something else you need to know," her father said. "I don't believe Arseni will take you with us. He'll keep you here alive until everything is complete. You must try to escape. If you see any opportunity, you must take it."

His words chilled her to the core. "I will."

"Hopefully, you will be rescued, and you will have a chance to tell someone how to disarm the devices before they go off at eight-thirty. I have created a code. It's your mother's birthdate followed by your birthdate, plus star, pound, ampersand." He rattled off the code, then said it again .

"I don't know if I can remember," she said, panic swamping her brain. "Is it pound and then star?"

He repeated it once more. "This is only if I can't stop everything myself. You're just a backup."

"Where are the explosives going to be set? Is it the convention center? They're amping up security for the conference tomorrow. How will you even get in?"

"It's the Kensington Hotel, which is attached to the new Wilshire Mall and two other office buildings. The complex is connected by ventilation systems, and when the bombs go off, the toxins will go everywhere, killing many people. I also believe the vice president is staying at the hotel tonight."

"It's happening tonight?" she asked in surprised. "I'm pretty sure the FBI thinks it's all happening tomorrow at the convention center."

"They would have been made to think that. Novikov likes to be unpredictable."

"But there will be Secret Service and other agencies at the hotel, too, right? How will you be able to get bombs into the hotel without anyone seeing you?"

"He will have someone on the inside helping. And there will be many rooms and many places to hide the devices."

"This is so sick."

"It is. Science should not be used to destroy mankind. This is why I left, so I could do good in the world, not evil. But here I am again, being forced to do an evil man's bidding."

"Because of me and Mom. You shouldn't do it." She paused as an inescapable fact hit her hard. "They're going to kill me anyway. Hopefully, Mom will be okay. But I'm not getting out of this, and neither are you. You should just let them kill us."

"You are getting out of this," he said fiercely. "By playing along and going with them, I will buy you as much time as I can for someone to save you. If I can't detonate them early, I will try to leave some clues at the venue to show where the bombs are located. Whatever happens with me, don't blame yourself. I love you, Alisa." He gave her a sorrowful look. "And if you have a chance to tell your mother I love her, too, please let her know how sorry I am. And tell her that being with her, our family, was the best time of my life. I only wish I hadn't been selfish enough to take a love that has now ended like this."

She could hear the break in his voice. He really did love her mother and her. That part of him was very real. "You'll tell her yourself," she said defiantly, but inwardly, she was losing hope.

The door opened, and Novikov strode in, flanked by his guards and someone else.

Her heart stopped. "Oh, my God," she breathed. "You?"