Chapter Sixteen #2
With Q following close behind them, Sam and Lindsey went into the morgue. They found Amara’s things where she’d left them, but Ivanov’s body was gone.
“Son of a bitch,” Lindsey said.
As they walked back toward the exit, Sam pulled out her phone to call Malone. She got a busy signal. “What does a busy signal mean when you make a call on a cell phone?”
“That the service is out, I think,” Q said.
“Great.” She moved through the crowd, looking for the captain.
“Could be because of an overload of the system from people trying to call us,” Lindsey said.
“The BlackBerry works.”
“It’s on a satellite.”
Normally, she’d ask how Freddie knew that, but nothing about this situation was normal.
“Ma’am,” Q said. “Can we at least get you out of this area and move you to a safe location?”
“Not right now. I need to find Captain Malone. It’s urgent.”
She heard Q’s sigh and understood there’d probably be hell to pay with the Secret Service after this, but she couldn’t think about that when her team needed her to stay focused on the situation at hand. As they rounded the building, Sam caught her first glimpse of the damage from the outside.
She stopped short as the horror registered. Not only was the entire front facade blown off the main entrance, but the press area had been hit, too. EMTs were tending to multiple victims.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Lindsey put a hand on her arm as they took in the devastating scene. “There’s Malone.”
They moved toward him as he directed people to where they were needed.
“Cap,” Sam said as they approached.
He turned to her, his eyes a little wild as he managed an unprecedented event. “Have you heard from Joe or Jeannie?”
“Not yet. Cell service seems to be out. Listen, our dead Russian was taken from the morgue, and we can’t find Amara Robinson.”
Malone gave a slight shake of his head. “What? The body was taken?”
“Yes, sir,” Sam said. “We’re wondering if the bombing was intended as a distraction with retrieval as the goal.”
“A distraction. We’ve got at least four dead that we know of, three civilians and a reporter from CBC, who was outside the main door. We’re expecting more casualties once we can get back inside. And you’re saying this could’ve been done as a fucking distraction?”
Sam placed a hand on her stomach, which had begun to ache. “Who do we call when we suspect the Russians of bombing our building?”
“We need the FBI,” Malone said. “Hopefully, they’ll send some people over.”
“The BlackBerry is working. I’ll ask Nick to get the FBI here ASAP.”
“I really want to hear from Joe, Jeannie and Helen.”
“I do, too.”
Jeannie McBride had no idea where she was or what’d happened when she opened her eyes to darkness.
Her ears were ringing, something heavy sat on top of her, and a substance that might’ve been dust caked the inside of her mouth.
She spat out as much as she could, desperately wishing for some water.
In the distance, she could hear people shouting, but they sounded far away.
She tried to move, but the heavy thing on top of her made that impossible.
The baby…
She was able to get a hand on her belly and was relieved to feel the baby moving.
Michael…
He must be frantic.
“Help!”
Her voice was raw and her mouth painfully dry. She spat again, trying to clear the pasty substance.
“Help!”
“Deputy Chief McBride!” The voice came from a short distance away.
“Helen?”
“It’s me. I’m here.”
“Wh-what happened?”
“There was an explosion. Are you okay?”
“I think so. There’s something on top of me. I can’t get out. What about Joe…”
“I don’t know.”
Jeannie closed her eyes against a rush of tears. She loved the chief. Everyone did. “Please let him be okay,” she whispered. “Please.”
“They’re trying to get to us,” Helen said. “I can hear the rescuers coming.”
“That’s good.”
“Hang in there, Deputy Chief.”
“You should call me Jeannie, Helen.”
“No, ma’am, you’re our deputy chief.”
Jeannie smiled at Helen’s adherence to protocol. She drifted… And came to after some time had passed. She wasn’t sure if she’d slept or lost consciousness. As long as she still felt the baby moving, she didn’t panic.
“Helen.”
“I’m here.”
“I didn’t ask… Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m okay. Just waiting to get out of here and worried about you and Joe.”
“He has to be all right. He just has to be.”
“He will be,” Helen said. “I’m sure of it.”
Helen’s certainty was a relief to Jeannie.
“The voices are getting closer,” Helen said. “Shouldn’t be long now.”
Jeannie tried hard to stay awake, sensing that would be important, although she couldn’t remember why.
Her brain was muzzy, and her legs were numb from being buried under the heavy thing.
Who could’ve done this to them? The thought of finding out who was behind it exhausted her, so she tried not to go there.
Instead, she thought about the nursery Michael had painted a pale yellow, while banning her from the area due to the fumes.
She’d wanted to help, but he wouldn’t let her anywhere near it.
While he’d painted, she’d stayed downstairs, folding tiny onesies, sleepers and other soft, precious items for the baby who’d soon join their family.
They’d chosen not to find out what they were having, so it would be a surprise.
If she had to guess, Jeannie would say she was carrying a girl.
Michael was certain it was a boy. Neither of them cared, as long as the baby was healthy.
Would the baby still be healthy after this incident?
Please, God, protect my baby. Please protect my baby.
She heard Helen talking to someone.
Rescuers.
“Go to Deputy Chief McBride first,” Helen said. “She’s almost nine months pregnant and pinned under something.”
Jeannie wanted to tell them to go to Joe first, but before she could say anything, they were in the room with her, officers she recognized but couldn’t immediately name.
“The desk is on top of her,” one of them said.
“Make sure we won’t be risking further injury by moving it.”
They did a full assessment of the situation and began removing items in the way—visitor chairs, the file cabinet that had stood in the far corner, items from her bookshelf, the shelf itself and finally the desk that had somehow landed on top of her legs.
“Easy now. Nice and easy.”
The relief of the desk being removed was immediate.
“Let’s get EMTs in here! Hurry.”
Things happened quickly. She was assessed, carefully moved onto a gurney and carried out of the building to a waiting ambulance.
“My husband… I need to call him.”
“Cell service isn’t working, probably because everyone is trying to get through to us, so we’ll call him for you when we get you to the ER,” one of the EMTs said.
Jeannie closed her eyes and thought of Michael and hoped that wherever he was, he somehow knew she was okay.
“What about Helen and Joe?”
“Helen is with EMTs, and they’re working on getting into the chief’s office.”
“Jeannie!”
She opened her eyes to see Sam hovering over her.
“Talk to me.”
“I’m all right. I think.”
“Thank goodness. We’ve been so worried. And the baby?”
“Moving around.”
“Oh, good. That’s good. What about Helen and Joe?”
“Helen’s okay, but we’re not sure about Joe.”
“We’ve got to get her to the hospital,” an EMT said.
“I’ll come check on you later.”
“If you see Michael…”
“I’ll send him to you.”
“Thanks.”
Jeannie wanted to ask Sam what she knew about what had just happened, but her energy was flagging. She needed to save her strength for the baby. Everything else would have to wait until she was certain her little one was safe.