45
Waiting was excruciating.
It felt like hours to Max since he’d talked to Royce and asked him to bring Crystal.
The CCC building had gone quiet, and the negotiators had decided to give Drew some breathing room while they waited and strategized.
The entry team had pulled all the way back into the woods but was ready to head back to the structure at a moment’s notice.
The snipers and perimeter team reported no movement around the structure.
In the past sometimes Max had sat in a sniper position for ten hours or more, waiting while negotiations played out, his eye on the target.
Snipers knew to bring their own water and several energy bars, as well as extra layers or a sun hat and sunscreen.
They had to be prepared at all times for that split-second chance.
Noelle was quiet too. She was pacing several yards away, working off excess energy and her worry for Emma.
Max checked his weapons for the tenth time, trying to push from his thoughts the two-month-old image of Emma’s terrified face passing through his rifle’s crosshairs. At the moment he felt powerless not being in a stand with a high-powered rifle trained on the little building.
Those stupid slits.
He knew the snipers were hating them, wishing for at least one window. The interior of the structure was completely invisible.
An engine sounded, and everyone’s head turned to see an Eagle’s Nest PD SUV come bouncing up the rutted path and park near the mobile command. Crystal was out of the vehicle and running toward them before Royce turned it off. “What’s happening?” she demanded of Max and Noelle.
“Nothing’s happened since we called for you,” said Noelle. “They’re both inside the structure and staying quiet.”
Royce appeared with a tactical vest he’d brought for Crystal, breathing heavily from sprinting up the slope. She stared at the protection. “Do I really need that? I won’t be close, right?”
“Put it on anyway.” Noelle helped her into the vest and fastened the straps.
She hasn’t asked about Emma.
Max’s jaw ached as he clenched his teeth.
“You’ve got to protect me,” Crystal said to everyone within earshot.
“All you’re doing is talking to him. We’ll put you behind the shields,” said Max.
“Bullets don’t go through them?”
“These have the highest-level protection available,” said Max. “More than standard police shields.”
Reaves appeared with the two other negotiators and shook Crystal’s hand. “We spoke on the phone. Thank you for coming.”
Crystal nodded, her eyes wide. “Where is it?” She scanned the immediate area.
“About a quarter mile that way,” said Reaves. “We’ll move closer.”
When they reached the region, two of the entry team came forward and put Crystal between them.
They used their shields to cover the three of them as they moved ten more feet toward the structure.
Crystal and the team members were now visible to Drew but still very close to the rest of the team behind the big trees.
“Drew,” said Reaves, her voice amplified across the clearing around the structure. “I have Crystal here now. What do you want to say to her?”
“Let me see her!”
“She’s behind shields, Drew. You think we’d let her step out in plain sight?”
“I won’t shoot.”
“Right,” muttered Crystal.
“How about you ask a question only she could answer? That way you’ll know it’s her,” said Reaves. “Like we did with Emma.”
“What color shirt was she wearing at the park?” he yelled.
“Green!” Crystal shouted from behind the shields, then she shuddered.
“Let me do the talking,” Reaves said.
“Okay.” Her voice was small.
Max wondered if she still wanted to kill Drew Mims on her own. That had been her goal earlier in the day, but now she was getting a taste of reality.
“Drew,” started Reaves.
“I’ll trade Emma for Crystal,” he shouted. “Send her in here!”
“Jesus Christ.” Crystal took a step back. “Hell no am I going in there.”
“Of course not,” Reaves said softly. She raised the megaphone. “Explain to me what you’re trying to accomplish, Drew.”
“That’s between me and her!” he yelled.
Crystal violently shook her head. “He’s mad because I got away. That’s the only thing this could be.”
“She needs to get in here, and then I’ll release Emma!”
“That doesn’t sound fair for Crystal,” Reaves told him. “What else could we do?”
“She needs to come in or this place—and Emma—is going up in smoke!”
“Let’s consider some other options, Drew,” Reaves said. “What would you have asked for if we couldn’t find Crystal? I understand she’s been missing for a while. We’re lucky she’s here.”
“No options! Send her in!”
“How about we get to see Emma before we do anything else for you? That seems reasonable.”
“No! I will rain down hellfire on you if Crystal’s not here in one minute! She belongs to me!”
Commander Mariota spoke into his mic. “Entry team, get in formation and be ready to go. Perimeter. Move in thirty percent.”
“He’s deteriorating,” Reaves said. “We need to back up,” she told their group.
“What’s happening?” gasped Crystal, staring toward the building.
“We’re just getting out of the way,” said Max, as the entry team brought her back.
“Entry team, stand by,” ordered the commander.
“Sniper two! There’s smoke coming out the east wall!”
“Sniper one! Smoke on the south side.”
Max turned. Smoke was now pouring from the front slits and out of the chimney.
He set the inside on fire.
“Entry team, go!”
Max grabbed Noelle as she tried to sprint past him. “No! Let them do it!”
“Emma’s in there!” Her eyes were frantic, and she tried to break his grip. Royce helped Max hang on to her, his mouth wide open as he looked at the huge cloud of smoke.
“Let them do their job!” Max pulled her closer, his gaze locked on the building as smoke rose into the sky above. Small flickers of orange flashed through the slits.
The commander shouted into his sat phone, requesting a fire response.
The entry team reached the door and immediately used the battering ram. The door didn’t budge.
One of them wedged the Halligan tool between the door and jamb while the other pounded it with the battering ram.
They’re taking too long.
Heavier smoke poured out of the slits.
“Oh my God!” shrieked Noelle. “Emma!”
Max looked for Crystal. She’d vanished.
The building’s door finally opened, and the team streamed into the building.
Five seconds later they came out. Shouts of “Clear! Clear!” reached him.
It’s empty?
Noelle stiffened in his arms. “Where’d they go?” She turned in one direction and then another. “Where are they?”
They’ve got to be wrong.
The negotiators ran up with fire extinguishers they’d taken from the mobile command. The entry team grabbed them and went back inside. A whoosh sounded from the extinguishers, and paler smoke surged out the door. Max went closer, unable to help himself, Noelle at his side.
“At least he kept a big area clear around the property,” said Noelle, looking at the pines. “There’s no wind. The fire might stay contained.”
A team member stumbled out the door, coughing and gagging.
“There’s no one in there?” Noelle asked him. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” he coughed out. “Some bunks. No people.” The other members of his team came out coughing, the red tanks in hand.
Where’d they go?
“Have we been communicating with a speaker inside the building while Drew and Emma are miles away?” asked Max. Noelle stared at him and fear filled her eyes.
“No,” she whispered. “That can’t be right.”
“It’s just smoke in there now,” said another team member. “Are there more extinguishers?”
“I’ve got one in my vehicle,” said Max. “Royce probably does too. Fire department should be on their way, but they’re at least a half hour out.”
“I’ll grab the extinguishers,” said Noelle, starting to jog away.
“Repeat that,” said one of the team members, clasping his hands over his helmet, his eyes unfocused as he listened.
“Tracks!” exclaimed another.
Noelle froze and turned back around.
The commander came sprinting. “We’ve got two sets of tracks west of here! Blue-six spotted them and followed them back to a tunnel exit!”
Max met her eyes.
That’s where they went.