Page 95 of No More Lies
“No,” Sam said.
“So he took Diane out of spite?” Ryan asked
“The man is on some fucking ego fueled power play,” Tyler muttered.
“Guys?” Kelly got everyone’s attention.
“You got something?” Steve asked anxiously.
“Not sure but, shit, how did we not see this before?”
Kelly now had the room’s undivided attention.
“What are you thinking?” Sam asked.
“We know it’s Reborn. You said yourself that means the attack is probably going to be close by. To make it personal to us.”
Steve waited patiently as Kelly brought up a picture of the recently deceased Admiral Andrews.
“There is a public memorial service for Admiral Andrews scheduled for 4 o’clock today.”
“Jesus Christ. We all saw that news announcement,” Mackie said.
“It’s close to home, and a Navy man,” Kelly confirmed. “It’s drawn significant attention. That memorial will be filled with service men and women. The Admiral did a lot of charity work, was well known in the community here. It says a couple of senators will be in attendance, as well as a representative from Washington. There will be reporters and news outlets covering the whole thing.”
“Myers said the attack date was moved up suddenly, Dex said. “Reborn would see this as the perfect target. It fits.”
“Dale? What do you think?” Sam asked.
“I think it sounds logical. I’m inclined to agree it could be the target.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Sam said.
“There will be security. Vehicles will be searched, bags inspected. Not sure how they think they will get it inside,” Kelly said.
“They don’t have to.” All eyes turned to Steve. “They could park a car outside with the sarin on board. Set a timer or remote detonation. The air would be poisoned in minutes. It’s an outdoor event. Those people won't stand a chance.”
“Can we get the memorial stopped?” Dex asked.
“From past experience, it’s unlikely,” Sam said. “Most attendees will be enroute. They’re expecting over a thousand people. The only way would be to make an announcement across every media outlet. If we do that, Reborn will hear about it, and no matter what excuse we give, they will know we’ve identified the target, and may go ahead and release it early, or elsewhere. I’ll speak with Washington, but our goal is still the same. Secure the sarin before it’s released.” Sam paused, hands on hips.
Steve was listening, but his attention had strayed elsewhere. Yes, securing the sarin was important, but so was finding his wife. He picked up his phone. Noon. Just four hours until the memorial. Volkov would be on a plane within four hours. With his wife.
Tuning back into the conversation, he heard Sam. “Liam, get down to the site, and check it out. Steve’s right. It’s unlikely they will risk trying to get anything inside. See if you can pinpoint a possible location for detonation. With only hours to go, it could already be in place. Jay, do we have something that can detect it?”
Jay, Nyx’s explosives guy, nodded. “I do. But we would have to be up close and personal to the canisters to get a reading. Those canisters are airtight for an obvious reason.”
“Alright. We’re assuming it will be in a vehicle, but it could be anywhere. Heads on a swivel, guys. Discretion is key. They may have eyes on it.”
“Copy that,” Liam said, and he and the team left the war room.
Sam turned to Kelly. “Great catch. Now let's find that Russian bastard.” Sam turned to Steve and added, “We’ll find her.”
“You really don’t think they will stop the memorial?”.
“No. All it will do is change the target location; it won't stop it. Washington might have their people pull out, but as for everyone else...” He didn’t finish.
Steve understood it was a lose-lose situation. They stop the memorial; those people possibly get saved from exposure. Reborn would set it off somewhere else, and those people wouldn’t be so lucky. The only possibility to save everyone was to find the damn canisters.