Page 19

Jep continued down the street, slowing as they passed the apartment building.

“Keep your eyes peeled. Let me know anything you see that’s unusual,” he said.

“I know the drill. Looks clear to me.”

Jep did a loop, then parked at the end of the block and watched the building in the rearview mirror.

“How long do we have to wait here?” she said.

“As long as it takes.”

“No one’s there.”

“What makes you so sure?”

She craned her neck around until she spotted the camera. “There.” She pointed. “Footage from that camera has shown no lights on in the apartment since the park incident. Everyone who was living there is either dead or in custody. I got footage of the previous weeks and identified all four suspects coming and going. Never with anyone else.”

“When did you have time to do all this?”

“I didn’t. The computers did. Once I had entered the identities of the suspects, all that was left for me to do was to view the footage that had them in it.”

“But you can’t be sure. What would you have done if you came here alone?”

“Knocked on the door. If someone answered, I’d tell them I was looking for Bob and they’d tell me I have the wrong apartment. Easy. Then Lawson could have brought a team in.”

“That’s not a bad plan.” He frowned because he didn’t like it making sense for her to go into the field on her own.

When he reached for the door handle, so did she.

“Hang on a second,” he said, grabbing her arm.

“I’m not staying in the car, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I’d rather you did.”

“I’m sure you would, but you’re only here because of the information I provided. And we agreed my eyes on this would be helpful.”

“That is all true, but now that we’re here?—”

“Jade’s my sister, so I’m going in.”

“What does her being your sister have to do with anything?”

Em took a deep breath. “The stuff she said when I saw her was…difficult. It wasn’t the picture I had painted of her for so long. I need to see. I need to understand what drove her to the place she’s at now. How she could fall into this deep, depressing hole where she became willing to carry out atrocities.”

“Have you considered that you might not like what you find?”

“I still want to know. I need to. So unless you handcuff me to the steering wheel, I’m going in.”

“I do have handcuffs.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“Maybe not, but that doesn’t stop me from considering it. I’ll tell you what. If you let me go in first and clear the apartment, I’ll come back and get you.”

“Okay, deal.” She reached for the door handle again.

“You said you’d wait.”

“What? Here? Why?”

“Because that’s what we agreed on.”

“I’ll wait in the lobby.” She got out before he could grab her again.

“You are impossible,” he mumbled as he got out of the car and followed her to the front door. “Let me check the lobby first.”

“You think someone’s waiting for us on the other side of that door?”

He gave her a look that she must have understood, because she leaned against the brick wall and sulked.

“Thank you,” he said as someone came out, and he slipped inside before the door closed.

It was a small space with a vinyl parquet floor curling on itself at the corners.

A cluster of mailboxes was set into one wall next to a flight of stairs leading up. He opened a door in the other wall and found another flight of stairs that led into a dark basement. He would have checked it if he hadn’t remembered Em’s words about the probability someone was waiting for them. If it had been just him on site, he wouldn’t have bothered because he was sure it was clear. When Lawson sent a team in, they’d tear the place apart if they had to.

He opened the front door and tucked his head out. “You can come in now.”

“Didn’t find any scary monsters?”

“Funny.”

“I thought so.” She joined him inside. “You know how to pick locks, right?”

“Why do I suddenly feel like that’s the only reason you brought me?”

“That’s not the reason. I know how to pick locks.”

“You do not.”

“I do,” Em said.

“Where’d you learn?”

“Tell you what, you clear the apartment so I can come have a look, and I’ll tell you then.”

He glanced at the mailboxes. “Deal. But I want to see you in action. Open the mailbox. What’s the apartment number?”

“Two-oh-four.”

He handed her a lock pick set, and she got to work.

“Give me some room,” she said, nudging her shoulder back into his chest.

He shifted a little but remained perched over her shoulder.

“Not bad,” he said when the door popped open.

“Not bad, but it’s empty. Hopefully we’ll have better luck upstairs.”

“It shouldn’t take me long, but pull out your phone.”

“Why?”

“If anyone comes in, you need to have a reason for standing here. Being distracted on your phone is as good a reason as any.”

She dragged it from her pocket and waggled it in front of him. “Ready and waiting.”

“I’ll come get you once I know it’s safe.” He took one more look at her before he headed up the stairs.

His boots scuffed on the threadbare carpet as he canvased the hall. The one light that illuminated the dim hall flickered, drawing attention to the peeling wallpaper and stains he’d rather not try to identify.

When he reached the apartment, he knocked and turned his back in case someone looked through the peephole. When there was no response, he waited and listened before picking the lock.

With his gun in hand, he turned the knob, stepping out of a direct line of sight as he pushed the door opened. The silence continued besides the doof-doof coming from another apartment.

After another beat, he entered, taking minimal notice of the contents of the rooms as he cleared them.

A square wooden table in the kitchen was full of what looked like bomb-making material, but he’d confirm that later. A wall in the living area was covered in newspaper articles. On the floor, against another wall, was an unmade mattress. It looked like someone had been sleeping on the couch as well.

He moved into the one bedroom and found it empty besides a double bed and a plain bedside table that had several books about ending Western tyranny as well as a large statue of a figure holding a knife in the air, waiting to strike. The bed was made.

The closet and the bathroom had a few personal items and toothbrushes that would make it easy to get DNA.

He went back to the living room but hesitated before leaving. He wanted to call the team in right away, but he couldn’t do that to Em. He was also curious to know her thoughts on the apartment. There wasn’t much, but he wouldn’t be surprised if she noticed something no one else would.

Em was scrolling through the latest news when Jep came back downstairs.

“We’re clear,” he said. “You ready?” He tossed her a pair of latex gloves.

“How’s it look?” She stretched the rubber over her fingers while Jep did the same.

“Like you’d expect. Not much in the way of personal items, but you might know better.”

Em nodded and followed him up the stairs, but she stopped when they reached the doorway.

“You okay?” Jep said.

“I don’t know what I was expecting. Growing up, she had posters of her favorite bands all over the walls. Now there are newspaper articles.”

She walked over and tilted her head as she read several of the headlines. “I don’t recognize any of these stories.”

“That’s because they’re likely all cover-ups. Like this.” He pointed at an article on the edge of the clutter. “Explosion from gas leak.”

“I know that one.” She looked through the dates. “Most of these were from before my time on the task force. Were you a part of the team during any of these events?”

“Some of them. But we were successful. As we get more current, the agency fell farther and farther behind.”

“Then they knew. All of them.” She gestured across the wall. “They knew what all of these were. Whoever is behind this recent stuff has a connection to the past.”

“They’ve been studying us for a long time.”

Jep leaned over to lift a notebook he spotted poking out from underneath the mattress on the floor. “Do you know if this is your sister’s handwriting?” He handed it to her.

She flipped through a few pages. “I don’t think so. Her letters are more loopy. But we’ve got the postcards, so a handwriting expert can look at it.” She read a couple of lines. “It’s really hard to read.” She flipped through to the last page and deciphered what she could. “There’s a lot of not very nice things said about all of us.”

Jep walked beside her so he could read it. “I’m sure none of that is about you.”

“Every law enforcement type in here, including me.”

“From what I can make out, whoever this belongs to, they’ve been chronicling their plan. This could be exactly what we need to bust this thing wide open.”

“I sure hope so.” She handed him the notebook and went to the table. “But I think we have a greater concern right now.”

“What’s that?”

She pointed at the kitchen table. “This is all for making bombs. But not the vest Jade was wearing.”

Jep scanned the paraphernalia that littered the table and the empty bottles on the floor. “You know about bombs?”

“I know enough. I read a lot of reports. Whatever they were making, it looks like a lot, and none of it is here anymore.”

“We need to call the team in,” Jep said. “We can’t afford to wait any longer.”

“Not even five minutes? I’m almost done.” Em moved to the fridge and opened it. “I’ll make sure I’m out of the way before—hang on.”

“What is it?”

She pulled out a container. “Hot dogs.”

“So, not Muslims then.”

“It doesn’t make sense. Someone must have been, look at the literature around the place. But if you haven’t given yourself fully over to it, why risk your life?”

“If there are multiple players, that could make things complicated. Different motives. There are plenty of people who would get involved if the price is right. Or if they have something against law enforcement. Hey, you haven’t told me about your lock picking prowess,” Jep said as he picked up a pamphlet off the couch.

“Oh that. It’s not very interesting. It was one of the courses I took.”

“Were you planning on doing fieldwork?”

“No, I thought it would be fun. Also, if I ever locked myself out of the house, I wouldn’t have to call the locksmith. I was good too.”

“I bet you were.” He read through the pamphlet and tossed it aside. “Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?” he mumbled.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You quoted the Bible.”

“I know.”

“Psalm two.”

“Verse one,” he said. “I know.”

“ You know scripture?”

“Should I not?”

“I didn’t expect you to be so studied up, but I guess it’s important as an agent to know about all religions.”

He laughed lightly and scratched his eyebrow. “I don’t know scripture for my job. I’m not that disciplined about work.”

“Then what’s it for?”

“It’s bread for life. I couldn’t do without it.”

Em blinked a few times as she tried to make sense of what he’d said. All of her assumptions about him lined up and were staring her in the face. She’d been very, very wrong. “You’re a Christian.”

“That’s a shock to you.” The small curve at the edge of his mouth embarrassed her. He was amused by her ignorance instead of offended. He wasn’t bothered in the slightest by the misunderstanding, but part of her wished he had been. That it mattered to him.

“I hate to admit that it is,” she said, tossing the hotdogs back into the fridge and closing it.

“You didn’t expect a guy like me could have a personal relationship with Jesus?”

“It—” …challenged everything she thought she knew about him, and now she had to revisit every conversation they’d had and every action he’d taken.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s not like I ever offered you that information. And we all have our prejudices. Even the disciples. None of us is perfect.”

“I’m an idiot. I made up my mind about you too soon. I’m sorry.”

“I said don’t worry about it.”

“I do. I should know better. I’m actually a Christian too.”

“I figured.”

“You did not. You’re just saying that to make me feel bad.”

He laughed. “I’m really not. It’s the way you talk and your God-given gift of discernment.”

“Now you’re picking on me.”

“Maybe a little.” His smile dropped from his face at the same time his head jerked to the side.

“What—” was all Em could get out before he dove for her, knocking her to the floor and crushing the air from her lungs. Shots exploded into the room, and she tried to scream, but she had no breath left.