“Set to blow in less than ninety minutes,” Dakota said.
“Correct.”
“Where do you think the terrorists are?” Dakota asked.
“In the area,” Greystone replied. “If the bombs detonate, they’ll want to be close enough to witness it firsthand.”
“And if we stop them?” Sin asked.
“They’ll go into deep hiding.”
His phone buzzed with a call from Evelyn. “Keep me posted,” he said to the brothers.
He ended the call, answered Evelyn’s. “What’s the word?”
“The EOD units are on their way,” she said. “The NationalGuard has been deployed and I briefed the agency Directors. We’re going with a massive, building-wide fumigation for the buildings we’re evacuating.”
“Fumigating forwhat?”
“We can’t tell them the truth,” she explained. “That would create mass hysteria. The press would camp out outside the buildings. Most employees and residents would flee the area, others would want to witness history. The team decided the fumigation story is our best option. Cockroaches work, lice won’t. Employees would panic over lice. We’re hoping they focus on the leave-with-pay andnoton the fumigation.”
“What a cluster,” he said as the EOD unit made its way into the FBI lobby. “How’s Caroline?”
“She’s been on the phone with her team. Now, she’s briefing the President. We just boarded Air Force One.”
“Safe flight,” he said and ended the call.
The EOD team consisted of ten bomb technicians, all wearing heavy body armor. Six of the men had canines, their torsos also covered in protective gear. One of the men stepped forward.
“Team lead, Forrest Marks.”
Greystone introduced himself, shook his hand. “Lemme show you what we got.” As he led them upstairs, he brought Forrest up to speed. In the men’s room, Forrest eyed two of the devices, then returned to his team, waiting in the hallway.
“Bring the canines in so they have a point of reference,” Forrest said to his team. “Then, spread out and search for any others. If all that C-4 blows, it’ll take out the entire building. We’ve got eighty minutes.”
“That’s cutting it close,” one of them said.
“Some of us have dismantled these before,” Forrest said. “I need to touch base with my other units.” After speaking with the team lead at each location, Forrest said to Greystone, “Sofar, nothing’s been detected at the White House or the Pentagon.”
Greystone doubted they’d find anything, but they needed confirmation.
“Okay, team,” Forrest said via video chat. “Check in with me.”
“Justice team in place.”
“State is ready.”
“Supreme Court’s here.”
“US Capitol is set.”
“CIA’s at the ready,” said the last bomb-tech lead.
“Keep your laptops open,” Forrest instructed. “We need to be in lock-step the entire time. These devices aren’t always straightforward.”
Before entering the restroom, Forrest turned back to Greystone. “You need to evacuate.”
“I’m staying.”