Kelly Paul’s broad back was to him. He was inches away.
“Paul!”
She turned, saw him, raised her gun, and fired.
The man behind Harkes grunted once as the rubber bullet hit him smack in the chest. He fell forward, and the gun he was about to fire at Harkes slipped from his hand.
Paul joined Harkes. He looked down at the fallen man as FBI agents ran up and cuffed the injured fellow.
“Thanks,” Harkes said.
“I think he spotted you taking out Quantrell’s boys and realized what you were really up to.”
She pointed to her left. “I got two more of them. The FBI has them as well.”
Harkes nodded and held up his Taser. “I got two. Plus the two with Riley. That’s five more to go, then,” he said. “We’ve got the Mall locked down. They can’t get away.”
“Where did that first shot come from?” she asked.
“No idea. But it didn’t help us a damn bit. Your brother? Riley?”
“On schedule. Where’s Bunting?”
He pointed across the street where two FBI agents had escorted the man to safety.
“Good job,” she said.
“Been after these folks a long time. Things could have blown up at any point along the way.”
“But they didn’t.”
“Good working with you again,” said Harkes.
“Couldn’t have managed it without you, Jim.”
Michelle, with Megan and Roy in tow, pushed and clawed her way through the panicked crowds. She finally saw a sliver of daylight and pulled them through it.
Roy shouted, “Look out!”
It was an unnecessary warning. Michelle had already seen it coming. She let go of his arm, twisted her body in the air, and laid the attacker out flat on his back with a thunderous kick, breaking his jaw.
“My God,” said Roy, staring down at the fallen man who weighed about two-fifty. “How did you do that?”
“I’ve got brains in my feet,” she barked. “Come on. Move, move!”
They sprinted across the Mall. A few seconds later, they reached the van. Michelle fired up the engine and slammed it into gear.
Edgar Roy looked back at the chaos on the Mall.
“Didn’t go exactly according to plan,” he said.
“Almost never does,” replied Michelle as the van sped off. “But we’re alive, that I’ll take.” She glanced in the rearview mirror. “Megan, are you okay?”
Megan sat up in the seat and pushed her ratty hair out of her eyes. “I am now. I didn’t think I was going to make it.” She rubbed at her swollen wrists. “They beat the crap out of me.”
“I know. We found your sweater with blood on it.”
Megan touched her shoulder. “Knife,” she said simply.
“But you’re okay?”
“They just needed some blood to leave behind to make sure you knew they were serious. And I got really toughened up over the last few days,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry about Officer Dobkin.” She drew a long breath. “It was pretty damn awful. They kicked in the door and just shot him. He never had a chance to pull his weapon.”
“I know. But at least you’re safe,” said Michelle.
Megan looked at Roy. “I’m glad they got you out.” She held out her hand. “Nice to finally meet you.”
Roy shook her hand and said shyly, “You too. Sorry about before. Not communicating with you and all.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Megan. “All I want right now is a hot shower and some clean clothes.”
“Got just the place and it’s close by,” said Michelle. “Be there in five minutes.”
Megan looked behind them and said in a panicked tone, “Michelle, I think there’s someone following us.”
“There is. FBI. They’ll provide perimeter security at the safe house. Later, when everything is over, we’ll go to WFO. They’ll need detailed statements from you, Megan.”
“More than happy to give them.” She smiled. “But can I have the shower first?”
“You got it.”
They drove on. The black SUV tailing them sped up and drew closer.
CHAPTER 85
QUANTRELL’S TWELVE MEN were all subdued, cuffed, and hauled away in FBI transport vans. The participants in the peace rally probably thought the gunshot was from some jerk that didn’t share their enthusiasm for a less violent world. The crowd had congregated at the far end of the Mall, away from the less than peaceful activity.
Sean, Kelly Paul, Bunting, and James Harkes met in the middle of the Mall. Sean was listing to one side.
“How bad?” said Paul, as she looked at the hole in his body armor.
“Bruised rib, but it’s a lot better than being dead.”
“You saved Eddie’s life,” she said, gripping his arm.
Harkes said, “They obviously didn’t fill me in on the entire plan. Didn’t know they were going to do that.”
Paul said, “Might have just been someone looking to get a kill bonus.”
“How’d you spot the shooter before anyone else did?” asked Harkes.
“Used to do it for a living,” replied Sean.
“Status of the others?” asked Paul.
“Checked with Michelle,” said Sean. “They’re at the safe house. Megan is pretty beat up, but with some rest, clean clothes, and some food she should be okay. The wound on her shoulder was nasty, but Michelle cleaned it up. When she goes into WFO to make her statement they can check her out more thoroughly.”
“Good,” said Paul. She looked at Harkes. “Next move?”
“I get to visit a couple of my favorite people and tell them things that will literally change their lives in a way they hoped would never happen.”
“Please give Ellen Foster and Mason Quantrell my best.”
“They thought they were using Megan to get Bunting and Roy. I’ve got nothing against the lady lawyer, but we were really using that to get them to a face-to-face.”
Paul added, “Only way it was going to work.”
“Are you sure you have enough to put both of them away?” asked Bunting anxiously. “They’re both very good at deflecting blame. I have vast personal experience of that.”
Harkes said, “I know you do, Mr. Bunting. But we’ve had this sting going for some time now, and the prosecutors are pretty confident we’ve got what we need. And I’ll make a star witness. If it wasn’t just he-said-she-said legal issues, I could have arrested her before now. The cost for waiting was huge. A lot of people died. The hit on Agent Murdock will haunt me the rest of my life.”
“He found out about the E-Program, my brother said.”
Harkes nodded. “They had the prison cell tapped. They freaked and authorized the kill without talking to me about it. I found out Murdock was dead when everyone else did.” He paused. “But now we’ve got the bastards.”
“I hope so,” said Bunting without much confidence in his voice.
Harkes picked up on this and said, “Just to reassure you, we also got a nice little bonus on the evidence front.”
Bunting perked up. “What?”
“We checked out the satellite angle that you gave us,” said Harkes. “It was better than we could have hoped. Foster signed off on the sat position change over Edgar Roy’s home for a three-hour period on a Wednesday night a week before Roy was arrested.”
“And that’s when the bodies were put in the barn,” said Sean.
“Right.”
“But why was it better than we could have hoped?” asked Paul. “You just have the sat change. That’s instructive but not necessarily incriminating. There could have been other reasons for the change, or at least she could argue that.”
“No, she really can’t.”
“Why?” asked Bunting sharply.
“Because it turns out Mason Quantrell also had a pair of eyes on the barn the whole time from his private platform. It was like you said, he wanted some extra insurance in case Foster turned on him.”