“I wouldn’t if I were you,” Lizzy’s voice cut through the night. “I’m wired with an explosive device with a dead man’s switch.”
“Fuck,” Murphy said next to her.
“She’s not,” Hennigan said. “She only had a finite amount of the substance she used to make the bombs. From our analysis, there’s no way she has anymore.”
“But she could have used something like C4,” Murphy whispered.
“She’s not the type to take the risk of killing herself. She’s bluffing.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because it gives anyone in there pause before they contemplate doing anything.”
“You there,” Lizzy said. “I want all of you to move in front of the entrance.”
There was a shuffling of feet within the tent. Seconds later, a small barricade of people blocked the main opening.
Blayne
Blayne shielded Ethan’s body in the corner. Cleo crouched next to him as Lizzy grabbed her grandchildren and threw them in with the group she was using as a human wall to cover the entrance.
“That fucking—”
“We won’t let anything happen to them,” Blayne reassured the First Lady.
“You can be sure of that,” Cleo said. She stood, looked at the woman and said, “Hello, Lizzy. It’s been a while. What on earth do you think you’re doing?”
A hushed silence fell as people in the tent realized that the women knew each other. Blayne admired the First Lady’s audacious move.
“Hello, Cleo,” Lizzy said, leveling her gun at her. “Long time no see.”
“What, twenty years? Give or take.”
“Since you abandoned me to die,” Lizzy retorted.
Cleo shrugged. “Let bygones be bygones.”
“You know this woman?” President Barnes asked.
“We had the same mentors a long, long time ago. As you can see, our lives took very different directions.”
Lizzy laughed and said, “You call what they did to us at The Foundation ‘mentorship’? It was torture. And as soon as I was no longer useful, they had you get rid of me.”
“Well, evidently, that didn’t work,” Cleo remarked. “And yes, I think The Foundation provided us mentorship that has helped us survive all these years. It’s just too bad you forgot the values and lessons they instilled in us so long ago.”
Suddenly, Lizzy raised her gun, and the sound of gunfire reverberated throughout the tent.
Dr. Hennigan
Lizzy and Cleo were talking. Taking advantage of Lizzy’s distraction, Hennigan and Murphy stealthily maneuvered into position. As soon as Lizzy lifted her weapon, Hennigan did the only thing she could. She leveled her gun at the young man standing with his back to her and pulled the trigger.
As the young man collapsed, Murphy rose from her crouch and fired two rapid shots into the back of the assailant.
The room remained silent for a split second before the tent became a frenzied place of movement.
The Secret Service pointed their weapons at Murphy, who lowered her gun and yelled, “FBI.”
Hennigan used the moment of confusion to slip away. She had only taken a few steps when Richardson joined her side.
