"Check property records for David Hartford in Long Island City," he told Tyler. "I'm on my way." He ended the call. "I'm going to need your car." He'd taken a cab from the park to Dominic's building.
"My car?" Dominic echoed.
"Take mine," Caroline said, throwing him the keys. "It's the Audi out front. I hope you find Kara."
"I'll find her," he vowed, then turned back to Dominic. "If you find out where Qadir is and what he's planning to do, you sure as hell better send me a text. Because if he blows up this city, if he hurts Kara, Qadir is going to be the least of your worries."
Chapter Twenty-Three
Kara blinked her eyes open, a metallic taste in her mouth, a sharp pain in her head. The room in front of her spun for a moment and then finally settled as her brain tried to define where she was and what had happened to her. She was sitting in a straight chair, and her hands were tied behind her back. There was a vest around her chest, a heavy black vest with blocks of what appeared to be C-4 plastic explosives wired to a digital timer that currently read 35:23…35:22…
Oh, God! The memories came flooding back starting with the rear-end collision. She'd pulled over to the side so she wouldn't block traffic. She'd gotten out of her car. Then a van had pulled up next to her. The side door had opened. A man had grabbed her and pulled her inside. It had happened so quickly. He'd had black hair and black eyes. Caleb! It had to have been him.
She'd tried to fight, but he'd jabbed a needle into her arm, and the world had faded away.
Now reality was back, and panic ran through her as she realized that someone had put a suicide vest on her, a bomb that was going to explode in…thirty-four minutes, fifteen seconds.
Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She told herself to stay calm. It was possible that any wild movement could also set off the bomb.
She looked around, thinking she was in some sort of warehouse. There were pallets of boxes along one wall, and a table along another. The table was covered with wires and metals and other bomb-making materials. The light was dim and the only windows were at least twelve feet off the ground. She had to find a way out of this, but how? She was a human bomb. She couldn't fight anyone. She'd blow herself up.
A door suddenly opened, and three men came into the room. The man who'd grabbed her in the van was first, a similar-looking man right behind him, but not as tall, not as dark. But it was the third man that made her breath catch in her chest. She recognized him from the photos in Max's apartment and the one she'd seen on Max's phone when he'd learned that Ali Qadir was in New York City.
Caleb, and, who she could only guess was his brother, Malik, moved to the side as Qadir strode forward, clearly the boss. For a world-renowned terrorist, he wasn't that big or that scary looking. He was average height, with dark hair going gray at the temples, and tanned, weathered skin that suggested he spent a lot of time outside in harsh environments. He was dressed like an American businessman in dark slacks, a gray sweater, and a winter coat. But the intelligence and cruelty in his gaze did not match his sophisticated look.
"Ah, you're awake," he said with a slight accent. "Special Agent Kara Reid. You've become quite annoying to our plans."
"To blow up the city?" she challenged, lifting her chin as she gave him a defiant look. "The FBI is going to stop you."
"I don't think so," he said with an evil smile. "But I like your fire. It's…amusing how so many of you think you can beat me, and yet you never do."
"The day isn't over yet."
"No, and it will be a glorious day. You'll be a martyr, Agent Reid. You'll die for something, or at least that's what they'll say about you. Your name will be in the paper. The people in New York who aren't grieving the loss of their loved ones will read about you and say how brave you must have been. Or perhaps they'll believe I turned you, that you got into the suicide vest willingly, that you had turned your back on America, that you knew this country to be the biggest war criminal of all."
His voice and words had an educated cadence. "Where did you grow up?" she asked.
"You mean after my family was completely shattered by an American bomb at a family wedding? My sister was getting married that day. My parents were standing right next to her when the bomb dropped. I was unfortunately not with them."
"Sounds like you were fortunately not unfortunate."
"I would have preferred to die with them than live without them. But that wasn't my choice. I was left alive so that one day I could get justice. And some of that justice will come today."
"Killing innocent people isn't justice, and no one would ever believe I became a terrorist. I had the same experience as you. My father was killed on 9/11."
Unexpected surprise ran through his gaze, and she enjoyed being able to rattle him with information he didn't have. She needed to keep him talking, give someone a chance to find her. When she didn't show up at the task force meeting, surely her team would notice. And Max would try to find her at some point. They'd be able to trace the car she was driving. She just had to hang on for as long as she could. But a quick glance down at her vest showed the danger of that plan. The time was ticking away: Thirty minutes, twelve seconds.
Was that really all she had left of her life?
"Is this the plan?" she asked. "I die in this warehouse alone. What's the drama in that?"
"You're just the warm-up. The main act will be glorious and visible for miles. It will be much bigger than 9/11. No one will ever forget it. At least, those who are alive and still able to remember."
Her stomach flipped over. He could be talking about so many different sites. But it didn't sound like he was speaking about the conference, more like something iconic…the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, one of the bridges, maybe…
She turned to Caleb. "I heard he took over your plan. You had a nice deal going with David Hartford, lots of money, little effort, not a high body count, just enough to be satisfying. And now you've handed it all off. No credit will go to you, that's for sure."
Caleb stiffened with her words, and while he didn't say anything, she could see that her words had struck a nerve.
