"It's not working," she said with despair. "He probably just wanted to stall us."
Jason's voice came across the radio, tight with stress: "Timer is still running on the bridge device."
"Maybe there's a delay," Max said, but she could hear the fear.
"Max, get out of here," she pleaded. "It's down to four minutes. Go."
"No."
He put his arms around her. "If you die, I die. Just look at me."
They held each other's gaze for a long minute, and then she heard a click.
Max pulled slightly away from her so he could see the timer. "It stopped," he said in amazement. "The screen is blank."
"Oh my God!" she said, not quite able to believe it. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," he said with a joyful smile.
"Bridge device is down!" Jason's voice exploded through the radio.
"All good here, too," Max replied, a smile lighting up his face. "We made it, Kara. It's over."
"Qadir believed the photo. That was a brilliant move, Max."
"I'm glad it worked."
"But he's still free. And once he knows that his family is safe, he'll come for all of us again."
"We'll stop him before he can do that. Let's get you out of this vest." He pulled a knife out of his pocket and cut the zip ties as the bomb squad came into the room to remove the vest.
Alina followed a moment later, her gaze happy and triumphant. "Thank God you're all right, Kara."
"I am thanking God," she said as the heavy weight was finally taken from her body. "That was the longest and shortest thirty minutes of my life." She stretched her aching arms in front of her, still feeling a little too weak to stand up.
"Was the picture real?" Alina asked Max.
He gave a negative shake of his head. "I took the picture a few months ago. The newspaper, the CIA agents holding them, was doctored."
"That was quite a gamble," Alina said. "But also impressive. When did you have time to do that?"
"As soon as I knew Qadir was in New York City, I had a friend of mine at the agency create it. I wasn't sure if I'd ever use it or not, but I had a feeling Qadir would come after me at some point. I've been making him move locations every couple of weeks."
"So, you've been a pain in the ass," Alina said lightly.
"You could say that." Max paused. "Were you at the bridge?"
"No. Jason asked me and some of the team to stay here to guard some of the injured combatants and the deceased."
"There are survivors?" Kara asked.
"Two," Alina replied. "Six men are dead, including Caleb Azrani and his brother, Malik. Obviously, the terrorists who delivered the bomb to the bridge are still out there, but we'll do everything we can to find them. In the meantime, the city is safe for at least one more day." Alina paused. "I have to say that you impressed the hell out of me, Kara. I would not have been nearly as calm in your position."
"I'm sure that's not true."
"Let's get out of here," Max said, offering her a hand. "I'm sure Kara would like to see some daylight."
"I really would." She got to her feet, but before they could move, one of the SWAT members came back into the room with an odd expression on his face.
