BLACKJACK
Iclosed the door of the guest bedroom where I’d been staying while at the estate and pulled up Kade Butler, aka Doc’s, number. He, along with three other partners, founded K19 Security Solutions. When I left the military, they gave me my first job.
“Blackjack. Reaper told me about the explosion. How can we help?”
“I need you to listen to a theory,” I began.
“Go ahead.”
“There were three sequenced charges. Whoever set them had a structural read of the building before they walked in.”
“Who do you think is responsible?” he asked.
“Romanov.”
“We’ve been after those bastards ourselves,” he seethed as much as said.
“We need reinforcements, Doc. We lost thirteenoperatives in that blast.”
“Understood. Gunner, Razor, and I will head out tonight and be there sometime tomorrow.”
“I appreciate it.”
“Get some rest, Blackjack. I want you functional when we land.”
“Yes, sir.”
The call ended.
I gaveup on sleep before dawn. Every time I closed my eyes, the ceiling of the building that housed Minerva Protocol’s headquarters came down again. Finally, I got dressed and went downstairs.
My brother was in the dining room, with a legal pad. He’d been up longer than me, given the list in front of him already filled two pages. Mrs. Eggers, the housekeeper who’d been with the family for decades, had set out a breakfast spread on the sideboard. Platters of pastries, bread, cheese, cold meats, and fruit filled the surface, while pitchers of water and juice sat at one end.
“Morning, Kingston.”
“Morning.” He stood and embraced me. That was not our typical routine, but after yesterday’s events, maybe it should be.
“How can I help?”
“Mercury wants everyone fed and hydrated before the day starts. Her orders.” He tapped the legal pad. “I’ve been on the phone with the cantonal police. They’ve sealed the site, but I think I can get us a window this morning before federal police take full control.”
“How big a window?”
“A few hours. Maybe less. Henry made a call to someone in the Vaud government last night, and that bought us some goodwill, but once the federal investigators arrive, it’s out of cantonal hands.”
I needed as much time as I could get at the site. Blast patterns would tell me where the charges had been placed, and their placement would tell me how someone got inside without anyone knowing. The answers were in that rubble.
“Mercury is in the study,” Kingston said.
I grabbed a piece of bread off the sideboard and went down the hall. The study door was open, and she was at the desk, with papers spread in front of her. Henry sat beside her with his hand resting near hers on the arm of her chair.
“Blackjack.” Mercury’s voice was steady, but exhaustion had darkened the skin under her eyes. “Sit down.”
I pulled a chair to the front of the desk.
“The remains were transported overnight to the Centre Universitaire Romand de Médecine Légale in Lausanne. The Vaud prosecutor has ordered autopsies on all thirteen.”
I’d checked pulses on some of those people and marked where their bodies lay for the recovery crews. Yesterday, they were shapes under dust. Now, they were in a forensic institute, and someone in a lab coat would be the next person to touch them.
