Eliana frowned. “You’re not serious. She’s buying into what that reporter said?”
“Who is to say that the future will happen one way or another?” Lydia waved a hand toward the screen. “Who is to say that the future is not here and now, and we are living in unprecedented days? A time when the world will look to us for direction. To know how to weather the coming storm. As your appointed leader, I vow to navigate the times we are living in with grace and dignity. Knowing that the events yet to unfold will bring unforeseen destruction to the city and the world.”
A murmur began across the room, undercutting what Lydia was saying.
“As your appointed leader, I vow to support each one of you. To lead your flocks with wisdom as we all head into the future.”
“Liar!”
Eliana whipped around, looking left where someone shoved between a few gathered people and started to make her way through the tables. She wasn’t wearing the evening attire everyone else in the room had on, but a heavy coat over her clothing.
“You did this!” the woman screamed, shoving her way past a guy who tried to stop her. He fell to the ground, and she clambered over him, continuing toward the front.
Security guards from around the room broke from their positions and headed toward her.
“It’s Carolena.” Eliana didn’t look away, but she reached out and grabbed Maizie’s hand again. “That’s my friend, Carolena.”
“Don’t worry,” Maizie said. “They will escort her out of here.”
Behind the podium, Lydia said, “Precisely what part of my speech are you referring to?” She chuckled lightly into the microphone, as if this was all some kind of joke.
Carolena stopped, her hands tight by her sides. That big coat on, making her look bigger than she was.
Where had she been for the last few days? And what was she doing here now?
“You did this!” Carolena cried. “The world is ending. And it’s your doing!”
“Security!” Lydia glanced around. “Where is Security?”
At least four of the guards Eliana worked with made their way to Carolena. One called out, “Ma’am?”
Carolena whipped off her coat and tossed it to the floor.
A gasp rippled across the room.
“You did all of this to us,” Carolena yelled, “but today it all ends in fire and blood!”
A man shoved his chair back and stood. “Bomb! She’s got a bomb!” He started to run, shoving past a woman who cried out.
Others across the room got up and ran out. Within seconds, the whole place was chaos. People pushing others out of the way. Security guards yelling at people to slow down and move carefully.
The wave of people headed for the doors, over to the left. A few others went into a hall on the far side, to the right. But most people didn’t know the museum the way regulars and employees did. They simply raced for the front doors.
Maizie and Sylvia both had their phones out, talking fast to whoever was on the other end of the line.
Eliana watched the people reach the doors, slamming their hands on the glass and screaming to be let out.
Carolena yelled, “No one is going anywhere! You all die with Lydia, in the world she has made!”
Eliana scanned the crowd, aware of the chaos but somehow one step removed from it. Able to process the whole scene without being swept away by panic. Again, the idea of a mega distraction rolled through her mind. In a way that she couldn’t let go of it without going to check on the vault.
She pushed off the wall, out of reach of the two women, and headed for the reception desk, behind which was the door where she could get to the back hall. As she moved, she slid the radio from her belt and held it to her mouth, squeezing the button. “Tony, come back. I want to check the vault. Just to be sure nothing is happening downstairs.”
Maybe he was busy. Maybe he was in the middle of the chaos.
“Tony? Are you there?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
