“Amara, wait for me outside,” Lindsey said. “I’ll find you as soon as I can.”
With Lindsey and Q following, Sam ran toward the pit on wobbly legs as adrenaline chased through her system. The first person she saw as she approached the pit was Freddie, running toward the morgue.
“Oh, thank God,” he said. “You’re okay.”
Sam hugged him. “I was just going to say the same to you. How bad is it?”
“Pretty bad. Took out the lobby, Processing and part of the chief’s suite.”
“Are they…”
“I don’t know yet, but we’ve got three dead in the lobby.”
“Oh my God.”
Sam, Q and Lindsey followed Freddie into hell. The lobby had been completely destroyed. EMS was tending to multiple victims, and the corridor that led to the chief’s suite was blocked by debris. Three bodies on the floor were covered with sheets. She found Captain Malone in the chaos. “The chief, Jeannie, Helen…”
“Not answering phones,” he said tensely.
Q took hold of Sam’s arm. “We need to get you out of here in case it’s not over.”
She shook him off. “I have to stay and help. If you want to go, I wouldn’t blame you at all.”
“I’m not leaving you here.”
The BlackBerry in her back pocket began vibrating. Sam took the call from Nick. “I’m okay, but it’s bad.”
“What the hell, Sam? I’m losing it over here.”
“I don’t know.” Her voice wavered. “There’re multiple dead, Vernon is hurt, and we can’t get to the chief, Jeannie or Helen. Their part of the building is cut off.”
“Babe, listen to me. You need to get out of there in case it was directed at you. They might not be done.”
“Directed at me? What?”
“We don’t know anything yet, but just in case… There could be other explosive devices in the building.”
As he said that, Higgins from Explosives started yelling. “Get out of the building! Right now! Everyone out!”
Sam turned and ran toward the pit. “Everyone out,” she said to her team. “Head for the morgue.”
“What’s happening?” Nick asked.
“The Explosives lieutenant ordered everyone out. We’re headed for the exit. I’ll call you when we’re outside.”
Sam waited until each of her detectives had adhered to the instruction, and then she thought of Thelma, still in the interrogation room and the Patrol officer watching the door. “I’ve got to go back for two people,” she told Q.
“No, we need to get out.”
“I can’t leave them.” Sam ran toward the corridor that housed the conference and interrogation rooms. “Grab her and let’s go,” she said to the officer outside the door. “Hurry.”
Thelma came out, looking terrified. “What’s happening?”
“We believe it was a bomb.” Sam was still reeling from Nick saying that the bomb could’ve been directed at her. If that turned out to be true, this would be her last day on the job. “Let’s go.”
As they headed for the morgue exit, she noticed Vernon was no longer in the hallway and hoped he was being seen by EMTs.
They stepped outside into bright spring sunshine that was in stark contrast to the darkness that’d taken over her thoughts as she tried to process her workplace being bombed. The parking lot was a chaotic scene, with ambulances and patients on the ground, being tended to by EMTs. Patrol officers were holding back the reporters who wanted to shove cameras in the faces of the injured.
