Page 90 of Blood Money

It’s too soon. Please let it be too soon. Not before I can tell Gray myself.

God how she wished she’d told him already, but something always seemed to get in the way.

“My apologies.” Simonetti leaned back in his chair. “Please continue, Ms. Romano.”

Gray rested his hand on her shoulder. “Go on.”

Alex couldn’t stop the bile from rising in her throat. “It was around that time that Abdullah saw the police chopper hovering outside. Fatima knew it was too much coincidence. She tore open my shirt and found the locator device. Then she put a bullet in Abdullah’s head.” Something she would never forget. “Fatima shot up the laptop and set fire to the blueprints and all the boxes in the warehouse. Earlier, I’d seen a thumb drive on the floor, and I managed to grab it.”

“Something we should be grateful for,” Gray said in a harsh tone, clearly for Simonetti’s benefit.

“Everything started to burn.” Alex instinctively put her hand to her throat, remembering the smell and burning sensation of the smoke as she’d inhaled. “I couldn’t breathe, and I couldn’t see a foot in front of me, but I found the handle to the root cellar on the floor. It took me a bit to get it open with my hands taped, but I did and went down there to get away from the smoke and fire. Then Gray was there, carrying me out.” She looked at him and felt the love swell in her heart like a dry sponge suddenly soaked with life-giving water. “I didn’t even remember the thumb drive until the EMTs cut the tape from my hands.”

“So,” Gray directed his next words to everyone else in the room, “when Fatima told Alex to bring department documents on the Pyramid, that was all bullshit. An excuse to grill her on One PP’s security layout. Whether it’s part of the Pyramid’s plan to storm police headquarters for an outright massacre of department personnel or something else, we don’t know. We’re still in the process of reviewing everything on the storage device, but we do know what’s on it is hot as hell.”

“Detective,” FBI Agent Will Tanner said, “don’t you think we should discuss that outside Ms. Romano’s presence?”

“I don’t.” Gray shot Agent Tanner a duh look. “She’s the only living soul on the planet who’s had extensive contact with a Pyramid assassin and lived to talk about it. It’s totally appropriate that she hear this because she might also be the only one who can shed some light on what the Pyramid is planning.”

“You’re right,” Agent Tanner ceded, nodding.

“The thumb drive contains two noteworthy things,” Gray continued. “The first is a list of people living or working in the city, along with their names, addresses, personal identifiers, and their weaknesses.”

“What do you mean, weaknesses?” Agent Tanner asked.

“Something the Pyramid can exploit,” Gray explained. “Financial troubles, an extramarital affair, sexual perversion, or gambling debts—like the department janitor who planted those bugs in our phones. Anything that can be used against a person to extract something useful.”

“Like a sick child,” whispered Alex, realizing she was probably one of many who had been blackmailed over the years, to be used and cast aside by Fatima and her evil cohorts.

“Like a sick child.” Gray looked at her, sympathy and understanding in his eyes. “We’re running everyone on that list through Department of Labor records to determine where they work, what position they hold, and what the Pyramid plans to exploit from them. We’ll reach out to everyone on that list and request their cooperation if they’re contacted by the Pyramid. We can’t ignore the possibility that there’s a larger plan with multiple assassins working together.”

“And,” Dom added, “we need to consider that there may be someone high up in their food chain calling the shots, so to speak.”

“An interesting twist in tactics,” Agent Greer said. “What’s the other noteworthy item on the thumb drive?”

“A list of dates and times for the next three months,” Gray answered. “There are no locations associated with these dates and times, so we’re not certain of their significance.”

“Based on the information Fatima wanted from Alex,” Dom added, “we’re going with the theory that it has something to do with One PP.”

Gray made a few notes on his pad. “Lieutenant, can we get a list from the commissioner of all special events scheduled for One PP and the rest of the city for the next twelve months?”

Lt. Frye nodded. “I’ll initiate that request today.”

“I’ll make inquiries on my end.” Dom scribbled something down.

“What exactly does that mean?” Agent Tanner asked.

“It means, I’ll make some inquiries.” Dom sent Agent Tanner a harsh glare, one Alex had never seen on Dom’s handsome, happy-go-lucky face before, leaving her speculating there was more to Detective Dominick Carew than just a pretty face.

“Fine, I get it.” Tanner threw up his hands. “Confidential sources.”

“You are finally getting it.” This time Dom smiled. “Thought I was going to have to spoon-feed you feds.”

“Any word from the coroner on Fatima and Abdullah?” Lt. Frye looked to Gray.

“Burned to a crisp,” he answered. “Seconds after Alex and I got out of that barn, it went up in flames and collapsed. FDNY says its still smoking. Getting prints off either body, not gonna happen.”

“I’ll make inquiries on them as well.” Dom flipped his portfolio closed.