Josh pulled up at the curb and got out, standing and staring at the marble and glass of the Black Pine building. But his focus was less on the architecture and more on the quiet tension growing on the street in front of the building. Half a dozen Hoboken police vehicles had already parked there, and others were creating a cordon on either end of the short block on which the building sat. People were being evacuated from neighboring buildings.

But the most peculiar and disturbing element of the growing chaos was the line of Black Pine operatives and security spread along the sidewalk in front of the building, blocking every entrance. The ones on the sidewalk, guns held across their bodies, were not concerning themselves with the situation inside their headquarters.

“You getting the same read off this that I am?” Chang asked him over the roof of the car as she got out.

“If you’re thinking those guys aren’t out here to keep the trouble from escalating, but to keep the police from interfering with Black Pine business, then yeah.”

Chang slammed her door. “They certainly don’t look like they’re in the mood for company.”

Josh started across the street. His and Chang’s federal ID had gotten them past the cops who were setting up a roadblock, but still he wanted to be careful not to get them shot. He held his ID up and Chang did the same as they jogged toward a cluster of cops standing in the V between two patrol cars. There were several higher-ups there and, though he couldn’t make out their ranks immediately, it was obvious the others were deferring to a heavyset man with Asian features. Josh approached him without hesitation and held up his ID.

“Excuse me, sir. Agent Joshua Hart, InterAgency Cooperation Division. This is FBI Special Agent Nala Chang—”

“Captain Albert Koh,” the man replied, brow furrowing deeply. “What’s ICD want with this? Better yet, how the hell did you get here so fast?”

“We were already on the way,” Chang said.

Koh looked at her. “Meaning you could have called ahead and warned us some shit was about to blow up in our city, but didn’t bother?”

“We didn’t know the nature of the shit, Captain,” Chang replied.

Any other day, Josh would have smiled. Instead, he changed the subject. “Can you give us the rundown?”

“We got a call that people were going to die here today,” Koh said, hooking a thumb toward the building. “We arrived to find the place locked up tight. The asshole militia over there are denying anything’s going on inside, and say they won’t let us in without a warrant.”

“Oh, there’s definitely something going on,” Josh said. “I just wish I knew exactly what it is.”

“What about the call we got about people dying?”

Josh glanced at Chang, then back at the police captain. “That wouldn’t surprise me in the least.”

“Then maybe you’d better start at the beginning,” Koh said.

Josh stared at the Black Pine operatives in their uniforms and thought about Cait McCandless and her baby, and wondered how far a woman would go to protect her child. But he didn’t really need to wonder. He knew Cait would do whatever it took.

“If you don’t mind, Captain, Agent Chang will catch you up on the details. I’m going to go over there and figure out who’s in charge of the ‘asshole militia.’ ”

“You taking charge of this situation?”

Josh frowned and turned to the captain. “I am. I hope that doesn’t ruffle your feathers too much.”

Koh shot a look of disdain at the Black Pine hard cases lining the sidewalk. “You kidding? You’re welcome to it. Just tell us how we can help.”