When she reached the street Kathryn instantly knew where she was. There was her father’s house only a hundred yards away! A policeman was standing at the front door! She was safe!
Tim Voss was the first to spot her racing down the street still a couple of houses away. By the time he activated his radio she was almost even with the surveillance van and was running toward him at top speed.
“I’ve got a female heading for my position!” Voss shouted into his mike and then Kathryn entered the pool of lights set up in front of Hopper’s home.
“Help me!” she screamed.
“It’s Kathryn Hopper!” Voss shouted almost as loudly and ran toward her. Inside, Justice Hopper heard his daughter’s cry and then Voss’s message. He would recognize her voice anywhere.
“Kathryn!” he shouted and ran for the door. “Kathy!”
In the bouncing picture on Donald’s iPad the Secret Service guard and the woman almost collided at the curb. For Kane time seemed to stand still and all the pieces that were spinning inside his head suddenly snapped together.
“No!” Greg shouted. Kane raced after Hopper and tackled him as he was reaching for doorknob.
“What are you doing?” Hopper shouted then hit the floor screaming, “Let me go! Let me go!”
Kane struggled to his feet and dragged the Justice back down the hall where Dohenny stared at them both in shock. Greg practically threw Hopper into the Secret Service agent’s arms. “Keep him here!” he ordered and ran back to the front of the house. Outside Kathryn was hugging Tim Voss and sobbing, “I’m Kathryn Hopper. Help me! Help me!”
The picture on Donald’s monitor had gone black when Kathryn embraced the guard. Now, hunched over the iPad he listened to the woman’s cries and waited for Voss to lead her inside for her climactic reunion with the Justice.
“You’re safe now, Ms. Hopper. It’s all right. You’re safe,” Voss told her and turned just as the door flew open. For a second Voss froze and then Kane was on them. Barely slowing down he grabbed Kathryn’s collar and dragged her toward the middle of the street.
“What are you doing?” Kathryn screamed. Kane ignored her as he fumbled with the overcoat’s buttons, tearing them loose one after the other. On Donald’s monitor the picture was a jumbled mess. The woman was spinning around, the camera wobbling and pointing in half a dozen directions. Donald caught a glimpse of the uniformed guard looking toward the lens and then disappearing off the screen.
“I want to see my father!” Kathryn shouted. As the last button tore away she slipped free of the coat and lurched toward the house. For half a second Kane found himself holding the empty garment then dropped it and ran after her.
“Shit!” Donald cursed and pressed the “Talk” button. The explosion threw Kane five feet forward and plastered Kathryn and Voss against the front door. Black, greasy smoke boiled from the shattered asphalt and the team in the van ducked as debris peppered its sheet-metal sides.
Ears ringing, blood dripping from his nose, Kane struggled to his feet and stumbled over to Hopper’s daughter just as Dohenny, gun drawn, threw open the reinforced front door.
“Booby trapped,” Kane shouted, his hearing gone. “Search her for any other bombs.” It was like talking in a dream. Dohenny led Kathryn back into the street and forced her to remove her shoes and then her jumpsuit, finally covering her naked body with his coat. Kathryn cried hysterically but crying was better than dead. Shaking, shivering, wrapped in Dohenny’s arms, she was finally allowed inside. Shell shocked, Kane and Voss and the two agents from the van watched the smoke curl up into the night sky.
A block away Donald eased out of the Wedemeyer’s driveway and idled cautiously down the street. He was booked onto a redeye leaving BWI in an hour and a half and he cursed every foot of the drive there thinking about all the hard work and planning that had suddenly gone so wrong.