BARONE JUMPED when he heard the front door booby trap go off, then cursed.

They’re early.

He wasn’t ready yet.

In his mind’s eye he saw an army of SWAT team officers scratching their heads, trying to figure out how to get to the smartest guy they’d ever encountered. He’d wanted to wire the entire house to blow and kill the whole stupid macho team. He was only halfway done.

But he’d killed Bart too soon. Gil could do a lot of things and do them well, but he was slowed by the inability to use his legs. He’d failed to realize just how much he’d come to count on the guy. Now someone was here; someone had tripped that first explosive setup. The only thing that calmed him was knowing they couldn’t get to him in the man cave from the house. He was still in control. He’d confront them the way he wanted to confront them.

He stopped what he was doing and tried to think. There was no way he’d have the house wired in time. He had no idea how many people were at his front door, and in any event, the blast was sure to bring the troops, the negotiators. Barone had no intention of negotiating. He put down the tools he was working with and rolled to where he could see his outside monitor feed. All he saw was snow and he figured they’d cut the feed. Either that or the blast had disabled it.

No matter, he thought. I’ll just go with plan B. He slid into a thick bulletproof vest and grabbed his assault rifle. The heavy bag of ammo clips he placed on his lap, not certain he’d be able to use them all but planning to give it a try. He rolled into the garage, toward the door control. He could hear the girl whimpering and struggling in the van; he hadn’t had time to pull her out yet.

For a second he paused at the van, wondering if he should just put a bullet in her head.

Nah, he didn’t want to take the time. He was about to go out in a big way, and it was imperative that he prove to everyone that he was at the top of the food chain.

Stopping at the door button, he slapped a clip into the rifle and then chambered a round. He was ready to rock and roll and take as many with him as possible. He punched the button and prepared to fire as soon as the door was up high enough.