I didn’t bother with socks or a T-shirt. I threw on the pair of jeans and the sweatshirt and boots and started toward the door but paused and turned and ran back to the table. I snatched the car key and stuffed it in my pocket and headed back toward the door, bending and scooping up the dead man’s gun as I went.
The gun was a Glock 9mm. I ejected the magazine to check how many rounds were left—eight—and then I slammed the magazine back in and jacked the slide and placed my hand on the doorknob. There was still gunfire out there, though it was sporadic. The last thing I wanted to do now was step out into a frenzy of flying bullets.
A moment passed and there was a lull. I tore open the door and stepped out. I took in the mayhem in an instant: the dead bodies on the ground, the alive bodies moving down the hallway. I raised the Glock but paused when I realized the two men headed toward me were Roman’s. They raised their weapons too but then realized I wasn’t a target and continued past me, jogging at almost a leisurely pace.
I watched as the men turned a corner. From that direction, more gunfire started up. I glanced at the bodies on the ground and spotted an MP5 from one of Roman’s fallen men. I bent and scooped it up as I started down the hallway. Stepping over dead bodies and scattered pieces of concrete.
I paused at the end of the hallway to peek around the corner. Nothing but two more dead bodies. These wore white lab coats. Roger’s techs. Not quite Roger’s soldiers, but still I didn’t feel sorry for them.
I spotted a camera toward the ceiling. I had to assume Nate was already in the system and monitoring the action. He no doubt saw me, but there was no way for us to communicate.
I continued down the hallway. The gunfire was coming from behind me. Maybe I’d have to head back that way. Still, for some reason, this felt like the right direction to go.
I turned the corner and found three more bodies. One Roman’s, two Roger’s. I hurried past them toward the end of the hallway and turned another corner.
And there stood Aisha.
She had a gun in her hands, aimed right at me.
I hesitated, and that allowed her the extra second to pull the trigger.
The bullet tore into my stomach.
I stumbled back, tripped over one of the dead bodies, and fell to the ground. The Glock fell from my hand, clattered away.
Aisha advanced. The gun in her hands shook, whether from adrenaline or fear, it was impossible to tell. Had she been in more control of her functions, that first bullet may have hit my head or my heart. As it was, her nerves sent the bullet low.
She stepped up close. Aimed the gun at my face.
“You were lying.”
A slight tremor in her voice, but otherwise her eyes were full of resolve.
“You didn’t do anything to help save her.”
“I did.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw the Glock. Maybe four feet away.
“I did exactly as I told you. I tried to save her, but it didn’t work.”
Her head started shaking slowly from side to side.
“No. That … that’s not possible.”
Gunfire exploded farther up the hallway. It was enough to cause Aisha to glance up, the gun suddenly unsteady in her hands, and that extra second gave me the chance to reach out and grab the Glock. I aimed it up at her as she steadied the gun in her hands, the barrel once again pointed at me.
Neither one of us fired. This seemed to surprise Aisha, whose expression relayed that she had expected to die just then. Her grip tightened around the barrel of the gun. Her eyes hardened.
“You missed your chance.”
I shook my head.
“I can’t kill you. You’re my daughter. But that doesn’t mean I won’t stop someone else from shooting you instead.”
Confusion filled Aisha’s face. Then she sensed movement behind her and spun right as Agent Njeim fired a round into her leg. Aisha screamed, dropping her gun, and fell to the ground.
Already my body was healing itself from the bullet wound. Unfortunately, the bullet was still in my stomach.
Noticing this, Agent Njeim slipped out her switchblade and tossed it to me.
I popped the blade and dug it into my stomach. A couple seconds, that’s all it took, and then I’d worked the bullet out enough for me to pluck it out with two fingers and fling it away. I wiped the blade off on my pants and closed it and handed it back to Agent Njeim.
She said, “Keep it.”
I rose to my feet, slipping the knife into my pocket.
“The warheads?”
“Nate’s still looking for them.”
She unclipped a small radio from her belt and handed it to me.
I hit the talk button.
“Nate?”
Brief static, and then he spoke.
“That looked pretty nasty.”
I glanced up at the security camera farther down the hallway. Watching it, I spoke into the radio.
“Any word on the warheads?”
“I’m tracking Roger and two of his men right now. They’re in a van headed toward the river. Whether they have both warheads, I can’t say for sure, but nobody else has left the warehouse.”
As we were in Tribeca, that would be the Hudson River. I thought about it for a moment. If they were headed toward the Hudson, there was a chance they would be headed toward the Holland Tunnel. But that wouldn’t make sense. Unless …
I spoke again into the radio.
“Nate, where are they now?”
A brief pause on Nate’s end as his fingers no doubt flew over his keyboard.
“They’re headed to the docks. Why … why do you think they’re headed to the docks?”
I glanced down at Aisha.
“Do you know what Roger plans to do?”
She just glared up at me, her face twisted in pain.
I thought about it again, trying to remember everything Roger had told me, not just tonight but since I first met him twenty-four hours ago. There was one thing that kept going through my head. How Roger intended to start a war, but how he claimed he wasn’t a monster, that he didn’t want to kill anyone. Which meant …
I asked Agent Njeim, “Is Roman on this frequency?”
“He should be.”
I hit the talk button again.
“Roman, can you hear me?”
Silence for a moment, and then Roman answered.
“I heard—the warheads are headed toward the river. My men are on the way.”
“Hold off on that.”
A brief pause.
“Why?”
“You said earlier you have access to a helicopter?”
Another brief pause.
“I do, yes.”
“How long before you can get it here?”
“No more than ten minutes.”
“Get it. Also a parachute.”
I turned to Agent Njeim.
“Could a helicopter land on the roof of this warehouse?”
She thought it over for a moment.
“It probably could, yes.”
I spoke into the radio again.
“Roman, get the helicopter here ASAP. Have it land on the roof.”
“What is this about, superman?”
“I’ll tell you once the helicopter gets here. Make sure it’s quick.”
I turned back to Agent Njeim.
She said, “Let me come with you.”
“No. You need to keep an eye on my daughter. And you and Nate need to try to collect as much evidence as possible. There’s a chance this may not turn out like we hope, but at the very least you can get evidence to use against Roger and Monarch. Find out who the investors are, any research, stuff like that. Find something to try to clear your name.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Try to stop Roger.”
“But do you even know what his target is?”
“Yes. The Statue of Liberty.”