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Four hours later, Hood's people had set up a defensive perimeter. Project headquarters was vulnerable until the entrances could be repaired. Stephanie was in a hospital in Alexandria. Elizabeth had gone with her in the ambulance.
Nick, was going through the pockets of the attackers, looking for anything that might lead to whoever had sent them. He came to the body of the man Selena had shot.
Ronnie picked up his weapon and examined it.
"Bizon. Russian."
The Bizon submachine gun was usually issued to the FSB, the Russian internal security service. It was a favorite counterterrorist weapon.
"His radio is Russian, too," Nick said.
He pointed at Cyrillic markings on the radio. Nick searched the body but found nothing else.
"No one else had one of these. This guy must've been in charge."
Nick put the radio in his jacket pocket. They searched the three Suburbans. All they found were fast food wrappings from a hamburger chain and a local map in one of the vehicles. They put everything in a bag.
All of the attackers were dead. There had been thirteen, not counting whoever had been in the helicopter.
Nick and the others watched the last of the bodies being loaded into the coroner's van. Nick ached all over. A headache pounded at the back of his skull.
"Let's go inside," he said.
They sat down on the couch inside Elizabeth's office. There were bullet holes in the leather.
"She's gonna need a new couch," Lamont said.
"She's going to need a lot more than that," Ronnie said.
"They trashed the computer room," Selena said. "They shot up Freddie."
"Steph isn't going to be happy about that," Nick said. "Neither am I. I've gotten used to Freddie being around."
"Why come after us on our home ground?" Ronnie asked. "It would be easier out in the world, take us out individually."
"I've been wondering about that," Selena said. "I think they wanted to cripple our capability. The computers are finished. It will take millions of dollars to replace them, not to mention Freddie. He was irreplaceable."
Nick picked at a tear in the upholstery.
"If they wanted to cripple us, they did a pretty good job. But they messed up. We're still alive."
"I want to go home," Selena said. "This place stinks of death."
"Anyone seen Burps?" Lamont asked.
They looked at each other.
"No," Selena said. "He jumped out of my arms and went running off somewhere."
"Damn it," Nick said. "That cat saved my life. I'm going to look for him."
"We'll all go," Ronnie said.
They went down the stairs to the lower level.
"Burps," Selena called. "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty? Here, Kitty."
"Never did think of that cat as a kitty," Lamont said. "More like some kind of feline samurai."
The cat wasn't in the armory or the range. They headed for the operations room, calling out his name.
"Wait a minute," Selena said. "I thought I heard something."
They stopped and listened.
"There. I heard it again. A meow."
"I heard it too," Lamont said. "It came from over there, by the refrigerator."
The room was a shambles. Some of the attackers had made a stand here. The walls were pocked with bullet holes. Tables and chairs were overturned. The refrigerator was leaking onto the floor. A coffee table had held a coffee urn and various snacks and supplies. It lay on its side, coffee and food scattered over the floor in front of it. Fragments from a grenade had scarred the surface.
Selena went over to the table and peered behind it.
"Here he is. Come on, Burps."
She bent down and carefully picked him up. The cat meowed.
"He's hurt. There's blood on him."
She stroked and patted him. He began to rumble.
"The vet should still be open."
"We'll take him," Nick said.
"What happens next?" Lamont said.
Ronnie said, "I'm going to check on Steph."
"I'll go with you," Lamont said.
"We'll meet you there," Nick said.
On the ride over to the vet's, Selena was quiet.
"Penny for your thoughts," Nick said.
"I was thinking about what happened today. I realized something."
"What's that?"
"That I miss being part of the action."
"Ah," Nick said.
"It surprised me. I mean, who in their right mind would miss being shot at?"
"You don't miss that. You miss the excitement, being part of the team."
"I was angry," Selena said, "and I was worried about you and the others. I could hear the firefight inside. A man came out of Elizabeth's office and I shot him, but he got Stephanie before I could kill him. It could've been me. It was only afterward that I thought about the twins."
"If you'd started thinking about anything except what you were doing, you could have been killed. Your training kicked in. You did the right thing."
"If we'd stayed by the car like you said, Steph would be okay."
"You don't know that. That guy could've come around front and sprayed the three of you before you knew what was happening. It doesn't do any good to second-guess yourself."
"I guess you're right. What's next?"
"I don't know," Nick said. "We'll ask Harker what she wants to do."