“I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“No, don’t.” Chloe paused for a moment, and Olivia gripped the back of a chair to keep standing. “There’s nothing left.”
* * *
“Just pull it out,” Campbell told Len as they sat in the old subway tunnel, dust from the explosion thick in the air. But when Len did exactly that, pulling a large shard of metal from Campbell’s back, he couldn’t hold in the yelp of pain.
Sophia was ready with a wad of white cloth that he thought was the long-sleeved shirt Len had been wearing over a gray henley. As soon as the metal was free, she pressed it against the wound, stemming the flow of blood until Campbell’s body could begin to heal.
Colin walked toward them with his tee shoved against a wound on the side of his head. Blood streaked his bare chest. “What the hell happened back there?”
“It was a bomb.” Which they’d thankfully survived, along with the daylight, by picking themselves out from under the rubble and escaping through the emergency exit that led to the network of abandoned subway tunnels. He counted heads and came up one short. “Where’s Billy?”
They all stared at each other for a horrible moment, then started digging frantically at the rubble that filled the passage that connected their headquarters with the subway tunnels. “Billy!” several voices called out at once.
“Puppy? Come on, kid,” Colin said as he tossed huge chunks of concrete out of the way.
Campbell winced with the pain in his back but dug nonetheless. Dug despite the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He found Billy and wished he could hide the boy’s body from the rest of the team. But it was too late.
Sophia cried out, “No!” and took Billy’s lifeless hand in hers.
The irony was Billy didn’t seem any more damaged than the rest of them. It was the large shard of his skateboard through the middle of his heart that had sealed his fate. Curses and crying met Campbell’s ears, but all he could do was stare as a cold numbness filled him.
After the initial shock, Colin and Len stepped forward and together with Campbell they finished digging Billy out. Kaja reached over and closed Billy’s eyes and caressed his pale cheek.
“I’m going to kill whoever did this,” Campbell said. “And he’s going to die slow.”
“Why the hell did a bomb end up down our delivery chute?” Colin asked.
“Someone wanted to deliver a message,” Len said.
“That we’re getting close and they don’t like us sniffing around,” Campbell added.
“That creep Salmeri?” Kaja asked.
“That’s where I’d lay my money,” Campbell said, focusing on his job, on avenging Billy’s death.
“Told you to let me rip his throat out,” she said.
“After I’m through with him, if there’s anything left, you can be my guest,” Campbell said.
Travis stared back at the pile of rubble. “We’ve lost everything.”
Campbell looked around at his dirty, bleeding, bedraggled team. Time to be the leader. “We’re going to get whoever did this. And we’ll rebuild somewhere else.”
“Perhaps I can help you with that.”
They all turned toward the new voice, ready to fight. A man in khakis and an expensive leather jacket stepped into the faint glow shed by the emergency light on the subway-tunnel wall.
“Who are you?” Colin asked as he pointed a piece of rebar at the unknown vamp. “And don’t take a step farther.”
Campbell moved to the front of his team. He placed his hand on Colin’s arm, applying downward pressure so he’d lower his weapon. When Colin did so, the guy took a couple more steps toward them.
“I’m Raymond Pierce.”
“Raymond Pierce?” Colin said.
“Yes, that one,” Pierce said.
Pierce had owned more companies than Campbell could name a decade ago. As rich as Richard Branson, Bill Gates and the entire Walton family put together. So he was dead, as the news had claimed, but not gone.
“How did you know we were here?” Colin asked.
“Baroness Flanders is a good friend. When she heard about the bombing, she asked that I come offer my assistance. You are in need of a new home, are you not? As it happens, I have just the place. If you all feel up to a bit of a walk, I can show you what we can offer.”
“We—” Sophia started but choked on a sob.
Len gripped her shoulder in support and nodded toward Billy’s body. “We lost a member of our team.”
“A friend,” Kaja said, her voice sounding shaky, too.
“I’m very sorry,” Pierce said. “We can take care of him once we get to our destination. I’ll get you whatever you need.”
The others looked to Campbell. After a moment of consideration, he nodded. Pierce turned and led them into the darkened tunnel.
* * *
Despite Chloe’s assertion that she shouldn’t come, Olivia hadn’t listened. Now she wished she’d stayed away. It felt as though a gaping hole was opening up inside her to match the one in the ground she couldn’t stop staring at.
Smoke rose in the air from something still burning below street level. The air reeked with the scents of unnamed objects smoldering. She prayed that Campbell and his team were not amid the burning rubble.
Chloe still had her arm around Olivia’s shoulders. Olivia suspected that if Chloe released her, she’d crumple to the ground. Movement among the crowd of officials beyond the yellow crime-scene tape caught her attention. When a man who looked as if he might be a detective stepped away, she spotted Herbie.
“Miss DaCosta?”
Olivia looked to her left and noticed another familiar face. “Officer Cortez.”
“What are you doing here?” There it was again, the look that said he knew more was going on.
Trying to think on her feet while her heart was breaking took all her concentration. “I heard about the explosion and wanted to check on a friend.” She pointed to Herbie. “But he looks to be okay.”
Cortez glanced at Herbie before returning his attention to her. He didn’t say anything, and though she knew it was a tactic to get her to reveal more, she spoke anyway. “I deliver meals to the homeless. I’ve known Herbie and some of the others who spend their days here for several years.”
Finally, he nodded. “I’ll send him over when he’s finished.”
“Thank you.”
Officer Cortez walked away.
“That man feels like a human lie detector,” Chloe said.
“Notice I didn’t lie.”
After a few more minutes, Officer Cortez led Herbie to the tape and held it up so he could pass back to the outside of the barrier it made. He pointed toward Olivia.
She broke free of her friend and headed for the older man. “Herbie?”
“Olivia? What are you doing here?” He glanced at the position of the sun. “It’s early for your meal delivery.”
“Why were the police talking to you?”
“Because I saw someone toss a package into the bank deposit chute. Only that bank’s been closed since halfway through the virus outbreak.”
“What did he look like?”
“I don’t know. He was wearing one of those hoodie things. And he ran away as soon as he dropped the package. Had to be a human, though, because it was already daylight.”
“What were you doing out here so early? You’re not staying out here at night, are you?”
“Lord, no, honey. I got a one-day gig cleaning up after a show at Radio City Music Hall. They paid me a little and let me spend the night there.”
Olivia stared at Herbie, wishing that he knew more. That he could positively identify the bomber. Could
