Page 97 of Forged in Peril

“Why do you want Reilly so badly?” he asked, gently. “You understand that if I’m going to consider a hostage swap, I need to know the reasoning behind it.”

Bristol’s throat felt dry.

She’d never allow it. Reilly had a wife and two baby girls on the way. Whatever the consequences she had to bear, there was no way that she was going to let him take her place.

Jaclyn swept her fingers through her hair and leaned her head back against them, closing her eyes with a long sigh.

“Well, Bristol, whether you live through this little affair or not, I guess there’s no harm in letting you have your answers after all.”

CAMERON

So far, so good.

Bristol had taken a risk in mentioning the bomb, but he could see why she’d done it–she had no way to know how much he and the team had already figured out.

For better or for worse, Jaclyn was one step ahead of them, anyway. They’d failed to hide the evacuation of their employees, but it was still better than leaving them as sitting ducks with active explosives in their basement.

Still, there was one thing that neither Jaclyn or Bristol knew, and he hoped to keep it that way for the time being.

Cameron glanced down at his smartwatch, the seconds ticking by with excruciating slowness. He trusted that the sniper team was assembling as quickly as they could, but the sooner they could be ready, the better.

At the moment, they had a clear shot.

Bristol was sitting at enough of an angle that her body wasn’t overlapped with Jaclyns, but that could change in a heartbeat.

And if it did, they had only a much riskier plan B, unless by some miracle he managed to de-escalate the situation from within the office. The snipers would send Cameron’s smartwatch a silent vibration alert, and he’d have to shove Bristol to the ground exactly three seconds later so that they could take their shot.

He tried to make his body language appear relaxed, but beneath the surface he was preparing for the possibility that that alert could come at any moment, forcing him to jump into immediate action.

But both of their potential plans required a little more time to get the snipers in place.

They just had to keep Jaclyn talking for a little while longer–and it seemed that Bristol had found the right topic.

“Maybe start at the beginning,” she suggested to Jaclyn, knotting her fingers together on her lap as she spoke.

“Stalling for time. How original,” Jaclyn said flatly.

Bristol said nothing, and after a couple of seconds, the lawyer released a heavy sigh and turned to face Cameron.

“Do you remember that El Paso job from last year?”

Before he could answer, she spoke again.

“Nevermind. I’m sure it’s long since faded into the rest of your caseload. All in a days’ work, right?”

Cameron shook his head.

He remembered that job, all right. It was a major drug deal between the Iron Prophets gang and a major cartel based in Juarez.

Everyone at FBS remembered. Especially his brothers.

Especially Reilly.

“We don’t forget cases like that so easily, Jaclyn,” he said softly. The regret in his voice was genuine. “Not when people die. Especially people like your son.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-NINE

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