“I put a man on him after you visited him,” Luke said. ”We have nothing to say he’s the one. Nothing.”

“It’s him,” Royce said. “And he knows he’s being watched. You can count on it.” He glanced at Luke. “Did we get his military record?”

“I’ve tried,” he said. “It’s being guarded tightly which tells me he’s a very bad dude, or he’s so damn good that he’s involved with some deep government shit.”

“Or both,” Royce said.

Luke’s cell phone rang and he answered it, then snapped it shut. “Lauren’s building is being evacuated. People are pouring out of it.”

“Lauren?”

“The crush of people is too intense,” Luke said. “Our guys are working with the building security and the police to locate her.”

Royce was pushing open the glass door before Luke ever finished the sentence, not about to risk New York traffic delays to get to Lauren. He dialed her phone, cursing himself for trusting someone else to protect her.

“I’m coming with you,” Blake said following on his heels. “If it’s a bomb again, I want to be there.”

Royce cursed and shoved his phone back to his belt. “Her phone went straight to voice mail.” He cut to the left and down the subway stairs.

“We have three men there,” Blake told him, keeping pace. “She’s okay.”

“I should never have left her with someone else,” he said, piling into the crush of people inside a car.

The next six minutes in the tunnel were hell for Royce. The car stopped and he burst out of the door and jumped the exit gates, Blake by his side. It was a block to the building and the instant Royce brought the fire trucks and police cars into view, he cursed and picked up speed, heading for the yellow tape and the gaggle of officials.

“I’m going in in case she’s still up there,” Royce shouted, his gut telling him she was in there, that she needed him.

“I’ll deal with the Robocops,” Blake called, “and I’ll call you if I find her down here.”

Royce targeted an entry point without officials and ducked the tape, wondering where the hell his other three men were. Someone shouted at him, but he didn’t stop. He climbed the stairs to the building, burst through the glass doors, and instantly spotted Kyle.

Kyle, who knew how to work his connections, headed towards him immediately. “It was a bomb threat,” he said. “A special team is already working the building.”

“Where is she?”

“Daniel got positive confirmation from a cop that she was outside but when he got to the place he was told he could find her, she wasn’t there. He can’t find anyone who even saw her. Daniel and Rick are searching the crowd. I was about to hit the stairs to go up to look for her. The elevators are shut down.”

Royce started to walk backwards, towards the stairwell. “Call Blake. He’s outside. Tell him what’s going on.” He turned and started running, yanking open the heavy steel door and charging upward. Every step was torture, another obstacle to getting to Lauren.

Ten floors later, he pulled the Glock from his ankle holster and eased the door open. Nothing. No one in sight and there was complete silence. His cell phone vibrated and he looked at the caller ID and answered. “Tell me you found her, Blake.”

“No, get in and get her out. This guy has proven he knows explosive devices. Don’t f**k around, Royce.”

Royce hung up and shouted, “Lauren!” To hell with caution. Blake was right. If there really was a bomb, time was everything. He was halfway to her office when he paused, hearing a muffled pounding noise.

“Lauren!”

More pounding. He ran towards the noise, and then, thank God, he was at the bathroom door and heard the sweet sound of her voice. “Royce! I’m in here! Help. Please, help me.”

“I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

“Oh God, thank you. The door is stuck and my phone won’t work and”

“But you’re okay?” he asked, his gaze catching on the wooden doorstop jammed in the door.

“Yes. Yes. Now that you’re here.”

He yanked out the wedge and tossed it, pulling open the door. Lauren fell into his arms and clung to him as if he was her lifeline. Wrapping his arms around her, he hugged her, saying a silent thank you and kissing her. “Let’s get out of here.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, his gun still at his side.

“What’s happening?” she asked from behind him. “What’s going on?”

“Bomb threat,” he said, pulling open the door again and inspecting the path before pushing her in ahead of him. “In other words, run, don’t walk down.” He followed her, ready for a strike from behind.

***

Luke was standing inside the yellow line, talking to an official when he saw Julie shoving through the crowd, desperately trying to get to him. “Luke! Luke!”

“I’ll be back,” he said to the cop, heading to the tape to meet her, the pale pink of her fall jacket flaring behind her.

“Tell me she’s okay,” she pleaded, grabbing his arm. The touch sent that familiar punch to his gut that he’d always felt when she touched him, magnified by about ten because he knew Lauren was all she had, because he knew how scared she was.

“Royce went in after her,” he said. “She’ll be okay.”