Chapter 13 - Thirty Seconds
“Bomb!” Nathan shouted.
Chaos exploded.
Torres’s team stormed the building from two entrances.
Raymond’s second gunman fired upward.
Marcus tackled him.
Claire stayed beside her mother.
Twenty-four seconds.
Nathan dropped to the pressure plate.
“If I lift the chair, it speeds up.”
“Then what do we do?” Claire cried.
He looked around.
A steel maintenance drum sat three feet away.
“Weight transfer.”
He and Claire rolled it beside the chair.
Fifteen seconds.
Nathan cut the ropes around Claire’s mother but kept her seated.
“On three, Claire, pull her straight up. I slide the drum under.”
“What if you miss?”
“Don’t let me.”
Nine seconds.
“Three!”
Claire lifted with everything she had.
Nathan shoved the drum under the seat.
The timer froze at four seconds.
For one breathless moment, nobody moved.
Then Nathan grabbed both women.
“Run anyway.”
They sprinted behind a concrete wall.
The device never exploded.
Torres examined it minutes later.
“Fake detonator.”
Claire stared at Raymond, now handcuffed on the floor.
“You made me think my mother was about to die.”
Raymond shrugged.
“Fear is cheaper than explosives.”
Claire slapped him.
An agent pulled her back.
Raymond smiled through a split lip.
“This changes nothing.”
Torres said, “You’re under arrest for kidnapping, conspiracy, attempted murder, and about thirty charges we’ll enjoy discussing downtown.”
Raymond looked at Nathan.
“You think I’m the Circle?”
Nathan went still.
Raymond laughed.
“I’m just the accountant.”
Marcus’s face lost color.
“Who is above you?”
Raymond’s smile widened.
He looked directly at Claire.
“Ask her father.”
Claire froze.
“My father is dead.”
“No,” Raymond said softly. “Vincent Moretti is dead.”
Claire felt the room tilt.
May you like
Raymond continued.
“Your father, Thomas Bennett, is very much alive.”
