Catch A Tiger By The Tail (THIRDS 6)

“How much time?”

Ethan took off around the corner and grabbed his bag. He removed the dry ice and hurried back to the second box. There was no time for him to take a picture. Hell, he was lucky if he had time to disarm it. The two devices had been set to go off at completely different times, with this one meant to explode first.

“Ethan,” Calvin demanded.

“Forty-three seconds.” Ethan plucked the dry ice rocks from his container and dropped them one by one on the tilt switch.

“Ethan, you need to get out of there. That’s not enough time.”

“Is the building clear?” Come on. Hurry up. He willed the dry ice to work faster, but the clock seemed determined to beat him.

“Negative.”

“I can do this.” Ethan added another piece of dry ice. That was it. He couldn’t add any more, or he’d risk the stability of the switch. It wasn’t enough.

“Please, you can’t do this to me again.”

Calvin’s frantic plea was followed by Maddock’s growl.

“Hobbs, you get your ass out of there right now. That’s an order.”

Ethan considered ignoring his sergeant, but he knew better. There was no time. He dropped his equipment and broke into a run, rounding the servers and bolting out of the room. He sped down the hall, skidding when he reached the corner and almost running into the wall when he turned. Shit. Shit. Shit. He ran as fast as he could, when the bomb exploded, the force of it blowing through the corridor until it hit him in the back, propelling him forward. Then everything went black.

WITH A groan, Ethan stirred. His ears were ringing. The muffled sounds grew louder until he realized they were voices, one laced with fear. Air rushed into his burning lungs, and he gasped. Everything was murky and gray around him. His eyes stung, and his muscles protested his every movement. At least nothing was broken. Pushing himself to his feet, he leaned against the wall for support, coughing at the smoke that burned his lungs. Giving himself a quick once-over, he was grateful to find no puncture wounds or blood. When he could manage it, he tapped his earpiece, his voice hoarse.

“Cal? I’m okay.”

“Oh thank God!”

Calvin’s voice came on the line, and Ethan got himself moving. The corridor was filling with smoke, and the sprinklers were going off. By the time he made it down to the lobby, he was soaked. His hair was plastered to his brow, and the water had made a streaky, muddy mess of his face despite how many times he tried to wipe it.

Downstairs, Calvin ran into his arms. He hugged Ethan tight, and Ethan held him, the rest of his team rushing over to make sure he was okay. The disposal team arrived and headed to what was left of the twenty-third floor. Ethan was lucky the bomb hadn’t been powerful enough to take out the whole floor, or it would have taken him with it. If he’d known there was a second device from the beginning, he would have been able to disarm both in time.

Maddock approached and motioned toward the ambulance. “Get yourself checked out. Everyone else, let’s clear this mess and start asking questions. Cael, start on the surveillance feeds. Dex, Letty, Rosa, start with the employees. Sloane, coordinate with Seb and Taylor. I want to find out who would want to blow this place up.” Maddock looked to Ethan. “What kind of threat are we talking about here? Professio

nal?”

Ethan shook his head. Anyone could have put those bombs together. He removed his phone and pressed his thumb to the screen, signing him into Themis. A few taps and he showed Sarge the device, along with a diagram and the materials needed to construct it.

“All right. Get yourself checked out and start on your report. I want to know everything about this device, along with a list of places that have sold supplies in the last six months, and I want it all cross-referenced with potential suspects. Calvin, I want you cross-referencing suspects with any and all personnel in this building. Intel’s already started the algorithms. Oh, and Hobbs, I want to see you in my office after this.”

Damn it. Ethan nodded and headed for the ambulance waiting by the curb. He really didn’t need it, but it was better than facing Sloane, who looked pissed at him, though not nearly as pissed as Calvin was going to be. And now he had to face Maddock. Great.

After the EMT told Ethan what he already knew—that he was fine and lucky—Ethan went back to his truck. He climbed in and went to the medical station to grab some wipes for his face. His pulse was finally steadying and his adrenaline dropping. It always took him some time after an incident to calm down, and that was without a device going off mere feet away from him. He hoped this wasn’t about to become a thing.

Ethan cleaned himself up as best he could and changed into a clean uniform, balling up the one covered in debris, dust, and grime. Once he’d stuffed it into one of the black laundry bags, he clipped his thigh rig back into place. Damn it, he’d lost his Packbot and both EOD X-Ray kits in the explosion. On the bright side, he’d made it out in one piece. That made two close calls in one year. He cringed at the impending argument with his best friend.

Feeling somewhat better despite not having been able to prevent the last device from going off, he took a seat on the bench. Even though he’d been cleared by the EMT’s, Maddock wouldn’t let him drive the truck back to HQ. With a sigh, he removed his tablet from his tac pants. He might as well get a head start on his reports. As Themis logged him in, Ethan took a moment to observe the chaos outside the truck’s ballistic window. Lights flashed from the dozens of service vehicles, THIRDS and HPF tape everywhere, a couple of strips flapping in the crisp air like streamers at a Fourth of July picnic. Human and Therian service people ran around, momentarily united by the greater good of helping their citizens.

Ethan was on the fourth page of his report when the back door opened and his partner climbed up. Calvin took a seat on the bench and Ethan opened his mouth to speak, when his partner narrowed his eyes. Ethan promptly shut his mouth. Cal was pissed. Whether at him or someone else, he’d soon find out. If it was with someone else, Calvin would go off on a rant. If it was with him, his partner would stew in his anger and explode later. Calvin buckled up and stared at the floor, his arms crossed over his chest. Damn. It was with Ethan.

Locating his backbone, Ethan turned in his seat and put his hand to Calvin’s shoulder.

“Don’t,” Calvin replied. He was seething.

Got it. Ethan turned back to his tablet and put it away. At that moment the rest of their team was returning, including their sergeant. Recon agents arrived to take over the investigation. Any and all information they collected would be sent in to Maddock, who’d review it and pass it on to Intel for more algorithms. Defense was done here for the moment.

While Maddock drove them through the barricade toward HQ, Ethan occasionally glanced in Calvin’s direction. His partner was a statue. He didn’t move from his spot, barely even blinked. His team discussed the information they’d collected after questioning employees. After a recent downsizing resulting in the loss of over two dozen jobs, there were a lot of disgruntled employees. A few had been having financial problems long before losing their only income. The decision had come from the company’s executives, which meant those who’d lost their livelihoods were just numbers to be cut off the payroll. The floor the devices had been planted on also happened to be where the offices of said executives were. Ethan had been doing this job long enough to have seen it all before. Now it was a matter of narrowing down the list of suspects.