EDGE OF SHADOWS: The Shadow Ops Finale (Shadow Ops, Book # 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

She glanced around. No blood. No body parts. That had to be good.
    “Any sign of Billy or the hostage takers?”
    “Two subjects took off west,” KC told Rose as they jogged past the ruined bus. Rose kept scanning the scene, searching for Billy. “I couldn’t see where the third went.”
    “What happened to the one here at the bus?” Rose asked.
    KC spun around. “No idea. Maybe Lucky knows.”
    Billy came racing around the far side of the carousel, gesturing for Rose to follow. Her footsteps faltered as she tripped over a piece of debris—the only outward sign of her joy at seeing him alive and unharmed. But inside, it felt as if new energy surged through her. Something indefinable to Rose, a feeling she refused to label, but that was much more than mere relief.
    “Spotted them headed toward the Metro station,” he shouted.
    Two Capitol Police cruisers pulled up, more on the way. The entire Mall would be locked down in minutes. Rose tore her focus away from Billy and concentrated on the job at hand. “KC, get Lucky out of here. I don’t want him out in the open more than necessary. We’ll regroup at Angelina’s.”
    KC caught her breath and nodded, understanding without Rose needing to tell her that Lucky was the prime target of this attack. “Finally, a hot cup of coffee. See you there.”
    Rose didn’t answer as she raced to catch up to Billy. KC would make sure Lucky escaped any media or police attention, get him back into the hands of the marshals. In the meantime, the only way she could salvage this disaster of an op was to catch a few of the bad guys and bring them in for questioning.
     
    <><><>
     
    Billy ran down the empty escalator leading into the belly of the Metro stop. It was a steep drop , but other than a homeless man riding on one of the steps, his side of the escalator was empty. The other side, the one traveling up, was packed with commuters—eight o’clock rush hour.
    The platforms came into sight. Rose’s footsteps sounded behind him. A train had just arrived, disgorging its mass of humanity. He scanned the crowd for movement onto the train and pushed his way against the tide heading for the exit.
    They’d only have a minute or so before the train left again. He worked his way down the train, keeping an eye on the doors. Worst-case scenario, he’d hop on board and have the train locked down between stations, give him and Rose time to get a good look and a few words with everyone. They might not know what their suspects looked like, but they knew the voice of their leader.
    The warning tone announcing that the train would be departing sounded. He turned to signal to Rose to board the train.
    She was at the front, lunging toward the tracks. “I got him, Billy,” she shouted.
    A woman screamed, Rose vanished from sight, and the train sped off, heading straight for her.
    Billy ran, panic fueling his muscles even more than adrenaline. The woman still screamed for help. Not Rose, an office worker in hysterics, pointing to the edge of the platform. The train roared past, its occupants oblivious to the drama left behind at the station. Billy reached the woman, no time to even glance at her. He was too busy trying to see past the rushing train, searching for Rose. “What happened?”
    “She—she jumped. Right in front of the train. She just—” The woman swallowed hard, turned away, eyes closed tight, as the final car passed by.
    Billy didn’t have the luxury of denial. His stomach clenched with ice-cold fear, but he had to look.
    “A little help here?” Rose called from the second set of tracks. Her face was smeared with oil and grime. There was a cut on her forehead, leaving a trail of blood down the side of her face and neck, but there was no sign of her quarry. The sound of a train arriving pulsated down the tunnel.
    Billy couldn’t contain his grin as relief surged through him. He leapt down to help her cross the tracks to the other side. “You okay?”
    “He got away, damn