The Circle of Eight Read Online Free PDF Page B

the weapon. Both of their chests were heaving, stretching on
the cord, and Stucco put a hand on his wife’s shoulder.
    “Now
listen to me very carefully. I need you to control your breathing, okay? It’s
very easy. Just close your eyes, take a deep breath in through your nose, all the
way into your stomach while counting to four, then hold it for four seconds,
then slowly let it out through your mouth, counting to four.” She sucked in a
breath, and he counted off with her. “Good. Now just keep doing that for me
until you feel your heart rate start to slow down. I’ll keep working.”
    He
listened to the rhythmic breathing, and smiled as he heard little Christa
trying to do the same thing, and soon heaving chests were calmer and sobbing
had stopped.
    Screeching
tires outside were ignored as he examined the device. It was advanced. Very advanced. It was out of his league, and the fact there was an antennae sticking
out the top of it made him think there might be a remote detonator involved.
    There
was noise at the front door as it was pulled open.
    And a
beep from the device.
    “Stucco,
you in here?”
    “Kitchen!”
    Boots
hammered on the parquet flooring then came to a halt.
    “Jesus!”
    Stucco
looked over his shoulder and saw Dawson standing there in shock.
    And
another beep from the device.
    “Sit
rep.”
    Stucco
pointed at the device.
    “Enough
C4 to take out the block, pressure trigger joining the two of them, mercury
switches if they move too much, and probably more. Plus there’s this.” He
pointed at the antennae sticking out the top.
    “Looks
cellular,” said Dawson.
    “Agreed.”
    “Okay,
I’m going outside to get a landline, I don’t want to risk using my cell here or
your phone again. I’m going to get the bomb disposal equipment, evacuate the
area, jam any cellphone signals and solve this problem.”
    “Okay,
thanks BD. And BD?”
    “Yeah?”
    “You
know damned well who’s behind this.”
    Dawson
nodded.
    “It
wouldn’t surprise me one bit. I’ll get word out to Inspector Laviolette to warn
the other witnesses.”
    “Make
sure Maria is safe.”
    “Worry
about your family, let me worry about the rest.”
    Dawson
left and Stucco heard the front door open then close.
    And the
device beep each time.
     
     

 
     
    Outside Stucco’s Residence, Maas Drive, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
     
    Dawson strode across the street as Red and several of the others
arrived, most running on foot from their homes or nearby barracks. What he had
seen was disturbing. Innocent people, innocent children, terrified. His
friends, terrified. It was wrong, and if that bastard Lacroix was behind it, he
would pay.
    Dearly.
    Dawson
pointed at Danny “Casey” Martin. “Call the MP’s. No cellphones. Have them
cordon this entire area off and begin evacuations. Tell them we’ve got a large
amount of C4.”
    Casey
nodded and ran up the steps of the nearest house, hammering on the door to use
their phone.
    “Atlas, call
the Colonel, tell him Stucco’s wife and daughter have been bound to two chairs,
back to back, with a bomb strapped to his wife’s chest. The trigger looks
professional. Very well done.”
    “Jesus
Christ,” muttered Atlas. “Is this because of what happened in Geneva?”
    “We’ll
worry about that later,” said Dawson. “Just contact the Colonel, but let him
know that we think it might be connected, and that the other witnesses should
be contacted immediately so they can be taken into protective custody.”
    Atlas
ran to the next house as the residents of the house Casey was borrowing the
phone from exited, jumping in their car and pulling out of their driveway. The
man driving who Dawson recognized but couldn’t remember the name of, rolled
down his window.
    “You
need anything, you take it. Once I get my family out of here, I’ll come back
and give you guys a hand with whatever you need.”
    “Thanks,”
said Dawson, turning to Niner.
    “Niner,
contact the bomb squad, give them