Taz directed his men with hand signals toward the remaining rooms. Sgt. Ortiz moved toward the vault room, which was where Carter expected to find the big South African. To all of their surprise, the room was cleared within a few seconds with zero resistance.

The sound of gunshots over the computer speakers made every muscle in Carter’s body tense. He scanned the other shaky helmet cams for the source of the shots.

He saw the camera marked as Stromberg jump back from the door of the manager’s office. In the brief glimpse of the room, Carter saw flames licking against the desk and the young gunman in the corner of the room, firing his M4 at the encroaching officers.

The young gunman screamed, “Stay back! I still have a hostage!”

Carter swore under his breath. He had attempted to count the escaping captives, but the multiple camera views and pandemonium made that an exercise in futility.

A radio on the desk crackled to life. It was Taz. “Carter, we need you in here. We have one tango holed up in the office with a hostage, and the room is about to burn down around him. Can you talk him out?”

Snatching up the radio, Carter replied, “Affirmative. On my way.”

He moved quickly toward the exit, but Edgar said, “Hold on.” Turning back to the deputy chief, Carter saw Edgar pulling body armor off one of the room’s chairs, the same vest Carter had worn earlier. As Edgar tossed him the vest, the deputy chief added, “Good luck.”

“Thanks. I’ll need it, but at least I know the youngsters still find me useful. You have to find the silver lining.”

He didn’t wait for a response. He pushed out the door to the comm center and took off in a run, slipping the vest over his shoulders as he moved. As he crossed the expanse of blacktop and concrete, an unraveling thread frayed at the corners of his mind. His main priority had been the safety of the hostages, and so it took him a moment to grasp the implications of all he’d seen on the video feed.

But when the realization struck, it hit him like a windshield to a bug. There was one very important detail he hadn’t glimpsed on the video screens …

Where were the woman and the giant?

Chapter 56

Nic pounded his palm on the dashboard of the ’67 Firebird three times in rapid succession.

“Come on,” he said. “Don’t you know how to drive this thing? It sounds like you’ve got a beast under the hood, and we’re moving at like ten miles an hour. Let’s go!”

Burke didn’t take his eyes off of the road, and Nic couldn’t see those eyes behind a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses.

“I’m traveling at the designated speed limit,” Burke said.

“A blue-haired old lady in a go-cart just passed us.”

Burke didn’t say a word, but he appeared to be checking his mirrors and the road ahead for the alleged go-cart.