“You don’t want to do that, son,” Carter said. “Things aren’t as bad as they seem to you right now. Trust me, I’ve lived long enough to know that you can come out on the other side of almost anything. You just have to choose life.”

But as he searched the young man’s eyes, Samuel Carter knew that he had already lost the kid. The wound in Lamar’s neck was about to take him away from this world, and the kid knew it. He could see the wheels turning in the young man’s eyes—final, irrevocable decisions being made. Lamar had felt death’s cold hand on him and decided to go out on his own terms. Right there within the time of one breath, of one heartbeat, Carter saw the kid experience all the stages of grief, his mind finally coming to rest on acceptance.

Carter whispered, “Please, don’t—”

Lamar raised his arm and said, “We’re already gone.” Then he pressed the yellow button.

Chapter 58

After pushing through the line of uniformed officers forming the outer perimeter, Nic saw the blown-open doors of the building and smoke hanging in the air. He was about to grab his gear and rush into the fray when he noticed Edgar standing beside a row of ambulances, trying to direct the medical personnel. The whole scene was pandemonium. Reporters and spectators were pushing against the barricades, all fighting to see what was happening. The uniformed officers were trying to maintain control, but the way people were shoving each other and climbing over people for position reminded Nic of a mosh pit at a heavy metal concert.

Nic approached the deputy chief in a full sprint and shouted, “Edgar! What happened? Is everyone okay?”

Edgar wiped the sweat from his balding forehead and, short on breath, said, “The team’s fine and most of the hostages are going to be okay.”

“What does that mean?”

“The manager is touch and go. He’s lost a lot of blood. They scooped out one of his eyes and chopped his hand off, Nic.”

“That must have been the screams we heard on the parabolic mics. Where’s Carter?”

“That’s the other thing. One of the tangos has a hostage and has barricaded himself in the manager’s office. And it’s the one with the explosive vest who Carter talked to. He’s in there now, trying to talk the guy down from the ledge.”

“Are the other two shooters down?”

Edgar looked at the building for a moment, as if in a daze. Nic could almost see the chief aging before his eyes. “Earth to Edgar,” Nic said. “What happened in there, sir?”

“They’re going to crucify me over this, Nic. Twenty-five years right down the drain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“They’re gone. Just gone. The team’s in there tearing the place apart, but the other two just vanished.”

Nic swore under his breath. “This has to be connected to whatever GoBox and the CIA aren’t telling us. Romeo said the rumor is that GoBox and the agency are developing chemical and biological weapons.”