“I think you misunderstood me, chief,” Burke said. “I was simply stating options. Breaching now would likely be met with a contingency plan and significant loss of life.”

The room grew quiet as everyone seemed to consider the gravity of this situation and its possible outcomes. This was a hostage situation with a lot more complexity than any of them had likely imagined.

Carter sipped his coffee. Burke observed that Carter was the only person in the room who didn’t appear worried. In fact, Burke had never seen Carter get worked up about much of anything. He’d never even heard Carter raise his voice or speak from anger or frustration. Burke didn’t trust that calm exterior. He worried that, much like himself, Carter wore a mask, which hid his true self, his true passions, to the rest of the world. Or maybe Carter really was as calm, collected, and serene as he acted.

Still, Burke knew better than to ever put his full trust in another person. It didn’t matter the person or his or her good intentions. To trust in anyone or anything beyond himself was to invite pain and heartbreak into his life. He knew that fact firsthand from experiences he wished he could forget, but those memories were always shifting and rolling through the ocean of his mind, like icebergs hiding and waiting under the surface of calm seas. He knew how quickly those icebergs could sink him. And his downfall in those moments had always began with misplaced trust.

“Anything else to add, Dr. Burke?” Carter said.

Burke considered that a moment and then brought up an aerial overhead view of the GoBox building and its surrounding areas on the screens.

“I noticed the deployments of your teams earlier, and since you asked, if you move the position of this sniper and this sniper to here and here, you’ll be able to cover twice as much ground and have a better vantage point on the building’s roof,” he said. “Then that allows you to reallocate this sniper to the front where he can be part of your fast reaction team.”

The room was silent a moment, and Burke, with an awkward smile, quickly added, “Just a suggestion. You guys are the experts.” Then, with a slow nod and a long breath, he said, “I need a cigarette,” and walked out of the comm center.

Once alone in the open air, he held his chest, which felt like a cannon ready to blast his heart across the parking lot.

Chapter 23

Nic Juliano watched Dr. Burke walk out and still wasn’t sure what he thought of the young genius. Burke went from quiet and aloof to pretty much running the show with a commanding and informed presence in nothing flat, and no matter how much he wished the arrogant little prick was wrong, Nic couldn’t find fault with any of Burke’s analysis. The kid seemed to be the real deal, which in Nic’s experience was very rare.