Framed by Leslie Jones

Author:Leslie Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 26

Monday, February 20. 10:00 a.m.

FBI Field Office. Boston, Massachusetts.

“Boss wants us.”

Lark looked up at Jocelyn. “I just saw him. He’s being nice to me. It creeps me out.”

Jocelyn laughed. “Not Melvin. Doug.”

She closed out her email and locked her computer onto a screensaver showing various scenes of zebras running, playing, and in general looking cute.

“What’s with the zebras?”

Lark giggled. “They’re impossibly adorable.”

Jocelyn cast a sideways glance at her. “Back in 2009, someone hacked into the power grid of the nuclear power plant outside of Greensboro, Massachusetts. The systems sustained no damage, but the first thing users saw when they logged on was the rear end of a zebra.”

“Really?” Lark dropped her eyes, afraid her friend would see the guilt in her eyes. “I guess someone else likes zebras, too. Anyway, I’m sure that person just meant to help the company improve their systems security.”

“Sure. That must be it. Doesn’t everyone like zebras? Here, we’re in the big conference room.”

“We? We who?”

Lark followed Jocelyn inside and stopped, startled. People filled the room almost to capacity. Some had seated themselves at the conference table, but it held only twelve, leaving many to stand or lean against the walls. What was going on? As she looked around, Lark realized she knew a lot of them. She saw the five section chiefs, as well as senior agents from the satellite offices. With a jolt of surprise, she spotted John McTaggert and Alex Wood.

And Mace.

He smiled warmly at her. Her brow knitted, bewildered, but she returned the smile, instantly feeling better for seeing him. It didn’t, however, alleviate her confusion. What was he doing here? What were any of them doing here? Much as she wanted to go to his side, Jocelyn pulled her to an unoccupied patch of wall instead.

Doug entered the room. He took his place at the head of the boat-shaped dark wooden table. The room quieted.

“What’s going on?” Lark whispered. Jocelyn shook her head, putting a finger to her lips.

“First, thank you all for coming at such short notice. I appreciate it. For anyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Doug Huckabee. I run things here in Boston.” He scanned the room. “I’d like to personally welcome our Homeland Security investigators and our special operations partners. This will be a joint FBI-Homeland-military effort. Glad to have you on board, gentlemen.”

Murmurs echoed around the room as the three groups acknowledged one another.

“You can all get acquainted later. All right. Most of you know why we’re here. For the rest of you, we have a time-critical situation unfolding rapidly. We’ve received credible intel that a small nuclear device, also called a suitcase bomb, is here in Massachusetts.”

Gasps peppered the room. Lark almost hit herself on the forehead. Of course. The hunt for the nuke.

“Now’s the time to get everyone up to speed. I want a free flow of information from everyone. We’re going with full disclosure here. I don’t think I need to emphasize how serious a situation this is. Wanda, if you would?”

A heavy-set older woman straightened the already-straight laptop in front of her.

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