The Decoy (A Sarah Roberts Thriller Book 33) by Jonas Saul

Author:Jonas Saul [Saul, Jonas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Imagine Press Inc.
Published: 2023-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

Parkman called Heath back, but the man didn’t pick up the line. For some reason, likely the visiting dignitaries, several roads were closed, and traffic in front of the convention center was being redirected.

He had to drive four blocks away to find parking.

Once on his feet and running toward the large building on Front Street West, he saw the police barricades with officers directing people away from Front Street.

This event’s security must have tripled since last night’s heist and bombings.

He made it to Lower Simcoe and Front, but that was as far as he could get without an invitation or a press pass.

A crowd had formed at the barricade, some chanting about the economy, others calling the Canadian government a cult, while others demanded the prime minister’s resignation for embezzlement and lying, calling him Castro’s child.

Parkman squeezed through the crowd, getting an elbow in the chin for his efforts, and made it to the front with a few protestors shoving him hard.

“Officer,” he called. “I’m here to meet Detective Heath.”

A cop looked over at him and shook his head. “I’m no secretary.” The cop pointed at the barricade. “No one gets past this line unless I’m told otherwise by my superiors.”

“Just call Heath and tell him Parkman is waiting for him.”

The cop shook his head and waved Parkman away dismissively. “I don’t know anyone named Heath.” The cop raised his voice to be heard over the chanting that seemed to increase in volume. “Call him yourself. Get the invite. Then they’ll tell me, and I let you in. That’s the only way it works. Now go away.”

The cop stepped sideways to shove a man back who was trying to jump the sawhorses they had placed on the asphalt.

“Everyone, step back,” the cop yelled.

Other officers converged as backup. This was a hotspot, a mob mentality, and it would get Parkman nowhere.

He eased back and moved along Lower Simcoe Street in search of an opening but found nothing.

Exasperated, he leaned against a building and called Heath again. This time the man answered.

“Where are you?” Heath asked.

“Outside the convention center, but I can’t get in.”

“No one can get in at the moment.”

“Why? What the hell is going on?”

“The Greg Brown campus just blew up. No reports yet on the number of dead.”

“What! I thought they’d searched it thoroughly with bomb-sniffing dogs, and nothing turned up.”

“There are two Greg Brown campuses. They searched the wrong one. No one thought it would be the waterfront campus. Luckily it happened on a Saturday. Only cleaning staff are usually inside on a Saturday, but most of them took today off.”

“Why, did someone tip them off?”

“The Greg Brown campus was being searched by bomb dogs last night. The other campus staff got freaked out, and everyone took the weekend off. Last I heard a couple of minutes ago, security was still in the building. They’re trying to put out the flames and locate the guard.”

“So they just locked down the convention center? How does that work?”

“Someone called in a bomb threat to this very location two minutes ago.

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