Operation Stealing Christmas Read online

  This Maggie felt pretty comfortable answering. “I’m not positive, but I’m guessing Darcy phoned him and asked for them.”

  “To see if GRID has anyone already working inside?”

  “That and so she can review them before tomorrow.”

  “There are thousands of photos, and she’s got a lot of other things to do.”

  Maggie pulled out of the parking lot and into the line of cars stopped at the red light. It’d take two, maybe three, rounds before she’d get beyond the corner and through the light. “Remember that Darcy has total recall, Justin. A glimpse will commit whatever she sees to memory. Anyway, she’ll review the photos and then watch the monitors. Whatever the surveillance cameras at the mall transmit back to her, she’ll assimilate. Any nonemployee spotted in yellow, or anyone involved in suspicious activity, she’ll report to us immediately.”

  Skepticism riddled Justin’s face. “But there are dozens of monitors.”

  “Yep.”

  “And she can handle all of them? At one time?”

  “All of them and then some.”

  He let out a low whistle. “She’s a heck of an asset.”

  “She is, and she’s a good friend, too.” Maggie’s palms went clammy on the steering wheel. “The challenge will be for us to determine whether or not someone she singles out is harmless or a legitimate threat.”

  “Same problem as the owners,” Justin said, making the mental leap. “You’re afraid we’ll be jumping at ghosts.”

  “I guarantee we will.” Maggie pulled up to the white line and braked for the red light—first in line for the next round. Her thoughts splintered into a dozen directions, all on things that needed to be done. “The stakes are enormously high.”

  “At least you know the enemy,” Justin said, proving he had keen insight.

  Thomas Kunz. Very perceptive. “Yeah, I do.” And he was a force to be reckoned with. Maggie had repeatedly studied every scrap of information available on Thomas Kunz and GRID. Dossiers, history, profiles, reports of personal encounters and even recorded impressions. Not much scared Maggie, but all she had read, all she had learned from Amanda and Kate’s encounters with this man and his GRID surrogates, terrified her.

  Thomas Kunz would gain the proof he needed to black market the DR-27 virus and make his billions. He would kill thousands of innocent people and not even blink. He was a monster. A soulless monster, who had no compassion and granted no mercy. Maggie let out a shuddery breath.

  “Are you okay?” Justin asked.

  She swallowed hard, shaking off Kunz, and then looked over at Justin. He wore his concern on his face as clearly as she did. “I’m worried, Justin.”

  “Of course.”

  Of course? Where was his mockery? The put-downs and slurs for admitting fear? Startled by the absence, she just stared at him.

  “What?” He sent her a baffled, questioning look that he wore well.

  She tried to compose herself. “Um, nothing. It’s nothing.” A lie. It was something. Maybe not everything, but certainly a significant something.

  He frowned. “Are you under the impression that I’m not worried?”

  Not anymore. “No, I can see that you are.”

  He raked a hand through his hair. “Can you see that I’m terrified?”

  Fear. He admitted feeling fear? She shouldn’t do it, shouldn’t whisper so much as a syllable of agreement—it would be used against her later. It always was—but at that moment, looking into his eyes, it seemed perfectly natural to be open and honest and to just speak her mind. “Me, too.”

  Chapter Five

  In the bunker at Regret, Santa Bella’s triple-decker floor plan lay spread out on the conference table. Kate, Amanda, Darcy and Colonel Drake had all studied it with Maggie and Justin. Maggie had noted every comment made and concern voiced in her notebook.

  Moving beyond the floor plan, Darcy clicked off other matters of interest. “Colonel Gray is being obnoxious, but he’s providing the equipment and manpower we need to get the surveillance equipment installed.” She cast an impatient look at Colonel Drake. “Turns out he’s not on the best terms with General Foster, either.”

  “It’s not smart to tick off Special Forces or a general when you’re only sporting eagles on your shoulders.”

  “No, ma’am, it’s not,” Darcy told the colonel. “Should I warn him?”

  “Naw, let him figure it out,” Colonel Drake said. “Maybe he’ll be less obnoxious.”

  Unlikely, but worth a shot. Maggie sighed and stepped back from the table. Pain shot through the small of her back, protesting her being bent over too long. She pressed a hand to it. “What about the Red Cross workers?”

  “We’re set there,” Darcy said. “There are fifty of them.”

  “Divide them into three groups,” Maggie said. “One for each level. Assign the most experienced to be our point of contact for the group.”

  Justin rubbed at his neck. “Fifty’s not enough, Maggie. Fifty Special Forces members, fifty Red Cross workers—we’re not even close. Each one will have time to inject two, maybe three people—if they know what’s happening and act immediately. With that kind of ratio, we’re going to get our butts kicked.”

  “We’ll have all forces converge at the point of the attack,” Maggie said. “We don’t have to inoculate everyone in two minutes. Just those directly exposed to the active virus.”

  Justin stuffed his hands in his pockets. “What if GRID launches multiple attacks inside Santa Bella?”

  Everyone went silent. Kate and Amanda exchanged a solemn look Maggie well understood.

  “If that happens,” Darcy confessed, “anything less than a one-on-one ratio, we’re screwed.”

  “If multiple attacks occur inside, we’re screwed and we’re ridiculously sloppy and should all be fired immediately,” Maggie said, biting into an apple. “With all we’re doing—the precautions, additional manpower and surveillance equipment—we have decent odds of detection prior to any launch. We pay attention to the results of these things, and we better our odds of detecting any subsequent launches.” She smiled.

  “What if GRID launches multiple attacks at Santa Bella simultaneously?” Justin persisted.

  Darcy swallowed and looked him straight in the eye. “If that happens,” she repeated, “we’re screwed no matter what our ratio is.”

  “Look, Justin,” Maggie said. “We can make the mall more secure, but there’s no way to prevent an attack. Not with shopping bags, purses, backpacks, strollers and a million nooks and crannies in the mall. Guaranteed prevention is asking the impossible.”

  He stepped toward her. “I don’t mean to insinuate that you’re not doing your job. Your foresight and thoroughness have been impressive, but—”

  “But even with all we’ve done,” she interrupted. “Even with strategic prepositioning of the antidote, med staff posing as clerks, the Red Cross assisting, all the extra security staff and cameras, and other precautions we’ve taken, you see more challenges.”

  He nodded. “Shoppers aren’t just going to allow us to inject them, especially since all of you are now wearing civilian clothes. You blend in, but now it’s more difficult for outsiders to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys,” he said. “People resist what they don’t understand, and we won’t have time to explain what’s happening to them.”

  “He’s right.” Colonel Drake said. “So we do the best we can and pray we can evacuate the rest quickly enough to avoid catastrophe. If Kunz attacks Santa Bella.”

  “He’s going to attack somewhere, Colonel.” Amanda looked at Darcy. “Has Intel further defined the target, or are they still considering the same group of potential targets equally vulnerable.”

  “Nothing’s changed on that end. We’ve still got multiple possibilities and the same odds.”

  “Darcy, we should compare notes with what the other potential targets are doing to prepare,” Maggie said. “Make sure we’re not overlooking anything.”


  Darcy nodded. “You want me to set up a tele-conference?”

  Maggie considered it. “I think it’d be best for all the targets if you collected and reviewed everyone’s notes and made recommendations. I realize this puts a lot of extra work on you, but no one else can take it all in and assimilate it like you.” Maggie hiked a shoulder. “Would you mind?”

  “Of course not,” Darcy said. “If you hadn’t suggested it, I would have, but I didn’t want to horn in.”

  “Don’t give usurping my authority a thought,” Maggie said. “Our goal is to save lives. Every action on every mission is a collective effort.”

  Colonel Drake seemed pleased by that remark. She looked at Amanda, whose eyes and expression were deadpan serious. As serious as only a woman formerly held prisoner by Kunz could be.

  “I know, Amanda,” the colonel said softly, covering her heart with her hand. “In here, I know. But until we have hard evidence, there’s nothing more we can do at Santa Bella. Every one of the potential targets is facing the same challenges we are in their locations.”

  Amanda nodded, understandably bitter.

  Darcy cut in. “Maggie, all the communications equipment you requested is in your Jeep. Everyone in this room will be connected. We’re going satellite—no cell phones for official business—for security reasons and because some areas of the mall have six-foot-thick walls as part of the hurricane-proofing construction. Difficult for land-based communications to be failsafe.”

  Darcy passed out yellow jackets and everyone took one. “Wear this the entire time you’re at the mall. It’s Kevlar.”

  Bulletproof. But was it virus-proof?

  Maggie shoved her arms through the sleeves and addressed the group. “Colonel Drake and Darcy will be here at Regret, handling Home Base operations and keeping us all current on Intel and observations at Santa Bella. Darcy, let us know how things are going with the other potential targets, too, will you?”

  “Sure.” She nodded. “So far, they’ve been working preparations, pretty much doing what we’ve been doing.”

  “Have you reviewed all the employee photographs?”

  “Yes, and I’ve reviewed background checks on Harry and Phil Jensen and the snow-crew members.” She nodded. “We’re good to go on that.”

  “Amanda and Kate, I want you two in Center Court.” Maggie pointed on the map, just north of the stage, then dragged her fingertip down the steps into the oval pit where the Winter Wonderland would be set up. “This is our most vulnerable area for high-density foot traffic and high-value targets.” Special Forces would be there. So would the Special Olympians.

  “A million kids running around screaming all day. Great.” Kate grumbled, clearly anticipating a long day of heightened tension and excited squeals. “Are you passing out Aspirin?”

  “Bring your own.” Maggie looked over at Kate, who was far from the most patient person in the world, but who was also one of the most protective, though she’d be mortified to know anyone realized it. “I’m counting on you two to keep Center Court secure.”

  “Mark has volunteered to be there, too, Maggie.” Amanda reached over and pinpointed the stage area. “Provided you authorize it, he’ll be positioned here.”

  “Works for me. Thanks.” Maggie gnawed on her lip with her teeth as she double-checked her thoughts. Nothing new emerged that she’d missed, so she grabbed her keys. It was time to return to Santa Bella. “Let’s move.”

  Justin fell into step beside her. “I’m riding.”

  “Sure.” It dawned on her that she’d just assumed he would. That knocked her back a step. “When is the antidote coming in?” she asked to regain her mental footing.

  “The truck should be there in about ninety minutes.” He snapped the parka closed across his chest.

  Outside, the sky looked dreary, like a slate of steel-blue and gray. Fog was setting in, lying low to the weedy ground. Maggie unlocked the Jeep and got inside. “I want the vials in place before maintenance and the snow crews come in tonight.”

  Justin slid in, buckled up and turned to look at her. “Is there something about these crews that bothers you?”

  “No, not at all.” She backed away from Kate’s Hummer, put the Jeep into Drive and then headed down Wilderness Trail to the gates. “Darcy checked out the company and its employees. They’re reputable.”

  “Then why must security be in place before they arrive?”

  “The fewer people who know how we’re posturing our defense, the lower the odds are it’ll leak to the enemy.”

  “Ah, that makes sense. People can’t tell what they don’t know.” Justin sat back and settled in his seat, at ease with her explanation. “I just don’t have a war-footing mind.”

  Bizarre. Admitting a shortcoming without rancor or regret? If she hadn’t seen it herself, she wouldn’t have believed it. Bizarre and very unusual. “I’m sure you’re a wonder in your lab and it’s very well protected against security challenges and invasions.”

  “It is, but that’s different.”

  “Not really.” She blew past the inner gate, then the outer one, and finally turned onto the dirt road. “That’s your domain.”

  He paused a long second, then looked over at her. “I feel incompetent in this situation, Maggie,” he admitted. “I know what I know, and I’m not minimizing that, but I also know that for this, what I know is not enough. I don’t like feeling this way.”

  “Who does?” She glanced over, saw the earnest worry in his face and touched a hand to his sleeve. “No one ever feels competent or fully prepared in these situations. How could they? Anything can happen. We accept the fear and focus on doing what we can, on trusting the training, on having well-honed instincts, and on having the courage to act. That’s the best we can do, Justin. That’s the best anyone can do.”

  His stomach growled. “My instincts are saying I’m starving. It’s been a long time since lunch.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Then let’s eat.”

  Maggie checked her watch. It wasn’t quite six. “We really should get back to Santa Bella.”

  “Let’s eat there, then.”

  Maggie tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She wanted to have dinner with him, and she didn’t, which made her fickle. What was it about him that got to her? “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Sure.” Twilight slid shadows across his face. “Remember when you said people resist what they don’t understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “You were talking about the shoppers taking the antidote injections, but you were also talking about me, weren’t you? Specifically, about me not trusting you.” She risked a glance at him. “Or did I read too much into that remark?”

  He tilted his head and tossed her a challenge. “I’ll explain over a nice dinner.”

  Temptation curled inside her and she shifted on her seat. “I shouldn’t take that much time. I need to oversee the security installations.” Uneasy and confused, she dodged a pothole and cut sharply back onto the dirt road, her knuckles going white on the wheel, her gaze planted straight ahead. Justin Crowe confused her, intrigued and tempted her. He also charmed her, and admitted things other men had refused to admit, or admitted in anger and then resented her for knowing what they’d revealed. She thumbed the wedding band, twirling it on her finger and still found it too difficult to remember why she shouldn’t let herself fall for him.

  “All right,” he said, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “I’ll pick up a sandwich for you.”

  “Why?” She didn’t dare to look at him. He’d see that the thoughtfulness in that comment stunned her, and she didn’t want him to see that deeply inside her. She didn’t want him to see inside her at all. And why was he? Why was it even an issue and at risk? How had he done this to her?

  “Because you’ve got to be running on fumes now,” he said. “You’re good at what you do. Actually, you’re probably great at what you do. The things you thought to check and what you did about some of wha
t you found makes my head swim.”

  “You did very well, too, Justin.”

  “I wasn’t finished.”

  “Sorry.”

  “You’re great, Maggie, but you’re human, too. And if you don’t eat, you won’t be as efficient. Everyone needs you sharp and on top of your game.”

  She drove down the four-lane divided highway that led south to the mall. “So you’re worried about me eating so I can better protect you.” That she could deal with. That was a Jackism. She could do more, do better, for him.

  “I’m worried you’ll get busy and won’t want to stop long enough to eat. I’m worried about you going hungry.” Justin turned to look at her, his expression oddly hurt. “You’ve been explicit about how little you think of unfaithful men, Maggie. I know I rank somewhere around the bottom of the food chain, but...” His voice faded.

  “But what?” She prodded him to finish his thought.

  “Nothing. Never mind.” He sighed and turned to look out the side window. “You’ve got reasons for feeling as you do. That you’d extend those feelings to me is just simply one of those things.”

  “One of what things?” She tapped her blinker, passed an SUV poking along, then moved back into her lane.

  “Those things that just have to be accepted,” he said sleepily, leaning back against the headrest.

  “Which means?”

  He didn’t answer.

  She looked over. He was sound asleep.

  Justin hadn’t denied cheating on Andrea, but he certainly didn’t strike Maggie as a guy who broke promises and tossed away vows on a whim. Was that perception honest or a practiced facade? He seemed truly decent and caring and thoughtful—not prone to faking an image for the sake of convenience. Time would tell, of course, but that wouldn’t help her much now.

  For three years she’d been immune to men. Then along he came and it was as if he’d flipped some switch inside her. She noticed everything about him. Reacted strangely, intensely, to him. Tempted her to lower her protective shields. That worried her most of all. Being tempted to take risks made women do stupid things. Made them assign extreme importance to things that shouldn’t be of any consequence. Odd things. Fascinating things. Things such as the way his hair curled around his ears and the way his lip lifted slightly more on the right than the left, giving him a crooked grin that was quite endearing. Honestly, she was attracted to him on far more than a physical level. Knowing he had cheated on his wife. Knowing she should be very cautious about trusting him. Knowing that if he hadn’t cheated, he would have defended himself and not just said, “Never mind.” Wouldn’t he?