someone needs to make sure everyone stays calm.”
“TV says there’s a lot of casualties.”
“It’s probably too soon for them to know that. Besides, I wasn’t aware prosecutors were on the list of first responders. Seriously, Danny, staying here and keeping people calm is as important as anything else you could do.”
“You feds, always hogging the glory.”
“Yep, that’s us.” Sarah knew Danny was kidding, but she also knew Danny realized the potential severity of the situation. “I’ll do better if I know my friends are safe. Go find your wife. Okay?”
Danny nodded. “Promise me you’ll check in when you can.”
“Deal.” Sarah didn’t risk another look at her face before hauling ass out of the room, cursing the shoes she’d coveted in the store. She didn’t bother with the elevators, instead locating the nearest stairwell, removing her heels, and jumping the steps three at a time as she practically slid down the banister. When she reached the ground floor, she spotted a group of security guards near the door, working hard to keep guests from flooding out into the street. She looked at her phone and, as she had suspected, she no longer had any signal. She strode up the nearest guard and flashed her badge. “Special Agent Sarah Flores, FBI. You have a radio?”
The guy glanced at his buddies and then reluctantly handed it over. As she ran through the frequencies, he asked, “What can you tell us?”
What she wouldn’t give to have an answer to that question, but rather than admit she was just as clueless as every civilian clamoring at the doors, she merely shook her head. Finally, she found the local police band and listened for a moment before chiming in with her name and location as she started walking toward the site of the explosion, ignoring the protests of the security guard who wanted his equipment back. It could be the end of the world for all he knew, but he was squealing like a baby over a walkie-talkie.
As she got closer to the arena, the smoke and dust hung in the air, making it difficult to assess the location and extent of damage. She heard shouting and she could see the distant red and blue lights of emergency vehicles approaching. She pushed through until she saw a group of Dallas police officers standing by the fountains in front of the arena in a semblance of organization. They’d strung yellow tape between two traffic cones in a makeshift perimeter. She jogged over, but the officer standing closest to her stepped closer as if trying to keep her at a distance.
“Ma’am, we need you to stand back while we assess the damage.”
“Special Agent Flores, FBI.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her badge. “I’m here to help. Where’s ground zero?”
He handed back her badge without even really examining it. “We think it only affected a small portion of the building, but there are a lot of casualties.” He pointed to the west end. “Looks like most of the wounded are over there, but there are a lot we haven’t been able to get to and we won’t be able to get close until the rubble is cleared away.”
She imagined he and his fellow officers were completely out of their league with a catastrophe of this proportion. Who wouldn’t be? She glanced around, wondering if anyone else from her agency had arrived on scene yet. Most of the people she saw looked like civilians who’d poured out of the arena, dressed in the colors of their favorite team and looking like their world had been upended. But wait a minute. She scanned the crowd again, certain she’d seen a familiar face. She strode toward a group clustered on the walk that ran around the arena. Sure enough, there was Liz from the office huddled with a different group of cops. Liz looked up as she approached, not even trying to mask her surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Guess I could ask the same thing,” Sarah said. “I was at a reception at the W when I got the page.”
“I live over
“TV says there’s a lot of casualties.”
“It’s probably too soon for them to know that. Besides, I wasn’t aware prosecutors were on the list of first responders. Seriously, Danny, staying here and keeping people calm is as important as anything else you could do.”
“You feds, always hogging the glory.”
“Yep, that’s us.” Sarah knew Danny was kidding, but she also knew Danny realized the potential severity of the situation. “I’ll do better if I know my friends are safe. Go find your wife. Okay?”
Danny nodded. “Promise me you’ll check in when you can.”
“Deal.” Sarah didn’t risk another look at her face before hauling ass out of the room, cursing the shoes she’d coveted in the store. She didn’t bother with the elevators, instead locating the nearest stairwell, removing her heels, and jumping the steps three at a time as she practically slid down the banister. When she reached the ground floor, she spotted a group of security guards near the door, working hard to keep guests from flooding out into the street. She looked at her phone and, as she had suspected, she no longer had any signal. She strode up the nearest guard and flashed her badge. “Special Agent Sarah Flores, FBI. You have a radio?”
The guy glanced at his buddies and then reluctantly handed it over. As she ran through the frequencies, he asked, “What can you tell us?”
What she wouldn’t give to have an answer to that question, but rather than admit she was just as clueless as every civilian clamoring at the doors, she merely shook her head. Finally, she found the local police band and listened for a moment before chiming in with her name and location as she started walking toward the site of the explosion, ignoring the protests of the security guard who wanted his equipment back. It could be the end of the world for all he knew, but he was squealing like a baby over a walkie-talkie.
As she got closer to the arena, the smoke and dust hung in the air, making it difficult to assess the location and extent of damage. She heard shouting and she could see the distant red and blue lights of emergency vehicles approaching. She pushed through until she saw a group of Dallas police officers standing by the fountains in front of the arena in a semblance of organization. They’d strung yellow tape between two traffic cones in a makeshift perimeter. She jogged over, but the officer standing closest to her stepped closer as if trying to keep her at a distance.
“Ma’am, we need you to stand back while we assess the damage.”
“Special Agent Flores, FBI.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her badge. “I’m here to help. Where’s ground zero?”
He handed back her badge without even really examining it. “We think it only affected a small portion of the building, but there are a lot of casualties.” He pointed to the west end. “Looks like most of the wounded are over there, but there are a lot we haven’t been able to get to and we won’t be able to get close until the rubble is cleared away.”
She imagined he and his fellow officers were completely out of their league with a catastrophe of this proportion. Who wouldn’t be? She glanced around, wondering if anyone else from her agency had arrived on scene yet. Most of the people she saw looked like civilians who’d poured out of the arena, dressed in the colors of their favorite team and looking like their world had been upended. But wait a minute. She scanned the crowd again, certain she’d seen a familiar face. She strode toward a group clustered on the walk that ran around the arena. Sure enough, there was Liz from the office huddled with a different group of cops. Liz looked up as she approached, not even trying to mask her surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Guess I could ask the same thing,” Sarah said. “I was at a reception at the W when I got the page.”
“I live over
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