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to tamp down the rage soaring through him.
    They entered the empty stairwell and descended to the basement, the only noise was their shoes on the old tiled stairs.
    At the first floor level a door led out to the street.
    Jake stepped out of line. “I’ll meet you inside, once I see what the situation is outside.”
    “This guy expects Senator Klein to be here, so there’s going to be a lot of high-priority security over by the ER,” Dave said. “The SWAT leader is Captain Johnson and the negotiator is Collins. He’s completely by the book.”
    “Talk and stall,” Jake said, looking straight at Dave. They both knew that was the usual protocol, but tonight things were different. Their gunman had an agenda and a ticking bomb. More importantly, he had Judy.
    Jake slipped his wireless receiver into his ear then turned to Katie. “This alarm disabled, too?”
    She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “No one will hear you coming. Stay safe.”
    With a nod, the FBI agent strolled out into the chaos on the street and ER bay.
    “Let’s go,” Dave said, leading the others down into the belly of the hospital.
    They wound their way through the pipes feeding steam heat to both buildings. Some steam hissed from loose valves over their heads, making sweat roll down between Dave’s shoulder blades.  At the brick wall separating the boiler room from the morgue stood a steel door. No lock existed on this side. Few people knew they were connected, except the maintenance crews. The lock from the hospital to the morgue was another thing. Hospital policy kept it locked to keep out the morbid curious or pranksters looking to steal dead bodies.
    They slipped inside and the sudden drop in temperature sent shivers through Dave. He looked at the others and saw they’d had the same creepy feeling. Luckily, tonight there were no corpses on slabs—at least not yet.
    Just as he was ready to open the main door from the morgue into the hospital, his phone buzzed. He halted the group and pulled out his phone, hitting the speaker button again. “Judy?”
    “Is Senator Klein here, Lydia?” Judy’s voice shook with the question. Her fear fueled the rage Dave barely had leashed.
    “Jake’s gone to find out what he can about the Senator. Do you know why this guy wants him here?”
    “Good. His son is still on the OR table and stable for now, Lydia, but he’s still bleeding.”
    Dave listened closely as he heard a deep voice in the background. He couldn’t make out what was being said.
    “Mr. Wilkes says he’s not to leave with the other evacuees. He wants only one policeman to bring the Senator up to this door.”
    She paused.
    “Yes, I can see the counter on the cell phone.”
    More mumbling. “There’s thirty minutes until this goes off. Wilkes wants to see the senator in ten, or he’ll trigger it earlier.”
    “Babe, no way will the senator’s handlers let him come within shooting distance of that door. We’re in the building. I’ll try to get there before the ten-minute deadline. Maybe I can take him out with one shot if you can get him in front of the window. It’s a risk, but it’s the only hope. You have to do it.”
    “Lydia, please tell David I love him and my babies.”
    The anguish in her voice tore at his heart. His Judy never showed fear.
    “Don’t you give up, babe. I love you. I’m here.”
    He clicked off then bent over double. “Dammit!”
    Her fear was so palpable it choked him through the phone. In all their life together, he’d never seen Judy afraid. Not once. Not even when she was pregnant with their first child.
     
    The message the sergeant gave him said he was needed at home as soon as his shift ended. Judy had never sent him a message like that. Something must be wrong.
    His heartbeat pounded in his ear as he opened the door.
    “Judy?” He called when he didn’t see her in the living room or in the townhouse’s kitchen.
    “Up here, David.”
    David? She only called him when she was mad or