Triple Threat (2 page)

“I don't think you can.” Her words hadn't come out the way she intended.

“What? Who do you think you are?” A loud expletive blasted in her ear as Josh steered the car around the sharp corner from Denny Way onto 1st Avenue.

“You shouldn't have said that, Kate.” The car wheels squealed a final complaint as Josh braked to a stop outside the west entrance to Key Arena.

“I'm going to stop this guy, Peterson. Get here as quickly as you can. We don't have any more time—” she decided to hang up on Peterson before he found a worse word in his meager cursing vocabulary. Peterson's furious voice blasted out through her cell.

Too late, and she had accidentally bumped the speaker phone button.

“Sounds like you're in trouble with the FBI.” Josh stared at her.

“It wouldn't be the first time.”

“You're not just a student. Who are you, Kate?”

She didn't have time for explanations.

When the car jerked to a stop, Katie flung the door open.

Josh grabbed her arm, trying to stop her. “I don't hear any sirens yet. You've got to wait for the police.”

“We'd better not hear any sirens. That would only make the guy start shooting sooner. But, Josh, the SWAT team won't make it in time.” Katie motioned to part of the supporting structure near the west entrance to the arena. “Do you see the big arch?”

Josh still gripped her arm like he didn't plan to let go. “Don't even think about that. The roof overlaps it too much. You'd have to run up a forty-five degree arch and jump onto a steep roof eight feet above. You'll slide off and kill yourself.”

She pulled her arm free. “Not if you help me. And keep your voice down.”

“I'm not going to help anyone commit suicide. Especially you, Kate.”

Especially her? She didn't have time to dwell on hidden meanings. Maybe later. If there was a later for her. Maybe Josh was right and this was crazy. No. She couldn't let some deluded jihadist shoot little Grady and Grace…and Jenn. Tears filled her eyes. Katie stopped at the foot of the huge arch and wiped them away, hoping Josh hadn't noticed her weakness.

He ran up beside her and stopped, hands on hips, staring up at the edge of the monstrous convex roof.

She glanced at her watch. 2:25 PM. Five minutes left. She scanned the arch up to the roof of the building. “It's only about eight feet. If I stand on your shoulders, I could get onto the roof.”

“That's insane. I would have to stand on a forty-five degree slope and balance while I let you climb onto my shoulders. If I drop you…I'm not willing to risk that.”

She stared into Josh's eyes. “I can do this. There are things you don't know about me…just trust me, please...I trust
you
, Josh.”

He held her gaze. “Kate, you can't stop this guy. You'll only get killed.”

“I told you, there are things you don't—”

“So Kate Brandt is a ninja babe?” Reluctance remained in his eyes, and his hands remained on his hips.

Darn!
A tear spilled from her eye. She hated to cry, to appear weak.

Josh's hands came off his hips and reached for her. His reluctance had melted.

Katie pushed her palms at him. She needed his help, not his consolation. “I can handle this. I won't do anything stupid.”

“Nothing stupid?” His hands went back to his hips. “Then you won't go up there.”

Katie looked at his athletic build and strong arms. “Please, Josh. If not for me, then do it for my little brother and sister, for my mom, and for all the other kids out there.” More tears trickled down her cheeks.

“Oh, man. How did I ever let…OK. We'll try it once.”

Maybe tears were good for something.

“But if you slip and fall off me, Kate, so help me I'll—”

“You'll what, kill me? You wouldn't have to. But I'm not going to fall.”

Katie ran up the arch and stopped, crouching below the overhang. She planted her hands and feet on the five-foot-wide support and slowly stood up. Her feet didn't slide. They
could
do this. “Hurry, Josh. I need to be up there now.”

Josh's powerful legs drove his body up the arch, stopping beside her.

She pointed at a spot two feet below her. “Set your feet just beyond the edge of the overhang.”

Josh adjusted his feet, leaned into the steep slope, and repositioned them again. “OK. Step on my knee, swing a leg around my shoulders, and sit.”

This was not a ladylike thing to do with a guy, but that wasn't a concern at this point. Only three minutes until the gunman would start shooting…if his watch wasn't fast. She moved in front of Josh, facing him, their eyes only inches apart.

He took her hand and squeezed. His look softened. “Please, Kate. Be careful up there when you do your ninja thing. You can't let him have a shot at—”

“Never,” she said, shaking her head. “Not the likes of him.” She stepped up on his knee. Josh felt as solid as a rock. She pushed upward and swung a leg around his shoulders.

He clasped his hands, forming a stirrup. “Here, put your foot in my hands and step up onto my shoulder. When your weight comes off my hands, step onto my shoulder with your other foot and grab my hands to steady yourself. You should be able to stand up. I've got my balance now, Kate. Are you ready?”

“I think so.”

“Then go ahead. I won't drop you.” Somewhere Josh had found confidence.

Using the stirrup, Katie stood on his shoulders, holding Josh's hands and teetering to gain her balance.

She let go with one hand and placed it on the roof. Then the other hand. But the roof was still chest high. She couldn't climb onto it.

Katie peered up at the communication building on top of the Key. That was the only hiding spot for the man until he moved into the open on the east side of the building to start shooting down on the crowd. Hopefully, all his attention would be focused on the other side where the people were. If not…

She needed at least another foot to put her knee on the roof and gain enough leverage to lift her body onto it. “I need you to bend your legs, then jump and bounce me up. If I jump when you do, I'll land on the roof.”

“How did I ever let you—” Josh grunted and took a deep breath. “Just do it, Kate. But keep your body aligned with the arch, just in case. If you fall, I want you to land on the arch, not the concrete below. We'll go on three.”

“Wait. When you jump, make sure you jump toward the building. When I push off, I don't want my feet pushing you over backward because—”

“Yeah,
because
…” Josh growled at her.

“I can see that you understand. You count. We'll go on three.”

Josh drew a breath. “One, two, three.” He bent his knees and jumped.

She pushed off his shoulders, propelling her body three feet up into the air.

Katie landed spread-eagled on the steep slope at the roof's edge and clung there, praying she wouldn't slide backward.

Below her she heard a thud, then the raspy sound of sliding. She looked down. Josh had landed spread-eagled on his back, head downhill on the big arch. He had jumped too hard, but managed to stay on the arch and had stopped his slide.

Was he OK? She gave him thumbs up.

He returned it and was punished for his effort by sliding another foot head-first down the concrete and steel arch. In one quick movement, he swiveled his feet below his head and rolled onto his stomach. He looked up and waved her on.

Good. He
was
OK.

Katie turned and breathed a quiet prayer as she crept up the roof toward the communications facility. On the far side of the structure, somewhere amid the antennas and dishes, a movement caught her eye.

 

 

 

 

2

 

When Katie disappeared from view on the arena roof a sickening, sinking sensation dropped into Josh's stomach. What had he just done? Had he really been so caught up in Kate's desperation and the goal of getting her safely onto the roof that he forgot about what would come next? A determined young woman, unarmed, was about to engage an armed terrorist. And he had enabled her to do it.

Josh sprinted around the arena to the side where throngs of children milled about, interspersed by the taller figures of their chaperones.

Too close to the building. He backpedaled to gain visibility of the roof, aware that he could be making himself a target for the shooter. A target, yes. But nothing like Kate. And what would she try to do? And where did she get the…the experience to think she could take on a terrorist, anyway? He'd let the drama she'd used fuel the moment. He was a fool.

Josh sucked a sharp breath when, less than thirty yards away, a figure with both hands on an assault rifle stepped near the edge of the roof.
She's right…there is a terrorist on the roof…

The shooter pulled a lever on the gun. A metallic click sounded above the murmur of voices in Seattle Center.

High above the man, Kate's blonde hair waved in the gentle breeze as she crept toward him.

The shooter intently scanned the crowd.

Josh shuddered as the gunmen's gaze swept across him. Immediately, the barrel of the rifle swung upward.

Kate bounded with the speed and grace of a cheetah running down its prey.

Josh held his breath, waiting for the popping of the rifle.

“Please keep her safe,” he whispered. Who was he talking to?

The shooter's body stiffened. The rifle moved away from the crowd. He had heard Kate.

Still five yards from the shooter, Kate launched her body into the air, legs retracted.

The man swiveled toward Kate.

She delivered a powerful kick to the shooter's upper torso.

He flew off the roof.

His gun clattered down the arch to the concrete below.

The man's body flipped end for end in the air, then bounced where the grass met the concrete around the arena.

Kate landed on her back near the edge of the roof. Her body slid feet first. She wouldn't be able to stop.

“Katie!” A woman's voice yelled from the crowd.

Josh sprinted toward Kate.

She had stopped sliding and rolled onto her stomach, but her feet dangled over the edge. Kate planted her palms down on the roof. Her hands might delay her fall to the concrete fifteen feet below, but they couldn't prevent it.

“Hang on, Kate! I'm almost there.”

“Josh! I'm sliding! I'm—”

He stopped underneath Kate. “I've got you!”

Kate's legs swung inward as her body left the roof.

Josh extended his arms and braced himself.

Her body rotated, falling parallel to the ground.

He took her impact with his arms and chest. One arm cradled her head, the other took her thighs.

Kate's momentum drove his back down.

Josh's breath exploded from his mouth when his back slammed onto the concrete.

Kate's head pounded against his biceps, causing the muscle to spasm and her head to remain intact.

Josh sucked hard. No air. Only an asthmatic wheeze. He tried again and wheezed in a bit of air. He had gotten his breath knocked out of him before. On the football field. But never by a beautiful blonde in his arms.

Kate bounced up to her feet.

She was OK.

Maybe he was, too.

Kate scurried to the arch and, as Josh sat up on the concrete, she grabbed the gun.

Josh fought for another breath, and then looked for the shooter.

The dark-skinned man struggled to his knees.

A small, Asian woman ran toward the man and delivered a powerful stomp.

The man's body flew backward, thudding on the concrete.

As Josh stood checking his aching body for any serious injuries, ten yards away Kate knelt, set the gun down, and opened her arms wide.

Two small children ran to her. She wrapped them both in her arms. “Thank God you're OK.”

“Did Kaykay get hurt?” The wide-eyed boy asked as he scanned Kate's head.

“He was a bad man, huh, Kaykay?” the small girl said.

Kate released the two children and stood. “I'm OK, Grady. And yes, Gracie, he's a bad man.”

A few feet away from Josh, the small woman, who had apparently put the shooter down and out with her kick, stood over his prone body, prepared for another assault.

Josh studied her. Her eyes were as intense as Kate's and, like Kate, she was extraordinarily beautiful.

Kate walked up to Josh, the two kids trailing behind her, and slipped her arms around him. “Thanks, Josh. I'm so thankful you showed up at the lab when you did. Without you I would've—are you OK?” She pulled her head back and met his gaze.

Breathing a little easier now, Josh's eyes surveyed the throng of people. All eyes seem to be on Kate and him. “Kate,” he croaked, “you scared me to death. I shouldn't have let—”

“Yes, you should have. We did what we had to do.” She laid her head on his shoulder.

That sent his racing heart somewhere near the red line.

A group of uniformed men, weapons drawn, rounded one corner of the arena. Another group approached from the opposite side.

Kate raised her head, and then turned toward the group led by a tall slender man.

“The shooter's under control,” the beautiful Asian woman called out to the men. An FBI SWAT team according to their uniforms.

“Peterson,” Kate yelled, “it's about time you got here.”

“Katie Brandt.” The tall man frowned. “I ought to arrest you for—”

“No.” Josh cut him off. “You ought to hire her.” He surprised himself with his reaction.

Three men surrounded the shooter and took over for the woman.

She walked toward Kate and him.

“Mom, I tried to call and warn you, but you didn't answer.” Kate's eyes overflowed as she choked out her words.

So
she
was Kate's mother? It didn't compute.