Decker grabbed Mars’s arm and pulled him away.
They reached the hole and went through it. Mars looked back at Brown, coughing and wheezing, her jacket over her nose and mouth, as she squatted over the bomb.
Then he and Decker raced down the tunnel. When they were far enough away from the gas he got a signal and called Bogart.
All Bogart said was, “Got it.”
Decker looked at his watch.
Mars did too. “Two damn minutes,” he said, staring at Decker. “I got to go back, Decker. I got to go help her.”
“Me too.”
They ran back down the tunnel. When they got close the gas was now so thick that they clutched their heads and staggered. Mars hit the wall, and Decker nearly sank to his knees, his head pounding.
“Come on!” screamed Mars, righting himself.
They stumbled down the tunnel, reached the hole, and fell through it. Both men were violently sick to their stomachs.
“Harper!” called out Mars.
He had dropped his phone and couldn’t see in the darkness.
Far above, Decker thought he heard rumblings.
They were evacuating the building, his muddled mind realized.
He and Mars got up and staggered forward, but they were now both disoriented as the gas overwhelmed their brains and their lungs.
“We’ve got to find her, fast!” said Decker. “Before we pass out.”
“Over there,” Mars managed to say.
They crawled forward.
The pile of rubble was still there.
But there was no sign of Brown.
Gasping, Mars reached the hole first. Decker joined him a second later. They both stared down at the burning red numbers on the detonator.
They were not moving.
They were stuck at four seconds.
Two wires had been pulled free from the device.
“Where’s Harper?” gasped Mars.
Decker, his jacket pulled over his mouth and nose, looked groggily around. Harper Brown had fallen into the tunnel two feet from the bomb, her body wedged between the pipe and the wall. Decker reached down, grabbed her arm, and pulled. Mars saw what he was doing, jumped across the hole, and helped him. With their combined strength, they quickly pulled her up. Mars slung her over his shoulder.
They stumbled to the hole in the wall and then picked up speed, racing along and occasionally bouncing off the walls of the tunnel. When they were far enough away to where they couldn’t smell the gas, they stopped and Mars set Brown down. They sucked in air, their heads clearing. Brown’s eyes were closed. She was turning blue. And there was something else.
“Decker, she’s not breathing!” screamed Mars. He dropped to the floor of the tunnel and started performing CPR, pumping her chest.
“Help me, Decker, help me!”
Decker dropped down next to him and started breathing into Brown’s mouth after pinching closed her nose.
“Come on, come on, breathe,” pleaded Mars. “Please, Harper, please. Don’t go. Don’t leave.”
He kept pumping.
And Decker kept breathing.
And despite all that, Harper Brown remained still.
CHAPTER
81
DECKER WAS IN a suit and tie. His hair was cut and neatly parted at the side. And plastered down with lots of hair gel.
Melvin Mars was next to him, dressed as formally as his friend. Behind them was Jamison, in a black dress and matching stockings.
Decker checked his watch. “It’s time.”
They walked down the hall to an auditorium. It was full, and Bogart and Milligan were already there in the front row.
Bogart looked up and caught their eye. He indicated the empty seats next to them.
“Never better,” said Decker, grinning.
“And you don’t look bad in a suit and tie,” added Bogart.
Milligan nodded appreciatively. “In fact, you’re starting to look like a real FBI agent, Decker. Maybe we need to start holding you to a dress code.”
Decker’s smile faded and he stopped clapping.
* * *