Page 60 of Acting on Instinct
“If you get too close to a heat source, or even a static spark, it can create a flash fire. But mostly, if you anger the TATP gods,” Nitro said, “you won’t be worried about anything because vapor don’t worry.”
“Okay, possible IED production using TATP, they keep the whole of the apartment cold, but keep themselves warm enough to function by using a tent to hold their body heat in? To lower the risk of static electricity?”
“Maybe they have hot potatoes in their pockets to warm their fingers,” Jeopardy said, lifting a water bottle to his lips.
“We’re speculating, putting ideas in the air,” White reminded him.
“I enjoy a good speculation,” Jeopardy said. “I’m not thrilled with the idea of nitroglycerin or TATP.”
“What do you think, White?” Ty asked. “Is this political? Religious?”
“We have no evidence of either. We’re working on the theory that this is about retribution, and that the retribution was always aimed at the U.S. It just became more complicated for them without the prize money from finding the red diamond ring. They also lost about half their crew when they were ambushed in Germany, and now another member is down for the count with phossy jaw.” White shifted around to lean into the back of a seat as they moved through some turbulence. “Lynx speculated that the cell might have killed Phossy because he became a liability to the group when they needed to escape Morocco. Luckily, his friends were loyal. If they had killed him and dumped his body, we’d never have found this crew.”
Quiet descended on the group. Each had been trained and believed in “no man left behind.” Expediency wasn’t part of that calculus.
“Given their new reality, they’re getting creative,” White said. “I can’t find an affiliation with a place of worship, university, or the military. I’m not sure how they got together or trained.”
“Here’s a question,” Ty said. “Why are they putting things together here and shipping them to the U.S. if the components and production are as easy as Nitro says?”
“My team has asked ourselves the same thing. Of course, we don’t know what they’re up to. We still don’t. Explosives, as Nitro pointed out, are a possibility. We know they intend to bring their product to the United States along these lines. It could be that they’re producing things here because the cell members have no intention of going to America and already have group members in place on the other end. It could be that whatever they’re doing would cause more concern and attention in the United States than it does here. The most probable reason, though, is that they have a specific date in mind for an American attack. They needed to be here for Phossy Jaw. He’s doing much better, but at first he needed round-the-clock care from his comrades. So they did the work while caring for Phossy, and they’ll ship the work. It doesn’t matter where the work is done. It matters that it's at the right place at the right time. And for us, it matters that these guys are in a hole answering questions and there’s no one to make the delivery.”
“That room is part of our mission only to gather data for the interrogation team?” T-Rex asked.
“That’s the whipped cream on the sundae,” White said. “I’ll be satisfied with the six of them hog-tied and on their way to a black site. But it would be a nice thank-you gift to the French government if we could tell them what was in those boxes. And I’d like to be gracious if it doesn’t impede our goals.”
“All right,” T-Rex said, reaching for the remote. “Thank you, ma’am. We’re going to work on getting a timeline together, so we’re ready to jump as soon as we land.”
Chapter Nineteen
Kira
How did Ty do it?
Kira had now been in three violent events with life or death consequences, and Kira understood that in the moment of confrontation, she was a hundred percent present and functioning.
This time between peace and danger was crazy-making.
She slammed a fist into her chest and burped loudly, relieving some of the heartburn.
Anticipation did terrible things to her body.
How did Ty just head out for what he thought was a training exercise and find himself off on a mission where danger was the standard?
Did he sweat like she did?
Did his body vibrate?
This was all so surreal.
Kira was starting to think she was panicking as a knee-jerk reaction.
Did she believe that London had perceived a threat and acted in Kira’s best interest?
Absolutely.
Was Kira glad to be away from her house until she had a better handle on things?
Yes.
