5. not on me

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Banks and Taylor got to the site with Cook, and they left him gawking at the blasted building while they hurried to meet Russell and Fred

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Banks and Taylor got to the site with Cook, and they left him gawking at the blasted building while they hurried to meet Russell and Fred.

Russell filled them in and tried to calm Banks down, because he looked like about to dig a way into the building with his own hands.

"And how are they gonna...?" Banks trailed off and looked around, scowling. "Where's the King?"

Russell shook his head, grimacing.

"But he knows what happened, right?"

Russell breathed deep and lowered his voice. "I called him a while ago. Skipped straight to voice mail. I left a message, but he still didn't call back."

"You told'im Reg's... that she's..."

"Injured and trapped, yeah."

Banks snorted. "That son of a bitch! Can't he even pretend to give a shit about her?"

Before Russell could reply, Aldana's car skidded into the lot and she jumped out of it, running to them with a thick roll of blueprints. Fred grabbed them and strode away toward Jules. She gave Russell three radios.

"They're set on a frequency no law enforcement agency uses. It should be safe."

"Good."

"Any news? How are they? Were you able to talk to them?"

"I don't know, Al. Brock looked alright, but Reg didn't show with him, so I'm afraid she might be hurt. And the explosions caused cracks all over the structure. There's no telling how long the building will stand. I just hope we can get to them in time."

Aldana held his eyes, but it was Banks who asked, "What is it, Russell? What else is going on here?"

"Brock said Reg's sure that Wood planted three more bombs somewhere in the city."

Aldana frowned. "Bad supper, makes sense," she said. "Any leads?"

"No. We need to figure out where those bombs are, and all we have to work on is Brock's profile."

She took a heartbeat to make up her mind and glanced at Banks. "Alright. Listen, Russ, the ones to use a profile to find the bombs are Reg and Brockner, and without them, you two are our best option."

"I'm not leaving!" argued Russell.

Aldana rested her hand on his cheek, looking straight into his eyes. "You go and do it, Russ. I brought one of Ron's scanners, so I'm staying here with Fred, to make sure Perkins and his boys don't screw up again."

Russell breathed deep. "Promise me you won't be the one using that scanner, Al, or I'm not leaving. Promise you're letting Fred do it."

She scowled at his words. He raised his eyebrows, waiting for her answer. She sighed and nodded. Russell lingered one last moment, looking at her, then he kissed her cheek and turned to Banks. Aldana and Taylor watched them hurry to Banks' car and drive away.


Brock lost count of how many times he pressed Gillian's chest, blew into her mouth, waited, started over. It didn't matter: he'd keep going till it worked because he was bringing her back. Period.

She wasn't dying.

Not her.

Not on him.

Not like this.

"C'mon, Gillian!" he snarled, hating the feeling of growing horror and impotence. "Breathe, dammit!"

Like responding to his voice, she finally reacted and coughed weakly. Brock dropped himself sit on the floor by her side with a heartfelt sigh, clenching his fists to stop his hands from shaking. Gillian opened her eyes slowly, looked up at him, tried a nod. He could only nod back, still trying to swallow his racing heart.

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