right.” Court’s eyes twinkled. “Or I could just shoot it.”
Their exchange of gallows humor helped, and Kyle settled back in his seat and tried to ease his residual anxiety by deep, steady breathing. He wished he felt the confidence the other members of the team had in him, but he couldn’t stop blaming himself for Buzz Williams’s death. Every second of that horrible day was etched indelibly in his brain. The memories made his gut cramp and his hands shake, a fatal problem for a bomb-disposal expert.
He and Buzz had answered the call at the Hollywood Bowl hours before a rock concert. A groundskeeper had discovered the explosive device only minutes before, and while the uniformed officers cleared and cordoned off the area, Kyle and Buzz had studied the bomb.
“It’s sophisticated,” Buzz said. “Nothing I ever saw before.”
Kyle nodded in agreement. “Better back off and let me handle this one, kid.”
“It’s my turn.”
“This is something new. I’d better do it.”
Buzz shook his head. “It’s as new to you as it is to me. Besides, how will I ever get experience if I don’t take a shot at it?”
At the earnest pleading in Buzz’s boyish face, Kyle relented. “Just take it by the book, okay? And holler if you need me.”
Kyle moved a safe distance away, but not so far he couldn’t observe Buzz’s work. Seconds ticked away like anxiety-filled hours, and Buzz lifted his head and caught Kyle’s eye. From that one look, Kyle knew the young man was in trouble, and he trundled toward him as fast as he could move in the cumbersome bodysuit.
He had covered only a few yards when the bomb blew.
Mercifully, the concussion of the blast knocked him unconscious, and he was carried away to a hospital before he ever regained his senses. He never saw what the bomb had done to young Buzz Williams.
But he could imagine.
And he could never forget the panic in Buzz’s eyes seconds before the blast. In that instant, his young partner had known he was a dead man.
Kyle shook his head, trying to jostle the memories loose. If anyone died today, it would be him. He glanced at his watch. Ten minutes to Helena. He prayed silently they would make it in time. Daniel had already advised the Helena bomb squad to back off. Kyle was the most experienced professional available, and if he couldn’t defuse the terrorist bomb, no one could. He was damn good at demolition, he reminded himself.
If he could stop his hands from shaking.
IN THE ANTEROOM to the Montana governor’s office in the capitol building, Laura Quinlan reached toward her father on the sofa beside her and flicked a speck of lint from the lapel of his best suit.
Josiah Quinlan, still vigorous and handsome at age seventy, thanked her with a loving smile. “Your mother, God rest her soul, used to do that whenever I’d get all gussied up for an important meeting. She always wanted me to look my best.”
Laura hooked her arm through his with an affectionate squeeze. “You look terrific, Dad.” She nodded toward the portfolio on his other side. “And with the test results you’ve brought to show him, the governor will have a hard time turning down your request.”
Josiah eased a finger beneath his collar. “I’m a scientist, not a fund-raiser. I wish things like this didn’t keep me from my work.”
Noting the hint of shadows beneath his eyes, Laura felt her heart clench with concern. “You work too hard. It’s about time you took a day off.”
“A day off.” He snorted with good humor. “I’d rather work forty hours straight in the lab than face someone, hat in hand, asking for financial support.”
Laura nodded, sharing her father’s frustration. “With the threat of terrorists with biological weapons, you’d think the federal government would provide all the funding you need, without us having to beg, borrow or steal to keep our vaccine research—”
“Dr. Quinlan, Miss Quinlan,” the secretary interrupted. “The governor will see you now.”
Josiah pushed to his feet, straightened his coat and gave Laura a look as if he were off to face a firing squad. “Here goes.”
“Relax, Daddy.” She rose and handed him his portfolio. “You’ll do fine.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’m glad you’ll be in there pitching with me, sugar. We make a good team.”
She preceded her father into the adjoining office. Governor Harry Haskel stood behind his massive mahogany desk to greet them.
“Josiah, you old dog,” the handsome politician said with a grin the media cameras loved and an approving glance at Laura. “You never told me what a beauty your daughter is.”
Haskel skirted his desk and offered Laura a chair with old-fashioned gallantry. Determined not to spoil her father’s chances, she forced a polite smile of her own and perched on the edge of the leather club chair.
Haskel leaned closer, and his expensive cologne clogged her nostrils, making her stifle a sneeze. “What are you, Miss Quinlan? A model? A movie star?”
Even for a consummate politician, Haskel was laying it on thick, but, remembering the purpose of her father’s visit, Laura tolerated the man’s line of bull and tried to appear flattered.
“I’m director of public relations at the Quinlan Research Institute,” she explained with more civility than she felt. “I enjoy working with my father.”
“And well you should.” Haskel shook her father’s hand and waved Josiah into the seat beside her. “He’s the foremost scientist in biological weapons research.”
Her father leaned forward in his chair. “Thank you for meeting with us today, Harry. We’re at a breakthrough point at the lab, and it’s imperative we have more funding.”
“You don’t beat around the bush, do you, Josiah?” The governor’s smile was warm but only touched the surface. Laura wondered what unknown depths his affable veneer concealed.
“I don’t want to waste your time,” Josiah said. “I know you’re a busy man.”
Harry rubbed his hands together. “Then let’s get to it.” He hesitated and glanced toward Laura. “Uh, this your first visit to the capitol, Miss Quinlan?”
Laura blinked at the sudden shift in conversation. “Yes, it is.”
Harry reached down, gripped her elbow and lifted her from her seat. “Then why don’t you take the tour while your father and I talk? I’m sure you don’t want to bother that pretty head with dry financial business.”
At the pleading look on her father’s face, Laura bit back a sharp reply. A chauvinistic male like Haskel was oblivious to the fact that Laura knew more about finances than her father, but setting the governor straight wouldn’t help their cause. She smiled her brightest smile. “That’s a great idea. I’ll leave you two to talk.”
Struck by a sudden impulse, she bent down and planted a quick
