The five-story building had never been finished. The lot was closed with a wiremesh fence, and abandoned construction tools and materials were still scattered all over the bare soil of the broad yard around the building.
The SWAT truck entered the lot first, followed by Gillian's and Fred's cars, an FBI SUV, several cruisers and Perkins' Bomb Squad truck. All of them stepped out of their vehicles halfway to the building's main entrance and got ready to breach it in the chilly sunset. SWAT took the lead. Part of them spread out to search the lot, as Perkins' Squads went straight to the building door. Brock, Russell and the SCU followed up close, while uniforms brought the rear.
The Squads found a small bomb attached to the door. Gillian and Brock traded a look: they were at the right place and Wood was waiting for them. When the bomb was safely removed and the Squads were sure no other devices threatened their access, SWAT breached the building door.
They took the lead with the Squads down the hall, to make sure the place was clear and secured. The others were halfway to the stairwell when a phone rang up ahead. Everybody froze, and after a few dreadful heartbeats, they sighed their relief, appreciating that nothing had exploded.
Perkins came back toward the team, phone in hand and a puzzled frown in his face. "It's Frank Wood. He wants to talk to you," he said, handing his phone to Gillian.
Before she put the call on speaker, Hank asked Tanya over the radio to trace the call.
"Frank," Gillian growled.
Wood's voice was calm and cold. "Come up, Gillian, apartment 324. And please extend the invitation to the rest of your team and the FBI."
"To blow us up like you did to Ron? Jesus, Frank! He was your friend!"
"My friend? Like you? Come up and we can talk about it face to face."
Gillian met Brock's peremptory scowl as the others shook their heads. "I got a limp after this morning, thanks to you. So why don't you come down to meet us?"
Hank's signs told that Wood was calling from inside the building.
"I'm waiting, Gillian," the man said curtly, and disconnected.
They all traded concerned looks. It was Russell who voiced what they all thought. "He's ready to blow the building up."
Brock turned to him. "There has to be more explosives in here. You have ATF training. Help the Bomb Squad to find them. The rest of us are going up."
Russell frowned. "You can't do that before they clear the building."
"He wants to see me. He wouldn't mine the way to the apartment," said Gillian.
Brock agreed. "It'd ruin his end game."
"But he's gonna attack you the moment you walk through his door!" argued Aldana.
Brock looked straight at Gillian. This time he wasn't about to let her step straight into the lion's den, so he deployed a calculated amount of authority in his voice to say, "Lieutenant, you're staying here with Coleman."
Not that he expected a blockbuster, but actually be ignored and forced to chase her down when she ran to reach the stairs.
But Gillian held his eyes and blinked, feeling as if he had just stabbed her in the back. And to everybody's surprise—herself included and on top of the list, Brock in second place with a bullet pointing up—she dropped her arms limp by her sides and stepped to Russell's side.
Before she had a chance to come back to her senses, he signaled the others to follow him to the stairs.