Designated Survivor by John H. Matthews

waited.
    Thirty feet. Twenty-five. The figure got closer. He held his hand with the black metal canister up so his team knew what was coming.
    Twenty feet.
    Grace tossed the canister around the corner. The sound of the metal casing echoed as it hit the marble floor. The team all covered their ears just before the nearly 200 decibel blast came from the non-lethal flashbang device as it exploded within its steel casing, the blinding light lit up the hall and the monitor turned white. Holden was through the door first with Avery and Grace right behind him. They covered the 20 feet before the smoke dissipated and found their target kneeling on the floor, hands over ears. Sounds of yelling and screaming came from the closed doors to the House chamber.
    “Drop the weapon and lie down on the floor,” Grace said.
    “You don’t understand,” a man’s voice came from the mask.
    “What do I not understand except that we have six weapons pointed at your head right now?” Grace said.
    The man’s right hand move slowly away from his ear, the palm turning to show them the black trigger in his hand, his thumb on top of a red button. A wire ran from the trigger down his arm and into his bulletproof vest.
    “And what do you have there?” Grace said. He motioned for the team to begin backing up while the man’s vision was still obscured from the blast.
    “It’s everything,” the man said. “I push this button and the whole building goes up along with everyone in that room.” He motioned over to the door to the House chamber where Congress, the president and vice president were all being held captive.
    Grace glanced at Levi and tapped his vest to see if they were thinking the same thing. Levi nodded.
    “I’m not sure what you think you have there, but I don’t think it’s gonna blow the building up,” Grace said.
    The man’s finger twitched.
    “Try me,” he said.
    “I’m pretty sure what you have is a common terrorist grade suicide vest,” Grace said. “You press that button and the last thing you’re not gonna see your own brain splattered against all four walls.”
    Everyone was around the corner of the doorway except for Grace and Levi who were back at the edge of the entrance.
    “Why don’t you slowly put the trigger by your side and drop your weapon and we’ll get the vest off of you,” Grace said.
    “I can’t,” the man said. “They’ll kill my family.”
    Grace paused. He ran the scenario through his head and thought of the Marine pilot.
    “Not if they think you’re dead,” Grace said. “We’ll keep you safe and take you out of here in a body bag. Once clear we’ll get your family to safety.”
    Levi looked at Grace and raised an eyebrow. Grace shrugged.
    “Can you do that?” the man said.
    “We’re with the FBI,” Grace lied. “We can do anything. What’s your name?”
    “Laurence,” he said. “Laurence Bradley.”
    “Okay, Laurence Bradley,” Grace said. “I’m looking forward to having a long conversation with you, but not until we get that bomb off of you.”
    Laurence’s right arm lowered to his side and he let the trigger fall. He lifted the strap to the rifle over his head and set it on the floor on his other side.
    “All right, Laurence,” Grace said. “We just need you to place your hands behind your head now.”
    They watched as the man’s hands began to rise then stopped. “I can’t. They’ll know,” his right hand dropped to the floor and grabbed the trigger. His thumb pushed the red button down.
    Levi and Grace turned and dove through the door onto the hard floor as the rest of the team did the same to get further from the blast zone. After several seconds Grace pushed up onto his hands and looked back at Laurence kneeling, his thumb pushing the red button over and over.
     
     

CHAPTER 14
    “That’s a pleasant surprise,” Grace said. “Looks like we were both wrong.”
    Laurence collapsed to the floor, his chest heaving.
    “I can’t tell if he’s