Smolleck had written something on the pad that was on the table and pushed it over to McDonough to read.
“Ms. Matin,” McDonough said. “Are you Gertrude Morgenstern?”
Star let out a little laugh. “Gertrude Morgenstern is dead.”
“Do you blame Diana Lynd for her death?”
“I do.”
Her mother made a small noise.
Smolleck brought a finger to his lips and frowned.
“Is Di there with ya? Far out.” Star’s voice had changed from its southern accent to something coarser. “Hi there, Polly.”
Smolleck tilted his head at Mama.
She scribbled on the pad, and Aubrey leaned over to read it. Gertrude’s nickname for me.
Smolleck nodded at McDonough to continue.
“Ms. Matin,” McDonough said, “what is your relationship to Gertrude Morgenstern?”
Star gave a little cough. “Star was born when Gertrude died,” she said, back to her southern drawl.
“I don’t understand,” McDonough said. “Please tell me what that means.”
The van was silent, except for the magnified sound of Star’s breathing.
“Are you doing okay, Ms. Matin?” McDonough said.
She didn’t answer.
“Please tell me what you want,” he said.
“Di.”
Aubrey tensed. She looked at her mother, but Mama’s face hadn’t changed expression. She had probably been expecting this.
“Please explain that, Ms. Matin,” McDonough said.
“I want to talk to Di,” she said. “Here, in the apartment.”
Mama started to stand up. Aubrey shook her head “no” vehemently.
Her mother wrote something on the pad.
Smolleck read it, made a note on the pad, and pushed it to McDonough.
McDonough nodded. “Ms. Matin,” he said, “we’ll consider letting Di inside to speak with you. But first, you will have to let Ethan leave.”
“Oh, but I’m afraid I can’t do that,” she said. “If I let Ethan go, I’ll lose my leverage. No, that won’t work. But I have a proposition for you.”
“What’s that?” McDonough asked.
“Let Di inside to talk to me. Then, after we’ve settled old business, everyone can leave.”
Smolleck shook his head hard.
“We won’t be able to do that, Ms. Matin,” McDonough said.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” she said. “Because if you don’t, I’ll blow up the entire building, with Ethan in it.”
CHAPTER 44
Aubrey opened her mouth, but no words came out. How dare you. How dare you hurt my loved ones and threaten my family!
McDonough seemed to be struggling to keep his voice even, but sweat was running down his cheeks. “Is there a bomb in the building, Ms. Matin?”
“Yes, there is, Agent McDonough.”
The two men at the front of the van were working frantically on their equipment, possibly communicating the bomb threat to other agencies.
“What kind of bomb is it?”
“There wouldn’t be much fun in me telling you,” Star said.
“Is it possible that cell phones would trigger it?”
She hesitated. “Probably not, but I want to reiterate what you can do to prevent its detonation.”
“What is that, Ms. Matin?”
“Send Di in to speak with me.”
Smolleck leaned over and said something to McDonough, then ushered Aubrey and her mother out of the van.
The street was unnaturally quiet, as if all the hidden officers, and not just Aubrey, were frozen in suspended animation. She released a shaky breath. Her mother’s eyes were moving back and forth, as though looking for a possible escape.
Smolleck’s jaw was tight, the vein in his temple throbbing. “If she does have a bomb, we have to be careful using cell phones or two-way radios, regardless of what she said.”
“She has a bomb,” Aubrey’s mother said. “I’m sure of it, but I don’t think she’s used modern technology.”
“What do you mean?” Smolleck asked.
“Gertrude’s more likely to try to reenact the 1970 brownstone explosion than try something new.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I think my mother’s right,” Aubrey said. “When I visited my dad yesterday, I noticed a box with short plumbing pipes in the hallway of the building. I hadn’t thought anything of it, but pipe bombs were found in the brownstone.”
Smolleck frowned. “Damn. You could be right. Janis Hendrix worked for a demolition company in Atlanta. She took a leave of absence a few weeks ago. Around that time, a case of dynamite went missing.”
“So if she’s planning to re-create the brownstone explosion, what do we do?” Aubrey said.
“We’re considering our options, but it’s a very difficult situation.”
“Of course it’s difficult,” Aubrey said, feeling the rise of frustration and anger. “But you’re the FBI. You have sharpshooters, don’t you? And what about the SWAT team?”
She could see his face redden, even in the darkness. “Yes, we have sharpshooters. But it may be difficult for them to distinguish between Star, her daughter, and Ethan. And if we hit the wrong target, Star will still most likely blow up the building.”
“I’m sorry,” Aubrey said. “I shouldn’t have—”
“I’m not finished,” Smolleck said. “The SWAT team could storm the building, using stun grenades to disorient Star, but she’s controlling a bomb. It’s too risky.”
“Let me go in,” her mother said.
“That won’t stop her, Mama.”
“It will delay her.”
Smolleck shook his head.
“Ethan is in there,” her mother said. “We have to get him out. Tell her I will go in, but only if she releases him.”
“We already tried that,” Smolleck said. “She refused.”
“She was bluffing,” Mama said. “She won’t give up the opportunity to speak to me. To look me in the eye and gloat. She will let Ethan out.”
Aubrey looked over at the small building with its dark windows. “I have an idea,” she said to Smolleck. “Star’s daughter. Can you use her as a bargaining chip?”
He thought for a moment, then nodded. “We’ll give it a try.”
He went back inside the van.
Her mother’s hand touched her cheek. Aubrey met her eyes. They glistened in the streetlight.