Every Second. Rick Mofina

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      He knew Lori would never give up. She’d protect Billy with her life. In his heart he knew that she was a fighter, a survivor, that despite what had happened to her in California, she’d overcome the odds. In the years since they’d moved to New York, Dan had watched over her and stood by her, ready to catch her if she stumbled.

      The worst is behind us.

      That’s what he’d always told her. The worst is behind us, not you. Because what had happened to Lori, happened to him. It’s how he felt about everything in their marriage.

      Lean on me. Let me take this on with you.

      Lori had done well. She’d had good days and bad days, but mostly good ones.

      The worst is behind us.

      At least it was. Until this.

      Dan felt panic rising to the surface as he took in the sweep of the bridge, the water and the sky.

      God, please, keep them alive!

      The toll plaza was just ahead, but Dan didn’t have a pass. As he slowed and guided his car into a cash lane, his pulse raced with a mixture of dread and hope.

      License plate readers!

      He remembered a report in the Daily News that police had installed license plate recognition technology at most toll plazas. They were using cameras that read license plates and checked them instantly against databases with hot lists of wanted plates.

      Dan studied the gates. Did they have plate readers here?

      As he crawled ahead in his line, he fumbled in his wallet for money.

      “Don’t try anything here,” Vic said into his ear. “We’re watching you, and you know what will happen.”

      Dan let out a slow breath. The thought of them detonating his vest here sent a chill up his spine. It would end any chance to save Lori and Billy. And innocent people would die.

      He was now one car from the booth. Gripping a folded ten-dollar bill in his hand, he prayed that his plates would come up as stolen, alerting police, helping them get closer.

      Thud!

      Dan’s head snapped back. His car had been rear-ended.

      After taking a moment to assess that he wasn’t hurt, he got out.

      “I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A woman in her twenties came toward him gripping a cell phone, her face reddening. She stared at Dan, then at the area where her Toyota was pressed against the bumper of his Impala.

      “Sir,” the toll officer said. “I’m going to need you to drive through.”

      Dan noticed a baby in the rear of the woman’s car, strapped in its car seat.

      “Get back in your car!” Vic ordered Dan.

      “I guess, do you want my insurance and stuff?” The woman was now in tears. “It was my fault. I’m so sorry.”

      Horns were sounding behind them.

      “People—” the toll officer had stepped from his booth “—return to your cars. We need to keep this line moving. You can sort this out after going through the gate. Just move over to the right shoulder.”

      “Get in your car, Dan!” Vic said. “We’ll kill everybody—you, her and her baby!”

      “I don’t see any damage,” Dan said to the woman, wanting to get everyone out of danger as quickly as possible.

      “Really? Are you sure? Let me pull my car back a bit, so you can have a better look.”

      “Ma’am, do not back up,” the toll officer interrupted.

      “I think we’re okay,” Dan said.

      “Oh, thank you! Thank you! I’ve been having the worst morning!”

      Dan handed the toll officer his cash.

      “Keep the change,” he said, getting back in his car.

      The officer returned to his booth, and the bar lifted for Dan to pass through.

      “Good,” Vic said. “Now get on the Cross Bronx Expressway to the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey.”

      Dan accelerated and merged with the traffic, his heart hammering.

      “I’m cooperating, okay? You can see I won’t make trouble. Will you please let me talk to my family again?”

      Vic didn’t respond.

       12

      Manhattan, New York

      Newslead was located in one of the city’s largest skyscrapers, a modern glass structure rising over Penn Station in the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan.

      Tenants in the recently renovated building included the head offices of a TV network, a cosmetics chain, a fashion house, a brokerage firm and an advertising agency.

      Kate swiped her ID through one of the main floor security turnstiles and joined the flow of workers to the banks of elevators. She stepped out at Newslead’s world headquarters on the fortieth floor. Each time she walked through reception she was inspired. The walls displayed enlarged news photos captured by Newslead photographers of history’s most dramatic moments from the past half century.

      Those powerful images stood as testament to the fact that even though Kate’s industry faced challenging times, Newslead remained a formidable force as one of the globe’s largest news operations.

      It operated a bureau in every major US city and some one hundred fifty bureaus in one hundred countries around the world, supplying a continual flow of fast, accurate information to thousands of newspapers, radio, TV, corporate and online subscribers everywhere.

      Its track record for reporting excellence had earned it countless awards, including twenty Pulitzers. It was highly regarded by its chief rivals across the country, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Reuters, the World Press Alliance and the new Signal Point Newswire. It also competed with those organizations globally, along with Agence France-Presse, Deutsche Presse-Agentur, China’s Xinhua News Agency and Russia’s Interfax News Agency.

      Corporate offices took up half of the fortieth floor, and the newsroom occupied the rest with a grid of low-walled cubicles. Above them were flat-screen monitors tuned to 24/7 news networks around the world.

      Kate looked fondly at the glass enclosure tucked in one corner—the scanner room, or what some called “the torture chamber.” It was where a news assistant, usually a journalism intern desperate to pay their dues, was assigned to listen to more than a dozen emergency radio scanners.

      Kate, like most seasoned reporters, knew that scanners were the lifeblood of any news organization.

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