Jack ended the call with Matty with a grumble. "The Monument has definitely been compromised. And it doesn't sound like they can clear the Mall with any certainty without tipping Death from Above either. There's some event going on. Matty's trying to pull the permit right now to find out what it is."

"Well, at least we know the Mall is the target from Badgely. Wish we knew how the hell the Organization plans to spread that virus through contact in the crowd. If it were airborne I'd be more worried about whatever Murdoc is up to, but, it's not.

Riley was on her laptop. "It's a vigil showing support for the abolition of the Electoral College. It's organized by a fifty state grassroots organization called 'One Citizen, One Vote'," she announced.

"How'd did you get that so fast?"

She shrugged. "Facebook. The Parks page has listings for all that stuff. It's a whole candlelight thing."

Mac swore under his breath and got his phone out to try to get Matty back on the line.

"What's up, Mac?" Jack asked, wondering what leap his partner had made that they hadn't gotten to yet.

"Vigil. Candles," was his only explanation before Matty picked up. "Matty, how are we doing on the Mall situation?"

"Not good. I'm still not clear ..."

"It's a voter rally thing. Candlelight vigil. Which means someone is going to be handing out candles, paper cups, and all that and ..."

"And they probably work for Nikki's people and are probably swabbed down with that virus."

"That's what I'm thinking, yeah."

"Okay. We know what we're looking for and the infectious disease experts are working on containment and producing more of the vaccine-treatment compound. Fortunately because the Director is back in the game we know what we're dealing with right down to the chemical formulas. So, I want you guys to come back in."

"What? Are you serious?" Mac snapped.

"You said it yourself, they want to use our reaction against us. Murdoc is texting you, baiting you to come out. You're obviously not their end game, but taking out the whole team is definitely part of what's on his agenda and the Organization will do it if they want to keep Murdoc happy. Which it appears they do, given what went down at Phoenix a few months ago."

Before Mac could continue Jack interrupted casually, "You sure you want to pull us, Matty? Who else you got ready to head in who knows Murdoc's garbage and has already got the vaccine on board?"

Mac threw Jack a grin. He wanted to be in this until the end, wanted to be the one to bring Nikki in this time. Leave it to Jack to know how important getting some closure on this case was to him.

Matty was silent for a minute. "Fine. But I'm sending back up. I'll have Todd head things up so you have a good communication liaison between you and the rest of the task force coming in."

"Sounds good, boss," Jack said, and took Mac's phone and ended the call before Matty could say anything else. "So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we don't want to start a panic. So ..."

Riley looked over her shoulder at them. "I think I have an idea."

0-0-0

Riley's plan to reach out on social media claiming that someone from the Electoral Preservation Society was going to try handing out candles that would stink up the vigil and that the cops had been tipped that it was OCOV just trying to cause trouble in the park had thinned out the crowd considerably. It made the people trying to hand out candles extremely obvious. Some of them were clearly legitimate, but that could easily be sorted out later. The combined efforts of the inter-organizational taskforce made rounding up people who had potentially been exposed a reasonably smooth operation. However, even from their position on the ground, Mac could see light and movement in the high window above the square.

"Have you got him, Jack?"

"Dead to rights," came the calm whispered answer in his earpiece. "I can't see what he's doin' though."

"Do you have a kill shot?" Riley sounded unusually cold.

"Yeah, I do."

"So take it!" she said vehemently. "His people could've killed you today, Jack. Could've killed all of us! Just take him out."

Jack thought that sounded like pretty good advice to him, but Mac said, "Wait. We don't know why he's up there, what he's got set up. What if you taking him out triggers something even worse than the infected candles."

"Like what?" Riley snapped.

"I don't know. That's the point," Mac said quietly. "Besides, it if he misses … sorry Jack but it does occasionally happen … there's nowhere to go but down. And any move you make could tip his people to your position on that staging and you'd have to bolt. Climbing down would leave you exposed. Besides," he paused knowing this would make Jack think twice before he acted, "I might need you up there."

"You're going in aren't you?" Jack asked. From the apprehension in his voice, Mac could picture his face perfectly.

"I kind of have to."

"It's what he wants, Mac," Jack warned, knowing it was probably pointless.

"Yeah, but that doesn't change anything. We've got to flush him out and maybe we can get him back into custody."

"Alright," Jack agreed. "Riles, you staying outside to be our eyes and ears?"

"Can do," she said, sitting down on the ground and adjusting the brightness on her rig as well as putting on the secondary comm that now connected her to the rest of the taskforce.

"Okay; I'm staying put, too Mac. If I don't like what I see through that window, I'm taking the shot. It's not the greatest position, so you do me a favor and don't get between him and my line of sight on the east side."

Mac had already started toward the door to the monument, passing through the ring of flags around the base. "I'll do my best."

0-0-0

The bottom floor of the monument was empty, just as Matty had told them. It was quickly apparent why. The bottom two stories of the stairs had been melted with something that generated a lot of heat. Thermite maybe. The air was still faintly smoky and metallic smelling. The elevator doors stood open, revealing that the car within had been destroyed, likely with something very similar to what had been used on the stairs. From where he stood in the thin drifting smoke Mac could see that the only way up to where Murdoc was waiting was via the maintenance access ladder.

His phone buzzed with a new text. "I'm waiting, MacGyver. I want to have a chat about the possibilities this evening offers. Do hurry."

He wasn't sure he should reply but he knew if Murdoc was expecting him it might delay whatever else he had planned. "I'm on my way up."

The reply was immediate. "The view is incredible. But watch your step; it looks like one heck of a drop."

Mac leaned in the door and looked up. Yeah, that would be a heck of a drop alright.

All 555 feet, his brain supplied helpfully.

"I really hate this guy," Mac mumbled.

"What was that, Mac?" Riley asked.

"Nothing." Mac sighed, picking his way over the debris from the elevator car and started climbing, eyes on the tiny dim square of light at the top of the elevator shaft.