Page 96 of Deserving Ryleigh
Never again would Harold bother his daughter. Never again would he make Ryleigh feel as if she had to disappear to protect him or anyone else. She could live her life free and clear from the monster who’d raised her.
Tiny hated that she was with him now though, headed toward the rigged bunkers. But if her father had been telling the truth—and he had no idea if he was—she was probably no safer in the lodge or anywhere else on The Refuge than she was with him. And…he couldn’t deny he felt more steady with her at his side.
She’d been amazing. He’d always known she was good at what she did. He’d seen her in action. But watching her single-handedly save an unsuspecting Albuquerque from a major blackout was crazy impressive. Tex had been right all those months ago when he’d admitted that Ryleigh was a better hacker than he was. She was one of a kind.
They approached bunker 103, the one that was in the three o’clock position from the main lodge. “Where is it?It can’t be near the opening, it would’ve been spotted,” Tiny mused.
“Right, the guys would’ve known something was off and wouldn’t have gone inside the bunkers if they thought there was any kind of danger. I know I didn’t see anything when I was helping Raid get the dogs inside this one,” Wolf said.
Tiny’s gaze ran over the ground where the bunker was buried, then he pointed to a disturbed plot of earth near where the back side of the bunker would be. “There.”
The three of them crept forward, and Wolf awkwardly went to his knees about a foot away from the disturbed ground. He held up his phone to Tiny. “Hold this? Put it on speaker so I can hear Dude.”
Nodding, Tiny took the phone. He felt Ryleigh’s fingers curl into the waistband of his pants. Knowing she was there made him practically vibrate with nerves. If this bomb went off, they’d all be dead. Immediately. He clicked on the speaker button of the phone.
“Dude?” Wolf asked.
“Tell me what you see,” the man on the other end of the line ordered. He was no-nonsense, which Tiny appreciated.
“Can we use FaceTime?” Tiny asked. “It would make this easier, I think.”
“The cell signal isn’t strong enough out here,” Ryleigh said softly from behind him.
Tiny swore. He’d forgotten. The first thing he was going to do when they got out of this was see about getting more cell towers in this area of their forest. Even if The Refuge had to pay for every cent of getting it done,even if they had to bribe someone at the phone company, he’d make that happen.
“Don’t worry, Dude can walk me through it. He doesn’t need to see the bomb to know what to do,” Wolf said, sounding completely calm.
“Wolf, talk to me,” Dude said, his tone irritated now.
“Dirt. The bomb was buried. I’m afraid to clear it because I don’t want to set it off.”
“From what you told me, I don’t think that’ll happen. If the scumbag had a detonator, it won’t blow from dirt being removed around it. Just go gentle.”
“Ten-four on that.”
Tiny watched, hating the helpless feeling that was almost overwhelming as Wolf slowly uncovered the bomb.
“What’s it look like?” Dude asked.
Wolf described what he was seeing, what color the wires were, how they were hooked up.
“Seems like a pretty crude apparatus to me,” Dude said.
“My father said they were all connected. That if one went off, they’d all go,” Ryleigh interjected.
“I don’t think that’s true,” Dude said. “I mean, what Wolf described seems to be amateurish. And if your father found soldiers who’d been dishonorably discharged, that wouldn’t surprise me. They probably didn’t get through bomb-making one-oh-one, much less the more advanced techniques.”
Tiny felt Ryleigh lean against him as she whispered into his ear, “Was that a joke?”
His lips twitched, but it was more from nerves than humor. “I think so,” he said with a nod.
“Wolf? You said there’s yellow, purple, and red wires, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Figures the assholes couldn’t even use the correct color wires. And there’s an electronic box strapped to the top of it? The light is blinking, yeah?”
“Uh-huh.”
