Page 97 of Deserving Ryleigh
“Right. So all you need to do is pull the purple wire out from the bottom of the blinking box.”
Tiny tensed. That seemedwaytoo easy.
But Wolf didn’t hesitate for even a second. As soon as Dude finished speaking, he pulled the purple wire. It came out of the electronic device with a simple tug.
Tiny held his breath, bracing himself for an explosion.
“Wolf? Did you do it?”
“Yup, and the light’s not blinking anymore.”
“Right. Then it’s done.”
“That’s it?Really?” Ryleigh asked.
“Yes. C4 is actually a very stable explosive. It’s why it’s so popular in the military. We can stuff it in our ruck sacks and not worry about it going off simply by being jostled around.”
Wolf painfully got to his feet and headed for the hidden door to the bunker.
“What about the other bombs? Can they be disarmed just as easily?” Tiny asked. On the one hand, he was very relieved the bombs weren’t all linked, after all. And it didn’t seem as if the bomb could be triggered from someone opening or closing the bunker doors, otherwise they all would’ve gone off when their friends and family entered them. But on the other hand, there could very well still be six active bombs ready to explode.
“I don’t know. They’d need to be described to me before I could tell you that for sure.”
Tiny looked at Wolf, who now had his wife clasped in a bear hug. “Wolf, can I take your phone? I want to check those other explosives.”
Wolf waved him on.
“Stay here,” Tiny told Ryleigh.
To his amusement and irritation, she rolled her eyes. “Not happening. Come on, we need to get moving.”
The next thing Tiny knew, he was running toward bunker 102 with Ryleigh at his side. When they arrived, they cautiously looked around and found another slightly disturbed area of dirt. Tiny carefully unearthed the bomb and, to his relief, it looked exactly the same as the first. Just to be safe, he described it to Dude, and once again his recommendation was to simply pull the purple wire out of the electronic box strapped to the top of the C4.
Ryleigh opened the door to the bunker. Tiny briefly explained to Stone everything that had happened, then told him to head back to the lodge and find something to cover Harold’s body, to make sure none of the women or kids saw it. He also asked him to keep everyone out of the lodge to preserve the scene. The cops needed to be called. But first, they had more bombs to defuse.
He and Ryleigh jogged through the trees once more, toward bunker 101. In total, they repeated the process of disarming the bombs Harold’s accomplices had planted five more times.
When they opened the last bunker, 109, with Alaska and Brick inside, Tiny was exhausted. He felt like he did after a particularly grueling two-week mission to Iran when he was a SEAL. They’d had to sneak into thecountry over the mountains, then leave the same way after killing their HVT. He felt as strung out and shaky as he had back then.
“Thank you,” he told Dude. “You have no idea how much your assistance means to me and my friends.”
“I’d advise that you check out every other building on your property. See if you can bring in a bomb-sniffing dog. Wait, I think I have a contact, I’ll see if he can get out there ASAP. You don’t want to risk thinking all is well, only to have some hidden bomb go off.”
“Yeah, I agree. Although, the asshole lied about these being connected, he probably lied about the rest of the bombs too. But I’m not willing to take that chance.”
“Tell Wolf to call me later when he has a moment. Want to make sure he and Caroline are good. My Cheyenne will want to talk to Ice, as well.”
“Will do. Anytime you and your family want a vacation, The Refuge is open to you. At no charge…no pun intended.”
“Thank you. Have any cabins away from the others? I’m thinking my wife and I will need some privacy.”
Tiny chuckled. “Yes. We’ll make that happen.” He watched Ryleigh embrace Alaska as she reassured her that everything was all right. Luna was crying as she joined the others in a three-way hug.
“Tiny?”
“Yeah?” He barely remembered he was still on the phone with Dude.
“She did good. Your woman. Stayed right by your side. Not sure you could ask for anything more from a partner.”
