Page 81 of Fatal Mistake
Andrews didn’t waste any time but took off at a quick march. Cal moved in the opposite direction and took his time checking the ground before placing his foot down. As he approached the tower, a caustic smell filtered into the air, but at least the building hadn’t burned, and he wasn’t smelling torched wood.
He made a wide circle and, each time around, he moved closer to the tower until he was standing near the back wall where the two supports remained intact. Something suspicious sat near the ground at the far post. He slowly closed in on it until he made out a rudimentary bomb similar to the one in the cabin crawl space, but this one didn’t have a timer. Which meant it would be remotely detonated.
It could have been set in case the necklace bomb failed. Or was it? Maybe it was intended to take out first responders or the Knights. If so, the person with the trigger had to be close by watching for the opportune time to detonate. Like now. When he stood less than a foot away from the device.
He spun and ran full-out toward Deputy Andrews. Before he traveled more than fifty feet, the device exploded, sending concussive waves through the ground and catapulting Cal through the air.
He landed on his belly, and his hands automatically went up over his head. He lay stunned for a moment, his ears ringing as debris rained down over him. This wasn’t the first explosion he’d survived, and it wasn’t even the closest call, but he couldn’t help but think how horrible it would have been if the device had been detonated with an unsuspecting person close by.
He lifted his head and saw Max racing in his direction.
Cal swayed to his feet. “Can’t hear you, Max. Just listen. The bomb was remotely detonated and the person who set it off has to be close by. Watching.”
Max spun and said something, but Cal couldn’t make it out. All he knew was they were all sitting ducks, and they needed to take cover.
* * *
Washington, D.C.
Tara pushed back from the dining room table and dropped her pencil. She wasn’t a good artist, and the sketches she’d created were rudimentary at best, but she hoped they would help. Planning to show them to Shane, who was working at a desk in the den, she got up and grabbed the pad. She found him hanging up his phone, his usual easygoing expression dark and concerned.
Cal. Had something happened to Cal?
She forced a calm she didn’t feel into her voice. “Is there a problem?”
“We have a few new developments.”
She’d seen nothing but straightforward answers from him, and his Cal-like evasive response raised her concern higher. “Can you share them with me?”
He gestured at a club chair by the desk. “Why don’t you take a seat?”
“That bad, huh?” she joked, but when the easygoing guy didn’t even crack a smile, she braced herself to hear very bad news.
She dropped into the chair. “Did Oren hurt someone else?”
“We’re uncertain who placed the device, but a secondary bomb was left at the fire tower in Oregon and was just detonated.”
Cal. He’s hurt. Her heart refused to beat. “Cal…the team…are they…?”
“They’re fine. Mostly anyway. Cal’s a bit banged up. He was checking the area under the tower for secondary devices when he spotted the bomb and took off running. He was hit with falling debris, and his ears are ringing, but otherwise he’s okay.”
She noticed she had a death grip on the chair. She released it and twisted her hands together in her lap, and her heart seemed to restart. Memories of the truck exploding took over her mind. The ground rumbling under her body. The fireball. Metal and wood shooting into the air. The ditch had protected her, but there wasn’t a ditch near the fire tower. A vision of Cal, lying on the ground and debris raining down on him, left her unable to speak.
“If Oren is here in D.C.,” she managed to get out past the dryness in her throat.
“He could have placed the device before he left and someone else set it off,” Shane said.
“Not a timer?”
“No. It was remotely detonated.”
“Then that person was watching. Waiting.”
He nodded solemnly.
“For Cal? Do you think they were waiting for Cal?” Her fingers automatically went for the rubber bands.
Shane eyed her fingers and shrugged. “I only have the barest of details at this point. Max said they were in pursuit of a suspect, but he wanted to give us a heads-up in case the news reported the bombing.”
