Page 98 of Fatal Mistake
She spat at him.
He jumped back, and she missed the mark. He grinned over being able to rile her and having another suspect in custody, meaning they could pit them against each other and maybe convince one of them to turn on Keeler.
His mind traveled to the phone. “I know the first bomb was a decoy, and I suspect you were told to use the phone to set off a secondary device. We need to find it ASAP.”
A sly smile slid across her face. “I have no intention of helping you locate it.”
“Don’t worry,” Cal said. “I don’t need your help.”
“Time for the K-9s?” Udall asked with a smile of his own.
“Time for the K-9s,” Cal confirmed and had the pleasure of seeing Nabijah frown.
* * *
Tara glanced at June. Her aunt, the woman who’d been so instrumental in Tara’s upbringing. Memories came rushing back of their annual Thanksgiving celebration for all of the neighbors with a huge spread of food and games for children that June spent weeks arranging. Tara had dug for coins in mounds of sand and plunged her hands into big aluminum troughs of icy-cold sodas. Some years, she cupped hot chocolate in her hands. She’d loved the scavenger hunts, tag, and spoon races, all watched over by her precious smiling aunt. Even when Uncle Earl passed, June had thought of others, putting them first and quietly grieving his death.
And here Tara stood, planning to abandon her special, wonderful aunt, and they might not be together in November. There might not be a celebration.
Tara dropped onto the chair. “I can’t leave you.”
June smiled at Tara and despite the circumstances, her eyes were filled with love and encouragement. “I’m fine here. God is with me.”
“But I…” Tears Tara had barely kept at bay brimmed over. “What if Oren doesn’t follow through on his promise to let you go? What if he detonates the bomb?”
“Then we’ll see each other in heaven.” June didn’t flinch or seem the least bit worried. “I’ve had a full life. I know where I’ll go if I die, and I’m not afraid. Don’t be afraid for me.”
Tara thought about Cal and Oren’s claim that he planned to kill him. She was almost paralyzed by fear of his death. “I wish I had even a fraction of your faith.”
“Oh, you do, sweetheart. You do.” June took Tara’s hand and met her gaze with the same encouraging look she’d shared with Tara for years. “Remember. There is no problem that trusting God won’t fix. Nothing is bigger than He is.”
The stakes were so enormous, Tara doubted she could manage it.
“Just trust in your faith, honey.” June squeezed Tara’s hand. “I’d love to give you a big hug, but that’s impossible. So give me a kiss on the cheek and get going.”
Tara’s tears fell in earnest now, and she angrily swiped them away. “I love you, Aunt June.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart.”
Tara bent over and kissed her aunt’s smooth cheek, then stood and gazed down on her. “I can do this. I won’t let you down, and I’ll be back here with a way to remove this bomb and move you to safety.”
“That’s my girl.” June smiled again.
Tara turned and walked toward the door, taking the hardest steps of her life and fearing that Oren would make sure they became even more difficult before the night was over.
* * *
From the bomb control truck, Cal watched Sparky and his handler Deputy Randall work the area. Randall had the German shepherd on a thirty-foot leash, giving him free rein to sniff the area. Today wasn’t the first time nor would it be Cal’s last time seeing bomb-detecting dogs in action. In Afghanistan, dogs and their handlers walked out in front of soldiers, risking their lives to clear the path for others.
Cal would never forget heading outside the wire and feeling like every step he took could be his last, but with a dog going before them, he could rest easier. Unfortunately, dogs were so effective in bomb detection that terrorists were targeting them overseas before they even set their sights on soldiers.
Cal could also see the day when certified explosive detection dogs working for local police came under fire, too, as they were being used more than ever. Nothing was more effective at detecting hidden bombs than the nose of a working dog. Especially Vapor Wake dogs who could trail the scent of a bomb as a terrorist on the move carried the device through a crowd. Cal hated that this was the world we lived in, but at least man’s best friend could help in the fight to keep people safe.
Near a set of silver community mailboxes, Sparky stood on his hind legs, sniffed one of the larger boxes meant for packages, and then sat to look back at his handler.
“We’ve got something,” Randall said over the radio.
A bomb, just as Cal had expected to find. There might even be more of them, but Sparky and Randall would help them figure that out. Right now, Cal needed to get the squad to render this one safe.
