Page 106 of Fatal Mistake
“Get a grip,” Rick said. “You know Keeler better than anyone. If we’re going to find Tara, you have to calm down and think.”
Right. Calm down.
Rage took over, and he jabbed a fist into his car, striking the driver’s door and relishing the pain. He pulled back his hand to toss another punch.
Rick grabbed his arm, and Cal spun, lifting his fist to his teammate.
Rick planted his feet wide, ready to take the brunt of Cal’s anger. Staring. Breathing hard. His hands hanging limp, but standing rock solid. His buddy’s willingness to take a beating was enough to break through Cal’s fury. He dropped his hands.
“I’m sorry, man,” Cal said on an exhale that carried more of his anger.
“Hey, I get it, but you have to pretend Tara’s another hostage. Someone we need to rescue. What’s the first step?”
Pretend. He couldn’t possibly, but he could gain control. At least enough to move forward. One step at a time.
“We need to find her, of course.” His mind raced with thoughts of how to accomplish the task, until he settled on one. “We’ll pick up the dummy bomb, and when we get back to the office, I’ll study it and the x-rays the techs are taking. The rest of you pore over the evidence again, all of us looking for anything out of the ordinary.”
“Let’s go.” Rick held out his hand, palm up. “I’ll drive so you can think.”
Cal handed over his keys, not because of the offered time to think, but because he was too shaken up to drive. Not something he’d ever experienced even in the thick of mortar shells pummeling the ground in Iraq.
Love will do that to you. The thought came out of nowhere. He’d never been in love before, and he couldn’t fathom why such a notion popped into his brain. He’d never even seen real love modeled on a day-to-day basis. Not with his parents. They barely tolerated each other, much less displayed any affection or sign of love. His only experience with unconditional love was with his SEAL team and God.
His SEAL teammates would give their lives for each other, no questions asked. Sure, they served their country, but the willingness to die was born of love for each other. To give up their lives so others could live. God had done the same thing. Gave His son for everyone. And that meant Cal, too. Even if he’d given up on God, He hadn’t given up on Cal.
Who was he to carry around guilt over lives lost? He’d done his best as June had said, and he had to leave the rest to God. Cal’s guilt was misplaced. Maybe an excuse to not open himself up. An excuse to not let people hurt him the way his parents had.
Well, he was done with that. Starting now, and it was time to admit that even as he’d tried to fight it, he was in love with Tara. Totally in love. He didn’t yet know what to do with that, but he wasn’t going to lose her and miss the opportunity to find out.
He phoned Max and brought him up to speed. “I need Frankie to check the dummy bomb to see if Keeler packed it with real explosives or some sort of clay. If it’s not hot, I’m stopping by the site to pick up the device along with the x-rays.”
“I’m not at the site anymore. I’m questioning Meer and Yasin,” Max replied, and didn’t sound the least bit put out by Cal’s demands. “But I’ll give the locals a call.”
“Frankie has my cell number. Have him text me with an update.”
“Roger that. Oh, and you should also know that the K-9s found an additional bomb large enough to take out the apartment complex.”
Cal let out a low whistle. “Thank God for K-9 officers.”
“Affirmative. Frankie handled the situation like a pro. We should consider recruiting the guy for the Bureau. I’ll get him to text you.”
Cal hung up and filled Rick in.
“What are the odds that the dummy isn’t packed with C-4?” Rick asked.
“I’m guessing pretty good. If Keeler didn’t actually plan for the bomb to detonate, he wouldn’t use up pricey explosives.”
Cal focused out the window and ran through steps he’d take once he reached the office to keep from wasting valuable time. His phone soon dinged, and he glanced at it. “It’s from Frankie. Keeler used modeling clay on the necklace bomb.”
Cal texted Frankie to box up the device, and they met at the perimeter, where Frankie signed out the device and x-rays to Cal. When he arrived at the office, he collected his files and papers from the back of his car along with the items from Frankie and marched straight to the situation room while Rick went to round up the rest of the team.
Cal took the device out of the box and set it on the bench, then grabbed the x-rays and mounted them on the wall along with Tara’s drawings. He studied them but didn’t see anything new.
He moved to the device and ran gloved fingers over the housing seam that had remained intact under the drill’s vibrations. It was smooth and neat, meaning Keeler must have used silicone gel, sanded it, and buffed it with an electrostatic cloth. Precision work. Not surprising since he worked as a security system assembler.
Cal examined the open seam. Keeler hadn’t secured it at all. No wonder the drill vibrations caused the seam to let go. Keeler was meticulous. He wouldn’t forget to glue the seam. So he left it loose on purpose. Likely to cause Cal to let down his guard, then cause mass casualties with the larger bomb. If so, Keeler had escalated to an extreme level.
The door lock clicked, and the team members minus Brynn filed into the room. Kaci took a seat behind her laptop at the table. Max, Rick, and Shane joined him at the workbench. Shane set down stapled copies of Keeler’s journals.
