Page 3 of Fatal Mistake
Right. Forget the man who walked up the path ready to kill her.
“Come on, Tara,” Agent Riggins commanded. “Breathe deep and look at the table. Tell me what you see.”
She could at least give it a try. She glanced at her aunt’s old potting bench with chipped and peeling green paint. “There’s a cardboard box. It’s labeled ‘Explosives Dangerous Handle Carefully.’ Next to it are white blocks. They’re wrapped in green shrink-wrap.”
“How many packs?”
“I don’t know. Fifteen. Maybe more.”
A low whistle came over the phone.
“That’s bad, right? I knew it. Really bad.” She moved her focus farther down the table. “There’s also a bunch of PVC pipe connected with elbows to look like a C.”
“C,” he mumbled.
“Yeah. Is that bad?”
“Can be.”
“Does the Lone Wolf use pipes like these?” she asked, knowing reporters had never revealed specifics of his bombs.
“Sorry. I can’t discuss that with you.”
Translated, yeah, the Lone Wolf used PVC pipe and odds of Oren being the bomber were growing by the minute.
Panic finally won out, and she clutched a corroded pipe to stay upright. “With the way Oren changed, I should have known something like this could happen. We were friends growing up, but he got weird in high school. Always spouting off about causes that no one cared about. Then he changed religions and tried to get us to convert to the Islamic faith. So I guess this isn’t unbelievable. Or maybe it is. I mean bombs. Who does that? Not someone in my life.”
Her thoughts traveled to her aunt waiting for her at the main house. “Oh my gosh, my aunt June. She’s going to freak when she hears the Lone Wolf is living on her property.”
“You could be wrong about this. Maybe Keeler’s letting a friend use the space.”
“Oren? Friends? No…no, he doesn’t have any friends. He’s a loner.”
A car trunk slammed, and then footsteps crunched over gravel.
Her heart skipped a beat. “How long will it take for the deputy to get here?”
“He’s five minutes out.”
“That’s too long.” She whispered to keep from being heard. “Oren’s coming to the door. What do I do?”
“First, take a deep breath, Tara.” Agent Riggins’s soothing voice returned, serene, almost melodic, yet deep and strong.
She thought she’d like him if she lived to meet him.
“C’mon,” he continued. “Breathe. In through your nose. Out through your mouth.”
She tried it. Managed two cycles before she heard Oren’s footsteps stop. Her throat closed.
“He’s right outside. I can hear him.” The words came out on an exhale.
Her hand shook so badly she almost dropped the phone.
“Calm down, Tara. Put the phone in your pocket so Keeler doesn’t know you’ve called to report him. It’ll also free your hands to take a better hold on the wood you found.”
“Hang up? What? No. No. I don’t want to hang up. Don’t leave me alone.”
“I won’t. Just put the phone in your pocket, and I can continue to listen in. We’ll stay connected. Okay?”
