Page 72 of Delusional

“But we need a bomb for the bank.”

“I thought we needed to take care of the detective first.”

“We need them both.” His tone was getting more strident.

Owens watched Ellis’s eyes track over to the crate in the corner of the room. “I have the larger bomb for the ConEd facility over in the corner. I haven’t done much work on it yet,” he explained, then hesitated. He wasn’t good under pressure like this. He blurted out, “I also have a satchel device. It’s remote controlled. I’d need to make a few adjustments to the remote.”

Ellis said, “Let me see it.”

Owens stood from his chair and trudged across the hardwood floor. He squatted and searched a box next to an old dresser. He pulled out a fourteen-inch square canvas bag with a shoulder strap. He stood up and showed it to Ellis. “See, you can carry it across your shoulder so it doesn’t attract attention.”

“What remote is associated with it?”

Owens bent down and picked up a radio-control-car remote. It looked like a high-tech pistol. “Just turn the power on under the handle,” he said, holding up the remote so Ellis could see the switch. “Then pull the trigger. There’s a two-second delay.”

“And you could make that work for our bank idea?”

“Yeah.”

“When?”

“I’ll work on it when I can. Maybe in a few days. I’ll probably need to add a little extra C-4 to make it more powerful.”

Ellis groaned in frustration. “You need to get with the program, Tom.”

“You mean I need to get with your program. All you want is money.”

“I want to make sure our cause is sustainable.”

“How sustainable is the cause if Pry talks to the police?”

“Pry won’t say shit. Once we get this cop Bennett out of the way, Pry will be off the hook. That’s what the lawyer told me. Plus it’ll screw up the police investigation.” Ellis looked down the hallway like he couldn’t stand the sight of Owens any longer. He shook his head and said, “You’re too idealistic. This is the real world.”

Owens thought about that. It was the real world. In a perfect world his brains would make him Ellis’s boss. He didn’t say anything out loud. He knew that would frustrate Ellis. It apparently worked.

The growl Ellis let out told Owens he’d succeeded in his effort to frustrate.

CHAPTER 88

TOM OWENS WENT back to work at his table as Ellis Warrenton stomped away from the door. Owens could hear him shouting and cursing in other parts of the house, but it wasn’t even that distracting. Owens had a job to do—which he’d decided now included figuring how to get away from this megalomaniac. Ellis talked a good game, but Owens now realized he wasn’t interested in any real change.

Owens wasn’t sure any of them were. He hoped Kimmy had some actual ideals. But he couldn’t be sure.

After five minutes, Ellis came back to the doorway. He stood there as if he was trying to think of some great speech that would get Owens to agree with him. He sighed repeatedly but didn’t say anything.

Owens didn’t bother to acknowledge him. They’d already had their discussion. He kept focused on his project.

Finally, Ellis said, “Keep trying to pull this sort of bullshit. See what happens. You need to listen to me at least until we hit the bank. Then maybe we go our separate ways. But I make the decisions. Is that understood?”

Owens still didn’t say anything.

He looked up and noticed Ellis eyeing the satchel device he’d shown Ellis earlier, which now sat on the dresser, with the remote on top of it.

Ellis had a hard edge to his voice when he said, “You’re not quite as indispensable as you think. I can make bombs too, you know. I made the one that worked on the cop’s car last summer. I could just use that same design on this Detective Bennett.”

Kimmy stepped into view and stood in the doorway next to Ellis.

Ellis said, “We’ll plant this bomb tomorrow morning. The three of us will do some surveillance today. We’ll figure exactly the best time and place to do it. How long will it take you to set the device?”