Page 83 of Run to Ground
“Yeah.” He snorted, shocked that he could experience even a second of amusement, considering the situation. “That would be good.”
Using the same pen as earlier, he lifted the flaps slowly, one at a time. There were so many ways to trigger an explosion. Even removing a cardboard tab inserted in the electrical switch could set it off. Once he’d managed to get the box open, he blew out a slightly shaky but thankfully silent breath.
It was a good-sized bomb, homemade by the look of it, and the blasting cap was obvious. This would be simple. All he’d need to do was disconnect the blasting cap, and there would be no explosion—at least until the bomb squad took it away and did a controlled blast.
He pulled his multipurpose tool out of his BDU pocket and reached toward the box, but then paused, his hands hovering. The position of the blasting cap bothered him. It was too obvious, too glaring—almost like someonewantedhim to find it.
There had to be a secondary one, one that would be triggered if the current running through the first was cut off. With the flashlight in one hand and the tool in his other, he gingerly moved aside wires, peering into the depths of the box to the piece of plywood at the base.
There! Almost hidden by the bundled explosives, a second blasting cap was tucked in the shadows, deep in the box. He kept searching, looking for a third, but he couldn’t find any more. If he could remove the second one from the circuit—assuming there weren’t any motion sensors or other traps—then he might have a chance of disarming it.
A bone-deep tremor vibrated through him. If he screwed up again, if he made a mistake that cost Jules and Viggy their lives, killed them just because they were connected to Theo… The thought was unbearable. Glancing over his shoulder, he couldn’t resist a final look at Jules. As bruised and scared and mussed as she was, Jules was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Viggy sat next to her, his eyes on Theo, that silly penguin at his feet. For them, for these two who, for whatever misguided reasons, loved him and trusted him, he’d do this. He’d fix it, fix what his mistakes and inattention had caused.
Pulling out the wire cutters in his multipurpose tool, he took a deep breath and reached in with surprisingly steady hands. The beeping had accelerated, making his heart pound in sync with its rapid rhythm. This was it. He detached the hidden cap, carefully snipping it clear. As he squeezed the handles on the wire cutters, he held his breath, half expecting that disconnection to trigger an explosion.
Instead, the beeping stopped.
All remained silent. Letting out a harsh breath, Theo removed the hidden blasting cap from the box, placing it on a shelf as far from the explosives—and him—as he could reach. He disconnected the first cap he’d noticed, again waiting for the boom as his cutters sank into the insulated wire. The beeping had stopped, but Theo didn’t know if he’d successfully disarmed the bomb.
“Did you do it?” Jules whispered, as if a too-loud voice might set off the explosives.
“Think so.” He returned to crouch by her feet, picking up the bolt cutters again. “But we should get out of here anyway.”
Jules huffed a half laugh. “I’m all for that plan.”
Theo slid the tool next to her hip, reaching the handcuff chain from underneath. With this new angle, he was able to get a better grip with the cutters. Pulling the long handles together, he made the heavy blades bite down on the links until the metal parted with a snap.
With an inhaled gasp that sounded very close to a sob, Jules threw her arms around his neck and hugged him, hard. The remains of the handcuffs dug into his upper back, but Theo didn’t mind. It reminded him that he was alive—and so was Jules. Something damp touched his arm, and he looked down to see Viggy trying to insert the bedraggled penguin into their embrace. Theo dropped a hand to the dog’s head and rubbed his ears.
“Let’s get out of here,” Jules said, her voice muffled against his chest. With a glance at the bakery box that held such deadly contents, Theo gave that plan his enthusiastic agreement.
“Agreed. Let’s go.”
Chapter 21
Of course he had come for her, her cranky white knight with his battered but not broken K9 partner in tow. She didn’t know why she’d doubted it, when he’d been there every other time her life had been in danger—and even when it hadn’t—over the crazy past few weeks.
He helped her to her feet, which had gone shaky from fear and cold. When Jules swayed, catching his shoulder to keep her balance, Theo frowned and bent as if to lift her in his arms.
“No,” she said. He gave her an appraising look, and she knew any hint of weakness on her part would lead to him scooping her up and carrying her from the building. “I’ve been too much of a damsel in distress already today. I want to walk out of here.”
Although he frowned, the lines on his forehead predicting an onset of stubbornness, he didn’t push the issue. Instead, he stepped back, allowing her to take her first, admittedly shaky, steps out of the cooler. As soon as she got her legs under control, she moved quickly toward the back door, wanting to leave the place as fast as possible from the closest exit.
Behind her, Theo spoke, making her jump. She twisted her head toward him, but once she realized he was talking on his portable radio, she resumed her quick almost-run to the door.
“Let the bomb guys know I removed two blasting caps, but the explosives are still live. I have Jules, and we’re exiting through the north side of the building.”
The smooth release bar was under Jules’s hands again, and she shuddered as she remembered her first escape attempt of the morning. This time, though, nothing was going to stop her. She shoved the bar down, letting her weight carry her forward into the new morning sun.
“Wait! Jules!”
She tried to turn, but all her momentum was carrying her forward, and she stumbled farther into the alley instead.
“What is it?” she started to ask, but her words trailed away as she saw the look on his face. Her gaze followed his, and her stomach cramped at the sight of Sherry stepping out from behind a dumpster only ten feet away.
She held a cell phone in one hand and a matte-black gun in the other—a gun pointed right at Jules for the second time that morning. “It didn’t work,” she said in a strangely conversational tone. “Gordon promised me it would work, but it didn’t.”
With horror, Jules realized the cell phone was some sort of remote-control device for setting off the bomb. If Theo hadn’t disarmed it, they would all be in pieces.
