[29]
Daniel pulled to a stop in front of his house. Martin pressed the gun against Daniel’s temple. “Don’t try anything, you understand?”
“I understand, Martin.”
“Then crawl across and get out on my side.” Martin opened the door and backed out of the passenger seat, keeping the weapon trained on Daniel. A half-dozen different self-defense moves flashed through Daniel’s mind, but until he was sure Riley was all right, he wouldn’t try anything. Not yet. The person helping Martin might still be able to get back in range and set the bomb off early.
Daniel climbed out of the SUV, and under Martin’s watchful gaze along with the barrel of the gun still pointed at his head, he strode toward the front door. From the corner of his eye, he saw a dark-suited figure slide around the corner of his house. The SWAT team was here. But they couldn’t shoot Martin and risk blowing Daniel up along with him. He glanced at his watch. Katie had ten minutes left.
“Did you lie?” he asked as he turned off the alarm.
“The bomb and how much time is on it.”
“No.”
Daniel nodded. So it really was up to Katie. Leaving Riley had been one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do, but if it meant saving her life . . .
He looked at Martin. “You don’t smell like acetone.”
“What are you babbling about? Shut up and get the coin.”
“There was acetone in Jake’s car. I smelled it again at the restaurant when someone pushed a column over on us, then ran. But I don’t detect the odor on you. Who else is working with you?”
Martin’s eyes narrowed. “For your information, using a citrus-smelling soap gets rid of the odor quickly. I use it all the time. Now if I have to ask you again, I’ll just blow the door off the safe.” The steel in the man’s voice made Daniel take another hard look at his former friend. He was desperate. Completely and totally willing to do anything it took to get the coin and escape.
Daniel figured he had cops all around his property at this point. He waited for the phone to ring with the hostage negotiator on the other end. He also knew that Martin had no intention of negotiating.
He walked toward his office, his mind spinning. He really didn’t want to blow himself up, but he knew as soon as he handed Martin the coin, the man would be done with him.
As he stepped over the threshold into his office, the phone rang. He looked at Martin. “It’s for you.”
Martin simply walked over to the phone and pulled the plug from the back. “The coin. Open the safe and then step back. If you lift your hand to reach into the safe, I’ll shoot you. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.”
Daniel walked over to the safe. Movement outside the window caught his eye and he hesitated. He could see the hangar garage door was up. But who . . .
A small wire slid under his window and settled in the corner. So, they were listening. He glanced at Martin, who paced in front of the desk, his weapon held steady, the bomb still strapped to his chest. Daniel dropped his hand from the safe. Why didn’t Martin seem terribly concerned about the fact that there were cops now swarming all over his property? “I want to know about Riley and Steve.”
“What?”
“There are six minutes left. If they’re alive at the end of those six minutes, I’ll open the safe.”
Martin froze midpace. As far as he knew, Daniel had gotten him as close to the coin as he was going to get. With a low growl, he pointed the weapon at Daniel. “If I don’t have that coin in my hand immediately, I’ll forgo the six minutes and simply start setting the bombs off.”
Daniel turned away from the safe. “Bombs?”
Martin held his phone up. “Yeah, bombs.” He moved toward the window. Glanced out.
Daniel reached for the safe.
Katie removed the top of the canister and with steady fingers found the C4. She worked quickly, efficiently. Having seen the first bomb and how it had been rigged helped immensely.
“Katie?” Bree’s urgent voice came through her earpiece.
“Kinda busy here.”
“The agents weren’t able to get into the house, but one of them got a listening device inside. We just got word. There are more bombs in the building.”
She froze, but didn’t let her expression change. “All right. Well, right now, this is the only one I care about. I’ve almost got this. Just one more minute.”
“That’s about all you have. Actually you’re down to four. You need to get out. Now.”
Katie continued to work, staying focused, yet deeply concerned about the report of more bombs in the restaurant. How much time did she have? Thirty seconds later, she had the bomb defused. She removed wire cutters from her kit and cut the wire around Riley’s neck, then Steve’s. Riley pushed away the rest of the duct tape Steve had managed to undo and quickly released helped Katie go to work on his. If they hadn’t had the bomb to be worried about, they would have been able to get loose eventually.
“Go,” Katie said. “Go now. They’re coming, Bree.”
“We’re ready. Just get out.”
“Someone’s got to search for the other bombs,” Katie said, even as she hooked an arm around Steve’s waist and Riley did the same. They headed for the exit.
“Bomb squad just pulled in. They’ve got the dogs.”
Katie breathed a prayer of relief and bolted for the door as the first explosion ripped through the air.