Chapter 19
“That bomb looked real.” Adalyn stood (okay, paced) in the office as she talked with Gage and Hailey.
Luckily Hailey was doing sit-ups while Gage did push-ups—those two were always moving when they weren’t working. And she was pretty sure it was a weird competition at this point on who could do the most reps.
“The bomb itself was real, but the picture was fake. Or…the final product was fake. The two images were put together, and if I’d had more time to inspect it, I’d have realized it eventually,” Gage murmured between reps.
“I just don’t get what he gains from this…unless he expected me to show up and try to disarm a bomb.” Adalyn paused, but then shook her head. “I mean, I guess it could have been that.”
“Maybe.” Hailey stood, slightly out of breath, then sat at her chair, rolled her shoulders. “It’s crowded on a normal day, but on the Wednesday before Mardi Gras… He’d have to have secured a good perch if his goal was to shoot you. And if his goal was to follow you or kill you much more up close and personal… Well, yeah okay, that could have been his end goal. To get you there, then stab you and disappear into the crowd. It wouldn’t be too hard to move fast, strike an artery then walk away.”
“Or he could poison you and walk away,” Gage added as he stood, then sat as well. “Go old-school and inject you with ricin or something.”
“That’s comforting.” Her tone was dry. “So this could have been a test, to see how I would react.” And the more she rolled that around in her head, she thought that was it. “I didn’t show up, or he didn’t see me, so…what’s next?”
Or who or where was next? She scrubbed a hand over her face even though what she really wanted to do was scream at the insanity of all of this.
“No,” she growled as she received another text. Again, from a different number. And a slightly smaller-looking bomb, but the style looked the same. Then another picture followed. This one was at…her aunt’s bar. There was a crowd of people at the main bar top and the six booths were packed. And everything was decorated in purples, greens and golds. “Oh god.”
Can you save her in time?
Bile rose quickly as the message popped up, but she shoved it back as the others looked at her phone. She picked up the secure phone she’d used last time to call the police and dialed, reporting the bomb location before hanging up. Then she texted the men who were running security for her aunt.
Gage moved a little faster than Hailey, was on his computer and typing quickly. She realized what he was doing, but saw the signal die almost immediately. “I can tell you where he texted from before he took the battery out,” he murmured as multiple screens popped up in front of them. “Right across the street from her bar.” His fingers were still moving at warp speed and Hailey had joined.
“There. I think that might be him.” A CCTV feed popped up of a man in a ball cap walking away from the bar, his head ducked low as he hurried down the sidewalk.
Different camera feeds popped up as the two hackers worked together, but then the man stepped into a café and greeted a woman, who in turn hugged him. As she did, his hat fell off and it wasn’t Ali or anyone she recognized.
Using a program Gage had created, dots and lines froze on the man’s face now that it was clear for them to view, then he ran the recognition software. Minutes later, an info box popped up listing the man’s information. Daniel Barker, local owner of a dog salon, widow, had two daughters, one of whom he was currently talking to in the café she worked at.
“That’s not the guy,” she muttered even as defeat tugged at her.
“I’m still running a program on everyone in the area during the time the text was sent. And from my other feed, the cops are on the way.”
Since neither of the guys running security had texted her back, she called one of them as Gage and Hailey did their magic. She was no use to them here, hated feeling so useless. They’d only been here since Monday but it felt a lot longer. And she wanted to be on the ground, doing something, not sitting and waiting.
“Security guys aren’t answering. I’m calling my aunt.”
Hailey simply nodded. “This guy targeted your aunt because of you. He might be monitoring her phone.”
Yeah, she’d thought of that.
“He won’t be able to trace you, I’m just reminding you in case he’s somehow listening.”
She called her aunt, a woman she hadn’t spoken to in over two years, was surprised when she answered on the second ring.
“Addy.” Music thumped steadily in the background, a familiar tune she’d heard hundreds of times growing up.
“Aunt Collette. There might be a bomb at your bar. I’ve called the cops but I need you to evacuate your patrons and yourself immediately.” And she really needed her to not argue about it.
“You’re sure?”
“No, I’m not sure if it’s real if that’s what you mean, but whoever murdered Fleur’s roommate is going after people related to me. I know you’ve talked to Fleur. Evacuate your place now.”
“Okay.”
Adalyn blinked at her acquiescence, but didn’t question it. “When the cops get there—”
“I’m not telling them shit. So don’t worry about me telling them I talked to you if that’s what this is about. I’ll just say I received an anonymous call.”
She blinked again. Okay, then. “Thank you. And go, move now as fast as you can. I’m hoping this is just a hoax. But in case it’s not, you’ve got to be fast.”
“All right child, I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up without another word.
“She’s evacuating.” They’d likely heard the conversation but she told them anyway even as she had to restrain herself from not racing down there. Because she would just be making herself a target and potentially others by exposing herself that way. She couldn’t put more people in danger even if her instinct was to go.
“The bomb squad and Emergency Service Unit has already mobilized,” Gage murmured without looking over at her. “They’ll be there soon.”
“Do you guys need anything?”
“Water would be good,” Hailey said.
Gage nodded. “Ditto.”
“I’ll be back.” Adalyn hurried downstairs, glad to have something to do. She thought she’d avoided running into anyone—namely Rowan—but found him in the kitchen eating a sad-looking sandwich. “Oh. Hey.”
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“No. Everything is not okay.” She relayed everything to him as she grabbed waters, but he plucked them from her as she finished.
“I’ll bring them waters. Go get a few rounds with the punching bag in the gym. You need to get your aggression out.”
She wanted to argue with him, simply on principle. “Maybe I take a few rounds on your face.” She paused when he raised his eyebrows and she realized he could interpret her words two very different ways.
“You can take as many rounds as you want on my face. All night long even.” Oh, he was definitely biting back a grin.
“I’ll be in the gym,” she muttered as she stalked away from him. “And I still hate you.”
“Duly noted.”