Chapter 10 Fowl Play #3
“There’s a bomb!” He lunged for the door. “Everyone out of the house,” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Now!” He sprinted into the hallway, shouting like a maniac to get his sister, the twins, and everyone else outside.
“Go! Go! Go!” He stayed at the back of the group, spurring them on. Knowing they only had seconds to spare, he yanked open the gates to the chicken pens as he passed them, hoping some of them would escape. He didn’t see the Carters.
“Jensen and Kenny, if you can hear me, take cover! There’s a bomb about to go off!” He wasn’t sure how far the blast radius would extend.
He kept hollering warnings and running until the world erupted behind him. Then he dove for the ground. Jen and Rex, who were several strides ahead of him, used their bodies as shields to blanket the twins.
Smoke enveloped them, blinding Owen to his surroundings. Dirt and debris pelted the back of his head, shoulders, and legs. He could hear nothing but the ringing in his own ears.
His hearing returned in slow degrees. It might’ve taken seconds. It might’ve been minutes. He had no way of knowing as he pushed to his hands and knees and crawled toward the whimpering sounds his sons were making.
“Ryder? Cooper? Are you okay?” He was afraid of what he was going to find.
“Over here,” Rex called hoarsely. “We just finished a fingers and toes check. They’re all accounted for.” It sounded like a weak attempt at humor, probably for the boy’s sake.
“It tickled.” Ryder was laughing and crying at the same time. “My ears hurt.”
“Mine, too,” Cooper blubbered.
Owen’s heart constricted at the sound of their weeping, knowing his sons had seen and heard things today that children should never have to see or hear. As he made his way to them, he bumped into something warm and solid. It was the unconscious figure of his boss.
“Man down,” he announced hoarsely to no one in particular, checking to ensure Rock was still breathing. He was.
Rock sluggishly slapped his hand away. “We’re all down, Tolliver. I’m fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me.”
Relieved, Owen helped him sit up. Seconds later, his sons found him and dog-piled on him. He gathered them close. “How’s your aunt? Did you use your superpowers to protect her?”
Ryder buried his face in his dad’s neck. “She used her superpowers to protect us!”
“I’ve had better days.” Jen crawled into view, picking grass and twigs out of her hair.
Rex stumbled through the smoke to join their growing huddle. He cast a few worried glances at Jen that weren’t lost on Owen. The guy genuinely cared about his sister.
The sheriff and his deputies held a rapid-fire conference. Then they dispersed to form a perimeter around the group.
“I think it’s safe to say,” the sheriff announced in a hushed voice, “we’re all supposed to be deader than dead. It might not hurt to stay that way for a while.”
The sound of a motor made everyone jolt in horror, but it was only Jensen’s old two-toned Chevy pickup rumbling up to them. He was behind the wheel, and his son was in the passenger seat. At the sight of them, he jammed on his brakes and leaned out the window. “Get in!”
He and Kenny sandwiched Jen between them in the cab, while the twins rode on her and Kenny’s laps.
Everyone else climbed into the back. It was a tight squeeze for six grown men, but they made it work.
Since they were supposed to be dead, they pulled a large black tarp over themselves and held it in place by hand.
Nobody complained about the jab of knees and elbows or the sweaty stench rising from their filthy bodies. It was an emergency extraction. They were fortunate to be alive, and their most immediate goal was to stay that way.
At the sheriff’s direction, they headed for the old post office building on the other side of the lake that housed Lonestar Security. When they reached the parking garage, Rock poked his head out from beneath the tarp. The gate guard recognized him and waved them into the garage.
As soon as Jensen parked, Rock took charge and led their group inside the building to the elevators. Using a special key, he took their elevator to an unmarked lower level. They exited into a storm shelter Owen had only visited once during his new-hire orientation.
“Welcome to the bunker!” Rock gave them a quick tour.
“We’re standing in the lounge.” He gestured at the scattering of sofas and recliners.
“The kitchen in front of us is fully stocked. The hallway to our right leads to the guest rooms. It’s not the Hilton, but the sheets on the beds are clean, and the showers are hot.
There’s a storage closet in the hallway with travel-sized toiletries and a donation bin of clothing.
Help yourselves to whatever you need. We’ll reconvene for our next powwow after everyone cleans up. ”
Nobody argued, not even Owen. His world was in shambles. His wife was missing. His home was a smoldering ruin. His flocks of chickens were scattered across the countryside, ripe for targeting by hawks and foxes.
Jen took charge of the boys. Before they disappeared down the hallway, Owen heard Cooper ask in a trembly voice, “Aunt Jen, when are we gonna get our mom back?”
Owen started to follow them, but Rock pulled him aside. “It’s always darkest before the dawn. You know that.”
Owen’s shoulders sagged. “I just need to find Halle.” It was his only priority right now.
“We will.” The confidence in Rock’s voice buoyed Owen’s spirits a little. “Lonestar Security has your back. So does the Heart Lake Police Department.” Then he did something unexpected. He bowed his head and prayed for Owen and everyone else who was taking shelter in the “bunker.”
When they raised their heads, they were still filthy and in desperate need of showers, but one thing had changed. Owen felt like continuing the fight.
As agreed, the men reconvened in the lounge after their showers, while Jen herded the boys into the kitchen.
They perched on barstools, looking adorable in their mix-and-match shorts and t-shirts from the donation bin.
Ryder was soon blowing chocolate milk bubbles through a straw.
Cooper had an entire box of animal crackers lined up for battle against the “monster chickens.” Rex stood on the other side of the bar, “galloping” a cookie elephant into the lineup to Cooper’s delight.
Owen was relieved to see his sons faring as well as they were. Children were often more resilient than adults gave them credit for. He moved their way to kiss the tops of their heads, which were damp from yet another bath.
He kissed Jen’s cheek next. “Thank you for everything.” She was snuggled in a white bathrobe with her feet stuffed into a pair of fluffy slippers. He caught Rex’s eye. “You, too.”
Rex nodded to acknowledge his words, while keeping Cooper entertained with the antics of his cookie elephant.
Jen rolled her eyes. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. There’s never a dull moment with the Tolliver men.” Though her voice was light, she looked worried. “What I wouldn’t give for a dull moment right now!”
Jensen and Kenny were on the other side of the kitchen unwrapping frozen pizzas and popping them onto trays. They had the double ovens preheating.
“Big bonus checks are coming for the Carters,” Owen announced as he pulled a bottle of chilled tea from the fridge.
“What?” Jensen waggled his bushy eyebrows at him. “Oh, you thought we were gonna share these pizzas with the rest of you guys, eh?”
“Yes, please!” Ryder waved a hand excitedly in the air. “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole pizza by myself.”
Cooper’s hand shot upward. “I could eat ten whole pizzas!”
Owen spread his hands innocently. “How can you say no to that?”
“I can’t, and you know it.” Jensen grinned as the ovens beeped to signal they were ready. “How about I keep baking pizzas until we fill them up?”
“Thanks, man. You and Kenny both.” Owen uncapped his bottle of tea and returned to the lounge with it.
Another deputy had arrived, and all four Lonestar Security partners were present.
Josh Hawling and Decker Kingston—both former bull riders—were the original owners who’d launched the company.
Retired Sheriff Gil Remington and attorney Dave Phillips had come on board later.
“Well, folks, there’s bad news and more bad news.” Gil was a tall, auburn-haired man with plenty of frost at the temples. “It took a little pushing, but Luke finally got the Feds to admit one of the agents they sent to Owen’s house had been compromised.”
“You think?” Owen sputtered.
Gil nodded, grimacing. “It explains their botched sting operation. It also explains why the same agent volunteered to visit Garrett Farm and help with the investigation. After discovering y’all had survived their attack, he came to finish the job.”
“What’s the other bad news?” Owen prodded when the retired sheriff fell silent.
Gil gestured at Luke to take it from there. The scarred sheriff of Heart Lake rose from the sofa to address their group. “The rogue agent saw the security footage of James House abducting your wife, which means the smugglers know what vehicle he’s driving.”
“Only if he hasn’t ditched it yet,” Owen pointed out. “Any luck yet with the APB on it?”
“Nope, but we have roadblocks and checkpoints set up, the whole enchilada,” Luke assured.
“Here’s the bottom line. We need to locate James House before they do.
Since they got away with their cargo, he may be our last shot at bringing down the smugglers, which,” he sent Owen a wry look, “is secondary only to finding Halle and bringing her home.”
His words produced a round of applause from his listeners.
“The tricky part will be drawing James out of hiding,” he continued.
Owen waved his bottle of tea at him. “What do you have in mind?”
“Something you’re not going to like.”