Chapter 53
Emily was furious. Her jaw tightened, and her cheeks flushed with color. “You cloned my key card! You stole my system password!”
"Thanks for the heads up,” she sneered. “I’ll remember that next time I date a sociopathic asshole!"
"I did it for us, baby." It was the ultimate narcissist turnaround.
Emily scoffed. “You never cease to amaze me. Really? For us!? How exactly did you see that working out? You screw me over like this, and somehow that’s for us? What else have you been lying to me about?”
“Quite a few things, actually,” JD muttered.
Emily shot him a sharp look. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn't mean anything," Ashton said. "Look, we're going to get through this, and I'll explain everything."
I laughed. "Good luck with that one."
Ashton scowled at me. "I think we have more pressing concerns right now."
"I agree. If I were you, I’d be praying for that bomb to go off. Because that’s going to be easier than explaining the brunette to her.”
Ashton swallowed hard.
“What brunette!?” Emily snapped.
JD snickered.
Emily and Ashton bickered.
The flex cuffs dug into my wrists as I tried to pull my hands through. I had kept them loose, just enough room to wiggle through. After taking off the top layer of skin, my hand was free. It didn't feel too good, but it was a hell of a lot better than the alternative.
I sprang to my feet. "I hate to interrupt things, but I need a knife.”
"There's an X-Acto knife in the drawer," Emily said, nodding toward the counter.
I hustled across the room, pulled open several drawers until I found the blade, then hustled back to the table and cut Jack free.
I gave the knife to Jack, and he released Emily while I addressed the bomb. Once she was free, she joined me, evaluating the device.
Begrudgingly, Jack cut Ashton loose. He climbed to his feet and rubbed his wrists.
“How much time do you think we have?” JD asked.
I shrugged. “Not enough.”
Ashton took one look at the device with wide eyes and said, “I’m getting the hell out of here.”
He bolted for the door. It was probably the smartest decision he ever made in his life.
“This is based off your tech,” I said to Emily. "How can we defuse this? Or should we just cut bait and get the hell out of here?"
"I don’t want to lose the lab and all my work, but I don't want to lose my life either.”
I shared a look with JD.
“I’d rather not get vaporized.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Emily said.
She hurried across the lab and rolled over a portable fluoroscope. She positioned the C-arm over the table with the DR plate underneath the device. She powered it up, and an image appeared on the screen.
This bomb was similar to the others—a central core, an electromagnetic field array, backup power, multiple leads, and enough dummy leads to make it confusing.
“This is very similar to my design on a smaller scale and with a few modifications,” Emily said.
“Ashton must have gained access to my computer and shared all of my notes and schematics.” She considered it for a moment.
“I think I can neutralize the device by freezing it, then shattering the phase coherence with focused parametric ultrasound. It’s risky. You should probably clear out.”
“How risky?”
Emily shrugged. “By the way, I’m mad at you.”
“Me?”
“How long did you know about the brunette?”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“If there is a later.” She rushed to a cabinet and grabbed a can of liquid nitrogen, then dashed back to the table.
“Mist it over the device,” I said. “Any abrupt change in temperature could trigger it.”
Her annoyed eyes narrowed at me. “I know what I’m doing.”
She sprayed the pressurized canister with a fine nozzle over the bomb. Within a few passes, it looked like an evil Christmas ornament.
JD and I huddled around. I’m not going to lie, the instinct to find the door was strong, but we weren’t going to leave Emily on her own.
She hustled across the room again.
“What the hell is that?” JD asked when she pulled a device from a locker.
“A prototype we’re working on,” she said, holding what resembled a space-age rifle.
It was off white with aluminum accents. Its long, thick barrel, flashing lights, and pistol grip made it look like something Space Marines might carry.
“A high-intensity sonic weapon. Good for crowd control. Low-frequency ultrasound can cause disorientation, nausea, and loss of motor skills. It’s got an effective range of several hundred feet.
With any luck, it will disrupt the mechanism. ”
She shouldered the sonic weapon and took aim at the frozen device. “Last chance to clear out.”