Chapter 15 #2
Jason continued. "He'll be sitting in the helicopter, as if he's waiting for a passenger from the resort." He looked at Knox. "Our job is to make sure the bomber and/or Kendall decide to take Drakos's chopper."
"Oh, sure. No problem. Easy peasy," Knox said.
Allie knew Knox's sarcasm masked his apprehension about Jason's plan. She narrowed her gaze at him. "How are you going to do that?"
Knox grinned. "No idea. But we'll figure it out."
She let herself study his face for an extra moment. The unease she thought she'd perceived was minimal to nonexistent. "You like the challenge, don't you?"
A mix of surprise and amusement lit his face. "Yes, I do."
She respected his eagerness to tackle dangerous challenges. It was attractive. And nerve-racking. But she knew that caring about Knox Coulter meant supporting his calling to run headfirst into danger on a regular basis.
Was it worth the stress?
She didn't have to explore his soft gaze more than two seconds to know he was worth all the worry he'd provoke in her.
She offered him a genuine smile and turned to Jason. "You don't think they'll be suspicious?"
Jason shook his head. "So far, Kendall just thinks we're Drakos's private security. He doesn't know we have any contacts within the American government. They don't realize who they're dealing with. What we need to focus on first is finding the bomber. We cannot allow those bombs to detonate."
Knox grabbed a water bottle out of the mini fridge. "Does Kendall know what he looks like? Can he at least give us a description?"
"Don't start thinking Kendall's working with us," Jason said.
"He's not on our side. He only wants to give us enough information to convince us how real the danger is, so that Drakos will sign the papers.
And I do think he's being honest about the danger.
These aren't empty threats. Kendall knows the bomber won't hesitate to detonate. We have to find him."
Allie felt Knox's eyes on her again—in a much different way than in the elevator. And there was a strange intensity about him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing's wrong," he said. "It's just that we're really going to need your particular set of skills."
"Okay," she said. "You want me to look for the bomber. But where? He could be anywhere on the island. And what am I looking for?"
Knox shrugged. "You know what you're looking for. You're looking for someone who shows the signs that they're about to set off bombs." He shrugged. "Whatever that looks like. You're the expert."
She appreciated his confidence, but she didn't know where to start looking.
"I know what you mean. Yes, I know what I'm looking for.
But I don't know where to look. Am I supposed to sit in the lobby of the Mandeville?
Look at video feed from around the island?
Drive out somewhere? We have no idea where he is.
We don't know where these bombs are going.
They turned right on that road. What does that tell us? "
"Yes, they turned right," said Rowan. "But I'm watching them. All three bombs are still together, probably still in the truck. After they turned right, they took a smaller road around the back side of the Mandeville. They're close by."
Jason glanced at Rowan's screen. "Yeah, my guess is they're going to target the Mandeville.
Or at least use this as their starting point.
They're about a quarter of a mile from the back of the Mandeville, on the beach side.
Not far from where they tossed the bomb last night.
So let's assume the bomber's here. I think it's a safe assumption. "
"Okay, so you want me to look at security feeds? What if he's in a hotel room behind a closed door? Honestly, that would be the smartest place for him to wait. And we have no eyes on that."
Knox plopped into a chair at the conference table and shoved his hands through his hair. "She's right. He's probably in a room. Why would he sit out in public waiting for us to stop him?"
"I thought of that," Jason said. "But he has to get to the room somehow.
" He looked at Allie. "Your job is to look at all the video feed from around the Mandeville from the past 30 minutes.
Just look for . . ." He waved his hands aimlessly, unsure how to finish his sentence.
"Look for whatever it is that you look for.
See if there's anyone suspicious coming in.
Someone who looks out of place. In a public area or walking to a room.
Knox and Rowan and I are going to focus on the bombs themselves.
If I can get my hands on them, I might be able to disable them. "
"And if not," said Knox, "what do you think about us throwing them into the ocean?"
Jason's eyebrows shot up. But as the thought settled, he cocked his head and quirked his mouth.
"I don't know. It's better than having it go off in the Mandeville, I'll give you that.
But I don't want to just Hail-Mary it into the waves.
I'd feel better if we took them out on a boat. And we don't have a boat."
"Henrik has boats," said Knox. "And trust me, he'd love to have a boat ready to transport ticking bombs."
"I hope we don't need it, but yeah, I guess go ahead and have him bring a boat up here.
That can be plan C or D. He could just have it ready on one of those small piers on the beach side.
" He wagged his finger at Knox. "But then he leaves it there and gives us the keys.
I don't want him helping, other than providing the boat. "
"I'll call him," said Knox.
Jason rubbed his temples. "Remember, this is plan .
. . let's call it plan D, for desperate.
What we want to do is catch the bomber and prevent any of the bombs from getting activated in the first place.
If they do get activated, we'll attempt to deactivate them.
But I really want to avoid transporting a ticking bomb. "
"Doesn't that make the boat plan C?"
"Call it whatever you want. Let's just focus on disarming them. I don't want to resort to the plan where we blow up a bunch of fish."
"Agreed." Knox stood. "Rowan, where are the bombs now, exactly?"
He walked over to glance at Rowan's monitor. Rowan pointed at the GPS map. "They're sitting still, in a small parking area near the beach."
"How long would it take them to walk one of those bombs into the Mandeville?"
Jason stood behind Rowan and folded his arms. "From there, they could walk it inside one of the main buildings of the Mandeville in a minute, if they're fast. Two minutes tops. I think they're staging from that outer lot for a quicker getaway."
Knox exchanged a look with Jason. Allie knew what they were thinking.
"You two want to take on the guys in the truck? There are four of them."
"Yeah, four of them against me and Jason." Knox jabbed his thumb at his chest, then at Jason. "It's a little unfair to the guards, but I don't feel sorry for them."
Allie couldn't laugh at Knox's joke. But she knew it held plenty of truth. Knox and Jason were far more skilled than those guards—not that the guards weren't dangerous. And armed.
She wanted to discuss their plan, but she saw the determination on Jason's face, and it wasn't her call. This was Jason's operation. And he and Knox knew what they were doing.
Her gaze lingered on Knox. As skilled as he and Jason were, the thought of them going up against four armed men in a truck with three bombs inside . . . She felt emotion build in her chest.
Tearing her gaze from Knox, she pretended to study Rowan's screen—while her imagination pelted her with terrifying 'what-ifs.'
And a new realization crystallized—her deepening feelings for Knox promised a whole new level of anxiety.