Chapter 20
Knox followed Fernando down to the basement level of The Mandeville. He didn't worry about him running off—Fernando was clearly scared. And determined to disarm the bomb. Apparently, he'd planned to be long gone if this bomb was ever to detonate.
Which raised a question. "Fernando, if you're so scared of this bomb, why shorten the countdown? What happened to the timeline texted to Drakos?"
The nervous bomb maker spun around, frustration and anger warring on his face. "This isn't . . .it's just . . . You think you're so smart? You try to build all these devices and . . . and . . . and link them, and adhere to my brother's timing."
Brother?
Fernando's eyes bulged.
Oh yeah, fearful Fernando did not intend to let that little nugget slip out. They still didn't know who ran Byron but passing along the boss's brother to the FBI—if all went smoothly today—would be a huge help.
Knox was dying to press him about his brother, but there wasn't time. He needed to keep the man focused, because the other fact he confirmed from Fernando's outburst was that this guy wasn't an expert bomb maker. As if that wasn't obvious already.
He'd do his best to get Fernando to disengage the countdown, but the next few minutes held no promises for their survival. The beads of nervous sweat on the flustered bomb maker's brow clawed at Knox's confidence in the man.
An unbidden image of Allie floated in his mind.
He loved her.
He didn't know why that feeling—that fact—solidified in his heart and his mind in that moment, but it did.
He wanted a life with her. They were created for each other.
He was certain of it. His chest constricted.
It sent white-hot terror through his veins to know that the fidgety, mediocre explosives enthusiast held Allie's life in his hands.
If Fernando didn't come through, he'd have no future with Allie. Because no one in this building would have a future at all.
Yeah, he needed to keep Fernando focused. For so many reasons. "Don't worry about any of that now, buddy. Just concentrate on disarming the bomb. You can be a hero today. You've got this."
Knox hoped that wasn't a lie.
Fernando bobbed his sweaty head and led Knox to the end of a short hallway.
"It's in here," he said. He pushed open a heavy metal door with a screech worthy of a horror movie. Fernando flipped on the lights, but the sudden dim glow from the scant number of fixtures did nothing to lessen the creepy factor.
Knox scanned the room. Fernando wasn't bluffing.
A bomb, similar to the ones he saw in the warehouse, sat on a table in the middle of the room—a room filled with ominous canisters.
If those canisters were filled with diesel fuel like Fernando claimed, then he was right about the bomb being able to burn down the whole resort.
Knox glanced at the countdown display on the device. Only nine minutes and fifty-four seconds remained.
"Okay, Fernando, get to work. How long should this take?"
"Only a minute or two," he said. "I can do this. I can do this. Just take these cuffs off my hands so I can work."
It was a necessary request, but before he uncuffed him, Knox checked around the table and the immediate area for anything Fernando could use as a weapon.
As soon as that bomb was defused, he wasn't sure what Fernando would do.
Attacking Knox wouldn't make any sense. But Fernando wasn't full of sense.
"You need all those screwdrivers?" Knox asked, gesturing to the tools on the table.
"Just the smallest two."
Knox scooped up all the tools from the table except the two smallest screwdrivers and set them on a different table, out of Fernando's reach. Then he uncuffed Fernando and stepped back a couple of feet to let him work.
He took out his phone and glanced at his texts.
At least the other half of their plan was working well.
And Nash was in the helicopter. He worried what Kendall might do if he discovered Nash's true identity.
He especially worried what he would do to Allie.
They needed to get the contract to Kendall as soon as possible so that he and Allie weren't waiting at the helipad long enough for Kendall to get chatty with Nash.
Once they got the contract, he hoped Kendall and Fernando would rush off the island, not questioning Nash's explanation for replacing their pilot—or the fine print of the contract.
"Oh no," said Fernando.
"What's wrong?" Knox asked.
"I dropped my screwdriver."
"Where is it?"
"It fell on the grate." He motioned wildly at the floor. "And slipped down."
Yep. There was a grate in the floor near Fernando's feet.
"You can't use a different one?"
"No. The others are too large." He pointed at the grate again. "That's the one I need!"
Knox flicked his attention to the countdown display.
Eight minutes and forty seconds left. "Move out of the way," he barked.
He grabbed the largest screwdriver he'd removed from the table and used it as a lever to pop open the grate.
He hated turning his back on Fernando while he worked, but at this point, Fernando had every motivation to disarm the bomb.
They were on the same side—for at least eight minutes and forty seconds.
It took him longer than he'd hoped to remove the grate.
Just below the grate opening was a shallow area used for water runoff.
Leaning in, he stretched down until he could reach the screwdriver and gripped it.
He pulled himself up and thrust it into Fernando's hand with more force than necessary. "Get back to work."
He glanced at the countdown display. Seven minutes left.
Fernando returned to his work, and Knox replaced the grate cover so Fernando wouldn't accidentally fall in. Because Knox could absolutely see that happening.
In the movies, someone eventually disarms the bomb with only one second left, after the booming musical crescendo. Knox didn't need that kind of drama today. Seven minutes was terrifying enough, thank you very much.
Mercifully, thirty seconds later, the display dimmed, then turned off. Fernando stepped back. "That's it."
"Are you sure?"
Fernando's head bobbed. "Yeah. Listen, I know you think I'm a moron, but I promise that thing isn't ticking anymore."
Knox didn't correct his assumption.
Fernando exhaled a long breath and grinned. "That was a close one, man."
"You think this is funny?"
"No. I'm just happy to be alive. Today isn't going the way I'd hoped." He shrugged. "Until now. Now we take that contract to Kendall. You get your girl. And everyone is happy."
The guy's attitude grated on Knox's nerves, but he needed to focus. He needed to get to Allie before their plan fell apart.
Knox gripped Fernando's arm and shoved him toward the door. "Let's go. Kendall wants you and the contract. Allie's safety is all that matters to me right now, so get moving."
By the time they reached the roof, Kendall's pace had slowed but not faltered.
Allie was sure he would allow himself to bleed out before he let himself stop to rest. He trudged on, pushing her ahead of him.
As they approached the helicopter, it suddenly occurred to her that she'd never met Nash and didn't know what he looked like, so she prayed the dark-haired, broad-shouldered pilot was Nash.
It's not like she could ask him when they—
The pilot hopped out of the helicopter and greeted Kendall.
"Mr. Kendall?"
"Jones?" Kendall answered.
"Yes, sir. Are we leaving now?"
"Not yet. We're waiting for my partner and an important contract. They should be here momentarily, so get it started. I'm going to leave as soon as possible after they arrive."
"Yes, sir." The pilot—who was likely Nash since Kendall didn't seem to know him—started his pre-flight check.
Since Kendall had to ask if the pilot's name was Jones, she figured he'd accepted that his usual pilot had sent a substitute.
At least he wasn't questioning Nash. She wanted to make eye contact with Nash, if for no other reason than just to feel some encouragement that she wasn't about to die, but she knew better.
She didn't want to do anything to cause Kendall suspicion.
And to Nash's credit, he played his part well. He acted like his passenger holding a woman at gunpoint while bleeding from his leg was an everyday occurrence.
She considered a few options of what to do when Knox came to the helipad with the contract and Fernando. But so much would depend on how Kendall and Knox decided to handle the trade-off.
The minutes dragged on. The wait was painful.
Her giant captor never loosened his grip on her arm.
He just stood there, stoic and bleeding, staring at the door where they both hoped Knox and Fernando would soon emerge.
After what seemed like an eternity, the door opened.
Fernando walked out first, Knox behind him.
"The bomb's disarmed?" asked Kendall.
Fernando waved off his question like it was silly. "Yes, it's fine. Let's get out of here."
"Where's my contract?" said Kendall.
"Right here," Knox said, holding up a stack of papers. "I told Drakos to stay inside. He handed it to me on the stairwell. We don't need any more innocent people up here. Now let Allie go."
Kendall huffed. "Send Fernando over with the contract. I have to see it first. Then I'll let her go."
Knox set his jaw. His features looked like chiseled stone. "Let Allie start walking and I'll let Fernando start walking with the contract."
Kendall gave a sickening laugh. "You don't have the upper hand, and you're not giving me orders. I'm the one with the girl. You start Fernando walking this way with the contract, or I start hurting her."
To make his point, he twisted her arm behind her back. She tried not to whimper, but she gasped, and she knew Knox could see the pain on her face.
"All right!" he roared. "Let her go!"