Chapter 12 #2
“I have no idea. And I’m not kidding when I say that.
I don’t know what they’re after or what the bottom line is.
I just know there are explosives rigged near the gates and random places outside the fence.
Like if you cut a hole in the fence and try to drive through it, there could be a bomb there.
I’m guessing it’s places that look most accessible to a vehicle or a horse.
Anyway, they can blow them anytime. They’re not timer based, they’re remote control activated.
I . . . um . . . heard them talking about it. ”
“Spying?” Sully asked.
A shoulder lifted in a small shrug. “Yeah, but they never said why. I have my thoughts, though. They don’t want anyone leaving this place alive. I think. I mean, I assume.”
Elena’s heart thudded, and a rage she hadn’t felt in a long time started to pulse within her.
She was tempted to strap him into the driver’s seat of one of the golf carts and send him down the drive and through the gate.
So tempted. But she checked herself. It wasn’t a good plan.
Or what Jesus would do, but she had no idea how she was going to be able to love this enemy.
“Okay, so let’s blow up the bomb near one of the gates and leave,” Ollie said.
Spencer turned his focus to the teen. “I can’t believe you’re talking about this stuff in front of her. She’s just a kid.”
“Who needs to know what’s going on,” Sully said before Elena could say it.
“So, we need a jail cell for our captive until we can prove this guy wrong,” David said. “Or right.”
“Well, when we built this place,” Maya said, “I wasn’t picturing holding prisoners, but we do have the office in the barn. Just have to reverse the lock and put a bed in there. It has a bathroom attached and the window would be too small for him to climb out.”
Sully nodded. “Let’s do that.”
“I’ll help,” Elena said. She caught Ollie’s disappointed look. “And after that, I can work a little more with Ollie.”
The girl lit up.
“I can handle it,” Sully said.
“I don’t mind.” She held up her injured wrist. “As long as I can work one-handed.”
David nodded. “That’ll work. Y’all get busy with that, and I’ll get a guard at the gate so no one comes in or goes out. We’ll have to spread the word of this fast.” He scowled at the man in custody.
“I’m sure some of the others would be willing to help,” Elena said.
“We can stop whoever we see and ask them to spread the word to come to the barn. Then we can let them know everything going on. Maya can talk to them while you guys are turning the office into a prison cell. We have to make sure no one leaves the property until we have a clear picture of whether or not there truly are bombs.”
“There are,” the prisoner mumbled.
Elena studied him. He could just be trying to avoid being turned over to the sheriff while biding his time to make an escape attempt.
He could be.
Unfortunately, she didn’t think so.
Sully stepped into the barn. It wasn’t your average barn. It was high tech and temperature controlled. Their captive would be quite comfortable until they could figure out how to get him to the authorities.
He had half a mind to turn the heat off but wouldn’t want the horses to suffer. He rubbed the curious soft noses that poked out of the stalls as they walked past. Fifteen horses. “We’ll have to figure out who’s got horse duty,” he said.
Elena glanced at him. “Yes. Thankfully, the vets take turns. It’s volunteer and a lot of them really enjoy it, but if it comes down to it, I can do it. Ollie might like to help. She likes dogs, so maybe horses will interest her too—with you or Piper supervising, of course.”
“I would think so.”
“Office is this way.”
She walked him down the middle of the concrete and hay-covered barn floor to the room at the end, then tapped in the code to unlock the door.
“We’ll have to reverse that.”
“Yep.”
He stepped into the room that had changed a lot since his childhood days. What used to hold an old wooden table, four rickety chairs, a metal filing cabinet, and a fax machine with a telephone was now fully modernized.
He hung his coat on the rack. “All right,” Elena said. “If you start packing this stuff up and moving it out into the middle of the barn, I’ll move Jumper to the empty stall near the other door. We’ll store the office equipment in his stall.”
“You got it.” He rolled up his sleeves and went to work.
Elena did the same.
Ollie joined them with three other vets who helped as well. Piper stayed on guard, ready to alert them to any trouble, but the alarm never came and they finished in record time.
They all gathered at the other end of the barn, and Maya explained everything that had happened and about the bombs. “I know this isn’t what you signed up for when you came here, so if you want to just lay low in your cabin, no one is going to judge you.”
She continued her spiel to the men and women, who frowned and hung on every word and muttered concern about the situation. And offered their support.
Elena opened the newly moved refrigerator and handed out water bottles. “Now for the bed.”
“It’s in the truck outside,” Ollie said, leaning against a pitchfork. “I saw a couple of the vets drive up with it.”
Sweat glistened on her face and Elena passed her a water bottle. “Hydrate, my friend.”
Elena had been spot-on in her assessment that Ollie would want to help care for the horses. She’d jumped in and, after some brief instructions, mucked a couple of the stalls like she’d been doing it all her life.
While the teen chugged the liquid, Sully and one of the vets, Grady Little, moved the twin bed into the makeshift cell. Sully gave a short nod to Grady. “Do you mind letting David know he can bring the prisoner down?”
“Will do.”
“Thanks for your help.”
The man saluted, did a 180, and disappeared out the door of the barn.
Elena turned to Ollie. “You feel up to another lesson?”
The girl nodded. “Bring it.”
“Let’s do it here. In between the stalls. There’s enough room for what I have in mind to show you. Sometimes you have to defend yourself in close quarters.”
Sully watched the two of them move to the concrete area between the stalls. While they worked, he finished sweeping some remaining dirt from the new office floor, then set the broom aside.
And thought.
Somehow, they needed to go on the offensive. And that meant getting rid of the bombs without hurting anyone.
Maya was still answering questions, so Sully joined her to listen in and provide his thoughts should he be asked. When she finished, one man raised his hand. “Tell us how to help. I’m a soldier. I might have my issues, but I ain’t run from a fight yet.”
“Yeah, same here,” another echoed.
Soon, everyone was in, and Sully’s heart squeezed with a grateful twinge.
Carlos Gonzalez stepped forward. “You’re sure we can’t leave?”
“No,” Sully said, “I’m not. But we were told there are bombs around the perimeter, so we have to act like that’s the situation.
Obviously, we still have to check that, but we don’t know if there are snipers guarding the bombs.
The priority was to make sure the prisoner was locked up with no escape route.
The last thing we need is for him to run off and warn the others about our defenses—or to step on one of the bombs and blow himself up.
He’s really just a kid who’s been steered wrong.
He needs consequences for his actions, but I don’t want to see him dead.
Now that we’ve got his temporary home ready, we can address the bombs. ”
“We need more people around the perimeter,” Carlos said.
“David handled that with ten more men already on-site, and we can’t risk having anyone else try to get in the gate,” Piper said, joining them. “I’m mostly concerned with the bombs.”
Sully nodded. “I’ve been thinking about that. Everyone on the ranch now knows to stay away from the entrances, right?”
“Yep.”
“Where’s Felicity?” he asked Maya.
“At the kennels. I sent someone to let her know what was going on and not to leave the ranch.”
“We need to ask her if she’s training any EOD dogs.”
Maya’s eyes widened. “That’s a great thought. She trained a bunch when she was in the military and still does for several police K-9 programs all over the country.”
“I’ll go ask,” Elena said. “Ollie and I are finished with this lesson.”
He nodded. “Thanks.”
“Can I go?” Ollie asked.
“Not this time, kiddo,” Sully said. “Stay here with Piper and me, please.”
Disappointment flashed in her eyes, but Sully couldn’t budge on this one.
Elena saluted and hurried away. He watched her go, and once again, a wave of . . . something . . . swept through him. He sucked in a hard breath to distract himself. Now wasn’t the time for attraction.
Not now, maybe not ever.