Explosive Force

by Lynette Eason

  “Let me guess,” Nick said. “He was wearing a hoodie.”

  “No, but a hat and sunglasses,” Bobby muttered.

  Leaning against the sink area, Nick hooked his thumbs into his pockets. “Why are you protecting someone who tried to kill you?” he asked.

  Bobby huffed and crossed his arms. He looked away while his teeth worked his lower lip.

  “Because he’s scared,” Heidi said softly. She stepped forward and took the young man’s hand. He was probably just a few years younger than she, but she felt a lot older. Almost maternal in the way she wanted to not only help him, but smack him upside his head and demand he cooperate.

  She controlled the second compulsion and squeezed his fingers. “Come on, Bobby. You’re not helping yourself here. You’re a victim of the bomber. Someone tried to kill you. Twice. Why won’t you tell us what we need to know? What was Lance Gentry doing there?”

  His fingers trembled in her grasp and a tear slid down his cheek. He quickly swiped it away and Heidi pretended she hadn’t noticed. “It’s...I...if I tell, he’ll kill me.”

  “Looks like that’s his goal anyway,” Nick said. “Let me just share something with you. We know Lance Gentry set off the explosion in the training center. He’s been trying to kill Heidi because he knows she can identify him. Guess what? He knows you can identify him, too. We had him in custody, but he escaped. So, if he’s the one after you, he’s still around to come back and finish the job. And it looks like he’s pretty determined. What are you going to do when you get out of here? Run?”

  “If I have to. Look, Lance Gentry isn’t trying to kill me. He never knew that I saw him at the training center.”

  “Then why protect him?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Bobby said. “Don’t you understand? I can’t tell you anything.”

  Nick’s nostrils flared. “Are you really that stupid?”

  He all but shouted the question and Bobby sank into the pillows even while his eyes flashed a defiance that hadn’t been there a few moments earlier.

  Heidi rose. “Excuse us, Bobby, I need to have a word with First Lieutenant Donovan.” She raised a brow at Nick. “Outside, please?”

  “Heidi—”

  She gripped his forearm and all but shoved him from the room. Once the door shut behind them, Nick frowned down at her. “What are you doing?”

  “Trying to get the name of his attacker, but if you keep shouting at him, he’s just going to close up tighter and tighter.”

  “I’m not shouting.”

  “You are. And you act like you’ve never questioned someone before. Can’t you read his body language?”

  He smiled. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Ah.” She gave him an assessing look. “I thought you were up to something. You planned this, didn’t you?”

  “And you played the good cop perfectly.” He paced three steps down the hall, then back. “But I’m getting impatient. Go see if your more gentle approach works better. We know that Lance Gentry is the guy who attacked him. He knows we know. I want to know why he’s protecting him.”

  “He seemed sincere when he said Lance never saw him.”

  “He’s lying.”

  Heidi shook her head. “I don’t think so. He has this tell when he lies. He rolls his eyes away from you, then looks down.”

  “Okay. Then if it wasn’t Lance trying to kill him all this time, who is it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then use those investigative skills and go find out.”

  She grinned. “Stay tuned.”

  “I’m going to have hospital security come cover the door while I grab some coffee. You want one?”

  “I’d love one,” she said.

  He stopped at the nurses’ station to arrange the security and she reentered the room. Bobby had shut his eyes, but opened them when she sat next to him. “Look, Bobby, I know this isn’t easy. I get it. I do. You say Lance Gentry isn’t the one who attacked you, that he never knew you were there. Then where is all this coming from? You might as well tell us because we’re not going to stop asking. What are you hiding? You were there at the training center before the explosion.”

  “Of course I was. I was taking care of the dogs.”

  “That’s what you said before. But there weren’t any dogs in that part of the building, Bobby. Your story makes no sense.”

  He looked down and pleated the blanket with his fingers, then smoothed it out over his thighs.

  Heidi sighed. “They found the money in your mother’s bank account.”

  He froze. “What money?”

  “Really?” She stared at him and his face crumbled. “What did someone pay you for? To keep quiet about the bombing?”

  “No.” His swift denial—and the fact that he met her gaze when he said it—had her believing him. Almost.

  “Then what?” He sighed and rubbed his eyes. She pushed a little harder. “It’s all going to come out in the long run,” she said. “You might as well tell us what you know and catch a break legally.”

  “Do I need a lawyer?”

  “Depends on what you were taking the money for.”

  Bobby hesitated only a moment before he said, “You were right. I was taking it to keep my mouth shut.”

  “About what?”

  “About who was stealing the medals.”

  Finally. “I kind of thought so.”

  “I know who’s stealing the medals, and he paid me to keep quiet.”

  “Then how does Lance Gentry fit into this and why would you protect him?”

  “Because I saw him at the training center, and he saw me. He has a certain reputation and if he knew I blabbed about him, he’d come after me.”

  Heidi wanted to do a facepalm right there. “If you had told the MPs who he was, they could have caught him and you wouldn’t have had to worry about him.”

  He laughed. “Right. Like he wouldn’t have been released on bail or something.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t take the chance. But if you caught him and he escaped, then he’s probably a long way away by now.”

  She was done with the Lance Gentry subject. “Who’s the guy stealing the medals?”

  “Roger Cooper. He’s a senior airman. He’s stealing the medals and hiding them in the kennel. The empty areas. I walked in early for my shift one afternoon because I needed an extra cage and we store some in that unused portion of the training center. He was there. When he saw me, he pulled a gun and said he’d pay me to keep my mouth shut. I agreed because I needed the money. Sometimes, he’d pass the medals off to me and I’d hide them for him when I went in to work.”

  “Where?”

  “Different areas of the training center. Always away from the dogs, though, because you never know when someone’s going to be around.”

  Heidi nodded. “Anything else you want to add?”

  “No.”

  “So it was definitely Cooper who tried to kill you?”

  “It was him. I saw him.”

  “Then you’re going to press charges.”

  Fear flashed. “I don’t know—”

  “If you don’t, he’ll go free. And then he really will kill you. You do understand that, right?”

  The man wilted against the pillow and gave a short nod followed by a wince. He lifted a hand to his head. “I understand. I just want all this to go away.”

  “Good. I’m sure OSI Special Agent Steffen will be by to take your statement.” And conduct an arrest, but she kept that to herself. “You need to tell him everything you told me, okay? It needs to be officially on record.”

  “I get it. I will.”

  “Good.” She stood and walked to the door. “I’m sorry it’s ending this way for you, Bobby. I don’t think you’re a bad guy. I think you just got caught up in something a lot bigger th
an you. But you have the opportunity to turn this around and do the right thing. I suggest you take it.”

  A deep sigh filtered from him. “I know. I will. I actually feel better already now that it’s off my chest.”

  When Nick returned with her coffee, she patted Bobby on the arm and they said their goodbyes. Two officers now stood guard outside the airman’s room. She filled Nick in on the conversation with Bobby and he shook his head. “You’re amazing.”

  “No, I just connected with Bobby when I saved his life. And he’s really not a bad guy. I hope he can get his life straightened out at this point.”

  “His air force career is finished.”

  “I know. And so does he. He’s just afraid. He’s been afraid for a long time, but I think he feels better now that he’s manned up and told the truth.” She drew in a deep breath. “How’s the officer who was hurt?” she asked. “Did you hear?”

  “I checked on him. He has a fractured jaw, but he’ll be all right.”

  “Wow, he really took a hard hit.”

  “He did.”

  She cleared her throat. “Okay, so what’s next?”

  “We look for this Roger Cooper character and see what we can shake loose from him.”

  “No, I look for Roger Cooper,” Heidi said. “This is my story, Nick. Roger doesn’t have anything to do with Boyd Sullivan.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Why don’t we fill Justin in on what we know and see what he says? Although, if you think about it, my orders are to protect you. So if you’re going looking for Cooper, that means I am, too.”

  FOURTEEN

  Nick returned to the car after searching for Cooper and slammed the door. “Another negative.” Annie nudged the back of his head from her spot behind him and he reached back to scratch her ears.

  “Great.” Heidi sighed and rubbed her eyes. “And nothing from Justin?”

  “Nope. They’ve got the MPs out in force looking for him and Gentry, but so far they don’t have any solid leads as to where either could be.”

  “I get that Lance Gentry might be hard to find since he knows if he shows his face on base, he’ll be caught, but how is it that no one has seen Roger Cooper lately? It’s like he’s dropped off the face of the planet.”

  They’d been tracking down Roger Cooper’s known associates, asking information. Nick figured the easiest way to keep Heidi safe was to go along with the hunt. He had hopes that Justin and the Security Forces would find the man first, but it looked like none of them were going to find him.

  Now they had only a couple of hours of daylight left. Nick really wanted them to locate the man before the sun went down, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

  “What did Captain Blackwood find after looking into Cooper’s background? Has he said when he’d have something?” she asked.

  “Shortly.”

  “Okay, what now, then?”

  “Let’s grab something to eat. A drive-through.” The longer he could keep her in the car, the easier it was to keep her out of danger. Between Gentry and Cooper, things could get deadly fast. He shuddered at the thought.

  His phone buzzed. “Hold on. Justin just texted. He said Senior Airman Cooper has a spotless record. Which is why no one’s thought twice about him being out with the flu the last four days.”

  “Does he live on base?”

  Nick texted the question to Justin. “No. And the officers sent to his home said he wasn’t there.”

  “Then he’s hiding somewhere,” Heidi said. “Close by if he’s the one attacking Bobby at the hospital.”

  Nick nodded. “I’d be inclined to agree with that statement.”

  “Any local relatives?”

  “No.” He scrolled the text. “According to Justin, he has a sister in El Paso and a brother who’s married with three kids, living in New Mexico.”

  “So he’s not with them.”

  “Nope. Local authorities have already checked just as a way to cover their bases. He’s here—somewhere. Justin’s put a BOLO out on him.” He stood. “I want to head to the kennels.”

  “Why? Aren’t they already searching them?”

  He shook his head. “I asked Justin if we could do it. With officers tied up searching for Gentry and Cooper, until I know for sure that Stevens is being straight with us, I’m not causing a scene or going on a wild-goose chase.”

  “Yeah. I see what you mean.”

  “So, let’s go see what we can find.”

  With Annie in the back, Nick drove to the training center and parked close to the door.

  He climbed out of the SUV and put on his backpack, then got Annie from her area and put her protective gear on. She sat and let him do what he needed to do with no protest. She knew she was going to work and her body quivered with excitement. Once they were ready, he scratched her ears, then looked at Heidi. “Stay behind us, okay? I don’t know how safe this place is.”

  “Okay.”

  With Heidi behind him and Annie beside him, he pushed aside the yellow crime scene tape and led the way to the warped steel door. “I think the opening is big enough to get through. I don’t know if you know the layout, but the door is higher than the ground floor. Once you’re inside, you have to walk down three steps, okay?”

  “I’ve been in there before. I know what you’re talking about.”

  “Good. Let me go in first, then Annie, then I’ll help you in if you need it.”

  Placing one foot carefully on the door, Nick had to climb over it and stop. The steps down had been destroyed and lay in crumbles two feet below. He hopped down. “Annie, come. Jump.”

  The dog scampered over the door and into his arms. He gave a grunt when she landed. “I think you’ve gained a few pounds, girl.” She swiped a tongue across his face.

  As always, her absolute trust in him never ceased to send a pang through his heart. Nick set the sixty-pound animal on the dirty, sooty floor and wiped the slobber from his cheek. He then turned back to warn Heidi. “Watch it, the steps are gone.”

  “Got it.”

  With his hands holding her waist, he helped her through the opening. She placed her hand on his shoulders and he lowered her to the floor beside Annie.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No problem.” Even in the dim light of the broken building, she took his breath away. He didn’t remove his hands from her waist immediately.

  And she didn’t step away from him.

  “Heidi...”

  “Yes?”

  “I...uh...” What was he going to say? That he must be going crazy because he was crazy about her?

  “Nick?”

  “Yes, sorry.” He dropped his hands and stepped back. He took his flashlight from his belt and clicked it on. The small windows lining the top edge of the wall just beneath the ceiling let in the waning natural light, but they needed the flashlight to illuminate the damage.

  “Wow,” she whispered as she looked around. “This is awful.”

  “No kidding.”

  “Why blow up this part of the kennel?” she asked. “I’m assuming Sullivan chose the location to bomb. Odd, I wouldn’t think he’d care if he set off a bomb that killed people. It’s almost like he picked an area that would cause damage, but wouldn’t kill anyone. Human or animal.”

  “I don’t think he cared whether he killed anyone or not. He probably picked this area because it’s easy to get in and out of without being noticed and he could get the distraction he wanted.”

  “True.”

  They walked through the lobby and into the hall that would lead them to the large kennel area. “Where would you hide a bunch of medals if you were going to do so?” Nick asked.

  “Someplace inconspicuous. Where no one would think to look—or accidentally stumble upon.”

  “That sounds about right. So, where is a nice
inconspicuous place in a training center? The kennel?” He flashed the beam over the walls and then along the floor, looking for a path. There were large pieces of concrete and rubble that made the going slow down the hallway, but they kept at it until they reached the kennels. The outer door stood open. “It’s not that bad back here. The bomb must have been set to go off near the entrance. It took the brunt of the blast. This is just soot from the smoke, and lots of standing water.”

  “Did they say what the bomb was made from?”

  “C-4,” he told her. “Annie found RDX, which is a common ingredient in the explosive.”

  “Where do you think he got it?”

  “No telling. It’s used with construction projects or demolition.” He shrugged. “Could be from anywhere. And it’s fairly stable. Like you have to set it off with a detonator.”

  “But you can attach a timer to that detonator, right?”

  “Sure.”

  “Or use a remote to set it off?”

  “Yes.”

  A noise behind them stopped him. “Did you hear that?” he asked her.

  “I did. You think someone else is in here, too?”

  “Shouldn’t be,” he said. “Unless one of the other investigators decided to come check it out, too.”

  “Or Roger Cooper’s been hiding out here the whole time.”

  He nodded. “That was my next thought. Then again, it could just be the building shifting. It might not be safe. Hang back while I check it out, will you?”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Heidi—”

  “Nope.”

  He sighed. “Then at least stay behind me.”

  “I can do that.”

  * * *

  Heidi did as he’d asked, but noted that Annie resisted the change in direction, pulling on her lead, wanting to go ahead.

  “What is it, girl?” Nick muttered. “Go on. Show me what’s got your attention.”

  A good handler always paid attention to his dog and Heidi realized that Nick wasn’t just good, he was incredible, always completely in tune with Annie when they were working. The animal darted ahead to the end of the leash, sniffed around a pile of crates and then sat. Nick froze.