Conard County Revenge

by Rachel Lee

  “I’m still aiming at you,” the man reminded him. “Shake it out good. Then I’ll give you something to eat. If you behave, I might free your other arm for a while.”

  Probably not at the same time, though, Jack thought sourly. At least the throbbing in his head was easing a bit. “My parents are going to notice when I don’t come home.”

  “Don’t matter. Nobody’s gonna find you here.”

  Probably not, Jack thought grimly. When his arm and shoulder stopped aching so badly, the guy threw some bars on his lap. Nutrition bars. Damn.

  But he wasn’t going to comment on the strangeness. He might have expected a plate of beans from this guy. He tore the wrappers with his teeth and began to eat ravenously. As energy began to return to his body, Jack started to think seriously about his situation. The thoughts that occurred to him didn’t make him feel any better. So what if this man said he’d free Jack unharmed after he finished whatever it was he wanted to do? First of all, Jack wasn’t sure he believed the guy. But even if it were true, it meant that he’d be tied up here, his head full of knowledge the ATF and Darcy could use, and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

  Dang, give him the award for stupidity. He should have just kept driving last night. What made him think he should try to creep up on this guy? If he’d just headed home, one phone call would have brought the whole of the county crashing down on this guy’s head.

  No, instead he’d had to go all comic book. God! It was almost enough to make him hope he didn’t survive this, because he didn’t want anyone to know he’d been an incredible idiot.

  When he finished the four foil-wrapped bars, the guy gave him a paper cup full of water. No weapon there, not that he’d be able to do much with his ankles bound and one arm still tied to the post behind him.

  As soon as he’d finished the water, the man approached again. “Gonna tie up your arm, son.”

  “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  “You can do that right there. It’ll dry.”

  Jack closed his eyes, dealing with it. Now he wanted a way to get even with this guy. Anger filled him, but he didn’t struggle as his arm was cuffed behind him again.

  A one-armed man couldn’t do much right now. He had to start thinking about ways to deal with this guy. Ways to get loose. Not that that was looking too likely.

  Then his left arm was freed and he shook it out with relief, aware that the gun always pointed at him, never wavering.

  “Why?” he demanded finally. “Why are you doing this?”

  “Because nobody’s gonna stop me. And that means you.”

  “I can keep my mouth shut.”

  The man gave a small, crackly laugh. “Yeah? That’s why you followed me? Tried to creep up on my house? Sure. I recognize a so-called hero when I see one. I knew enough of them in my life. Funny thing, heroes usually wind up dead. Maybe you’ll be the lucky one who doesn’t.”

  The words chilled Jack. He might be the lucky one? “You said you wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “I won’t if you just sit there and do as I say. But you wouldn’t be the first kid I killed.”

  Jack stuttered. “W-w-what?”

  “Spoils of war, boy. Spoils of war.”

  What kind of man was he dealing with? The guy was suggesting he might actually like to kill Jack. Stupid question, he supposed, given the guy was a bomber. But killing kids?

  Then he froze internally. He might be only seventeen but he’d heard about kids dying in war. This guy was a veteran. Maybe... “When did you serve?” he asked abruptly.

  For a long time the guy didn’t answer. Then he said, “Vietnam.”

  The guy stood up and Jack watched his shadow leave the building. Alone again, he had plenty of time to realize he hadn’t used his opportunities to glean more information very well. Or to gain the guy’s sympathy.

  Pinned, he had become totally useless to everyone. Even to his own family.

  The dunce in all this was him.

  * * *

  Just as the first gray light of day filtered through a crack in the curtains, Darcy’s eyes popped open and she realized she was wrapped in more than a comforter. Alex had wound himself around her, cradling her close, as if he would protect her.

  Dawn was here, or near, and she knew she needed to get up, start her day, find out if it was safe to check out the new bombing. Call her boss and see if she could beg, borrow or steal some more help.

  One minor blast at a high school that everyone had originally believed would be traced to a student who was either experimenting or angry about something, had proved to be anything but. Now a second bombing made a complete hash of anyone’s attempt to dismiss the first, bad though it was, as an isolated incident.

  Of course, she’d told her boss they were beginning to suspect something much bigger. But he’d just sent four agents he could not really do without to a serial bomber in Georgia.

  But now they had a serial bomber here.

  She didn’t want to move. Charity had said she would call when the site was safe for examination. Surely she could steal a few more minutes here, comfortable and warm, with Alex so close.

  It had been a long time since she’d even considered what she might be missing by keeping herself so attentively focused on her job, and by avoiding relationships beyond a few casual girlfriends. A long time since she’d last thought how wonderful it would be just to be hugged.

  Boy, she’d been missing a lot. Almost unconsciously, she snuggled closer and felt Alex’s arms tighten just a bit. God, so good to be held like this. Part of her never wanted it to end.

  One of her arms had worked out from beneath the comforter during the night, and now she dared to wrap it around his broad shoulders. Powerful man, filled with strength of every kind.

  Inevitably, she wondered how difficult it had been for him to leave his work with the BSU and start over again as a shop teacher all the way out here. She knew the level of tension and excitement that went with their kinds of jobs. Rarely a dull moment. Boredom was unfamiliar. What must a change of this kind be like?

  Had he struggled with the quieter hours? With the lack of seriously important tasks? Or had it come as a relief to him to know that someone’s life wasn’t riding on his shoulders.

  Right now she wondered if that might be a good thing for her, too. She already felt like a failure, and nobody had died yet. What if they didn’t catch this creep before someone did? Because now there was no doubt he was escalating.

  She sighed and a murmur escaped Alex. “Stop it.”

  “What?”

  “Thinking so loudly. Nobody’s called. You can’t race out to the scene, so just give yourself a break until the phone rings.”

  “I need to call my boss.”

  “He can wait. Like a normal person he’s probably having breakfast with his family.”

  “Are you saying I’m not normal?”

  A sleepy chuckle escaped him, then he drove the breath from her by rolling on top of her. “You’re normal enough to be driving me out of my mind,” he said softly. His mouth was only inches from hers. She was staring into the amazing blue fire of his eyes.

  “Alex...” She could barely find breath to force his name out. In an instant he’d set her entire body ablaze, and she cursed every layer of clothing and blankets that separated them. She wanted him. To hell with everything else.

  “I should have undressed you last night,” he muttered.

  She couldn’t have agreed more.

  “A Viking would have,” he said more lightly.

  But then the talk was over, and she tumbled so far so fast that no further arguments arose in her. A few minutes. A little time, maybe an hour, for just the two of them.

  He pushed himself off her and yanked the blankets away. They reached for one another, struggling with buttons and snaps, hands getting in the
way, small laughs slipping out as they fumbled their way to nakedness.

  “Just don’t ring,” she heard him say before he pushed her naked body back onto the bed and began to kiss her from the top of her head all the way down to her ankles.

  “Time,” she whispered hoarsely. There might not be enough time and she didn’t want this to be interrupted...

  “I don’t want to rush,” he muttered.

  Nor did she. But her body was already arching toward him, her hands digging into his shoulders. Later... Maybe later they could take the time to explore, to learn, to savor...

  Then it happened. Her cell phone went off from her pocket in the heap of clothing on the floor. An instant later his began to ring, as well.

  He swore. They froze. But the moment was lost.

  “Later,” he said like a promise.

  “Later,” she agreed, not at all sure there’d be one.

  Still aching with desire, disappointment almost overwhelming her, she let him go, then stood up.

  “You shower first,” he said, pulling on some shorts. “I’ll get breakfast going.”

  The phones shrieked again. Darcy clambered around the floor, finding hers. She answered.

  Charity Camden. “It’s probably safe for you to come out here now,” she said. “One of our men brought out our plans during the night. Wade said you wanted to see them so just come out when you’re ready.”

  “You?” Darcy asked.

  “I’m not going anywhere. I’m an arson investigator, remember? I can help. Some guys went back to town to get us all food and coffee. We’ll be waiting.”

  Alex had answered his phone as well, and apparently got the same kind of message. He looked over at her. “Shower. Then we’ll grab some takeout at the diner.”

  “Sure. But I need to call my boss. You shower first.”

  He shrugged. “Good enough.”

  Like it mattered, Darcy thought as she pushed autodial for her boss. They were both going to be filthy in no time at all.

  * * *

  Struggling against his bindings got Jack nowhere at all except sorer. The skin on his wrists felt raw. The rope on his ankles didn’t stretch in the least. And the man who held him captive hadn’t returned.

  Maybe the guy had gone somewhere. Maybe he wasn’t coming back. Maybe he planned to leave Jack here to starve to death.

  Maybe he’d driven back to the semiconductor plant to get an idea how much damage he’d done. That might give him away. Hope filled him as he remembered how quickly Darcy had noticed his interest at the high school. Yeah, she’d pick this guy out of a crowd.

  Maybe.

  And what if all Jack had managed to do was push the bomber’s timetable up? What if someone got hurt or killed because this creep hurried ahead with his plan?

  God, if his head hadn’t already hurt so badly, he’d beat it against the post behind him. His mouth felt dry as cotton. No more water had been forthcoming. Those nutrition bars had long since vanished from his stomach and it rumbled annoyingly.

  Well, he could make it. He just wished he could find a way out of the mess he’d created before it was too late.

  What he had to do was find a way to connect with this guy. Get him to talk. Maybe even get him to feel sorry enough for Jack that he’d let him go. Hadn’t he read somewhere that’s what a kidnapping victim was supposed to do? Make the captor care?

  But this guy had said he was going to be dead soon and didn’t care. If that was the case... Well, maybe there was no reaching him now.

  Still, there was a chance he could at least find out what this guy wanted to get even for. Because if Jack survived this, somebody was going to want to know what the bomber had been trying to do. Especially if he planned to blow himself up with his own bomb.

  And all of that assumed, of course, that Jack got out of here alive.

  * * *

  Vince, Darcy’s boss, said he’d see about getting some FBI agents out there to help. Exactly how they were going to help, Darcy didn’t know. Local law enforcement knew this county like the backs of their hands. The FBI’s having found that axle with a serial number hadn’t happened because they were FBI. ATF or one of the locals could have found it, as well.

  “FBI,” she muttered.

  “What about them?” Alex asked as she pulled into the diner.

  “My boss is going to try to get me some agents. I’m just wondering what they can add to the mix. Extra hands, I guess, but the last I knew they were every bit as tied up with counterterrorism as we are, and they’ve probably got their hands just as full. The locals here don’t need to be brought up to speed. I bet they know damn near everyone.”

  “Damn near,” Alex agreed. “What do you want? I’ll just run in and grab takeout.”

  “A ton of breakfast fries, a heap of scrambled eggs and enough coffee to float the Titanic.”

  He laughed quietly. “Got it. Be right back.” He paused as he was climbing out. “I get why you’re dubious, Darcy, but there’s something the FBI can work on in much more depth than local LEOs.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Deep background on every possible suspect.”

  She hadn’t thought of that. It made her feel marginally better as she waited for him. Heaven knew there was little enough making her feel good right now. Then this morning, on top of everything, she’d been about to cast caution to the winds and give herself over to pure pleasure... And the damn phone had rung.

  Her body was still aching with disappointment and hunger even after a shower, a phone call, dressing... She wasn’t used to this. Usually desire flitted by and then left. Usually. This time it was sticking and didn’t want to abate even for work.

  Great. That was all she needed. A thing for a Viking who lived in the middle of nowhere. No way could that jibe with her job. With her career. With her no-involvement rule so that her male colleagues wouldn’t start using “family preoccupation” as a way to criticize her. Admittedly most of them wouldn’t do that, but she only needed one to take it as his personal mission to make her look bad. She’d seen it happen once, and it had been ugly.

  Alex returned swiftly with the bags of food and two tall coffee cups. She reached for a cup and gladly took a long drink before she backed out and started them toward the scene of the second explosion.

  Without a word, he reached over and rested his hand on her thigh again as she drove with one hand and sipped coffee with the other. It made her feel good, made her feel as if he regretted the interruption to their lovemaking as much as she did.

  Then the roads grew rougher and she had to put her cup in the holder so she could keep both hands on the wheel.

  “This road’s going to hell since the plant closed down,” he remarked. “Next thing you know, it’ll be sprouting grass.”

  “So it’s not used for anything else?”

  “Well, not much anymore. They paved it for the employee traffic, but obviously it’s now only being used by the people who used it before, ranchers mainly. Not much traffic most of the time. An occasional police car, trips to town for supplies.”

  The plant had been built beyond the reach of the town, but by only a few miles. It gave the impression of wanting privacy. “Semiconductors, huh?”

  “Yeah. Hush-hush, apparently. At least some of the work was for the DOD, but that’s about all I know. The business moved out before I got here.”

  Even though it was no longer in operation on defense contract, Darcy wondered if some old grudge might be the reason it had been targeted. But that didn’t explain the high school.

  Chewing her lip thoughtfully, seeing the remains of the building rising before her as they approached, she wondered if this had been just another trial run. A bigger one. Another empty target seemed pointless. Unless they had a bomber who got all the kicks he needed from blowing something up. It was rare on
e of those went after buildings, however. You could make things go boom in an empty lot and run into a whole lot less trouble than when you destroyed property or threatened life.

  No, this guy had a point to make with all this. She desperately needed to figure it out. Maybe this scene would offer more clues.

  When she reached the end of the road and the beginnings of the fence, she saw two deputies standing guard, their cars on either side of the opening, roof flashers operating. They waved her through, but she halted just inside the fenced perimeter.

  She wanted the larger view in the morning daylight, more than she’d been able to see last night. A big building, but not overwhelmingly so. Three stories. She wondered how much expensive equipment had been left behind. Judging by her early chemical analysis last night, some dangerous metals had been left, but possibly only in minute quantities that simply couldn’t be located or cleaned up. A good reason, other than property protection, to keep this place behind barbed wire.

  But the security guards had been removed. Well, it wouldn’t be the first time a business had moved on and left its pollution for the locals to deal with. While that wasn’t within her job description, she had a couple of friends at the EPA who’d told her about it. Anyway, there probably wasn’t enough left here to constitute a real environmental threat.

  She guessed she’d find out, though, because she wasn’t entering the remains of the structure without taking her detector with her. And wearing a mask.

  The blast had been big enough to take out one entire corner of the building. How much additional damage had occurred in response to the fire or structural weakness was something she’d have to figure out.

  Big, but not as big as some bombs she’d seen. Maybe this guy didn’t want massive. Maybe he was after something smaller. Given that he’d proved to himself he could successfully build a bomb with the explosion at the high school, this one might have been done as a matter of scaling. Scaling up.

  Alex had passed her a container and she opened it, eating scrambled eggs, home fries and toast while hardly tasting any of it. Fuel for the day ahead.

  Her eyes kept roving the scene, from the undamaged end of the building to the blown-out and burned part. “The bomb was outside again,” she said after a bit. “See the debris pattern? Implosion near the wall. Stuff blew inside.”