madness.”
Tim rubbed his face. “I would go, but with my leg-and someone needs to stay with Emily. I’ll make sure she’s cared for.”
“Thank you, Tim. You’re a good man.” Henry looked from Tim to Adam. “Your father would be proud of both of you.”
Adam nodded. “For him, we need to end this peacefully. No one else has to die. Do you know where Jon is?”
“I don’t know for certain. But I overheard Carl Browne talking to one of his people that the meeting was still on at dawn in the church. If Jon knows about that, and he has more explosives, then I think he’ll go there.”
Adam caught Tim’s eye. Jon definitely had plenty of explosives to blow up anything he wanted.
Noah and Omar were hidden by bushes on the edge of the Callahan property, their breath visible. There was just one vehicle in sight, identified by Omar as the rental that Ian Galbraith, Bobbie Swain’s right-hand man, had been driving. There was no sign of movement in the house, and the only noise was from emergency vehicles headed to the fire on the far northeast side of Spruce Lake.
Noah assessed the house. The brush and grass had been cleared for a hundred feet surrounding the house, but they had the advantage of darkness.
“You’re sure the alarm is only on the house?” Noah asked.
“I’m sure.”
On Noah’s signal they moved in, circling the perimeter until they were in the rear of the house. Still no movement visible inside. Lights shined in a rear bedroom.
Gun drawn, Noah peered around the corner, looking for shadows or movement. All he saw was scraps of duct tape and ropes on the floor next to the bed.
The sliding glass door was cracked open, just a fraction. Noah motioned to Omar who silently pushed open the door.
Silence. No alarm, no voices.
A whiff of gunpowder hung in the air.
And the scent of blood.
The primary reason Noah hadn’t wanted Lucy with him was because of the very real possibility that Sean was dead.
Omar looked as grim as Noah felt. He motioned to the ATF agent to open the door on the far side of the room. Noah put his back against the wall while Omar opened it and went out low. Noah aimed high.
Still no sounds.
They went down the wide hall side by side, Omar checking the doors to the right, Noah to the left, until they reached the end, which branched off-the left to the living room, the right to the backside of the kitchen. A quick look in the kitchen showed no one was there.
In the living room, they found the body. Noah breathed a sigh of relief.
“She killed Ian?” Omar was shocked. “They were bed buddies. Screwed like rabbits. Rumor was they got off killing together. He worshipped her.”
“Seems she felt differently,” Noah said. He looked around the room while Omar continued searching the house.
“All clear,” Omar said when he returned.
Noah stared at an overturned dining chair and two broken lamps. “Sean, where the hell are you?”
Ricky huddled in his jacket outside the mine. The night was frigid, but still.
“How do you know Bobbie’s going to show up here?” Ricky asked Jon.
“She wants her stuff.”
Ricky almost didn’t ask, but he was curious. “What stuff?”
“Do you know what C-4 goes for on the black market?”
“That was hers?”
“It was the down payment from the gunrunner she was supposed to meet with in the morning. That and a hundred thousand, which she’d already spent. The C-4 is worth more than that, but harder to move. She sold some and hid the cash until she could find a way to launder it properly.” Jon laughed.
“She thinks she can play God and get away with it because she has for so many years,” he said, sobering. “It ends tonight. Are you with me, Ricky?”
“Yes.” He didn’t know what else to say.
“There’s one more warehouse. You do the honors.” He held the remote detonator out for Ricky.
Ricky hesitated, but only for a moment. Drugs had driven his father, even if he hadn’t done them himself. Drugs had destroyed his family, putting his father in prison and leaving his mother at the mercy of a monster. Drugs had fueled Bobbie’s greed and revenge, and he didn’t care if it was meth or pot-as long as there was a drug business in Spruce Lake, the town would never be free.
He flipped the switch and pressed the button. Nothing happened for two seconds.
Then the last explosion was twice as powerful as the first.
THIRTY-NINE
The blast from the latest explosion knocked Lucy and Patrick to the ground, and it was just good luck that they weren’t any closer to the warehouse. Inside the structure the marijuana burned. They ran back to the truck, and Patrick sped away.
Lucy had barely caught her breath. “Jon’s not here. No one is here.”
“He’s remotely detonating the warehouses.”
“How far can he be?”
“Bombs aren’t my specialty, but depending on the device he could be miles away.”
“What will he target next?”
“He’s already taken out the four warehouses. That’s it.”
“He has a bigger plan,” Lucy said. She looked out the window, the horizon now ablaze. She was thankful it was spring and the ground was still moist from winter; the explosions could have started a severe forest fire. Even now, the firefighters had their work cut out for them. They had to wear special equipment or risk being drugged from the burning marijuana. Toxins in the air put everyone at risk. She hadn’t heard of anyone dying just by being stoned, but she knew many cases of impaired drug-users doing stupid things and getting themselves killed.
Patrick’s phone rang. “Get it-it’s Adam.”
Lucy answered. “This is Lucy. Adam?”
“I’m with Henry Callahan. We’re at the church-Jon’s not here. No one is.”
“Does Henry have any idea about where else Jon might go?”
Lucy wanted to call Noah, but knew he’d contact her as soon as he had word about Sean. Not knowing was eating her up.
“None. He could still show up here. This is where they’re supposed to meet the gun guy tomorrow.”
“He’s not going to show, not with all this police and fire activity. Which is,” Lucy said, “probably exactly what Jon wants. To ruin Bobbie.”
“Not kill her?”
Lucy considered whether Jon’s revenge was more fatal-minded. She put herself in Jon’s shoes. If Sean died- her heart skipped a beat, and she forced herself to think like a professional. If Sean died, how would she feel? What would be her raw reaction?
She’d want revenge. Tonight. And she would probably take it. But after four months? On a specific day, to also thwart the gun deal? She wouldn’t. It was cold and methodical. Her revenge would be out of pain and anguish, not a calculated plot of murder.
“Why don’t you stay there,” she said to Adam. “In case Jon shows up. Let me know.”
