Explosive Alliance (16 page)

She suddenly clutched his arm. “We could use the phone the bomber left to call him. I could redial the last number called.”

“I doubt he'll answer.”

“I have to try.” Krista dialed and lifted the phone to her ear.

The team members watched, all of them eagerly awaiting the result.

Krista listened intently, then frowned. “The number's no longer in service.” She turned in a circle, her eyes wide with worry. “We have to do something before he kills Opa.”

“I'm sorry, Krista,” Jake said. “But all we can do right now is head back to County and hope Skyler finds something in those emails.”

“We can pray,” Cash offered, surprising himself. “Pray for Otto's safety and that the bomber calls again.”

TWENTY-ONE

C
ash settled into his makeshift bed on Krista's couch and checked his service weapon to make sure it was loaded and ready, then rested it on his chest and propped an arm behind his head. Time had passed slowly—painfully—today without a call from the bomber or any leads from Skyler's investigation. Everyone on the team had come to care for Otto and their concern for his well-being mounted.

Then there was Krista. She was near hysterics and wouldn't let Cash offer any comfort. She was still mad at him for talking to the detective. He'd wanted to explain the misunderstanding, but he didn't want to bring it up and add additional turmoil to her life.

He sighed out his frustration and snapped off the light. He heard the wind jostling the trees. The usual rain hitting the windows. Krista moving around in her room, not settling down until 2:00 a.m. Hopefully, she'd get some rest, but Cash doubted it.

His phone rang from the table, and he shot to his feet. Jake's name appeared on the screen. Worry ramping up, Cash answered.

“We received a callout for a bomb threat at a construction company.” Jake gave the address. “We need you to meet us there.”

“I can't leave Krista alone,” Cash said, though as the only bomb tech on the team, he had to go or someone else could die.

“Brady's already en route to relieve you. Should be on your doorstep any minute.”

“Then I'm on my way.” Cash hung up and went down the hall to Krista's room. He knocked on the door.

She opened it, wearing a big fluffy robe.

He told her about the bomb. “I have to go.”

Fear shone plainly on her face, touching Cash's heart.

“Don't worry,” he said. “Brady will stay with you.”

“I'm not worried about me. It's you... You could... A bomb.”

“You're worried about me?”

She nodded and looked down at her feet.

He crooked a finger under her chin and tipped her head up. “You know I meant no harm in calling Eason, right? I wanted to help you.”

She didn't say anything, but kept her gaze riveted to him.

“I get that after Toby lied to you, and you don't trust easily. I hope you'll give me a chance to prove you can trust me.” He touched her cheek. Felt the softness. Saw the look of indecision in her eyes. A callout could go badly. Each event was a risk. If something bad happened, this wasn't how he wanted to remember her.

“I care about you, Krista,” he whispered and before she could stop him, he swooped in to kiss her.

As he put every emotion he'd been battling into the kiss, he heard pounding on the front door. He lifted his head. Krista opened her eyes. They were soft, dreamy and filled with longing.

Oh, yeah, this was better. So much better. This was how he wanted to remember her if things went south.

“I'll let Brady in.” He kissed her again, quickly but decisively, before answering the door. A sleepy Brady stood yawning and scratching his head.

“You stay alert.” Cash poked his friend in the chest. “No snoozing on the job.”

“I got this. A cup of coffee and I'm good to go.”

“You'll have to answer to me if anything goes wrong here.” Cash let his warning look linger until he was certain Brady took his responsibility seriously. “Call me if anything, and I mean anything, happens.”

“Like I said, I got it. So keep your mind on the bomb not on us.”

Cash jogged down the steps and soon had his car on the road. He wasn't surprised to see the construction office was nothing more than a double-wide trailer sitting on blocks. The FRS truck was parked at the end of the driveway, well away from the trailer for safety. Wally the robot sat outside, and Jake stood near the FRS truck talking with Skyler.

Cash crossed over to them. “What do we have?”

“The owner's inside strapped to a chair and wearing a suicide vest with a timer ticking down.” Jake ground his teeth.

“A vest?” Cash let the thought ruminate. “Like the vest on the bomber's flash drive?”

“Let's focus on rendering this bomb safe before talking about any connection to Krista,” Jake said.

“You don't need any distractions,” Skyler added.

Jake looked at his watch. “According to the 911 call made by the worker who found the owner, we have less than thirty minutes on the timer. The owner—Upjohn—said there weren't any other devices inside.”

“I still need to check it out. Let me get Wally going.” Cash climbed into the truck and soon had the robot on the move. After a thorough search of the building's exterior, Cash sent Wally inside and panned the room with his camera, finally settling on Upjohn. He sat in a metal chair, his hands tied behind, his feet strapped to the legs of the chair. Cash looked for a remote detonator in Upjohn's hands, near his feet, his knees, anywhere he could simply press a device. Cash had to make sure this wasn't a suicide mission meant to take out a bomb tech. Namely him.

After a thorough search, Cash was confident it was safe to enter the building. He climbed into his suit with Skyler's help.

When she'd fixed the last Velcro strap, she patted him on the shoulder. “Take care in there.”

He nodded and she settled the helmet on his head. He crossed the lot to the trailer. Giving Upjohn a thumbs-up as he approached, Cash once again confirmed the lack of remotes, then checked to be certain there wasn't a pressure device keeping Upjohn in the chair. Believing it safe to proceed, he turned his attention to the vest. The device had similarities in materials and design to the stadium bomb. It also matched the schematics they'd looked at last night minus the handheld trigger, but Cash couldn't focus on that with only ten minutes left on the timer.

He went to work, finishing his job with three minutes to spare. He unstrapped the device and gently set it on the floor. He helped Upjohn to his feet and pointed at the exit. The man literally ran for the door. Cash had to move slower. Darcie already had Upjohn sitting on the truck bumper with a blood pressure cuff attached to his arm by the time Cash reached them.

Skyler helped Cash shed his suit. He gestured for Jake and Skyler to join him out of Upjohn's hearing range. “Before you call MEDU to dispose of the explosives, you should know I believe the device was made by the stadium bomber.”

“Believe?” Skyler asked.

“Can never be positive from a visual inspection, but the similarities can't be overlooked. With Otto missing, we can't afford to wait for an analysis to confirm it.”

Jake furrowed his brow. “We need to question Upjohn.”

Cash's feeling exactly, and he wasted no time heading back to the man.

“Is he good to answer a few questions?” Cash asked Darcie.

She looked at Upjohn. “Mr. Upjohn—”

“Would you people quit calling me that?” he interrupted. “Name's Steve.”

Darcie smiled at him. “Steve is doing remarkably well.”

“Not like I haven't been around explosives before.”

Cash admired the man's attitude. “What can you tell us about the person who strapped you into the vest?”

“White guy. Skinny. Maybe six feet. Wore a ski mask. His eyes were this weird blue color. Almost gray.”

Skyler brought up the bomber's sketch on her phone and handed it to Steve. “This the guy?”

“Could be, but with the mask, I can't be sure.”

“What
are
you sure of?” Cash asked.

“I'm sure he hated me. Glared at me the whole time. That's why I remember his eyes so well. Said I would pay for my carelessness on the stadium renovation.”

“Stadium,” Skyler said. “What stadium?”

“It's Providence Park now but it was Jeld-Wen Field when we worked on the renovation. As far as carelessness goes...” He shook his head. “Only thing I can think this guy is talking about is one of our workers hurt his back in an explosion and ended up disabled. OSHA cleared us. It was just a freak accident.”

Skyler pulled out her notebook. “Do you remember the guy's name?”

“Hugo Ketchum.”

Skyler's eyes lit up. “You're sure about the name?”

“Yeah. He worked for me for ten years. Was a hard worker, and I was sorry to see him go, but the back injury disabled him permanently.” Steve shook his head. “I didn't even blame him when he sued the company and the stadium. Probably would've done the same thing if I was in his shoes. But as I said, we were cleared of any negligence.”

“Bet that made Hugo mad,” Cash said.

“Mad's not the word for it. But that was years ago, and I never heard from him again. If this is related to Hugo, I don't know why he waited so long.” Steve held up a hand. “Don't get me wrong. I don't think Hugo was the guy who put the vest on me. I could tell by his hands that he was much younger.”

“There's a Ketchum on the stadium employee list,” Skyler said. “I remember the name because it made me think of ketchup. Could Hugo work there?”

Steve shook his head. “His son Leo could, though. He'd be in his late twenties by now.”

“Any idea where Leo and Hugo live?”

“Sorry. No.”

“Anything else that might help us locate this man?” Skyler asked.

Steve tapped his chin. “Not really. But I'll keep thinking about it.”

Skyler gave him her card and gestured for Cash and Jake to join her away from the vehicle. “My files are back at the firehouse. I don't want to waste any time before looking for Leo Ketchum. Cash can drive me over there while the scene gets wrapped up.”

Jake nodded. “We'll meet you back at the house.”

Skyler started off, but Cash lingered. He felt as if he was missing something, but he didn't know what. Maybe he just didn't want to leave the man who had provided their best lead in case Steve remembered something else.

Skyler turned back. “What are you waiting for, Cash? We finally have a strong lead, and we might be able to arrest our bomber before daybreak.”

* * *

“The warrant's here.” Skyler waved the form in the air. “Let's roll and bring this guy in.”

Cash felt his excitement mount as the rest of the FRS team jumped to their feet and headed for the firehouse door. They'd discovered Leo Ketchum's name on the stadium employee list and emailed his photo to Krista, who'd positively identified him as their bomber. Skyler located Ketchum's address and obtained an arrest warrant plus a warrant to search his room.

Finally, they were likely going to bring Otto home, and Cash wanted to tell Krista to ease her mind. Maybe to ease his own mind that she was there waiting for him.

He'd had plenty of time to think about her while waiting for the warrant. About her care for her preschoolers. For Otto. The way a simple look from her made his heart fire. She was an amazing woman and he had to follow these feelings for her. He didn't know if Krista would have him—she had a lot to get over first. So did he, but maybe when this was all over, he could put Opa's advice into practice and trust God to help him let go of his past, then they could see where this thing between them led.

He stepped outside and held up his phone. “I need a minute to make a quick call.”

Skyler eyed him. “One minute, then I'm leaving without you.”

He quickly dialed Krista and brought her up-to-date.

“You found the bomber. You really found him.” She sounded breathless with excitement.

“Hopefully he hasn't moved. We're headed out to make the arrest now. I wanted to check in with you before going. I could come back there instead if you want me to.”

“No, go after this guy and rescue Opa. That's the most important thing.”

Skyler peered at him from the back of the truck and tapped her watch. Cash started for the truck. “Let me talk to Brady.”

“I'll get him.”

“Yo,” Brady said a moment later.

“Everything okay there?”

“Relax, man.” Brady's voice was calm and confident. “We're fine.”

Cash told Brady about the warrant and made him reaffirm his promise to call if anything came up. Feeling optimistic, Cash stowed his phone and climbed into the truck. Jake was behind the wheel as usual, the truck already running. Archer rode shotgun. The others sat in the middle and Cash joined them.

“Ketchum rents a room at a boardinghouse owned by a Glenda Yapp,” Skyler was saying.

“Not the best part of town,” Jake commented and didn't wait for Cash to sit before merging into traffic.

Skyler nodded. “Not surprising if they were living off Hugo's disability check and Leo's minimum-wage job at the stadium.”

Cash added, “Sounds like a good reason for revenge.”

“I don't know.” Archer turned to look at them. “If that's Ketchum's reasoning, I understand going after Upjohn, but bombing a stadium, where innocent people would die? That doesn't fit.”

“It does if he was targeting a spectator,” Cash said.

“I suppose,” Archer replied. “But I think it would need to be more than that.”

The team fell silent as the tires spun over the wet pavement and the long wipers swiped across the window. Cash assumed everyone was thinking about this guy's obsession with explosives and whether he'd used them on Otto.

“Ten minutes out,” Jake announced.

They silently donned their Kevlar vests and checked their weapons. When the truck pulled to the curb in a run-down neighborhood, they were ready for action.

Jake cut off the engine and assessed the building. “Archer and Skyler cover the back. Cash and I'll take the front.”

They stepped down from the truck and moved swiftly and decisively. Jake pounded on the front door.

A stout woman with messy gray hair needing a good washing answered.

Jake displayed his ID. “We're looking for a Leo and Hugo Ketchum.”

“Not here.” She stifled a yawn as if she had deputies arriving on her doorstep all the time.