Leftovers (16 page)

I looked at him. We had a lot to talk about when I got back. “I’m still heading in. You need to help your friend, and you need to target the trucks that have the remote controls. Any NBG food truck could have a remote to set them off.”

I started to leave, then turned and gave him a hug. Land had been a good friend and a fantastic chef, and I wanted to let him know that, even if I didn’t have time to get a Hallmark card.

I was surprised when he hugged me back, tightly and fully. It was not what I had expected. Now I had an even better reason to return from this mission. I had to find out what the hell that was all about.

I took off into the building. Land had started by going to the first food truck that he saw. It was definitely a NBG truck. It had been on the report he’d given me.

I stopped at the entrance to the building. There was a line of security guards standing by the door. Each was checking a list and either allowing people to enter or escorting them out the door. I knew better than to think that I would ever be Danvers’ plus one. Drastic times called for drastic measures. I reached in my bag, grabbed the stack of cash for the day’s receipts, kissed it as hard as I could, and threw it into the air.

The reaction was instantaneous. People rushed out of line to grab a few dollars. They crossed the line, hoping to pick up a few dollars. The security detail had their hands full, trying to get people back in line. I ducked past two people grabbing dollar bills and headed inside. One of the security team saw me, gave a signal, and started after me. The elevator doors closed before he reached me.

I got off on the second floor, knowing that there would be people waiting for me higher up. They were worried about the witnesses, but in the wrong way. At least now, I knew that a red flag had been thrown up. I hoped that the security detail would be smart enough not to allow the witnesses to congregate, but I couldn’t be sure.

I started with the side of the building closest to the square, unsure of how far the radio signals could travel. I wanted to focus my search on the areas that could most likely hold the bomb. I didn’t have to search hard. In a storage closet, I found the device sitting on the floor. It consisted of explosives taped to a cheap cellphone. I took the knife I’d been carrying, one of Land’s favorites, and cut the wires. One down.

I sent a message to Land, telling him that it was no longer just a theory and that I’d disarmed a bomb.

The return text said, “Might have to hire you. Took out one driver.”

He didn’t say a word about the guy with the radio scramblers, so I had to work as if he wasn’t coming. I knew that the courtrooms were on the seventh floor. So I decided to slowly work my way up. I couldn’t use the elevators, since I figured someone would be watching them by now. I would have to take the stairs. The building had two sets of stairs. The first was the standard get out of the building stairs required by the government for evacuation purposes. The second was an old-fashioned set of stairs that led from one floor to the next. I slowly went to those stairs, hoping that no one was there. The landing was quiet, so I crept to the next floor. I was extremely grateful for my sneakers and the lack of noise. I could hear voices above me, so I knew that a few floors above, I would need to come up with a new plan.

There were no explosive devices on this floor that I could see. I checked my watch. I’d spent five minutes just on this floor, meaning that I only had about seven minutes remaining before this building exploded. I tried to focus on the task at hand and not imagine a huge fireball that used to be this building.

The fourth floor had another device and I slashed the wires as fast as I could. At this point, I only had four minutes left. The crime boss was supposed to be here in about eight minutes, and I figured that the bombers would want to make it look as if they were out to get the defendant rather than all the witnesses. Time was running out.

I stepped out of the closet and my luck ran out. Danvers and a group of men, all in their finest police regalia, stood just down the hall. “What the hell?” Danvers shouted at me. He gave chase and I sprinted in the other direction. The old government building had been designed with the hallways leading in a huge rectangle. My choices were limited, and if I found nothing, I’d end up right where I started—and where the group of decorated police officers stood.

I didn’t get that far. Danvers caught up to me as I rounded the first corner of the rectangle and tackled me to the ground. He slapped a pair of handcuffs on me before I could even fight back.

“What the hell are you doing here? I don’t know how you got past security, but I know you’re not supposed to be here. This is a secure area for the witnesses.” He hauled me up to my feet by the cuffs.

“There’s a plan. They’re going to blow up this building with all the witnesses in it. We don’t have much time.” I panted.

Danvers looked aggrieved at me. “Is this like yesterday?”

I told him to check the janitor’s closet. His demeanor changed drastically when he saw the disabled IED. He got on his phone and demanded that the building be evacuated immediately.

My watch was on my arm behind me, but I knew that we only had two minutes or less remaining. My phone buzzed and then buzzed again. I thought it had to be Land, telling me to get out now. I screamed at Danvers to get moving, and he took me by the cuffs and started running toward the old staircase. He was still on his phone when the line went dead. “What the hell? What’s going on?”

I looked out the window of the landing. There was someone using the battery from the food truck to power up a machine. “There’s a scrambler out there,” I said, trying to point at it with my face.

Danvers looked and saw the man in front of the food truck. “I recognize him. He’s one of Land’s old friends. I’m not surprised.”

We headed down the rest of the stairs. Land came sprinting up to Danvers, explained the situation and the two of them ran off to collect the remaining NBG food trucks—leaving me in handcuffs.

The resulting media storm got Jax Danvers more than his share of attention. Since Land was not in a position to want notoriety, Danvers assisted him by taking credit for the entire investigation.

Once we knew the motive, several steps were taken. The trial was moved to a secured location in another part of the state. Witnesses were given protection until they testified and no two witnesses were allowed to congregate at any time during the trial. Danvers gave his testimony and gave an hour-long interview to the local press after the guilty verdict was returned.

NBG was indicted for its role in the conspiracy. Jacob Stanton turned state’s evidence and provided the DA with enough evidence to prove that they had bribed Linda Zoz, given me $30,000—which they then took back—and hired the snipers. Betty had become aware of the plot, and she had been coming to talk to me about the situation when she’d been shot.

Andy Zoz, now less worried about his own life, came forward and shared that Linda had indeed taken the money from NBG. I did point out that fact to Jax Danvers on several occasions, making sure he knew that I had been telling the truth the entire time.

As for me, I was pleased to see that Linda Zoz’s death had not been in vain. A dangerous killer and an evil corporation had both been dealt with because of her death. I knew that she would have been pleased.

With NBG closed down, I had to pay for my own repairs to the food truck. It had hurt my bottom line significantly, since I had to replace an axel, a front panel and a tire, but it just meant that Land would have to stay in the truck with me a while longer. He didn’t seem to mind, though he didn’t come out and say it.

~ END ~