Page 69 of Tempted By Poison
The kids are trapped in a circle like a hoard. With a bomb strapped to each of them. Empty water bottles are thrown around, old trays are near them with crusted bread and something that looks like slop.
My stomach flips with nausea, twisting uncomfortably. The kids' eyes widen, their bodies writhing under the ropes and knots. Some are older teens, a few are younger, no older than ten.
“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, help us, please,” one older boy says, moving in his chair, his face with stained blood at the rim of his forehead. As Ronan walks around to examine the bombs, I carefully stroll over to the younger girl who’s shivering.
“Please don’t hurt us!” one younger girl cries out. My heart clenches, like a wall narrowing in and squashing it.
“It’s alright. We are the good ones,” I whisper, lowering my gun to the floor gently to show her we are friendly. I give the most genuine smile I can muster, one that hopefully reassures her. I’m not sure how I could do that when they’ve been strapped to this for nearly two days.
She trembles some more, but she doesn’t speak; she only nods her head looking at everyone else frantically.
“Are you here to save us?” a teen boy whispers out in a quiver.
“Yes, we are,” I say, checking the bomb.
I wish I could say I know the ins and outs of deactivating a bomb, but I don’t. My heart beats frantically as I scan the wires that loop and overlap each other—the timer on each bomb counts down.
It's twenty minutes from detonating. If Boone can't do this under that time, then this will all be for nothing.
Chapter 23
Anita
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“I'm not sure whetherwe’ll have enough time,” Wicked Mal says to Ronan. Pedro stands guard at the door while the others try consoling the kids.
Shit, what's going to happen.
Ronan's jaw clenches as he ponders. Boone strolls toward the kid who’s quivering like she’s been standing out in the cold. His tall frame towering over her with a grim expression probably terrifies her more than being strapped to a chair.
“Alright, you got this,” Ronan says encouragingly, trusting his friend to know exactly what to do. Then, he lets out a harsh breath and shakes his head.
Okay, this can't be good.
“To get it done faster, we’ll watch him do it, then we’ll deactivate the others.”
