Written by North / Zaret
I was shaking from head totoe as I entered the garage. I had a hard time slipping into my lab gear because my fingers kept fumbling. As I checked on my petri dishes, I took out the phone Nolan had given me and tipped it at my hip, shooting the camera repeatedly. I moved around the metal table so I got it from all angles while futzing with the lamps and the other vials.
Thankfully, all my seals were in place, and none of the experiments had been screwed with. It would have been devastating to start over.
Back in the house, I handed the phone to Nolan, and he downloaded the pictures, sending them off to other people at the Bureau. He zoomed in on several of the images and rattled off things to me about remote detonation and tonnage. While I was sure I could follow the science of it, I didn’t want to. I forced the formulas from my head, refusing to see any beauty in it. I just wanted it gone.
“It looks small enough that any damage would be contained to the garage. You might have some broken windows in the main house, and it would definitely rattle the place, but I don’t think it’d do much worse,” Nolan said. “Honestly, they knew what they were doing. A small amateur lab like yours wouldn’t have anything in it to cause more damage than that. If they wanted it to look like an accident, this was the best way to do it.”
It was only a small relief, knowing that, even if it exploded, it wouldn’t ruin everything that had been in Leena’s family for over a century. I was still trembling while Jada and I served breakfast to the guests and encouraged them to leave for the day by suggesting places they could visit locally for fall photo opportunities.
I almost forgot to turn on the news in the chaos of the bomb, and by the time I did, Dawson had already disembarked from theAda Mae. He was standing with Dax, Demario, and Angelica on the steps of the yacht club, answering questions about the race, their yachts, and the win. He was smiling, almost glowing, and I hated knowing that once he heard about this, it would ruin his day again. This moment he’d worked toward for several years would be tarnished by a threat he couldn’t control, just like his arrival in Spain had been tarnished by worry over Jada.
Jada put her arms around me. “They did it.”
I nodded.
“I’m really glad they’re getting the attention. They’ve earned it.” Even though I knew she was happy for them, her voice was despondent. “I’m going up to pack.”
I turned off the television and followed her into her room.
I took her phone from her hand and set it outside the door before returning and stopping her hands as she tried to put the few items she’d unpacked back into her luggage.
“Don’t go back,” I said quietly.
“I have to,” she said.
“No, you really don’t.”
“Yes, I really do,” she said with force.
“Jada…you won’t be safe,” I said as fear for her flew through me.
“So, what do you propose I do instead? Let them blow up the lab? The longer I’m here, the longer you and everyone else is at risk. No. This is my fault. I provoked the beast when I should have just let it slide. I was drunk and stupid, and this is the consequence.” Her tone was twisted with resignation and self-recrimination.
“Nolan said they’re working on it. Dawson will be here soon. We’ll figure it out together.”
“Nolan is right. We’re so close to ending this. I’m not going to be the one who causes the entire thing to fail. I want it to be over. I want to deal with the repercussions and put it behind me,” she insisted.
“Then don’t go until tomorrow. They gave you until then, and I can go with you. Your father and Ken’Ichi wouldn’t try anything with me there, right?”
Her hands were trembling. “Honestly,Baioretto, I don’t even know. I’d rather you weren’t there at all. Dawson will feel the same way. I think you shouldn’t even come to the party.”
Hurt coursed through me even though I knew she was saying it because she wanted to keep me safe. I wanted to be there for both of them.
“Please stay until the morning,” I begged, hoping that once Dawson got here, he’d be able to talk her out of it.
She stared at me for a long moment before agreeing with a small nod.
The buzzer rang downstairs, and I gave her one last look before heading down.
There were two men there with large suitcases. “Our friend Nolan recommended the place to us. We’re hoping you have room.”
Relief hit me. They were going to take out the bomb. “Of course, come this way,” I said and showed them up to the suite Nolan was in.
Two hours later, I’d sent Saul and Tami away, cleaned the guest suites, and returned to the kitchen to watch as one of the FBI agents went into the garage. It was a risk. If theKyodainawas watching the place closely from any location along the street, they might notice the man going in, even if he wasn’t wearing a bomb squad suit.
The three men in the kitchen had intercepted the wireless camera feed and looped an empty image just like in the movies. I felt like it was all slightly unreal. I still wasn’t certain I wasn’t going to wake up and find myself getting ready for Dad’s funeral.
