Page 119 of Deception

After dinner Madison made sure everyone was settled in before she ascended the stairs and booted up her computer. Maybe she should ask Clayton to help her with the files ... but his definite masculine presence in her bedroom would be a distraction.

The park service had given her access to a Dropbox where she could view the files, and she’d passed on the login details to Brooke. Madison planned to start with the latest cases while the ranger would start with the older ones. The first three Madison read through involved meth labs and marijuana growers, but the people involved in those cases were in jail and not one of them possessed the wherewithal to track her down.

Pain radiated through her shoulders, and Madison rubbed her tight muscles. She closed the laptop and stretched. It might only be a little before eight, but there was simply no way she could concentrate on these cases tonight.

62

Steven wrapped the C-4 together and attached the timer to it. He would have preferred to use a cell phone and detonate the bomb from a distance, but to get in the house he would have to render the security system useless with a jammer.

No phone calls would go out and none would come in as long as the jammer was in place. His cell phone rang, and he jerked, almost dropping the bomb. When his heart calmed down enough to look at his phone, his dad’s ID showed up. “Are you all right?”

“Don’t worry about how I feel. Have you done it?” He stopped for a breath. “Is she dead?”

His dad sounded so much weaker. Steven was tempted to lie, but his father would hear it in his voice. The scars on his back had taught him early on to never lie to him. “Not yet, but she will be before the night is over.”

“You have to do it tonight. She killed your brother, and she has to pay before I die.”

All his life, his dad had drummed it in their heads that no one harmed a Turner and got away with it.

“What if she had no choice?”

“She had a choice. Chad’s FBI friends told me she could have taken him in without killing him.”

Part of Steven’s mind questioned that. Everything in Madison’s report had turned out to be true. Chad’s ex-wife had beenfound murdered in Seattle; the pilot of the plane had confirmed they were picking Chad up and taking him and Noah to a small town in Mexico. Chad would’ve killed Madison rather than let her arrest him. But none of that mattered. For four years, Chad’s death had eaten at his father’s mind the same way the cancer ate at his body.

“Madison Thorn has to pay for what she did.”

“There are others in the house.”

“I’m sorry about that, but it changes nothing.” He stopped to breathe. “Just make sure you let her know why”—another breath—“she and the others in the house have to die.”

“It’s too risky.”

“You’ve been in riskier situations and took care of it. She’s not smarter than the Taliban, is she?” His voice was stronger, but he still had to stop and breathe in oxygen. “I’ll be waiting to hear from you that the job is finished.”

Steven stared at the dead cell phone. He would never be able to live with himself if he didn’t do what his father asked.

He picked up the bomb and slipped it into a backpack just as someone knocked at his hotel room. Automatically he pulled the Glock from the holster against the small of his back. “Just a sec,” he said.

“It’s me, Terri.”

He holstered his gun. What was she doing here? What if she suspected...?

Steven sucked in a quick, uneasy breath and grabbed the backpack and crossed the room with the bomb, then gently set it beside his suitcase near the door. He swiped his clammy hands on his pants before he opened the door. “I thought you’d left.”

“No, I decided to stay a day or two longer.” When he didn’t ask her inside, she gave him an odd look. “Can I come in?” He hesitated and she added, “Just for a minute.”

“Sure.” Steven watched her face for signs of deception but saw none as she stepped inside the room and looked around.

“You’re leaving?”

He shifted his gaze briefly to the backpack and suitcase. “Yeah. Got a call about my dad. He’s taken a turn for the worse, and I need to get back to Texas pronto.”

“I’m sorry.” She reached down to pick up the backpack. “I’ll help you take your stuff down.”

“No!”

Terri stopped with her hand on the bag. “What’s wrong?”

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