Page 105 of One Final Target

He picked up the keys, found the cuff key, and undid Collins’s hands.

Collins spun around, grin on his face. “Ha-ha. I told you hewas smarter than you.” He grabbed the gun from Sam’s belt and the phone from his back pocket. He disconnected the call.

“Cuff him,” Bennett ordered.

Sam turned and Collins slapped on the cuffs again.

Now Bennett came around the back of the SUV, into clear view. He dragged Jodie with him.

“Bring him here, Dennis. I want them back-to-back.”

Before his back was to her, Sam caught Jodie’s gaze. There was no fear there; she was calm and her demeanor fortified him. They would get out of this.

“Sit down,” Bennett ordered. They sat, Sam with his arms restrained behind him and Jodie with her hands cuffed in front.

Bennett pulled something from his backpack and Sam’s blood turned to ice. It was a suicide vest. He could make out three bricks of C-4 in the fabric. He also saw a detonator and a timer.

Jonah looped the vest around them so there was a square of C-4 in front of Sam, one at his side, and he guessed one in front of Jodie. He then looped the rope around them a couple of times and handcuffed the ropes to Sam’s handcuffs.

“Jonah, whatever you think, you’ll never get away with this,” Jodie said.

Jonah knelt and Sam felt him whisper in her ear. “Of course I will. I fooled the FBI, the ATF, and every law enforcement agency in Southern California for months. I will get away with it—I am getting away with it.”

He stood. “All right, get the bikes, Dennis,” Jonah ordered.

Sam couldn’t see where Dennis went. He remembered seeing a shed on the property, but it was behind him.

Bennett knelt again, this time speaking to both of them. “I wanted to hang tight, wait until everyone got here, and see thefinal expression on Mike’s face. But I’m nothing if not flexible. I’m setting a ten-minute countdown. By my calculations, everything should blow precisely when good old Uncle Mike gets here. But my booby trap might have slowed them down too much. Sorry I can’t be here to greet him properly. I have a flight to make.”

With a click, he set the timer, got up, and from what Sam could hear, jogged toward where Dennis had gone. Two dirt bikes started up and were soon heading away.

In his mind, Sam was counting down the seconds—10:00, 09:59, 09:58—and praying for a way out.

CHAPTER59

JODIE WATCHED JONAH AND COLLINSdisappear down the trail. They were at his cabin. He’d never sold it. Time ticked away. Yet an unexplainable peace had settled over her when Jonah tied her and Sam back-to-back. The two of them working together would find a way out—they had to.

“Are you okay, Sam?”

“I’m fine. Can you move at all?”

“A little, my hands are in front.” She moved and Sam with her. “I can’t get my hands around to the back to take this thing off, though.”

“He’s got it fastened to me. I have a cuff key in my back pocket. I think I can get it out, but I need more room. We need to tip over to my right. I’ll be able to move a little more then.”

Sam counted to three and they fell to the side.

“Thanks, now I have more space, but this is difficult.”

Jodie could feel him working. There was no way she could help him, and in her mind, she was thinking about the timer. At least two minutes had passed. Would he get it in time?

Sam grunted and pulled; Jodie’s shoulder got the brunt of it.

“I got it,” he exclaimed breathlessly. “It will take me too long to get mine off. I’m dropping the key. If we slide away a bit, you should be able to pick it up. Hurry.”

Sam pulled her back toward him as she moved to the left. It wasn’t long before Jodie saw the key and picked it up. Her cuffs were off quickly but the two of them were still tied together. She pulled the rope up over her head and then wriggled out of it.

“Don’t look at the time, Jodie. Just undo all the cuffs.”

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