Page 38 of One Final Target

They reached the back door and saw the broken glass. The door was ajar. Sam moved forward and pushed the door open.

“Hello? San Bernardino SD. Anyone there?”

“Stay back! Get out of here!”

The panicked yell pierced Sam. It was Jodie. He disregarded the warning and kept moving forward.

She came into view, standing in the kitchen, both hands up, as if she wanted to push him out of the house, eyes wide with fear.

“Please. Get out!The floor clicked.Please!I don’t want to kill anyone else.”

Their eyes locked. Sam knew immediately what she was saying. She’d walked into a death trap, and they had followed.

CHAPTER22

JODIE HAD NEARLY JUMPED OFF THE FLOORwhen the first knock banged on the door. Torn, she first feared it was the neighbor, checking up on her progress. She didn’t want him coming around to the back. But she couldn’t stand on this spot forever. Someone had to be told where she was and what was up. She had her phone, but she couldn’t bring herself to dial 911. What a conundrum—she needed to tell someone she was here, but anyone who came here might die with her.

Sweat beaded on her forehead. Terror had her heart pounding.What can I do?

She pictured all the people who’d been out and about in the neighborhood when she drove through. How many would die if the house exploded? Closing her eyes, fists in tight balls, sheprayed. Though lately she didn’t believe God heard her anymore, it was all she could grab on to.

You never listen to me anymore, but please, please, don’t let anyone else die because of me. Please. Not again.

The knocking stopped and she held her breath. But then she heard the footsteps, feet crushing broken glass. A voice she recognized called out.

When Sam stepped into view, fear ratcheted up.

“I don’t want to kill you, Sam. I don’t want to kill anyone. Please just leave. Evacuate people, please.” Her body shook with panic.

Sam held her eyes, his gaze soothing in the electricity of the moment. “Jodie, calm down. You haven’t killed anyone and you’re not going to start now.”

His voice penetrated her panic, and she took a deep breath. “I heard the click. I know I’m standing on something bad.”

“If you are, it’s your lucky day. I am familiar with every kind of explosive device known to man. I can fix this.” He holstered his weapon. “Now, calmly and carefully, tell me everything that happened once you walked into this house.”

His voice, his confident manner, worked to steady Jodie. She told him in a measured tone what she’d done since breaking the back window.

When she finished, he told Smiley to call the PD and explain the situation.

“Should you be in here?” Smiley asked.

“Yes” was all Sam said; then he turned back to Jodie. “You felt the floor give?”

“Yeah, it sank a little.”

“Do you see any wires? I don’t from here.”

Jodie looked all around the floor as carefully as she dared, cognizant of Sam watching her.

“No, I don’t.”

Sam looked around the room for himself, mind churning with IED building methods and remembering the device in the mountains. The FBI had reconstructed the device and determined how it had been set. It had been in the kitchen, in the stove and nearby cabinets. The bomber had replaced part of a floorboard with the trigger switch. The trigger switch cut the gas line when Gus stepped on it, and as soon as Gus lifted his foot, a spark ignited the gas. The first explosion ignited two more propane tanks, ensuring the blast would be deadly to anyone in the house.

Sam looked for any visible indications, anything to give him a clue about this device. He saw nothing except that this kitchen was all electric—no gas line here.

“How long do you think you’ve been here?”

“Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.”

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