Page 40 of One Final Target

“He probably didn’t expect anyone to be poking around here,” Smiley said, eyeing the opening. “Can you fit?”

“It will be tight. You might have to drag me back out by my ankles.”

He flipped on his small flashlight, got down on his knees, and slid into the opening. The space was tight. Collins was quite a bit smaller than Sam. The flashlight illuminated dirt, spiderwebs, and the support structure of the home. Sam shone it in the direction of the kitchen and soon found what he was looking for: a mound of what looked like C-4.

He blew out a breath, wondering how on earth Collins got his hands on so much. He fought his own rising fear, knowing what a mass of explosives like this could do. All the surrounding houses were in danger. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on the task at hand. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. He had to keep his mind clear and calm, or he would make a mistake. He’d trained for this.

He moved toward it, pushing through the dirt with his elbows, certainly destroying his new shirt, and maybe his pants, to look for the detonator. IEDs were made up of four parts. He remembered the simple acronym PIES: power supply, initiator, explosive, and switch. The initiator was what caused the explosion and the switch set off the initiator. His mind centered on defeating the IED. He had to interfere with the initiating mechanism.

Suddenly thoughts of Rick took over, and it felt as if he couldn’t breathe. Sweat rolled between his shoulder blades, and he began to shake. A voice rang in his head:You let your partner die. Now this woman will die and it’s all your fault.

He froze for an instant, paralyzed by fear. What if he were responsible for more deaths? Then he forced a breath, which caused a puff of dust to rise from the crawl space floor.Is this what Doc Roe was really afraid of? That I’ll freeze and get more people killed?

“No, no, no,”Sam repeated over and over in a harsh whisper. Then he cried out in a stressed voice,“Lord, I need you. I can’t do this on my own.”

A phrase rang out in his panicked thoughts.

“Be still, and know that I am God.”

He clung to those eight words, willing them to drown out the doubt and the fear. More deep breaths and slowly the shaking eased. He began to move again, pushing himself forward with his elbows and knees, this time shutting out all but the IED in front of him and the need to render it safe.

The explosive was piled up under the kitchen floor. When he reached the perimeter of the device, he surveyed every inch with his light. Then he saw the timer. Fifty seconds left—49, 48...

Yanking the wire cutters from his pocket, he scrambled for the wires attached to the battery. Defusing a bomb was disconnecting the explosive from the ignition source.

“Oh, Lord,” he prayed under his breath, “with your help, all my training has to count for something.” He prayed Collins hadn’t gotten tricky with the device.

Sweat ran down his face into his eyes, and he wiped at it with the back of his hand. The device was not nearly as complex as the one in the mountains had been. Sam guessed it was because Collins had taken more time with the first one. This one looked more hastily put together, basic.

He studied it for as long as he dared, then clipped several wires, carefully pulling the detonator away from the C-4. The timer clicked down to 0 and nothing happened.

Sam released a whoosh of air. For a moment, he rested his head on his forearm and breathed, smelling the musty dirt of the crawl space, thanking God nothing had been overly sophisticated.

“Sam?” Smiley called from the opening. Worry tinged his voice.

“I’m coming out.”

CHAPTER23

JODIE FOUGHT HER FEAR,hating the shaking snaking through her every other minute.

Don’t shift your weight.

Sam was gone and she’d heard him and Smiley talking. The shock of seeing him in the doorway almost sent her over the edge. But then she remembered what Mike had said about Sam and Smiley coming to talk to Collins. She’d ignored him, so focused was she on confronting Collins herself.

She looked at the small booklet he’d given her. A pocketbook of Psalms. It was well-worn and frayed; he’d obviously had it a while and opened it a lot. Inside the cover, she saw an inscription.

To a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Iron sharpens iron, buddy. Stay sharp.

Rick

His partner had given him the book. At one time it would have been a gift Jodie would have devoured happily. But now when she read the Psalms, nothing connected. There was a barrier between her and heaven. Any connection she’d felt before blew up in the mountains with her team. She fought the tears that threatened. The wall between her and God was impenetrable.

Was the wall on God’s end or hers?

Sam obviously believed, despite what happened to him. More for Sam than for herself, Jodie opened the book to Psalm 46, not expecting the words to touch her as they had in the past.

Tears blurred her eyes. She squeezed them out, slowly focusing on the first line, then the second. As she read, the words seemed to kindle a fire in her chest. The last three verses battered the wall, letting light shine through in places.

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