Page 47 of Undercover Hacker

“It’s hard to see without being there. From what I can see, you need to cut the green and purple wires carefully. Twist them together, and then cut the blue. When you cut the green wire, the countdown will go down quick. You don’t have much time, so you need to be fast.”

Brock reached for his cutters.

“No,” I said. “You both have wives and kids. Let me do this. Go make sure everyone is far away in case I fail.”

Both men protested, but ultimately left. We didn’t have time to debate.

Needing to touch her one more time before I jeopardized both of our lives, I leaned on the door frame. Her lips were inches away from mine. It was intoxicating being so close.

We were still for a moment, then I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck and leaned down. She leaned forward to meet me partway.

I couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped my lips. She tasted so sweet. I leaned in, needing more. The ticking of the bomb brought me back. When I pulled away, Sophie whined at the loss of our connection.

“I love you, Red.” Not waiting for a reply, I ducked down to work on the bomb.

I ground my teeth as I slowly raised the cutters to the wire. It was now or never. I took a deep breath and cut the purple and green wires. The time rapidly decreased. My hands were shaking so bad that it was hard to get the two wires to connect. Once the purple and green wires were connected, I cut the blue wire. Nothing stopped. The timer was still going.

“How’s it going down there?”

“Peachy.”

Thirty seconds left, and two wires. One might send us to our death, and one might save us. Orange or red? Those were my choices. I didn’t have time to call John back. Red reminded me of the woman sitting in the car, so I reached up and clipped the red wire.

20

Sophie

At the sound of the last snip, I held my breath. The ticking should’ve have stopped. It continued.

“How it is going down there?”

It was a stupid question to ask. Nothing else came to mind.

Zane’s reply was a quick snap. “Peachy.” His voice was strained.

The shakiness of his response didn’t leave me feeling comfortable about us getting out of this alive. I heard the clipping of the wire cutters again. I held my breath, waiting for the explosion. The clicking stopped and it was quiet.

Zane was still crouched down beside the car. I could hear him release the breath he had been holding. He hadn’t had much faith he could disarm the bomb, from the sound of his relief.

“Can I get out?”

I reached over to unbuckle my seatbelt, wanting to get as far away from my car as possible. I never wanted to see the thing again. From this moment on, I pledged to ride a bike for the rest of my life. It only rained in Florida around three o’clock. If I planned my days right, I would be fine riding a bike.

“No.”

What does he mean by “no?” I want to get the fuck out of the car. Does that mean there is another bomb?

“I don’t understand. The ticking stopped.”

Zane looked me in the eyes and ran his hand through his hair. He had a sheen of sweat running down the side of his face. “There could be a second trigger. Brock has the Ft. Lauderdale bomb squad on the way. They should be here any second.”

I could hear the sirens in the distance. They were getting closer. When they pulled into the parking lot, it caused a commotion, and people stopped to stare. The SWAT team that showed up had Bomb Squad printed on the side of the truck. Didn’t these people understand the danger they were in? Why weren’t they running for their lives?

A man dressed from head to toe in body armor showed up next to the car.

“I need you to step away from the car, sir.” His voice came out sounding like Darth Vader.

Zane took two steps back. He gave the armored man enough room to look at the bomb and do his job.

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