Page 50 of Splintered Security
“Smith and Rose met up on Wednesday night.”
“What?”
“At Queen City.”
Her gasp echoes off the tile walls.
“This is confidential, but the best we can tell Smith gave David Rosen the bomb that leveled the building.”
“No. That’s not something Rose would do.”
“I don’t think he knew that’s what it was. He worked for me, Anni. And he died in the blast.”
She stares, dumbfounded, before eventually finding her words. “You think the MC blew up the bar?”
“I’ve seen video of the handoff, and the DPD knows where the blast initiated. Rosen brought the explosives into the building and almost babysat them. That’s not in his character from what I knew of him. It doesn’t sound like what you knew of him either. So either he was the target…”
Her bubble-covered hand comes to her mouth, but she whispers through her fingers, “Or I was.”
“Right.” I should pause, but I don’t. “But I don’t think that’s the case.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. I’m working to piece things together from what you know and what I’ve seen, and it doesn’t add up.”
“What if it was for me?” A shiver runs through her body, making the water vibrate.
“Baby.”
She drops her head into her hands and speaks to the tub. “But what if it was?”
I shuck off my clothes, but leave my boxers on, and step into the tub behind her. “Move up a bit.”
She does so I can fit, and I slide her onto my lap, leaning her back onto my chest and wrapping an arm around her trim waist.
“Baby, when did you decide to come find me?”
“Wednesday.”
“So sometime on Wednesday you had the idea and you acted on it the moment you thought of it?”
Her head rubs back and forth against my shoulder.
“No.” Her voice goes so quiet I have to strain to hear her speak. “I’ve thought about it for a long time. Thought about you for a long time. But I didn’t want to bring trouble to you.”
She leans to the side, trying to look at me, but I hold her in place because she’s finally talking and I need her bravery. She can’t lose her nerve now when I’m so close to piecing together this puzzle.
“Did you tell anyone?”
“No one. Not a single soul. I couldn’t tip anyone off to my plan. Nor would I have risked you more than I have.”
“Good.”
“Good?”
“Yeah, good. I don’t think the bomb had anything to do with you, but the timing is shit. Smith at Queen City the night that you’re there and handing off a bomb is more than just a coincidence.”
“So Rose was in Denver and Troy knew the whole time? That’s really odd. That doesn’t jive with how the club works. If Heath knew that Troy knew, that would be ugly.”
