If Castro wanted to watch us attempt to solve his puzzle, he’d have no trouble seeing us coming.
My left knee bounced up and down from the adrenaline and nerves. I prayed I was right about the tower, because if I wasn’t, Dominic and Nico would be pissed. The whole fiasco was coming down to the wire since we only had until midnight to solve the riddle. If I’d sent us on a wild goose chase in the wrong direction, we’d never make it to another part of town in time.
Plus, I had no idea what would happen if we didn’t find the next clue by midnight, but my gut told me it wouldn’t be good. After all, Castro was sick and demented. He’d probably created a horrific punishment if our time ran out.
The bell tower loomed in the distance like a beacon of hope. We were almost there, it was just a matter of getting past the guards and into the tower. Though, I figured having the alpha of the Keller pack with us would be helpful.
We pulled up in front of the tower at eleven thirty. The stress combined with the adrenaline left me feeling nauseated, and I fought back the urge to retch. Judging from the way the security guards were all shifting uneasily in their seats, they felt the same.
Ty grabbed my hand and squeezed it as I stepped out of the SUV. “It’s going to be okay, Liza. Take a deep breath.”
“I’m trying to calm down. I just have a really horrible feeling about this, Ty.” My teeth chattered, and I wasn’t even cold. “If this isn’t the right place, everyone’s going to blame me. I don’t know if I can handle the pressure.”
He pulled me close. “You solved the riddle for us after we spent a mind-numbing amount of time on it. We’re all eternally grateful to you.”
I nodded and took a deep inhale through my nose in an attempt to calm my racing heart. Ty kissed me on the forehead just as Dominic moved to the front of our team, pulling a keyring from his pocket.
“What’s that?” I whispered to Ty.
“Dad has the key to the city, so to speak. He can come and go from any official building without question, so I’m assuming he’s going to unlock the tower.”
As soon as Dominic unlocked the door, Nico pushed his way through. He held up his hand, instructing his security team to spread out and make sure the inside of the tower was secure. “You should stay outside, Dominic. We can’t risk something happening to the alpha.”
Dominic scoffed. “You of all people should know better than that, Nico. I’ll do nothing of the sort. I’m coming in.”
Nico gave a defeated sigh but didn’t argue as he stood back and allowed his boss to step into the dark building. Ty and I followed closely behind.
My eyes adjusted to the dim lighting just in time to recognize a negative energy shift in the room. What had been an anxious and anticipatory moment suddenly changed into full-blown panic.
The security team froze in their tracks the moment Nico shouted, “Nobody move!”
I scanned the room, trying to make sense of it all, then my heart sank to my ass when I saw it. There, attached to the wall next to the clock that signaled for the bell to ring, was a bomb.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered, covering my mouth with my hand. I squinted at the countdown on the bomb and realized it wasn’t moving.
Why would Castro put a bomb in the tower if he didn’t intend for it to go off?
Nico flipped a light on and moved in closer to inspect the apparatus that had been attached to the brick wall with a mountain of silver duct tape. His team held up flashlights to cast more light and took pictures. Some of them frantically searched online to try and get a better understanding of the bomb.
“Liza, you need to get out of here.” Ty pushed me back toward the open door.
“I’m not leaving you.” I looped my arm through his and stood as stiff as a board. “Don’t ask again, Ty.”
He sighed but acquiesced, which was a welcomed change. Maybe he was starting to understand that I had a mind of my own and wouldn’t be easily swayed.
Nico gestured for us to stay put and stepped back a few feet from the bomb. He placed his hands on either side of it, muttering something under his breath. Then he gently touched a string and followed it to the door. “It was rigged to the door. As soon as the door swung open, the cord snapped. When it snapped, the countdown stopped. My guess is that the whole place would have blown if we didn’t make it here by midnight.”
I glanced back at the bomb and took note of the red numbers frozen on the screen. Twenty-five. We walked into the tower at eleven thirty-five.
“Does that mean it’s dead? It’s not going to detonate?” Dominic stood tall, but I could see he was just as nervous as the rest of us.
“Itshouldbe dead, but from what we know of this bastard, I can’t know for sure.” Nico pulled out his phone and made a call, telling someone that we had a code red on our hands.
I didn’t have a degree in criminal justice or forensics, but I was smart enough to know that code red meant a damn bomb had been found and the bomb squad needed to get their asses to the bell tower ASAP.
Nico shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned to face us. “We should all get out of here just in case the place is still rigged to blow. There could be more bombs hidden in here, and I wouldn’t put it past that fucker to give us a sense of security right before blowing us to bits.”
He didn’t have to ask us twice. We raced out of the building and sat in the vehicles while we watched the authorities and bomb squad assist Nico’s security team.
