"Do we know that he's activated the bombs?" asked Allie.
"No, we don't. My guess is they haven't been activated yet. Drakos still has almost an hour and a half to sign the papers, selling his properties to Byron I think if a countdown was initiated, they would make that clear to Drakos to add pressure. I do believe they'd rather he just sign. They don't want to damage their investment."
"That's the part I don't get," Knox said. "I know they're trying to strong-arm Drakos into selling, but why use bombs if they want this fancy resort so badly?"
"I asked Kendall the same thing. His answer was, and I quote, 'The bomber owes my boss. This service is free.'"
Knox smirked. "This Byron guy has a bomb maker indebted to him? He just might be a nasty fellow."
Jason shook his head at Knox's sarcasm. "Well, in that case, we should proceed with caution."
"If you insist."
Allie couldn't comprehend how Jason and Knox could joke with the danger ramped up, but she'd witnessed it before and knew that it was a sign that they were in sync. She loved the dynamic between them, whether or not she understood it.
"We need to concentrate on what we know," Jason said. "We know the bombs are real and that they're moving them, so we're taking this threat very seriously."
Allie saw something flit across Jason's expression. "What's wrong?"
Jason narrowed his eyes at her. "About the bombs?"
She studied his face and his tone. "No. I don't think so. You were worried about something else just then. Is there something else we need to know?"
Jason's eyes grew wide for a microsecond, then he offered a weak smile and raised both hands in surrender. "Sometimes I forget how good you are at reading people." He raked a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. "I sent Tayla to a hotel in Morghana City."
"What's wrong with that?"
He pursed his lips, but didn't answer.
"Don't beat yourself up about that," Knox said. "You did the right thing."
Jason and Knox shared a look, but she had no idea what it meant. "Um, what am I missing?"
Knox looked at her, but spoke loud enough for Jason to hear every word. "He's not evacuating the resort. He's not alerting the guests at The Mandeville about the bombs. But he sent his girlfriend to safety on another island." He swung his gaze toJason. "Which was therightcall. We can't start a panic. If all the guests try to stampede out of here, the ferry can't carry evenhalfof them to Morghana Island at a time. The chaos could be as dangerous as the bombs."
Jason opened his mouth to say something, but Knox cut him off. "And keeping Tayla safe is important to everyone on this island right now because if you know she's safe, you can focus all your attention on stopping these guys. We all need your head in the game—to use a quote you enjoy so much—so keeping Tayla away from the threat benefits everyone."
Jason pursed his lips again, but appreciation showed in his eyes. "It feels selfish, but yeah, I can concentrate better if I know she's safe."
"For what it's worth," Allie said, "I agree with Knox. You did the right thing. I'm glad she's safe. She just might be my new best friend."
That coaxed a grin from Jason. Then he cleared his throat. "Okay, let's focus."
Knox scratched the back of his head. "We don't know how long we have to locate the bomber?"
"No," Jason said. "But since they've moved the bombs to The Mandeville, we probably don't have much time."
"Did you get the impression from Kendall that the bomber is physically on the island?"
"Yeah." Jason picked up one of the paper maps Rowan found of Isadora Island and spread it out on the conference table. "Kendall did tell me that the bomber has to activate the bombs from the island. He probably shouldn't have let that slip, but I'm glad he did. It means we have a chance to hand the bomber over to the FBI."
"In this non-extradition paradise? How are you going to manage that? Even with the bomb threat, the Morghanagovernment isn't about to change its policy. They make too much money from individuals drawn to—"
Jason raised both hands to halt Knox's concerns. "I know, I know. But now that Byron is making direct threats with bombs at the same resort where several American citizens are present, that gives the American government something to prosecute. Our job is to prove they set these bombs and then get the bomber and Kendall to the US or an extradition country."
Knox lowered his eyebrows. "Will it be enough? Just setting the bombs near Americans?"
Allie held up a finger. "We may have a stronger case."
