Her gaze lingered on Knox. As skilled as he and Jason were, the thought of them going up against four armed men in a truck with three bombs inside . . . She felt emotion build in her chest.
Tearing her gaze from Knox, she pretended to study Rowan's screen—while her imagination pelted her with terrifying 'what-ifs.'
And a new realization crystallized—her deepening feelings for Knox promised a whole new level of anxiety.
Chapter 16
"Icould come with you," she said.
"No," said Jason. "I need you here. I need you scanning the security footage. Finding and securing the bombs is important, but ultimately, finding the bomber is more important. If this whole thing ends with the FBI capturing the bomber, that keeps more people safe in the long run. We need you to find him."
Allie nodded. She understood the logic, but she worried about Knox and Jason. She saw a thought flash on Jason's face—another one she couldn't decipher.
Jason looked at Knox. "I have extra mags and handcuffs in my room. Come with me and get what you need." He looked at Allie. "We'll be back in a minute. You and Rowan get started on the security footage."
"Yeah. Sure," she said.
One thing was obvious—Jason wanted to talk to Knox privately. About what, she wasn't sure. But he didn't want Rowan or her to hear their conversation. She pulled her hairback into a messy bun as she watched them walk out of the room.
She was curious about what Jason was thinking. She stared at the back of the door they'd just exited. Which was silly. She didn't need to worry about Jason and Knox. She needed to find the bomber. Cueing up the security footage, she prayed the bomber wasn't very skilled at looking innocent.
Jason opened a duffel bag on his dresser and took out two sets of handcuffs and handed them to Knox. "Here. Hopefully, you'll need these. I'm taking two as well." He also grabbed some zip ties and handed some to Knox. "Ideally, we overtake these guys, handcuff them, and leave them in the truck. They'll be safe in there until we can figure out what to do with them. That'll give me time to look at the bombs and see if I can dismantle them."
"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Knox said.
But Jason was still staring at him.
"What?" he asked.
"I get the feeling you and Allie are getting along well again."
Knox nodded. "Yeah, things are good. Why? Is there a problem?"
Jason shook his head. "Of course not. As your friend, I'm glad. I think you two are good together. I really do. I was hoping you'd work things out. But—"
"But what?"
"Just now, back in there . . . she's worried about you. Is she going to be able to concentrate? Is this gonna work, you two working together?"
"She's a professional, Jason. She's good. We know that. She'll do it. Maybe she is a little worried, but you're worried aboutTayla, and I'm gonna worry about Allie, and you, and we're all worried about young Rowan. But none of us are going to let it interfere with the job, are we?"
Jason smiled and raised both hands. "That's what I wanted to hear. Okay, we need to figure out how we're going to approach this truck. I'm assuming it's a small cargo truck. Is it a ten- or twenty-foot truck?"
"Ten-foot."
Jason nodded. "Are the three bombs the only thing in the truck? I mean, do they have a lot of extra weapons?"
"I can't confirm that," said Knox. "We just watched them put the three bombs in. We really didn't have a complete view of the interior of the truck."
"Who drove the truck up to the warehouse? How long was it there?"
"How long?" asked Knox.
"Yeah. When did it get there, and when did it leave?"
Knox ran through what he knew. "Not sure when it got there. We didn't know it was there until we heard the men opening the closet where the bombs were. We watched them load up the bombs, and we got out of there."
Jason cocked his head and gave Knox the strangest look.
