"Rowan!" she screamed. "He shot Rowan! Past the sidewalk! Toward the beach!" Arms still pinned to her sides by Kendall, she tried to throw her head in the direction Rowan had fallen.
"Jason!" yelled Knox.
"I heard! I'm moving to Rowan!" Jason hollered back from somewhere behind the bungalow.
She couldn't see Jason. Thankfully, the bungalow and surrounding tropical foliage blocked their view of Jason's route down the sandy slope.
Worry for Rowan twisted painfully in her stomach.
Kendall tightened his grip around her.
Allie assumed she hadn't heard Kendall creeping up behind her because of the sirens, car horns, and wind, but that didn't make her feel any better. Kendall was now in a place to make demands, his behemoth arms gripping her like King Kong clutching Fay Wray. And it was all her fault.
Guilt and fear threatened to freeze her limbs—echos from the warehouse night three months ago.
No. That's not me anymore.
She refused those thoughts and shoved them from her mind. Trust God. Trust Knox. Work the problem.
Kendall's gun pressed into her side. "This is very simple," he said, raising his voice so Knox could hear. "A simple trade. Fernando for the girl."
So, they finally know the bomber's name. Not sure it's helpful now.
Pain twisted on Knox's face when he looked at her, but when his eyes met Kendall's, a dark fire surged in his eyes. He hesitated before he spoke. Giving time for a hardened resolve to dominate his features.
"We can trade," he said. "But Fernando here has to tell us where the last bomb is. We have maybe 45 minutes." His vice-like grip on Fernando tightened. Fernando winced.
"Knox!" Jason's voice cut through the air from a hidden location behind the bungalow. "I have to get Rowan to an ambulance."
"Go." Knox responded. "I've got this."
Dear God, please heal Rowan. Please don't let him die. Please.
Knox nudged Fernando. "So, do we have 45 minutes, Fernando? Or is the last bomb going to detonate early as well?"
She studied Fernando's face for the first time. He looked nervous, and a little crazed. She wondered if maybe he was on drugs. She was worried he would give them the wrong information. If the whole point was to get Drakos to sell theresort, she didn't understand Fernando's motivation for letting it get blown up. But maybe he didn't have one. Maybe he was just an unhinged bomb maker who promised to help so he could blow things up.
Knox jerked Fernando's arm again. "Well, how long do we have?" he asked.
"Twenty minutes," said Fernando.
Frustration tensed Knox's posture, but she could see the wheels spinning in his mind.
Knox looked at her with more intensity in his eyes than she'd ever seen. "Trust me, Allie."
She knew there was no way the next few minutes would go smoothly, and she might not survive it, but she did trust Knox's instincts. If he had any kind of plan, it was the best chance they'd have at saving the people at the resort and hopefully getting Kendall and Fernando arrested.
She nodded her head. "I trust you. You know I do."
Relief flashed on his face. "Here's the plan," he said to Kendall. "I'll text Drakos. I'll tell him to sign the contract. Then, Fernando disarms the last bomb, and you release Allie."
He's giving up? Because Kendall was holding a gun to her? She couldn't believe she'd let herself be taken. Her own incompetence infuriated her.
She tried to quiet her self-loathing enough to focus on Knox's plan. At least he'd put a higher priority on getting the bomb disarmed. She'd do everything she could to ensure no one else got hurt.
Kendall shifted his weight behind her. "You tell Drakos to sign and I'll hand over the girl. She's what you want, right? And my boss wants the contract signed. I should have done things my way from the beginning. The girl for the contract. I don't care about the bomb." He pulled her to his right a couple of feet and leaned against one of the palm trees.
She assumed he wanted to use the palm's trunk for cover, but he didn't position himself behind it. What was he up to?
