“It was those eco-nuts.” He smirked. “Their threats gave me the chance to act and put the blame on them.”
“How did you know about the threats?” she asked.
“Please.” He rolled his eyes. “Shadow Lake is such a small town you pretty much know what everyone had for lunch before the day is out. Once I heard that Sovereign Earth was suspected, I did some research and learned one of the members had plans for a photoelectric cell bomb. Figured it was so unique it would point right to them.”
And it had. For a few days.
One thing was for sure. This guy was good at research if he discovered that fact. But then he probably spent a lot of time digging into conspiracy theories and had mad search skills.
“I can see you have what you think is justification for the bomb, but why did you kill Uri Gates?” she asked, as they had only been able to speculate on what had happened.
“Didn’t want to.” His lips dipped in a frown. “After I planted the bomb, I was taking off down the logging road and he showed up right before it went off. He was going to try to stop it. I couldn’t let him do that. And I didn’t want him to get blown up either. He could’ve died, like that eco-guy. I didn’t even know he was there until after you all found him.”
Interesting.Ryleigh assumed he hit Gates outside of the crime scene perimeter or the Veritas team would’ve found blood.
“You set the bomb,” Finn said. “Gates showed up, and at some time the victim had also arrived to disarm it without you knowing about it.”
“That’s right. I was heading down the logging road and Gates pulls up in his flashy green Jeep. He starts to question me, and I learn he’s a supervisor at the mill. Then he wants to know who I am.” Vick let out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t want him to stop the bomb, so I clocked him with a thick branch that was on the ground nearby. Only meant to knock him out. You know, so I could get away. Guess I hit him too hard, and he died. Loaded him in his Jeep and took off to think.”
“Where did you get the explosives?”
“Stole them from a guy employed by a construction company that I worked at in college. They had the worst security and he took his share of the explosives to use in projects on his farm. I knew where he kept the stash.”
“And you wrote dates on them to make them look like they were stolen from Shadow Lake Logging,” Finn said.
“Yep. Figured I’d send you on a wild goose chase trying to figure that one out.”
“Well, we did,” Ryleigh said. “I need you to put the pin back in the grenade, and I’ll have to arrest you.”
He lurched back. “Not happening. I have nothing to lose, and I’m not going to prison.” His gaze frantically searched the area.
“Don’t do anything dumb,” Finn said.
Vick jerked his hand in the direction of a small opening in the cave wall. “Over there. Both of you. Inside. Now.”
She studied the tiny entrance, and her skin crawled with her fear of tight spaces. “But where does it go?”
“Just crawl in until you get to the opening at the end and wait for me.” He waved the grenade. “Try anything funny, and I’ll let this go. The visitors might have a head start on us, but this will still take them out.”
“You don’t want to die,” she said, panic settling deeper as she eyed the tiny opening.
“You’re wrong there.” He flashed a sickly grin at her. “I’d rather die than spend a lifetime in prison. And if I die, you go with me.”
The area smelled earthy and yet held a chemical odor as Finn clawed his way through the narrow opening on the heels of Ryleigh’s boots. Finn’s shoulders scraped the rock, and he seriously questioned if he would fit, but Vick claimed he would. Before Ryleigh had climbed in, he’d wanted to hug and assure her that he would find a way out of this mess. But he’d kept his hands to himself. No way Finn would let Vick know he had a personal connection with Ryleigh. That would just give the killer further ammunition to use against them.
Ryleigh’s feet disappeared down an incline, and he followed to spill out into a small room with low ceilings. Ryleigh huddled over near the far wall. Fear darkened her eyes already dusky in the shadows of her phone’s light.
“Focus your light on the opening,” Finn said to Ryleigh and scrambled to his feet to crouch near the space they’d just exited.
She changed the light’s direction, illuminating the thick cave walls and leaving herself in the dark. Even if he wanted to comfort her now, he had no time. Vick was crawling right after them. If he came out arms overhead, Finn could clamp his hand over the jerk’s grenade hand to stop it from detonating, then Ryleigh could extract the grenade from his grasp.
Vick’s head poked from the opening, his grenade hand tucked tight against his body.
“Back up, He-Man,” Vick said, eyeing Finn. “To the far wall.”
Finn let out a frustrated breath and moved away. No way he could take over now. This guy’s buff build said he was strong, and Finn had to take that into account for when he struck. And strike he would as there was no way this man was going to get away with terrifying Ryleigh. Or killing two men. Finn would just have to bide his time and be sure of his move before he took action.
“Okay, now what?” Ryleigh asked, keeping her flashlight beaming at Vick.
