He took a long breath and pointed at the white Chevy pickup he’d tumbled from. The driver sat behind the wheel. “The day supervisor, Virgil Eckles. I was on my way to ask him a question when kaboom. If I hadn’t gone, I…” He shuddered and looked over his shoulder. “I’d have been right there by the buildings. As it was, the blast threw me a good distance. Nothing broken, thank God. Anyway, Virg got a call from his wife. She’s pregnant. Due any day. So he stayed back and was just about to go home when the bomb went off.”
Ryleigh kept her attention on the site, searching for what she didn’t know. She did know she felt like a failure. Shadow Lake Logging was her first client since she joined Steele Guardians and everything had been going fine.
Until today. Until this. A bomb. A fire. All under her watch.
Now what? How did she not only ensure the safety of anyone here, but save the reputation of the family business? Of course, safety was first and the only thing she should be concerned with, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit the other issue would remain in the back of her mind.
Please don’t let it impact my decisions.
“I need to talk to Eckles.” She hurried toward the man sitting behind the wheel. From this distance, all she could see was his bald head and blue shirt.
Could he be their bomber and was he in his truck because he’d set the bomb? Or was that simply a coincidence?
She stopped next to his truck and signaled for him to lower his window. He opened the door instead as Ward stepped up to them.
Eckles put on a mask, pushed out of the truck and slammed the door, the sound echoing in the eerie air. “Don’t want my truck to take on more smoke than it already has.”
She introduced herself. “Are you sure this was a bomb?”
“Positive. I’ve used my share of explosives on the job enough to know an explosion when I hear it. The blast occurred in Building A. Then a fire broke out. Jumped to the next building and soon everything else went up. Didn’t take long, what with all the lumber and sawdust around.”
Okay, sounded like his explosives background gave him the know-how to construct a bomb. “Are explosives stored on this site that might’ve been set off by mistake?”
He shook his head. “Closest ones are at the main office under lock and key in the explosives’ depot.”
Thank goodness for that, at least. “Who has a key?”
“Tobias, of course. Me and Uri. He’s the night supervisor. That’s it.” Eckles tugged on his mask to shift it higher. “You aren’t thinking one of us done it, are you? It’s them tree huggers, I tell you. Probably the ones who have been sending the threats too. They’ve protested all over the state but haven’t shown up here. At least not until today.”
She agreed. The ecoterrorist group Sovereign Earth seemed to be the likely culprits behind the threats, but her research hadn’t uncovered any proof yet.
A vehicle slowed and parked down the road. She glanced that direction. A large pickup. Not the sheriff.
“I’m going to check the area that’s burned itself out,” Eckles said. “See what I can see.”
“Not looking for victims, are you?” she asked. “Because Ward said all of the crew went to lunch except you.”
Eckles’s eyes creased. “Right. But I’m in charge of the day shift, and I have to be sure. See with my own eyes. You know?”
She did know. Being an FBI agent was all about teamwork and making sure you never did anything to put another agent in harm’s way. She still carried that commitment with her.
“Could be another bomb in the area,” she said.
“Lady, if there was, the heat and flames would’ve made it blow.” The burly man started ahead.
She stepped in front of him. He pushed past her.
“You’re going at your own risk,” she called after him. “Watch for an explosive device. If you see anything, hightail it back here.”
She or Ward could tackle Eckles to stop him, but the man knew the risk, and he had a point. If the bomber had planted another device, it would have to be between them and the original explosion, and the whole area had burned now. That left the possibility near zero. But not zero, and she wouldn’t let Ward follow if he even wanted to.
She faced him. “Is Eckles a solid guy or do you like him as a suspect for the bomb?”
“Solid. Couldn’t see him behind the bomb, but then, if my years as a deputy told me anything, it told me you can’t trust a superficial opinion.”
“Yeah.
Ward lifted his shoulders, his gaze tightening. “Here comes the company’s new security manager. Been here for a couple of weeks but only met him once. Seems like a stand-up guy.”
