“Now, Cap—” The man groaned.
“Winter, get over there,” Colonel Aronson cut in. “Maybe next time you won’t be so quick to go for the cheap chuckle.”
Max danced restlessly beside him. “Yes, yes, I know.” Jake extracted a piece of a treat from his own vest pocket. The dog instantly dropped to his haunches, still as an overstimulated canine could be. “You are the best, boy. The very best.”
Max chomped twice on the treat, then gulped it down, turning back to Jake the moment the snack was a memory.
“Hang tight, buddy.” He knelt to look his partner straight in the eye as he spoke in a soothing tone. “You did great. Once Sergeant Smartypants gets here to do some cleanup, we’ll go check out the Arkansas Building. We’ll see if you can find some more.”
“I swear, you and that pooch of yours should exchange rings and call it official,” Sergeant Mark Winter said as he and two men from his team pulled up in a golf cart.
“He’s too good for me,” Jake said, rising to meet his old friend and his cohorts. “Nice ride.”
“Gets us around.” Winter’s grin stretched his cheeks, carving deep parentheses between his mouth and the straps of his tactical helmet. They shook hands, then Winter extended his gloved knuckles to Max. The dog bumped them with his muzzle, then turned his attention back to the stall where the cow was still casually chomping away.
“Whoa. Big animal.” Winter craned his neck to get a better look at Augusta.
“We gotta get her out of there, Sarge.” One of the other men, a freckle-faced young man who didn’t yet look capable of sprouting a full beard, brushed past them into the barn. “If she gets spooked while we’re in there, it’s bad news. Not to mention, she’s worth a lot of money,” he added, wrinkling his nose as he turned back to them.
Jake and Winter exchanged a look, eyebrows raised. Winter’s grin returned. “Sounds like you know something about cows, Miller.”
“Grew up on a farm outside Valley Springs.” The younger man shrugged.
“Good. You’re in charge of taking Miss…uh—”
“Augusta,” Jake interjected.
“—to safer quarters while we work.” He grimaced as he checked out the stalls around the opening of the building and saw they were all in use. “As a matter of fact, we may need to move a few of them, to be safe.”
“Hang on,” Jake said. He pulled the security department’s radio from his vest pocket and stepped back as he made the call. “Cass, you read me?”
Chapter Five
Cassidy jumped when she heard his voice calling her name. She’d been focusing on one of the gilt-edged mirrors on the hub at the center of the ride. She could no longer keep her eyes shut, and turning around to watch the world whizzing past was completely out of the question. She honestly didn’t know how much longer she could handle staying on, no matter what her instructions said.
Jake’s call was exactly the distraction she needed. “Copy. What have you got?”
“Cattle Barn 4 is on the hot list. We need to move some of the residents as a precaution.” There was a pause, as if he was listening to someone else, then he was back again. “About six to eight head of cattle. Any idea where we can park them?”
She nodded as she digested what he was telling her. They’d found another bomb. The fifth, counting the one on her back. Not bad for a couple hours’ work.
“I, uh…” She squinted her eyes shut, gave her head a decisive shake, willing logic to break through the fog of fear and nausea. “There’s an auxiliary building,” she blurted.
Then she took a deep breath and forced herself to speak in complete and coherent sentences. “On the other side of the Coliseum,” she said, her voice growing stronger as the plan took shape. “Thompson, you read?”
“Already heading in that direction,” the older man responded. “I’ll scoop up Witchell on the way.”
“Jake, Bud and Ed Witchell will help get the cattle moved. Ed oversees security around the livestock. He should be able to round up a hand or two to help.”
There was a pause before Jake answered. “Ten-four. I have a team here to work on the device. Max and I are heading for the Arkansas Building.”
Bile rose in her throat as she let the information sink in. Jake and Max had found the bomb. There were explosives planted all around her fairgrounds and they hadn’t the faintest idea what the perpetrator’s game plan was. She glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly one o’clock.
Biting down on her lip, she did her best to quell the panic clawing up her throat as she spoke into the radio. “It’s nearly one,” she said, her voice quavering. “You want to hold off until the top of the hour passes?”
Her voice rose on the last part of the suggestion, turning it into a question. Cassidy hated sounding so unsure but, at the moment, there was no controlling it. She was sitting on a spinning ride with a bomb strapped to her back. She figured she had every right to feel scared and uncertain.
“Good call,” Jake said. “I’ll relay.”
