Page 44 of Under Fire in Big Sky

Paul nodded and bolted to the building.

“What are these structures?” Eli asked Johnson. “And keep it simple.”

“There’s the power plant. Electrostatic precipitator. Those are scrubbers,” Johnson said, pointing out the huge silos, “where the CO2 binds to the solvent. Then you’ve got the coolers, absorption column, the economizer, regeneration columns, and the centrifugal compressor.”

“And those big tanks?” Olivia asked, gesturing to the ones on the other side of the plant.

“That’s where we’ll store compressed CO2 for some clients. They’re empty.”

Eli looked around, trying to figure out what they might be missing. “The solvent used, what’s in it?”

“It’s a blend of amines,” Johnson said, “to optimize performance.”

No time to get into a detailed explanation of amines, so Eli simply asked, “Is it flammable?”

“Yes.” Johnson nodded. “Also, hydrogen sulfide is a byproduct of the process, an impurity in the gas stream. That’s highly flammable. But we’ve got warning labels.”

Hissing a curse, Trujillo put his hands on his hips.

Those warning labels might as well be color-coded signs that read, Blow This Up. What he’d give to have a bomb-sniffing dog right now.

“Liv,” Eli said, turning to her.

“If there’s a bomb, you can’t disarm it until we locate it first,” she said. “That means we need as many people as possible searching.”

Paul came running back and passed around full facepiece respirators. Hopefully the gauges would not reach a level where they would need to wear the masks.

Eli looked at Johnson. “Let’s say there’s a bomb. In addition to this place going up in smoke, what’s the potential impact to those in the surrounding area?”

Johnson pushed out a mouthful of air as if he’d been punched. “Those close enough who aren’t killed in the blast will asphyxiate from the concentration of carbon dioxide. Residents in the nearby towns may need serious medical attention if the hazardous cloud reaches them.”

“Not if,” the assistant chimed in, “but when.”

“Caleb is almost finished powering down the system. That’ll minimize the impact drastically to the surrounding towns.”

“Liv,” Eli said, “you need to go. We don’t know how much time we’ve got.” If any.

Johnson’s radio squawked and he answered. “Go ahead.”

“This is Caleb. I just finished shutting down everything. But I received a phone call in the office. A man said that there’s a bomb and everyone should clear out if they wanted to live.”

“All right,” Johnson said. “You get out of there, Caleb. Hurry home. Clear your family out. Warn your neighbors.”

The probability of explosives was now a certainty. Eli put a hand on Liv’s arm. “You need to leave, too.”

“If this place explodes, it’ll affect most of the residents of the county,” she said. “There’s a chance of fatalities, and those who don’t die might face health complications that last a lifetime. We have to find the bomb. The more of us searching for it the better. I need to stay just like the others.”

No doubt that was true and a driving force for Liv, but Eli knew that she also didn’t want Shepherd to win. Still, she couldn’t risk her safety. Or the baby’s.

Johnson turned to his assistant and took the man’s radio. “You go and do the same as Caleb. I’m going to stay and try to help them.”

“I’ll call your wife for you in the car.” Paul dashed off, heading for the parking lot.

“We should all clear out, sir,” Agent Lenek said. “We can’t do any good if we’re dead.”

“Liv,” Eli repeated. “Please.”

Pulling him to the side, she shook her head. Stubborn as ever. “This is more important than me or you or anything else. Finding the bomb and stopping it from detonating is the priority.” She held his gaze and her face softened. “A warning wouldn’t have been given unless there was enough time left for people to clear out and get to a safe distance.”