Page 72 of Edge of Steele
The sun broke through puffy clouds, blinding Ryleigh. She cupped her hand over her eyes to get a better look at the action below. Trent went to the far end of the building, and Blake stopped near the middle. Grady joined Trent, took out a roach and called out an ID number.
Trent tapped his screen a few times. “Got him. Let him rip.”
Grady placed the roach at the edge of the building, and Trent started moving his controller. “We’re good to go.”
Grady joined Blake and called out another number.
Blake studied his controller’s screen. “Yep. I see him. Ready.”
Grady took one out and followed the same procedure as the other two men.
“This is so cool.” Finn stood on his toes and held a hand over his eyes. “I mean it would be if they weren’t looking for survivors or victims from a bomb.”
“Agreed,” Ryleigh said, but it really wouldn’t do to be too excited until the men cleared the building. Only then would they know for sure if someone had perished in this explosion.
Hanging back like this wasn’t Finn’s idea of a good time. The stakes were so high. The team could locate someone who hadn’t been able to call out. Who was seriously injured or dead. Lying in tangled and twisted wreckage. From his SEAL days, Finn could easily imagine having to go down to the wreckage to free someone, and his gut was tight with concern.
Stop. Visualizing a traumatic scene doesn’t help.
He looked at Ryleigh. “We should start considering that if the bombs were set by the same person, then whoever perished in the first bomb might not be our bomber.”
“Yeah, he wouldn’t be alive to set this one unless they were both placed on the same day.” She locked gazes with Finn. “We could be looking for two people, but if Gates died in the first blast, and he isn’t the bomber, why was he at the mill at that time?”
“This is so frustrating.” Finn curled his hands into fists. “We should have an answer to that by now.”
He watched as Trent moved over to Blake, and Grady joined them. They held a brief conversation.
“They must know something.” Finn’s heart started to pump wildly.
Grady looked up the hill. “We’re all clear. No additional devices, victims, or survivors waiting for rescue.”
Finn let out a long breath. “Finally, some good news.”
Ryleigh kept her gaze pinned down the hill. “Now we can pick this building apart and look for evidence.”
“That’ll be a big job. Even if we pulled in the entire Veritas team from the other site, it could take days.” Finn looked at the rubble and pondered the search. “What if Russ let Tobias’s workers help move debris? That could speed things up. Under the Veritas team’s direction, of course.”
Ryleigh looked at him. “Russ wants evidence before Monday. Means he’ll likely approve it, and so will Tobias.”
“I have something,” Grady shouted. “Finn, you’ll want to look at this.”
Finn charged down the hill, dodging debris on the way. He heard Ryleigh coming after him.
Grady looked up from his controller. “My roach is in the front left quadrant of the building. Glass says it’s near where a window had been located. The extensive damage and the outward placement of the glass tells me the concussive force originated there.”
“Any evidence of a computer or photoelectric cell?” Finn asked.
“Not yet.” Grady held up his controller and tapped the screen that displayed the video recorded by his roach. “But see this? Looks like the same plastic wrapping from explosives Shadow Lake Logging uses.”
Finn leaned closer and shaded his eyes from the sun. “It does indeed.”
“I want to get excited about this,” Ryleigh said. “But don’t other loggers use the same explosives?”
“But I’m not sure they all write the received date on them like Tobias insists on.” Finn glanced between her and Grady. “When new explosives arrive, the receiving clerk uses permanent marker to date each tube. Looks like part of a date on that wrapper.”
“Yeah.” Grady grinned at Finn. “Yeah, it does.”
Finn jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “So it very likely came from this depot.”
