Page 97 of Love Bomb
“I someone came up to me, wearing a balaclava, and tried to lure me to their care,” Margaret said, “I’d be a bit suspicious. And besides, so what if they do see you? The worst that can happen is that they tell the cops they were kidnapped by two old ladies.”
“You’re right,” Shona laughed as though she’d been worried about nothing.
Meanwhile, Bain thought a kidnapping charge might actually be something to worry about.
“The point is,” Dougal said, “the faces we don’t want Benson Security to see are those of Rona and Bain. They’re the only two with motive and means to blow up the folly, and without eyewitness proof, nobody will be able to prove it was them. As for the rest of us. When the police come calling, we can tell them that we were simply…” He ran aground.
Bain wasn’t surprised.
Kirsty perked up. “We can tell them we were testing the Benson Security team. Once I talk to Lake again, I’ll get him to back us up.”
“I like it,” Dougal boomed.
There were nods of agreement.
“So,” Darach said, his dry erase pen at the ready, “let’s talk about who is doing what and how we’re going to coordinate this exercise.” His brother was in his happy place, surrounded by spreadsheets, bullet-point lists, and sticky notes.
Over the heads of their crack team, Bain caught Rona’s eye.
She blew him a kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
The plan was simple.
At twelve forty-five, Grunt’s wife would call with an emergency, causing him to leave the folly. Fifteen minutes later, Dougal—unassuming in his role as town mayor and historical society member—would deliver cookies to the men guarding the folly. The cookies would be laced with laxatives, causing the men to run for the toilet in the Presbyterian church, where the women of Knit or Die would secure them in the toilets. If any of the guards didn’t eat the cookies, they would be approached by two Knit or Die women, who’d profess car trouble and ask for help. Once at their car, the women would stun the men, tie them up, and drive them off.
Once the site was clear of security, Bain would set up the charges in the folly, watched by his brothers, who would help if needed but were mainly there to ensure no one approached the detonation zone.
At roughly two in the morning, with everyone securely out of the blast zone, Bain would take down the folly. After that, they’d all go home and pretend they were never there.
As Bain sat in his truck, down the road from the Presbyterian church and out of sight of the Benson Security guards, he had to wonder if this was the dumbest thing he’d ever done. He tried to remember if he’d ever done anything dumber. He came up blank.
“Red Leader,” Bain’s phone barked as it sat on the dashboard in front of him. “This is Christmas One and Christmas Two, delivering the cookies in seven minutes,” Dougal’s voice said. “That’s seven minutes.”
In lieu of two-way radios, Darach had set up a group call, telling everyone to keep it on mute unless they had something important to say. He’d also let everyone pick their own radio handles.
Bain shared a look with Rona, who was sitting beside him. “It’s starting,” he said.
She grinned, practically bouncing with excitement.
“Red Leader here,” Darach replied. “Christmas Two?”
“Aye, Christmas Two didn’t want to wait in the car.”
“Red Leader here,” Darach said again. “This is not the plan.”
Bain hung his head. Darach and his bloody planning.
“This is Christmas Two,” Margaret’s voice sounded. “We can argue but then it will be six minutes until delivery.”
“Red Leader here,” Darach said. “That’s a copy on seven minutes until Christmas One and Two deliver the cookies.”
“You heard Dougal,” Conall said from the back seat. “That’s our cue to get going. If we want his appearance to cover us hauling the equipment to the mausoleum, we need to go now.” Then he picked up his phone, unmuted it, and spoke to the group. “Team Boom are on their way to the folly, copy that?”
“Red Leader here,” Darach replied. “That’s a copy.”
“Is he going to say Red Leader Here every time he talks?” Bain asked Rona who grinned widely.
