Chapter 29 - Clock Watching

Gage went over the plans again on the drive to his house. The third time, Deira said it with him. After that, it ran continually in her head. She lost herself in the rhythm. She was startled when he pulled into the garage.

"Where did you go?" he asked quietly.

"To the lab." She looked over at him. He nodded his understanding.

She got to the back gate first, opened it and walked through. He stepped in front of her and moved her to the side, looking quickly around the yard. Everything seemed fine.

"Do not get so distracted you forget the basics," he said, crossing to the door. He entered his security code and went inside. She followed him.

If he had done a check of the interior, it had been fast. He was on the phone, explaining the situation to Sticks. She set her bag and case by the door, then sat down to await instruction. The plan began running in her head again. As he spoke, she added details in the right places, increasing the rhythm and complexity. It calmed her.

"You two want me to set off some of the explosives before we do the job." Her voice sounded odd against the noise in her head. Gage said something to Sticks, then frowned at her.

"We have not discussed testing the devices."

"So? You're both thinking it. He's got a place where he tests things. You wanted me to practice the timing. We might as well meet there, do a trial run, and finalize details." She went back to staring at her hands on the table, simultaneously listening to the conversation and his voice reciting the plan in her head. She added the preparations as he made them, until it had a beginning rhythm to go with the middle. She could not tell what the end would sound like, but she was certain it would be punctuated with explosions. She liked big endings.

"We will meet you there." He disconnected and picked up his keys. She got up without a word and waited while he reset the alarm. He looked at the bag and case in her hands.

"You don't need to take those."

"Yes, I do. We don't know how long this will take, and the demo spot is on the other side of town. Out of town, actually. There's no point in coming back to retrieve my stuff afterward."

"I would rather you stay with me until we finish the job."

"Would you." She kept her tone neutral.

"It reduces the chances of something going wrong."

"Depends on what that something is."

"We do not know how close Cavuto is to finding you. He has proven to be clever – or lucky – when it comes to intercepting you. I cannot watch your apartment. I have work to do."

"If you had told me this before we left, I would have packed."

"I did it for you this morning before I showered. Your things are in the truck."

"So I didn't really have a choice, did I?"

"If you wish to go back to your apartment, I will take you. But I would not advise it."

"I guess it doesn't matter where I stay. Everything I have is yours anyway." She set the bags down. It wasn't worth arguing with him. She never won.

"Not everything."

As soon as she got back in the truck, the plan began running in her head again. It was like a mantra. She was fairly certain she could set up the demolition test to be a close approximation. She visualized the building on the lot – or what had been left of it the last time she'd seen it. It would have to do.

"What did you say?" His voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I didn't say anything."

"Yes, you did. It sounded like the plan, but with something more." He glanced at her.

She recited the revised plan. He asked her to repeat it. Then again, until he could say it with her. She'd expected that hearing him speak aloud would override his voice in her head, but instead it created a stereo effect. When she began again, he stopped her.

"Well done."

"It's your plan," she said.

"It was. Now it is our plan. But remember, if there is a need to deviate, we will have to decide on the spot what to do."

"You mean if I screw up, I'm on my own."

"No. I mean if some part of the plan fails, I need you to remember where I am and what I had planned on doing, and take it into account before you act."

"I'll do my best."

"I know." It was the closest he would come to expressing confidence in her. She'd take it.

The demolition lot was in a long-abandoned junk yard. Embankments rose steeply on two sides. Heaps of twisted metal, mostly from cars she had blown up during her training, formed a strange half-circle on one side of the lot. She had never asked why Sticks had wanted her to blow up cars, and she wasn't going to start now.

The area around the old office trailer had been cleared. It wasn't the best surrogate for the lab, but it would have to do. At least it still had walls. She walked around it, checking to make sure there were no tanks attached. Sticks would have told her if there were hazards, but this was her job. Better to be safe. She laughed. Safe was a relative concept when explosives were involved.

By the time she had finished her inspection, Sticks had arrived. He talked to Gage, gesturing with his hands, so she knew he was excited. He had left his cane in the truck, probably because he thought it made him look weak. She shook her head. Men were idiots.

She ignored them, going to the back of the truck and jumping in. The bombs would be in the large metal toolbox. She held her hand out for the key.

"I fixed up a remote for the detonators," Sticks said.

"Did you remember to check the batteries?" The first time he'd brought her here, she'd pulled out a dead remote. He'd never let her forget it, so she thought it best to get it out of the way.

"Of course." He wanted to say more, but one look from her and he closed his mouth, handing her the remote.

"It's a cell phone." Using phones as remote detonators was standard, but he had always avoided them.

"It was. I figure you can set three for the test. Trailer won't take much more than that. Turn it on, and punch the number of the bomb to set them off."

She put the phone in her pocket and placed three bombs on the tailgate, instantly recognizing the flaws in them. They would do, but these had to be the worst three she'd made yesterday. She checked the detonators. The numbers were not sequential. She looked up at Sticks and shook her head. He had done it to test her. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed.

"Is this about the same distance we'll be from the lab?" She surveyed the area, looking for potential obstacles.

"Close. There is no hill here so you will have to compensate," Gage said. She nodded.

"Say when," she said.

"Go!" he barked.

The adrenaline rush hit instantly. She grabbed the bombs and ran towards the trailer, checking the perimeter on the way. The gravel around the edge made her lose her footing, but she found her balance and went with the slide. She placed the first bomb, checked the area again, and moved on to place the second, making sure the adhesive set before attaching the third. When she finished, she did a visual sweep of the area to make sure the lot was empty.

She raced back towards the truck, pulled out the remote, spun around, and hit the button. She had a small measure of satisfaction watching the men jump as the first explosion took out a corner of the trailer. She hit the next key. The center of the trailer crumpled. The final explosion took out the back, blowing through both walls. The trailer shuddered and collapsed. It was spectacular. She grinned like a maniac.

"Where in that did you tell me it was about to blow?" Gage asked.

"Yeah, kid. A 'fire in the hole' would've been nice." Sticks held onto the truck door. She shot him a look that said she knew he'd almost fallen.

"I thought it was sort of obvious when I started running. I'm not likely to call out to you when we do the job, so this was a pretty good approximation." She continued to stare at the smoking trailer. "How did I do?"

"Third one was heavy," Sticks said. She nodded her agreement.

"If you can move that fast tomorrow night, it should work out." Gage stared at the flames.

"Should isn't definitely."

"No, but short of my planting men here who wish to see you dead, it will have to do."

"One thing at a time. If I go into this thinking about getting shot, it's going to screw me up."

"It is reality, or a possible reality. I will do what I can to neutralize any threat, but there is always the chance you will find yourself in a situation that prevents me from taking out a target."

"How comforting."

"This is not a comforting business."

"No kidding? Well then count me out. I expected a Sunday stroll." She walked to the back of the pickup and locked up the toolbox.

"I'm gonna need the remote back." Sticks held out his hand. "I need to synch it to the bombs for the job."

"Someday, you're going to have to show me how you made that. It's much better than the ones I used before."

"Come around after this is all over. I got a few new tricks you're gonna like."

"Sounds like fun."

Gage regarded her with curiosity. There was something he wasn't saying, but that was normal. She sat on the tailgate as the rush from the test faded. In an instant, it returned.

She snapped her head to look at Gage, his words finally sinking in. "Tomorrow night?"

He nodded.

"Shit." She jumped up and began pacing.

"There's my cue to leave," Sticks said, limping to the driver's side. The door squeaked. She tried to tell him to oil it before tomorrow, but no words came.

"Call me if anything else changes." He looked at her, not Gage. He was offering escape. She shook her head. When he pulled out, he left a trail of dust and scattered gravel.

Gage reached into his truck, brought out a fire extinguisher, and handed it to her. "Put it out."

She headed towards the trailer, glad to have something to do. Pacing didn't seem to help her the way it did him. She doused the small fires sputtering in the remains of the trailer, taking note of the blast radius. The bombs had done their job, but it wasn't pretty close up. She would have to come up with something more elegant next time.

When she got back to the truck, he had the engine running. She put the extinguisher away and got in, her brain still preoccupied with possible ways to modify the Bella. Designing something new held appeal.

"You said you were done after this job." The hard edge of his voice surprised her.

"I am."

"Yet you made plans to see Sticks again."

"That's different."

"I fail to see how."

"Learning how to do something new doesn't mean I plan to become a criminal."

"You are a criminal." He let the words hang for a moment.

"Fair enough, but that doesn't mean I want to make a career of it." She turned to regard him. "You think I lied to you."

"You have."

"And you've been nothing but honest with me?"

"I have not lied to you." He kept his eyes on the road.

"So not telling me about the camera in the clock doesn't count?"

He sighed. "You found it."

"Yep. And the audio, too. I seriously considered doing a strip tease for you, but you didn't deserve it."

"Why did you leave it in place?"

"Because you like to know what's going on, and I figured it was better than having you hanging out in my apartment all the time."

"It did not seem to bother you last night."

"It was my choice last night."

"It is always your choice."

"That – right there? That was a lie."

She sat back and let the plan run again. This time, the voice in her head was her own.