Page 65 of Her Reborn Mate
“Gunther says that even if we manually disarm them all, there’s no telling how many there are in the square. One of them could blow up at any time when someone pushes the detonation button. We have to jam the signals somehow,” Vince said.
I looked up at the radio tower, thinking how easy it would be for me to end this by just disabling the tower and killing the signals in the vicinity.
“I know what you’re thinking, Lexie, but these remote detonation bombs don’t work on the same frequency. Disabling the tower won’t do a thing,” Vince said.
“I have to try,” I said, climbing the stairs that led to the top of the tower. I could already see a control panel at the top with wires coming out of it that were going into the antennas. But when I climbed to the top and came to the control panel, I stopped in shock.
The control panel was taped with black duct tape, and right there, on top of it, there was a black bricklike bomb attached with a green light blinking rhythmically.
“Vince, there’s one hell of a big one right where I’m standing,” I said. If whoever had planted the bombs pushed the button right now, I would be blown to bits. “I’m coming down right now.”
“You have to stay there. All of us have to stay where the bombs are planted. If not for nothing, we can at least get a jump start on manually disabling the ones we have discovered,” Vince said. “How did Will know something like this would happen?”
“I don’t think that’s what we ought to worry about for now. Tell me how we can disarm them,” I said, trying to keep myself calm. The height of the tower, my vicinity to the bomb, and the uncertainty about what Will was doing right now were all pushing me to panic right now, but I maintained my calmness in the face of all the chaos and inspected the bomb from up close.
“More wolves around the square have reported finding more bombs placed in buildings. I think right now, it’s beyond our ability to locate any more of them,” Vince said.
“We have to locate all of them. They might have an internal timer on them to set off automatically in case the culprit doesn’t push the detonator,” I said.
“You’re right. We’ll get right on it,” Vince said.
Now that I wasn’t on the phone any longer, I could use both my hands to dismantle the bomb and see what was inside. The only person who could help me right now was Maliha. She’d know how to deal with these things. But telling her that there were bombs planted all over the square would result in mayhem that I could not control.
Below, the people started cheering loudly as the commentator came on stage and started rousing the crowd by telling them that the results would be announced within an hour. Then, some local band from town came onstage and started singing a terrible cover of Linkin Park songs. At least the crowd was distracted by it.
I dialed Will’s number. This couldn’t wait. I had to tell him what was going on in the square.
“Are you okay, Alexis?”
I told Will everything that had happened, including the anarchists and the bombs. When I mentioned to him that there were more than fifty or so bombs that the pack had discovered all over the square, Will gasped audibly. I had never known him to gasp like this.
“You all have to get out of there,” Will said immediately.
“We cannot just leave the people,” I said.
“If those bombs are triggered, everyone will die. What good is an Alpha without his pack, a mate without his partner? We have to evacuate the town square,” Will said.
“I believe it was you who taught me to stand up and fight my troubles instead of running away from them. How is this any different? We’re going to save these people, Will,” I said, feeling resolute.
“Save the people by having them abandon the square,” Will said. “That’s the only way, isn’t it?”
“If we tell these people to flee right now, they’re always going to live in fear. How is that any different from the lives they’ve been living up till now? Tonight, things have to change. We have to take a stand for ourselves. It doesn’t matter who planted the bombs and why. What matters is that we disarm them and make this town safe for the people, and you’re going to help us,” I said.
“I will insist that it’s still safer for everyone to evacuate the square. The town can announce the mayor in another way. Without the people, who will the mayor govern?” Will was being cautious, as was his right to be. But he wasn’t here. He couldn’t feel the spirit that people were in tonight. They were hopeful. It would be one of the worst thefts in the world to rob them of hope tonight.
“We’re going to disarm the bombs. What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Well, I looked for Fred everywhere in the commune and the forest, even in the abandoned Beckett mansion, but I found no sign of him. I am just as lost as ever. I’m going to go to the cliffs and see if he’s there like Vince said, then I’m coming back to the town to help you,” Will said.
“I love you,” I said.
“I love you too. Please stay safe,” Will replied.
I hung up on him, not wanting to tell him that I’d just taken the lid off the bomb and was looking at the timer inside.
The bomb was rigged to blow up in half an hour.
Chapter 28: Will