Explosive Alliance. Susan Sleeman

him to confirm our story.”

      Determined not to let this team railroad her the way the other cops had, Krista fired a confident look at Skyler. “Do you honestly think I’d bring my grandfather along if I planned to bomb the stadium?”

      Brady’s brows rose toward thick blond hair. “You could have brought him along for cover. Then something went wrong. You couldn’t get out in time and went running to Cash.”

      Archer faced her. “If you’re involved in this, Ms. Curry, it’ll go easier on you if you tell us now.”

      “No...I...” At the wall of stares from the team, the water she’d consumed turned to acid in her stomach. She closed her mouth and looked to Cash for his help.

      His eyes that had been so warm and friendly, so interested earlier, were now filled with steely resolve.

       Fine. Be that way.

      She should’ve expected his lack of help. She’d trusted him to be on her side once, to rescue Opa, and he’d let her down by tending to the bomb first.

      Even if the squad members seemed kind and compassionate at first, they were cops doing their jobs. Cops who didn’t trust anyone. She cringed at the thought of the past interrogations. The questions fired at her. Badgering her. Accusing her. Slandering her in the press until no one believed in her innocence, even when they couldn’t prove a thing against her.

      No. She couldn’t trust people like that. A man like that. Even if the bomber showed up on her doorstep to stop her from identifying him, she couldn’t count on anyone else. She had to be prepared to protect herself and Opa from the monster willing to kill innocent people.

FIVE

      Cash didn’t know what to think. Could he believe Krista’s story? He looked out the window at her. She sat next to Otto just outside the restaurant, perching on the edge of the bench as if she wanted to bolt. Otto leaned back and crossed his ankles, giving Cash a good look at surprising lime-green sneakers. Cash could see the older guy was tired and wished Skyler would let the pair go home. But she insisted they stay in case the team came up with questions during a quick brainstorming session.

      “So.” Skyler’s no-nonsense tone brought Cash’s attention back to the group. Her focus traveled around the table. “Give me your thoughts.”

      Archer sat forward. “Though this is a real stereotype, being Caucasian makes the bomber less likely to be a terrorist.”

      Skyler nodded. “But terrorists can be Caucasian, too. Especially ecoterrorists in a green state like Oregon. Still, they rarely resort to bombing, and I can’t see an environmental reason for bombing the stadium.”

      Jake shifted on the edge of the table, a frown drawing down his face. “If he is a terrorist, he’ll take credit for his work in the next twenty-four hours or so.”

      “Can’t you just look up who bought the ticket for the suspect’s seat number?” Darcie asked. “Wouldn’t you then have his identity?”

      Jake shook his head. “Someone who plants a bomb won’t buy a ticket under his real name.”

      “Plus, the heavy rain kept people away, leaving tons of empty seats in the covered area,” Cash added. “The bomber might have simply taken advantage of an empty seat.”

      “What about the bomb itself?” Skyler asked. “Does it give you any thoughts on who we might be looking for?”

      Cash nodded. “The bomb was rudimentary, but it did have an antiremoval device, so that speaks to some experience with explosives. Also, he used blocks of Semtex, which aren’t easy to come by.” Cash shifted on his feet. “The question I think we need to be asking is, what did he hope to accomplish with the bomb? The backpack was placed by the stanchion holding up the roof. Maybe he wanted to take it down, but without tamping the bomb, it wouldn’t likely happen.”

      “Tamping?” Darcie asked.

      “In layman’s terms it means aiming the force of the blast in the direction you want it to go to make the explosion more effective.”

      “Which tells us what exactly?” Jake asked.

      “Either he’s not very knowledgeable about bombs, or his intent was simply to kill someone in the seating area rather than damage the stadium. Of course, if he had a specific target, then he might’ve thought to add shrapnel to inflict the most damage, but he didn’t.”

      Brady looked up from a small piece of wood and a knife in his hands. A hyper guy, he often whittled to keep calm. “Setting a bomb is a pretty drastic action just to kill one or two people. I can think of many less risky ways to kill someone.”

      Jake faced Skyler. “I’m assuming you’ll look at security videos and request street cam, business and MAX footage. Not just for today but earlier on.”

      She nodded. “Though I’d rather not involve the media in this, I’ll also have them issue a plea to the public for any pictures or videos taken of the targeted seating section for our review. And we’ll get a team on interviewing ticket holders.” She grabbed her pen. “What about potential suspects?”

      “The obvious one is a stadium employee,” Archer said, his intense focus on Skyler. “And event crews or even concessions company staff. They’d have access and if they were unhappy with their work they’d have a motive, too.”

      “Same with delivery people,” Jake tossed out. “Or recycling company employees who pick up green products.”

      Skyler’s pen raced across the paper.

      Cash grinned. “And despite what Otto may think, we also can’t rule out the players and coaches. Though I suspect Otto wouldn’t mind if we limited our inquiries to the opposing team.”

      Brady cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him. “Don’t forget to add Ms. Curry and Otto.”

      “Are you honestly liking them for this?” Cash asked. “I mean, we have no motive for her wanting to do this.”

      Brady met Cash’s gaze. “You haven’t been in law enforcement all that long, but we all know—”

      “The person who reports the crime—” Skyler finished writing and looked up “—is always a suspect until we can prove otherwise. And that includes finding the motive you’re speaking of.”

      “I’m not sure this counts on the motive thing,” Darcie said, “but Krista’s wearing designer clothes. Not something she could afford on a preschool teacher’s salary. And I didn’t see a wedding ring so there’s not likely a spouse to pay for the clothes.”

      “She still could be married,” Archer said.

      The thought left Cash more unsettled than he wanted to think about.

      “Or divorced. Or widowed,” Jake added.

      “Easy enough to find out. I’ll ask.” Skyler stepped outside. Cash saw Krista’s shoulders go up in a defensive posture at the question.

      Was she hiding an involvement in the bombing, or did she simply hate personal questions?

      Skyler returned. “Widowed. Four years ago.”

      Cash sighed, drawing Jake’s attention so Cash quickly moved on. “If we’re looking at Krista for this, then we should also look into the woman who incited the crowd. I can check a stadium diagram for her seat number. It may not lead anywhere if she was dodging the rain, but it’s worth a shot.”

      “Once you locate the number, I’ll make it a priority to find her.” Skyler looked around the group. “Any other suggestions or ideas?”

      No one spoke.

      “Okay, then.” Skyler tucked her notebook in her backpack. “As Jake said, I’ll be teaming up with the