“I went for a walk after we hung up,” Jeff said, frowning as he sat down on his bed. He took a deep breath then looked Joe in the eyes.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Joe, his own forehead creasing in concern.

“I...” Jeff began but then stopped and closed his mouth. He gave Joe a wan smile and shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “We had better get ready for bed.”

Joe sat quietly after Jeff headed for the bathroom. There was definitely something wrong but if Jeff didn’t want to discuss it that was his prerogative. With a heavy sigh, Joe stood up and began putting his books away.

***

“Maybe I should have gone with him,” Laura fretted as the night dragged on.

Agent Blaine gave her a concerned look. “That would have been a big mistake,” he told her. “If they don’t have you then Fenton and Frank can concentrate on escaping.”

“I suppose,” Laura admitted. “You know, that man could have been lurking around for some time,” she added thoughtfully.

“It’s possible,” Blaine acknowledged with a nod, wondering what she was getting at.

“Maybe you should look around,” she suggested.

“For what?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Laura answered. “Bugs. Bombs,” she added a bit more softly, remembering how close she had come to losing Frank by one barely forty-eight hours previously.

“Why would he have planted a bomb?” Blaine asked reasonably. “He was going to take you with him.”

“In case something went wrong,” suggested Laura with a shrug. “I don’t know but I just...” she paused, not wanting to sound like a lunatic but knowing how adamant Fenton was about following one’s instincts. “I just have a bad feeling,” Laura finally confessed.

“All right,” Blaine finally agreed, knowing better than to make light of her intuition. Like Fenton, he had also been trained to follow his gut.

Agent Blaine looked through the house first, not really expecting to find anything. He knew if it were him, he would have done something outside. Somewhere where there was less chance of getting caught and somewhere close to where he had been hiding. Once he had finished his search inside, he exited the house. Hartley had been hiding in the kitchen so odds were if there were something to be found it would be at the back of the house.

A few minutes after he started looking he found something. He saw a man’s tread near the back porch. The footsteps did go to the window and back door but there was an area of grass matted down near the base of the porch. Blaine stooped down for a look-see and let out a low whistle. He quickly checked his watch then pulled out his cell phone and called Chief Collig and then his boss. Hanging up, he returned inside the house.

“You found something,” Laura said, seeing the grim look on the agent’s face.

“You were right,” Blaine informed her. “There’s a bomb set to go off at midnight beneath the back porch. A bomb squad is already on the way,” he continued. “But we need to leave the premises now.”

Laura nodded and followed the agent from the house as Chief Collig arrived in his police cruiser. “Laura, you can sit in my car while we wait,” Ezra offered.

“Thank you,” Laura acknowledged the subtle command politely. She climbed in as Agent Blaine told the chief about the intruder earlier.

Collig shot a glance at Laura and rolled his eyes. “At least we know where Joe gets it,” he said to Blaine with a chuckle.

Two hours later the bomb had been diffused and removed from the premises. An extensive search of the area revealed no more danger and Laura and her bodyguard were allowed back inside.

***