Free SEIZED, A Romantic Suspense Novella by Suzanne Ferrell Page A

as the timer. It’s probably rigged to send a signal to the detonator below.”
    “Can’t we just pull the wires?” he asked, not liking the tension around his sister-in-law’s lips and eyes.
    “I’d have to be in there and really look at it. He could have a second trip wire to prevent that. See these five dots?” She pointed to the dots on the page.
    “What are they?” Matt asked.
    Katie looked at Judy. “Are they blinking?”
    She leaned in without touching the bomb. “Yes. They appear to flash on and off in a sequential order.”
    “What does that mean?” Dave asked, his chest tightening with renewed fear.
    “They’re a code sequence,” Katie said.
    “Code sequence?”
    “He’s got it set so that if the right kind of code is entered the timer shuts off. Once that circuit is broken we can safely dismantle it. The problem is if we don’t have the right numbers to enter the code in the right order…”
    “Well, we’ll just wake the SOB up and force him to tell us.”
    “I don’t think we can,” Judy said through the glass.
    “What do you mean, we can’t?”
    She turned her head and yelled, “Bill!”
    The long, lanky anesthetist stuck his head out the door. “What?”
    “How long did you say that Succs would keep him paralyzed?”
    “The Succinylcholine? It’s going to keep him out for twenty minutes. Longer if I hook him up to the gasses. Right now the ventilator is just making him breathe.”
    “You’d best find some way to get you all under some cover then.”
    “Oh, shit.” Bill stuck his head back in the operating room, the door closing behind him.
    Judy stared into Dave’s eyes a moment then she looked down at the timer. Everyone else studied the picture. According to it, they had less than five minutes.
     
    With a sinking heart, Judy raised her gaze from the cell phone timer to meet Dave’s across the glass. Unshed tears filled his eyes, making her own spill down her cheeks.
    “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
    “Don’t say that,” he said, his hand once more on the glass. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
    “I did. I gave him the Succs and now he’s useless to us.” She fought back the panic. She knew what she had to do. “David, tell my babies how much I’ve always loved—”
    “No! Don’t go there, Judy. We’ve still got time. I can come through the ceiling panels to you and Katie can talk me through disarming it.” He was already pulling the rifle strap off his arm and over his shoulder. “Luke, move those panels out.”
    “David.” She pounded on the glass with her fist, shaking her head. “There’s no time. I need to know my babies won’t be left alone. I need you to leave, so you’re safe and can love them for me.”
    “Jude…” His shoulders slumped.
    God, she wanted to touch him. To cradle his beautiful, rugged face in her hands, kiss him and feel his strength one more time. To give him some of her own.
    “Please. If you love me, you’ll do this for me.”
    “You know how much I love you.” He was openly crying now, every tear tearing a hole in her heart. “Please don’t ask me to do this.”
    “David.” She put on her mom voice. “There’s only four minutes left. You have to go. Now. All of you.”
    Matt and Luke grabbed his arms. He shook them off. “Leave me the hell alone!”
    “Sweetheart,” she placed both hands on the glass. “Ella, Lily and Wyatt need you. Please, go.”
    He placed his hand over hers and whispered, “I love you, babe. You are my life. You are the most important thing in it. I can’t leave you to do this alone.”
    “I’ll stay.” Castello said from behind him. “She’s right. Your children need you. No one will miss me. I’ll stay behind.”
    “I can’t ask you to do that,” Judy said.
    “You don’t get a choice in this one, Judy. Dave and the others go. I stay.”
    Dave turned to look at his friend. They exchanged a look that spoke of the bond Castello had made with all the Edgars, his