Free Shattered Heart (Z series) by Jerri Drennen

This was one skill JT never excelled at.
    Zack nodded, then squatted down and extracted a kit from his back pocket, pulling out a thin device. He tipped the lock up and inserted the probe into the keyhole.
    JT’s heart raced as he watched for trouble. If Zack didn’t hurry up, they were going to get caught and then his cover would be blown.
    A soft click and his friend pulled the lock down and removed the clip from the fastener. Zack tugged the door open. Inside were a half dozen bags.
    JT ducked in to examine them. It was ammonium nitrate, but this wasn’t even close to the number Terran had ordered in the past year and a half. So where was the rest?
    Maybe he was selling it to another source? But then what the hell were those shipments?
    “What should we do?” Zack whispered, looking squarely at him.
    “We need to keep looking. This can’t be all of it. Maybe he has more somewhere else.”
    They retraced their steps out of the building, then replaced the padlock.
    Headlights from the road had them on the move. Someone was coming to the site, and they needed to find a place to stay hidden until they got a look at who it was.
    JT pointed back toward the new building. The two raced to the side and again stood flush, JT glimpsing around when the bright lights were close. It was an SUV, but he didn’t recognize it as any of the crew who had been there when he stopped by that afternoon. The lights remained on, as if they were debating whether to get out or leave. That made JT nervous. What were they there for? The driver’s door came open, and the light in the cab allowed JT to see the man behind the wheel. The guard from earlier came to talk to the guy, nodding at something the stranger said. He wished he knew what.
    JT squinted to get a better look, but the door went closed again.
    Damn it all to hell .
    “Let’s get those bags and get out of here,” a man with a foreign accent said.
    JT turned to Zack, not sure what they should do. If they tried to stop them, he’d blow his cover and probably get shot at by the security guard. If they let them go, who the hell knew where those bags would end up?
    When JT was about to step out, Zack grasped his arm and shook his head, then signaled back toward the truck.
    His friend was right. No way could they let their presence be known.
    But what were they going to do?
    Zack dragged him down the side of the building, then dashed off, headed for the truck, in the opposite direction of the men in the SUV.
    Charlotte was waiting, her eyes filled with worry.
    Inside the cab, she wrapped her arms around JT. “I saw the truck and thought for sure they’d catch you.”
    “We’re okay.”
    Zack sat in the driver’s seat and flipped open his phone, punching a button. “I need you to run a plate number,” he said into the mouthpiece. Zack rattled off the state and plates number. Then I need you to call Oregon State Patrol and put a BOLO out on the vehicle. If it crosses the state line, the occupants need to be arrested for transporting hazardous material across state lines without authorization. If they don’t leave the state, we need to know where they end up.”
    JT smiled. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Thank God Zack was here and on the ball.
    They waited for the SUV to leave then started the engine, jumping the ditch, back onto the road headed into town. All they could do now was wait and see what happened, while still searching for the evidence that Charlotte’s husband had hidden somewhere.
     
    * * *
     
    Charlotte was relieved to be home. She had too much excitement for one day. She was exhausted and all she could think about was crawling into bed and going to sleep.
    She turned to JT. “Are you going back to the motel?”
    “I think it’s best if I stay here. This is turning into something bigger than we ever imagined.”
    “The chance that this guy could be involved in a terrorist plot is starting to take shape. If he is masterminding something, he wouldn’t