CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"This is the address," said Gabriel, staring at the cinderblock line of businesses. "The one with the sign in the window houses the servers."

"Hayes? What do we do, son?" asked Kegger.

"Well, I need to get in the building, sir. If you can get me inside, I can make sure I take care of the servers."

"We can do that," smirked Otto.

Since coming to Belle Fleur, the genius kids have irrevocably changed. They were all polite, smart, and insatiably curious about everything. But they were also sincere, honest, and willing to help wherever needed. They wanted to please those that had saved them.

Although the team admired that, they were also cautious not to take advantage of it. Especially for Hayes and Victoria, who were older and should be enjoying their college years.

Gabriel took out his lock-picking kit and began work on the door. It was a pretty pathetic lock, and within a few minutes, he was inside. Just as they'd predicted, the entire space was empty, other than two large servers sitting in the middle of the room.

"Go ahead, son," said Otto.

"No, sir."

"What do you mean? It's okay. Go ahead," he said.

"No, sir. It's not okay. Look," he said, pointing to the base of the servers. They followed his pointed finger all along the bottom, then toward the wall plugs. "I believe those are explosives, sir. If we do anything to those servers, anything at all, I'm fairly certain they're going to explode."

"Shit," muttered Gabriel, moving closer. He eyed the motion detection devices and the trigger that would signal a timer. "Why does the timer give ninety seconds? That seems like a lot of time."

"They probably don't want to kill anyone. They just want time to download everything from their servers here to another set of servers."

"How do we get around it?" asked Kegger.

"Well," frowned Hayes, "if we had someone that could neutralize the motion detectors and the explosives, I can get the data before they know anyone is here."

"I'm going to check for other devices," said Otto.

"I'll get to work on the explosives," said Gabriel. "I sure wish my big brother was here."

"See, now, if you had just waited, I would have flown with you instead of making Evie bring me all the way out here," smirked Miller. "Pops thought you could use some help."

"You're an asshole," laughed Gabe. He pointed to the device and nodded. "Ever seen anything like that?"

"Yep."

"What do we do?" asked Hayes.

"Get into the back room behind the wall. If this thing blows, you'll be protected." He tapped his comms, waiting for Code to respond. "Brother, I need you to disrupt a signal on a device. I just sent you a photo of it."

"Got it. Give me twenty seconds."

"He'll need twenty-three seconds," said Hayes from the back room. Miller grinned at the boy, hearing Code curse under his breath.

"Done. You gotta move."

With the trigger and timer off, Miller got to work disconnecting the device while Hayes simultaneously connected to begin the download. Waiting with bated breath, he watched as Miller's fingers moved nimbly, cutting wires and retracing devices until everything was off.

"Go!"

Hayes' fingers flew across the laptop. The whir of the servers told them that he was downloading everything they had and perhaps more than what was on the servers.

"It's all coming from Las Vegas," he said, looking up at the men.

"Just get it all, kid," said Miller.

"Yes, sir." They all smiled at the young man as he continued to empty the contents of the servers into their own. "Done!"

The men looked at him and smirked, nodding their appreciation.

"Get everyone out of the businesses on either side. I'm going to reconnect the explosives, and we're going to have a little fun. I'll reprogram the timers to give everyone a little cushion."

While the others ran to the neighboring businesses, getting everyone out, Hayes stood behind Miller, watching him.

"Get out, kid."

"I'd like to watch, sir. I'd like to learn more about explosives."

"Hayes, you've got a fucking brilliant mind. This is work for a man who has half the brain you do."

"It's intelligent, honest work, sir. It saved hundreds of lives over your career." Miller turned to stare at the young man. "I know your Ranger history, sir. You've saved hundreds, and that's no exaggeration. I understand the compounds and chemical structures of explosives but not how to make them work without killing myself and possibly others. That interests me, sir."

"Okay, okay, just stop calling me sir," he grinned. "But do me a favor and step outside with the others. Just in case."

"Yes, sir," he smirked.

A few minutes later, Miller appeared beside the men. The bomb squad, fire department, and police department all showed up.

"What do we have?" asked the head of the bomb squad.

"From what we can tell, a timed detonator on a set of servers. We only came to see the property," said Gabe. Seconds later, the entire building exploded, sending debris and contents from the other buildings.

"What about those poor people?" whispered Hayes.

"Don't worry, their insurance will cover any damages and rebuilding, and we'll help if needed," said Gabe. "Let's go, kid, before they want to ask any more questions."

Hayes was placed on a plane with Evie to head home while the others flew to Las Vegas. Whatever was located there needed to be shut down as well.