Larissa Judson and Haskell Palmer novel Chapter 919

At seven o'clock, her grandfather, Zendar, and the others arrived. Seeing Jedidiah bound to a wooden cabinet, Zendar strode over and kicked him hard in the chest.

"You son of a bitch! Do you have any idea how many people live in Spire Village? You were going to blow us all up!"

Jedidiah's subordinate struggled to move, trying to shield his boss from the blows.

Zendar kicked him away. "Your turn's coming, what's the rush?" he spat, then turned his fury back on Jedidiah.

With his mouth gagged, Jedidiah couldn't speak, forced to endure Zendar's vengeful assault.

Larissa didn't stop him. If Jedidiah's plan had succeeded, over a hundred people would have died that night.

Once he had vented his anger, Zendar sat down. "Larissa, we did as you said last night. We dug up all the bombs planted in the village, and the explosives experts have already defused them."

"Good," Larissa nodded. "Zendar, tonight before eleven, you and Kimberly need to take Grandpa and the other villagers down into the cellar to hide."

The village had a cellar, originally used for storing valuable goods. They never imagined it would one day be used as a shelter for them.

"Got it," Zendar confirmed.

Finley then remembered something. "Larissa, what about the fourteen death row inmates?"

Larissa had a plan ready. "We'll keep one of them alive as a key witness against Jedidiah. The other thirteen will stay in the village as bait."

Jedidiah's men, hidden on a nearby mountain, were monitoring Larissa's cottage with night-vision binoculars.

"The boss has been in there for a long time. You think something's wrong? Should we move in now?"

"We haven't received any change in orders. We stick to the original plan. If we screw this up, it's our necks on the line!"

Their orders that morning were clear: if the boss wasn't out of the village by eleven o'clock, they were to storm the village under the guise of hunting fugitives, rescue him, and then detonate the explosives planted throughout the area.

They watched as several villagers entered Larissa's cottage, only to emerge again a couple of hours later.