Ron Donaldo: Rise Of The Apex Don

Chapter 15

Inside the truck, stacked perfectly on wooden pallets, were hundreds of shiny, silver metal bars. 

It was pure lithium. Millions and millions of dollars of lithium. 

"Beautiful," General Vance whispered. "Marcus Thorne is going to cry like a baby tomorrow morning."

"Check the second truck," Ron ordered. 

Jax walked to the second truck. He broke the lock just as easily. He opened the doors. 

Inside the second truck were hundreds more silver bars of pure lithium. 

"We did it," Isabella said, walking out from the trees. She held an umbrella, but she was still wet. She smiled a real, happy smile. "We starved his company, Ron. We won this battle."

Ron did not smile. He looked at the third armored truck. 

Something felt wrong. His engineer's brain noticed a tiny detail. The tires on the first two trucks were a little bit flat because the lithium was very heavy. But the tires on the third truck were not flat. They were full. The truck was sitting higher on the road. 

That meant the third truck was not carrying heavy metal. 

"Jax," Ron said softly. "Open the third truck. Carefully."

Jax walked to the last gray truck. This lock was different. It was an electronic keypad lock with a red light. Jax looked at Ron. He could not break an electronic lock with a crowbar. 

Ron stepped forward. He pulled his small wire tool from his pocket. He opened the plastic cover of the keypad. He quickly pulled out a blue wire and a yellow wire. He touched them together. 

Beep. Click. 

The heavy doors hissed and popped open an inch. 

Ron reached out and pulled the doors wide open. 

There were no wooden pallets. There was no shiny silver lithium. 

Inside the huge, empty truck, sitting alone in the exact center of the floor, was a large black metal box. 

The box was the size of a refrigerator. It was covered in thick yellow warning tape. There were thick red wires wrapping around it like heavy spider webs. On the top of the box, there was a large digital clock with bright red numbers. 

The numbers read: 05:00.

"What is that?" General Vance asked. He stepped closer. The old soldier’s single eye widened in pure horror. "Mother of God..."

"It is a bomb," Ron said. His voice was dead and flat. 

"A bomb?" Isabella screamed. She dropped her umbrella. 

"Not just a bomb," General Vance said, his voice shaking. "Look at the yellow tape. Look at the lead shielding on the box. That is a radiological dirty bomb. It uses conventional explosives to spread deadly radiation. If that goes off, it will poison the entire Blackwood Forest and the edge of the city for a hundred years."

The Iron Legion soldiers heard this. For the first time, the tough ex-convicts looked terrified. They started to back away. 

Ron’s brain raced. This was not Marcus Thorne’s plan. Marcus was a greedy accountant. Marcus only cared about money and his company. Marcus would never build a dirty bomb. Marcus would never poison his own city. 

This was a trap. A massive, evil trap. 

The enemy knew Ron would attack the supply chain. The enemy put the bomb in the third truck. If the bomb exploded here, on the highway, it would look like a terrorist attack. The news would say "Ron Donaldo’s Gang Blew Up A Convoy With A Dirty Bomb." 

Ron would not just be an ex-convict. He would be the most wanted terrorist in the world. 

Suddenly, a loud electronic sound broke the silence. 

BEEP!

The red numbers on the bomb changed. 

04:59.

The countdown had started. 

"It is active!" General Vance yelled. "Sir! We have to run! We have to get as far away as possible! Five minutes is not enough time!"

"If we run, the bomb explodes," Ron said. "The city gets poisoned. And they blame us forever."

"We cannot stop it!" Isabella cried, pulling Ron's arm. "You are an engineer, not a bomb squad! Please, Ron! Let's go!"

BEEP.

04:58.

Suddenly, a high-pitched ringing sound came from inside the truck. 

Ring. Ring.

Taped to the side of the massive bomb was a small, cheap burner phone. The screen was glowing in the dark. Someone was calling it. 

Ron did not run away. He stepped up into the back of the truck. He walked right up to the ticking bomb. 

"Sir, no!" General Vance shouted. 

Ron reached out and picked up the ringing burner phone. He pressed the green button and held it to his ear. He stood next to the deadly machine. 

"Hello," Ron said calmly. 

A voice spoke on the other end of the line. The voice was deep, smooth, and extremely polite. It was a voice Ron had not heard in five long years. It was the voice that had called Theresa on the night Ron was arrested. 

It was The Director. 

"Hello, Ronald," the smooth voice said. The man sounded like he was smiling. "You look very wet standing in the rain."

Ron looked up. High in the tall pine trees, hidden perfectly in the dark branches, he saw the tiny glass lens of a hidden camera pointing down at the truck. The Director was watching him live. 

"You built a dirty bomb, Director," Ron said. His voice was cold and steady. "You are willing to poison thousands of innocent people just to frame me?"

"You broke my favorite toy, Ronald," The Director said softly. "I built the Sterling Tech empire. I gave it to Marcus and Theresa to run for me. And now, you are starving my company. You are a very annoying little bug."

BEEP. 

04:30.

"I will dismantle this bomb," Ron said. He looked closely at the complex red wires. 

The Director laughed. It was a cold, cruel sound. "I know you are a genius engineer, Ronald. But even you cannot defuse a military-grade radiological device in four minutes. The casing is rigged. If you cut the wrong wire, it explodes instantly. If you try to move it, it explodes instantly."

"Why are you doing this?" Ron asked. His core struggle burned hot. He realized the game was so much bigger than a stolen company or a cheating wife. 

"Because I want to show you the truth of the world," The Director whispered. "You think you can fight the system? You think you can be a Warlord? You are nothing. When that bomb goes off, the whole country will hunt you. You will be a monster in the history books forever."

The Director paused. "Run, Ronald. Run into the forest. Survive like a rat. Goodbye."

Click. 

The phone call ended.