“Because I’m very, very good. Though I have to add that it also helped that no one seems to be allowed near your tent, which gave me the privacy I needed to wriggle in myself.” He knelt, and she saw he was reaching into the flap of his backpack. “And I can’t leave now. I haven’t given you the present Korgan sent you.”

“Present?”

“A very thoughtful present. But then Korgan is always thoughtful when it comes to weapons.” He lit a tiny flashlight and shone it down on the small black control switch in the palm of his hand. “A little something Korgan whipped up. It can jam any device that’s rigged to wirelessly trigger those bombs in the prisoner tent.”

She inhaled sharply. “Any device?”

He nodded. “It blocks all cell phone frequencies, Bluetooth, walkie-talkies, you name it. Korgan developed it for the armed forces in Afghanistan. Almost every vehicle there now is equipped with one to lessen the chances of an IED attack.”

She couldn’t believe it. “So long as it’s powered on, he won’t be able to remotely trigger those bombs?”

He shook his head. “Home free for about twenty minutes. After that it will blow. Korgan thought you’d need it to be very small, and he couldn’t give you more time than that.”

“Give me more time?” She reached out with her index finger and touched the signal jammer. So small, yet she was fascinated by the power it represented. One press and she’d be able to withdraw the threat hanging over all those girls in the prisoner tent. “You’re talking about me being able to do this?”

“Korgan said you gave Alisa the information about the explosives. He said if you’re as bright as he’d heard, you wouldn’t have just obeyed orders blindly. You would have already thought about the possibility of having to do it yourself.”

“Yes,” she whispered, her gaze still on the jammer. “But that seemed…impossible. That maybe it would be me and Alisa together.” Her eyes flew to his face. “But you’re telling me that maybe I should think about doing it without Alisa.”

“No, that’s what Korgan is telling you. It will be difficult finding a way even to get Alisa into the camp at the crucial time. It might be dangerous for both of you. He said no matter what the situation, we’ll give you all the help we can to make it happen and get your friends out of this camp. But he wants you to know that if Alisa had her way, she wouldn’t want you to have anything to do with any of this if she could help it. You’ll have to decide for yourself what’s best. If you don’t want to do it, then that’s the end of it. He only wanted to prepare you for anything and everything.”