The campus cops herded all the people on the platform off and into the science building’s lobby. Students standing around on the grass scattered. The whisper of a bomb became a roar.

It seemed to Benjamin that in a blink the landscape had completely changed. A celebration had flipped to a crime scene.

No one near the stage or Bull Wills seemed to notice that both of the rangers climbed into the limo with the governor and drove off, with the highway patrol car following close behind.

Ben forced out the breath he’d been holding. The governor was safe. Bull was still on top of the groundskeeper, but no one was moving toward the rose garden.

Ben watched Hank pull his gear from the side of the building and walk alone toward the stage. He seemed calm, focused.

As deputies kept the few reporters back, Hank knelt and pulled out a pipe bomb from under an arrangement of flowers by the podium. Slowly, he placed the pipe in a box and moved away. No one moved.

It was over. Ben reached for Jenny and they both relaxed as the frozen scene below began to melt and people started moving around.

He took Jenny’s hand and they walked down the stairs. A group of university staff was huddled in the foyer but Ben walked right past them. When one of the deputies started to stop him, Hank yelled that the two professors were part of his team.

Ben stood a bit taller but he didn’t turn loose of Jenny’s hand. One day he’d tell his son, or daughter, of this adventure. Maybe he’d even admit to being more worried than brave.

Amid the rose bushes, Ketch lifted Bull off the bomber, who looked like a deflated Halloween blowup. The guy was covered in dirt, and from the smell, half drunk. He started yelling that he didn’t do anything. “This is police harassment,” he said between complaints.

Bull doubled up his fist and yelled, “I ain’t the police. I’m the hospital security and you’re about to end up there if you don’t stop bellowing at me.”

After cussing for a while, Bull turned to Ketch. “When I saw him, I remembered he’d been mowing the grass outside the hospital a few minutes before the bomb blew the glass. It took me a while, but I recognized him as the silent drunk with the two losers in the bar that night. He was dirty, smelled like shit and kept telling the college had crushed his dreams. When I saw him put the flowers down and walk away, I remembered him so I decided my job was to do nothing but watch him.”

Ketch motioned for Pecos to cuff the man, then he patted Bull on the back. “You did good, Bull. Best tackle I’ve ever seen. You’re a hero.”