Did Pete just spring a trap on Burt and Riley?

He is able to answer Burt's phone call and say Scratch took Max, but he was unable to call Dunbar to warn them that Scratch just took Max?

There has to be a delay between when Scratch takes Max and when she gets to Dunbar.

There can be all sorts of reasons why, he just untied himself, etc. but, on the first look without any additional information, I have a bad feeling.

Also

The damage to the relay sounds pretty nasty. Seems more like sabotage than failure. Did whoever fried that also screw up the phones to isolate Dunbar? This could also signify why Pete was unable to warn Dunbar...