It was possible she’d miscalculated about Tyler and put her faith in the wrong person. But she wasn’t wrong about Shane. She refused to believe that was even possible. Her head rested against his heart, and his hand slipped into her hair. She craved this closeness with him and loved that he granted it to her so freely.
She listened for his heartbeat and relaxed into the gentle thumping sound. The higher-pitched beeping had her head whipping back. She looked up at him. “What’s that?”
He frowned as he lifted his arm. “My watch.”
The simple black band. All of the Corcoran Team members wore one. It was part of the uniform, to the extent that they had one of those. She’d never seen him not wearing it. The thing could perform miracles. It did so much more than tell time. It functioned as a camera and a computer, and it gave them the ability to tune in to each other at all times through some sort of internal comm.
But she’d never heard it make noise before. “That’s an odd sound. Is it an alarm?”
He froze. “We need to get out of the house.”
“What?” She pulled back, letting a breath of air separate their bodies as she tried to figure out what put the edge of frustration in his voice. “Why?”
“There’s a bomb in here.”
The comment didn’t make any sense. “The watch?”
“The house, so move.” He had her by the elbow. Got her almost to the front door before he stopped. “What did he touch?”
She had no idea what Shane was talking about. In the past few seconds he’d morphed from this solid male who held her to a guy talking in half sentences. She’d ask him why and try to get more information if she even had a clue what to ask. She didn’t.
She tried anyway. “Shane, let’s sit down and—”
“Do not move.” He held a hand out to her to stay put as he stepped closer to the door.
He’d given her the exact opposite order a second ago. Before the tension had clogged the room to the point of suffocation.
He squatted down and stared up at the underside of the knob. “There you are.”
It was as if she’d been thrown into a strange survival movie. She’d come to expect the unexpected and go with it, but this tested her resolve. She could handle these trials, but this one she did not understand.
She tried to grab him as he paced around the small area. “Could you slow down and explain?”
“Later.” He walked through the house to the bedroom, tugging her behind him. “We need to get out.”
They got the whole way to the bedroom before she built up enough strength to turn him around to face her. She caught his head in her hands just as he lifted the window and let the unusually cool air move in. “Shane, look at me.”
He covered her hands with his. “Tyler planted a bomb.”
The words sat there for a second. Then she got moving. She wanted to race to the front door and run screaming out into the trees. But he had steered them in here and she had to think there was a reason. She helped him open the window. The next minute he was shoving her through it.
“Run and do not stop.” He lifted her legs over the sill and helped drop her to the ground outside. They were on the ground floor and didn’t need any acrobatics. “I need you to keep moving and not look back. No matter what you hear.”
Her feet had just hit the ground when the bang exploded all around her. A wall of heat smacked into her, lifting her up and sending her flying backward. The noise blocked her ears and took her airborne. She finally hit the ground with a jolt, landing half on her butt and half on her elbow.
In her haze she couldn’t think about anything but crawling. She took off, slithering across the ground, as unidentifiable charred pieces landed around her. She didn’t totally understand what had happened, but she sensed she couldn’t stop. If she did, something could hit her, and with debris all around and flames popping up everywhere she looked, she didn’t want to take the chance. Her sole focus stayed on survival.
By the time she rolled over on her back and looked behind her, flames were licking up the walls of the house, and black smoke was billowing from every window. Fire rained down all around her. She scooted on her backside to put as much space between her and the inferno as possible.
Rocks and dirt dug into her palms, and the fire burned hot enough to scorch her cheeks. She kept backing up as her mind switched to one concern—Shane. She searched the landscape, looking for his shoulders. For a shape. For some sign of him.
He’d been right there with her. He’d climbed out...or had he? The memory replayed in her mind, and the horror struck her. He was still inside.