Page 11 of Broken Wheels

The least Josh could do was?—

BOOM.

Dix smashed the button, disconnecting his call with Michael.

I’m gonna kill Doc.

He could get away with it too. He had skills from his admittedly short time in the military. Doc probably wouldn’t even see it coming. Then again, Dix doubted Doc noticed much anyway, the cute little?—

No, he wasn’t about to think sweet thoughts about the annoying bastard. Dix was pissed, and Doc would learn just how pissed he was as soon as Dix got him out of the mall, especially after he’d had to drive like a maniac to get there. It was a miracle the cops hadn’t stopped him.

His stomach churned.

Hasn’t he learned anything? Gary Cross had gone off on his own and had received horrific, almost fatal injuries. And this whole email business stunk to high heaven. Dix had no doubt Doc knew someone named Cliff Tanner, but the fiasco with Abbas the previous year had taught Dix a vital lesson.

View every event with suspicion. Trust no one.

Who’d have believed Porter would have been capable of such barbarism? And for Doc to drop everything and run off like this?

Yeah, he was gonna kill Doc.

Dix drove into the parking lot, found a space, and switched off the engine. He scanned the vehicles, and it took him a minute to locate Doc’s. True to form, it was over in the far corner, away from most of the cars. There was always the possibility that Doc would be leaving the mall to go someplace else, but it was three o’clock, so he might just?—

A loud explosion rent the air, and glass panes shattered, sending shards skittering across the blacktop. A moment later, dozens of people ran screaming from the building, and when more followed, the sight of their bleeding wounds sent his heart plummeting.

Doc.

Dix rushed inside, dodging the shoppers who scurried for the exit, screaming. He ran toward the center of the mall, to the fountain where Doc was supposed to be, panic bubbling through him at the awful devastation that met his gaze. Glass everywhere, bodies of men, women, little kids…. The cries of pain were an assault on his ears, but he couldn’t stop.

He had to find Doc.

He has to be all right.

His thoughts of killing Doc slowly were a memory. All he wanted to do right then was bundle Doc up and get him out of there to someplace safe.

When he got to the fountain, he surmised this had been ground zero. Water shot up into the air, and huge chunks of concrete had been blown apart by the force of the explosion. Bodies were strewn under it, likely crushed from the weight. His heart thudded when he had images of Doc being one of the casualties. Then other images came to mind. Doc in the parking lot each morning. His smile.

Please don’t be dead.

His breath caught when he caught sight of Doc leaning over a screaming woman. As Dix got closer, he saw a child beneath her, probably no more than five years old, its blond hair matted with blood. A stroller lay on its side, and from it came wails. At least the baby was still alive. The little boy hadn’t been so lucky. A red mass pooled beneath his body, coating his mother’s hands. Doc had his arm around her, and Dix was dismayed to see blood pouring from Doc’s head.

He put a hand on Doc’s shoulder. Doc turned his face up, and Dix’s heart broke. Tears streamed down, leaving tracks on ash-and-blood-smudged cheeks. There was a gash on his forehead, and it looked bad.

“She was right next to me,” he whispered. “She was telling him after they got him some shoes, she’d take him for ice cream and he could ride the train.” He turned and clutched Dix.

All Dix could do was hold him. Then his mind cleared. “We need to get out of here.”

Doc gaped at him and pulled free of Dix’s grasp to cradle the woman. “I can’t leave her.”

Doc was a good man. Dix was not.

“We need to go,” he urged. “This place isn’t safe.”

Doc’s face twisted into an angry mask. “No fucking shit!” he shouted. He pointed at the little boy who would never see another birthday. “Do you think I don’t know that?”

Dix caught the sound of sirens in the distance. That figured. Eastern New Mexico Medical Center was about five minutes from there.

“The cavalry’s coming. Come on, Doc. Let’s get out of here.”

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