It was a beautiful night. The full moon shone down, helping to light our way as Lanie and I veered left, walking hand in hand down the cracked sidewalk. Parking had been limited when we’d arrived, but thankfully we found a spot in front of the house three doors down. When we were in range, I reached into my pocket, pushing the button on the key fob to unlock the doors and illuminating our path farther as the headlights flashed on.
Lanie pressed her palm to my cheek after I pulled her seat belt across her lap. “Tonight was nice.”
“It was.” I kissed her lightly on the lips. “I’m glad you had a good time with your girls.”
Jogging around to the driver’s side, I slid into my seat and pushed the start button. Nothing happened. Not even the lights on the dashboard came on. My SUV was practically brand new, with less than ten thousand miles on it. There was no reason for it not to start.
“The lights came on, so it’s not the battery.”
Lanie’s statement didn’t resonate until I pushed the starter again. Only this time, I heard a distinct click. One I remembered hearing about years ago in Quantico.
“Fuck. Get out of the car, Lanie.” I unclipped her seat belt. “Now!”
She didn’t hesitate. Neither did I. I was halfway around the car when I heard Keaton holler my name. There was no way of knowing how much time we had. The only thing Idid know was I had to try to get us out of range before it was too late.
“Bomb!” I yelled, grabbing Lanie’s hand. “Run.”
We took off toward Keaton, who had his cell phone to his ear, hopefully calling in backup. Fifty feet separated us from the SUV. Sixty feet. Wrapping my arms around Lanie, I took us both to the ground, covering her body with mine at the same time as the ground shook violently below us, and a deafening rumble penetrated the night air.
BOOM.
Intense heat licked at my back, singeing my spine, even through a layer of clothes. I curled myself tighter around Lanie, determined none of this would touch her. It only lasted a few seconds, then I couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears and the thundering of my own heartbeat.
The only thing left of my SUV were pieces of charred metal littering the streets and spread across the once manicured lawns of Koen’s neighborhood. Two other vehicles were tragically lost when mine was blown sky-high, but there were no human casualties. The rancid smell of smoke lingered in the air, even though the fire department was able to extinguish the blaze quickly.
“It’ll feel like a nasty sunburn for the next day or two.” The young male EMT slathered my back with a numbing cream. “Otherwise, you should be good to go.”
Good to go.The phrase was laughable, given the fact I was the farthest from “good to go” a person could get. I was pissed; more like fucking livid. There hadn’t been any incidents with the Russians since Lanie’s townhouse, most likely because we’d disappeared. We––I––should have beenmore vigilant. The Bratva wasn’t a bunch of low-level thugs with more bluster than brains. They were a highly organized crime syndicate who didn’t give a fuck who they hurt. One way or another, we had to find a way to bring them down.
“Thanks.”
Lanie sat between my legs on the gurney, having refused to leave my side. It worked out well for me, since I didn’t want her out of my sight.
“This ends now.” Her voice wavered a little, but not from fear. No, my girl was seething.
“You’re right. It does.” I pulled my shirt over my head, grimacing when the action pulled at my inflamed skin.
“I know how you feel now.”
“What do you mean, Darlin’?”
She turned her head, glaring at me over her shoulder. “I want to spankyourass for pulling that shit.”
Only Lanie could make me laugh after almost being blown up. Duncan, who’d posted himself outside of the ambulance doors as soon as he arrived, arched his brow in question. I shook him off with a subtle shake of my head, then kissed the tip of her nose.
“You could try, Little Lamb.”
After shuttling Henley, Jade, and Jett off to the nearest motel for safe keeping, the two K’s began canvassing the neighborhood, knocking on every door to see if any of the homes had cameras pointed toward the street. All we needed was for one of them to have an image of our perp. It didn’t even have to be a clear picture for our facial recognition software to be able to identify them, so long as they were in the system. The odds were stacked against us, though at this point we’d take whatever we could get.
After thanking the EMT, Lanie and I jumped downfrom the back of the ambulance, both of us antsy to check in with Waverly. She’d taken over the scene like the boss she was, flashing her badge and spouting orders the second her booted feet smacked the concrete. One of the local detectives tried to throw around his weight––literally and figuratively. The man was obviously one donut shy of a dozen and didn’t understand the consequences of his actions. He learned very quickly though, what happens when you challenge a mother bear protecting her cubs. Needless to say, his tune changed drastically after our RAC made one, very brief phone call to his boss’s boss.
“Where do you want us?” Lanie asked when we approached.
Waverly held up her finger, indicating for us to wait while she typed something out on her phone. Her nails pecked so hard at the screen I was shocked they didn’t break. “Nelson will be meeting us at the office in an hour. I’m done fucking around with these bastards. I need my team back to full capacity and that can’t happen if we’re busy looking over our goddamn shoulders.”
Over the years, I’d witnessed her take command of harrowing situations like they were nothing; an everyday occurrence. One thing you could count on was Resident Agent in Charge Waverly Mitchell remaining calm, cool, and collected. All that to say, I’d never seen her amped up like this before. Someone’s head was gonna roll. I was just glad we weren’t on the receiving end of her fury.
“We’re gonna need a lift. My ride’s a little incapacitated at the moment.”