Page 37 of Stunts and Sparks

They both ran through the aisles into the back storeroom, looking for the office. Cole found it first. “Here!” He called, and Heather ran right to him. They both locked themselves in the office, and Heather picked up the phone to call the police.

CHAPTER 19

HEATHER

Heather had no way of knowing exactly where they were, so she had no address to give the police, but she did her best in describing the warehouse and the buildings around them. She named businesses as well as the thrift shop they were currently in. They said they’d be able to trace her from the line she was using as well as her descriptions, and that she should just sit tight until they got there. She told them she was going to leave the phone off the hook for a while but that she wouldn’t be talking into it anymore as she didn’t want anyone who happened to come into the building to hear her voice.

If the kidnappers did happen to find which building Heather and Cole had broken into, they would at least have to find the pair first, and then they’d have to break into the office. Every second Heather and Cole could give themselves mattered.

All there was left to do was wait. Heather sank down on the floor behind the desk and sat beside Cole, who was already there. It felt like she was never going to actually catch her breath. The last several hours… no, the last several days had been the moststressful she had ever experienced in her life. She just wanted it to be over finally, but it wasn’t.

At least this time, the police wouldn’t tell them to hide and wait for days on end. That level of inaction clearly hadn’t worked, and the kidnappers had come after Cole and Heather anyway. If the police insisted they deal with this sort of thing themselves again, after the second kidnapping, Heather was going to pitch a gigantic fit and demand they do their jobs. They ought to have offered some modicum of protection at the very least.

Then, Cole shook her out of her thoughts by saying the last thing she had expected him to say. “I’m sorry,” he said. “You didn’t deserve for me to get that angry with you.” He turned to her and took her hand in his. “I drove you away, and I blame myself for this, okay? So, I don’t want you to feel guilty about it. I can easily see it in your eyes. You’re blaming yourself, and you shouldn’t.”

She felt like bursting into grateful tears, but she blinked them back instead. “I broke the rules without asking you, though. I made it dangerous for both of us.”

“You needed to talk to your mom. It was a risk worth taking, and we don’t know precisely why they even found us. It could have been any number of mistakes. I only blamed you out of frustration. You were right that I didn’t understand what it was like for you to worry about her, and you were right that whether or not to take that risk should not have been my decision.” He squeezed her hand tighter.

In the dark, she nuzzled closer to him. She hardly knew what to say. “Thank you, Cole. That means a lot to me.”

“I figured you needed to hear it… you being such a delicate little flower.”

She playfully slapped his chest, and he let out a low laugh.

“But seriously,” he said, “you were amazing back there.”

“Leave no man behind, right?” she said.

“That’s right,” he agreed. “You would have made a great soldier.”

Heather laughed, not believing him but loving his over-the-top compliment all the same.

“I mean it,” he said.

Before she could respond, they heard the rumble of an engine outside the building, and they both froze at the sound. There was no way of knowing whether it was their kidnappers or the police, so they just assumed the worst and fell silent. Then they heard the sound of a door, and another, and another. Whoever was outside the building wasn’t saying anything, and that wasn’t a good sign, Heather thought. If it was the police, they would not be arriving so quietly.

The people outside hadn’t yet made their way into the building Cole and Heather were hiding in. They were probably checking all the buildings around them first. But they were bound to notice the window that Heather had smashed to get into the building. She hadn’t thought of that at the time, but now it seemed like a ridiculous thing not to have considered. She tried to be generous with herself, though, and remind herself she had been making choices in a terrifying situation with limited time and resources. Even now, as she thought about it, she could not come up with a better plan they could have executed more quickly in the spur of the moment.

Then she heard a sound that confirmed her worst fears — familiar voices in the thrift store, arguing with each other andshouting for them to come out. It was the kidnappers; no doubt about it.

Cole squeezed Heather’s hand even tighter, and she could have sworn she heard his teeth grinding. “Do you still have the gun?” he whispered.

She nodded and whispered back, “Yes. It’s right here.”

“Let me have it,” he said, “and stay down.”

The sound of heavy footsteps and those loud, irritating voices came closer and closer. In the dark, Heather felt herself tremble, though she wished she wouldn’t. She was angry at herself for not being braver.

Then she remembered how it had felt right after she’d come out through the warehouse door, knowing Cole was still inside. It had been so easy to risk everything, to stay right there and shoot back. When push came to shove, she had done the right thing without thinking twice, and she supposed that was exactly what Cole was doing now. He had more experience with firearms than she did, and he apparently had even more of a protective instinct for her than she had for him. Giving him the gun had been the right choice. So she told herself they were both doing as much as they could, and she stopped herself from shaking so much.

There was risk involved, but they were minimizing it by making the best choices from here on out. That made her feel worlds better.

Suddenly, there was the sound of someone trying to open the door. Then she heard the psycho shout, “This door is locked! They might be inside!”

Cole cursed and then said, “Grab the phone. Tell the dispatcher what’s happening. I’ll hold them off.”

Heather grabbed the phone and sank back down behind the desk as she heard the voice of the muscle say, “Stand back.”

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