Chapter 21
Adalyn jerked awake at the sound of her phone ringing. Blinking, she grabbed for it, saw it was only a little after midnight. “Yeah?” she rasped out.
“Tick tock bitch, can you save your cop in time?” a modulated voice sang out before the call ended.
Groggy, she stumbled out of bed as a text followed the creepy call. She pressed play on the video—and her blood iced over as she watched in horror. “Oh my god,” she breathed out as she raced from the room. She nearly ran into Gage who was stepping out of the office, dressed in jogging pants and a pullover.
“I’ve been monitoring your phone. I just saw. Get dressed, I’ll wake the others.”
Nodding, she ran back into her room as she threw on jeans and a sweater. As she raced back out, ready to grab her shoes from downstairs, she played the video again, praying this was a hoax too.
Rory was cuffed to a metal rack in what looked like a garage, a bomb strapped to his chest. His eyes were open and there was a gag in his mouth—and he looked angry, not afraid, at whoever was filming him. There was no sound on the video, which made it even worse. As the video panned out slowly, as if the monster was walking backward, two kids’ bikes came into view, then a stray soccer ball and basketball. Had to be at his house.
She met the others downstairs, including Jesse, who was clearly heading out with them on this.
“The call originated from Rory’s house,” Gage said, tossing a set of keys to Rowan.
She wanted to take over and drive, but knew she was in no condition right now so she raced to the two-car garage, jumped in the passenger seat as the others piled into both vehicles. She was glad that no one gave any false platitudes as they headed out.
It was raining again, a light mist splattering against the windshield so light Rowan didn’t need to bother with the wipers.
“Okay,” Hailey said from the back. She and Jesse were with them while the other three were in the second SUV. “If he’s really at his house, we’re going to fan out and start waking up neighbors, getting them out of the blast range as quickly as possible. Gage has already called the police but was told to stop making prank calls.”
“Oh god,” Adalyn breathed. “That was the reason behind the fake bomb threats.”
“I think so, yes.” Hailey’s voice was grim.
“Once I get eyes on him, I’m calling again,” Adalyn said.
“Agreed.”
“And I’m not waiting for the bomb squad.” She played the video again, zoomed in on the bomb itself. “I recognize this type of construction and can disarm it.”
“Looking at the picture, can you tell if there’s a chance he can remote detonate it?” Hailey asked.
It wouldn’t change Adalyn’s decision, but she shook her head. “No, I don’t believe so. But he could have hidden another bomb where we can’t see. Either way, this one is hardwired. And from what I’m seeing in this video, it’s on a standard timer. We just need to get there.” Because the timer had been at thirty minutes when she’d received the text. There was no telling if… Shaking herself, she shelved that thought.
No way was she going to go down that path. She’d lost too many people, and god no, just no. She chanted the words in her head, vaguely listening to Hailey, but that buzz in her head was too loud as violent images flashed in her mind.
“I’ve also got very thin masks of sorts for everyone—these are prototypes not on the market yet. Maybe they never will be. And every one of us is going to put them on our faces. You can’t see them at the naked eye level, and people might think your face looks shiny when you knock on doors, but this is to blur any doorbell cameras or whatever from grabbing our faces. Any security cameras will just record a grainy image.”
Adalyn raised her eyebrows, but didn’t respond otherwise. That was some serious tech, and right about now she was glad Hailey and Jesse were on her side—and thinking clearly enough to make sure they were protecting themselves from discovery.
Rowan reached over, squeezed her hand suddenly, and she could breathe. Or at least the buzzing dimmed and she could focus. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He simply nodded, his jaw tight as he raced through the midnight streets of New Orleans.
The rain was light but consistent, the shittiest backdrop to a shitty night. The only silver lining was that there weren’t that many people on the road at this time and in this weather. Anyone still out would be at bars in the Quarter, far from them.
“Here.” Hailey reached out her hand from the back, held out an earpiece as Rowan turned on Rory’s street. “We’re all staying connected.”
“Thank you.” Adalyn was out of the SUV before Rowan had even parked in the driveway of the two-story house. The garage door was partially open, light spilling out from underneath it.
“Wait—”
Adalyn ignored Rowan even though she knew she should be more careful. But her fear was overriding her normal decision-making. She ducked down and sucked in a breath when she saw that Rory was there, just as she’d seen in the video.
When he spotted her his eyes widened and he tried to talk but the gag was in the way.
“Did he set any traps?” she asked, not wanting to move toward him in case there were any traps she didn’t see.
He shook his head slightly, then looked down at the bomb.
“Other than that?”
He shook his head again.
She nodded at him, then looked back at Hailey and Jesse. “Call the cops, see if you can convince them that this isn’t a hoax.”
Hailey nodded even as the others were already fanning out, heading for doors. There were likely to be a lot of angry people—hopefully no one wielding weapons—but she didn’t care. They needed to get his direct neighbors out of the area as quickly as possible.
Adalyn ducked her head back down to look at Rory. “Just hold on, we’re going to disarm this.” Then she hurried to the back of the SUV and grabbed one of the duffel bags. There was a plethora of tools she should be able to use.
As she ducked and rolled under the garage door opening, she was surprised when Rowan followed.
“You’re not doing this alone,” was all he said.
And now wasn’t the time to argue, even though she wanted him absolutely nowhere near this bomb.
She moved carefully, looking for any trip wires or cameras as she stepped slowly toward Rory. They had eight minutes, which was more than enough time to handle this.
Once she was sure there wasn’t a trap Rory hadn’t seen, she knelt in front of him and pulled the gag out of his mouth.
“You need to get out of here and call the bomb squad,” he growled to both of them.
“I’m not going anywhere, so save your energy,” Adalyn murmured as she slid on a pair of magnifying glasses. “And the bomb squad won’t make it in time.”
“Talk some sense into her,” he continued, glaring at Rowan.
She tuned him out as she eyed the wiring.
“First, is anyone in your house? And can you tell us what your attacker looked like or said?” Rowan asked instead, his voice calm, steady.
And okay, she was really grateful for his presence right now even if she hated the fact that he was here. Sweat slid down her spine even in the chilly garage.
“No one’s in my house. My family is gone, thank god. And the guy had on a balaclava, barely said anything. Guy got me when I was packing up. I had my garage open and…I wasn’t paying attention. I’m such an idiot.”
“No you’re not,” Rowan said quietly. “So?”
Adalyn took a breath, looked at him with her goggles on. Then she shoved them up, looked at Rory. “I’ve seen this type of construction before and I’m confident I’ll be able to disarm it.” Unless the maker had screwed with the wires, had done something she couldn’t predict. Which was definitely a possibility. Sweat blossomed across her upper lip as she met Rory’s gaze.
He nodded at her, his expression grim. “I trust you.”
She turned to Rowan. “I need you to go help the others—”
“Shut it.” He sat there, all stoic and, well, Rowan, as he worked on getting the cuffs off both Rory’s wrists. One snapped free. “I wasn’t kidding before. I’m not going anywhere so do what you need to do.”
She gritted her teeth and looked away from him. Anger and helplessness swept through her as she got down to work. “If this is some misguided attempt to make up for whatever, it’s stupid. Get out of here now.”
“Maybe you guys save this argument for later?” Rory asked.
Adalyn nodded as she took a deep breath. Then she cut the green wire. “Oh god.”
“What just happened?” Rory stared down as the timer shaved off three minutes, dropping to almost four now.
“It’s a collapsible circuit,” she ground out even as Rowan removed his second cuff. “Rory, I need you to slowly lean forward and tell me if you have like a pond or something nearby. Just a decent-sized body of water.”
“Ah…there’s a retention pond nearby. Or there are a ton of pools here if you’re just looking for a water source.”
“No, pond is better,” she murmured as she continued. “Now sort of hunch your shoulders forward. We’re going to ease this off you.”
As he did, straightening his arms and hunching his body, she and Rowan worked together to slide the device off him without cutting the straps. She was worried about cutting anything again and losing what little time they had to spare in case there were more connections that she couldn’t see. “From here, where is it? Please be specific in your directions.”
Three minutes now.
“When you pull out of my house, you turn left, then there’s a turnoff about six houses down. There’s a straight shot to the pond in between two houses if you’re thinking what I suspect you are.”
There was no way she could risk disarming this now. Not after realizing it was on a collapsible circuit. The only choice was to let it explode, and water would be the best buffer to neutralize the damage as much as possible.
As soon as it was free of his body, Rowan plucked up the bomb and raced for the SUV.
“Hey!” She jumped up, but stumbled when Rory fell into her, his legs unsteady. “No!” she called out.
But Rowan gunned the engine and peeled out of the driveway, honking as he sped down the street.
Heart racing, she sprinted down the street, knowing she’d never catch him in time on foot, but she couldn’t stop herself. She was aware of people standing in their driveways and sirens blaring in the distance, but all she cared about was getting to Rowan. She watched as the SUV made a sharp left into someone’s yard, heard the sound of metal screeching, then— Boom!
A muted explosion ripped through the air, and water geysered up from behind one of the houses. Oh god.
She stumbled once, nearly went down, but continued running. “Rowan!” she screamed as she cut across someone’s yard, jumped over a stray basketball before she rounded the corner of the nearest two-story home.
The SUV was half in the retention pond, smoke billowing up and oh god… Her throat seized as a sob rose up. He’d driven the thing in there and no one would have survived that.
“Adalyn.”
She turned at the sound of her name, blinked, then threw herself into Rowan’s arms before she punched him in the chest. “What were you thinking!” She was full-on shouting now as she punched him again.
“I had things under control.” He grabbed her punching hand and pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face against the top of her head.
“You’re a stupid jackass,” she said on a sob, barely containing herself. “And now my face is leaking.”
He let out a strangled laugh even as sirens grew even louder. “Guys, can you hear us?”
“Yeah.” From Hailey.
“Get out of here now. Especially you and Jesse. You can’t be on the news. Adalyn and I are headed back to Rory’s,” he said even as she wiped the tears off her face. “We’ll talk to the cops with him. It’s better this way.”
Hailey sighed, but finally said, “Fine. We’re moving safe houses. I’ll be in contact about the new location. Keep your phones on you.”
“We will,” Adalyn said, finally able to respond as they both hurried back toward Rory’s house. Her heart rate kicked up as they ran through the giant tire tracks of the SUV that had torn through the yard.
“What’s going on?” A man in boxer shorts and a Saints T-shirt was standing in his driveway as they hurried past him.
“Someone tried to bomb your neighbor’s house,” Rowan tossed out as they jogged past. “Go inside, please.”
Aaand that was that. Neither he nor Adalyn stopped to chat with him or any of the other neighbors now standing in their driveways or in the middle of the street.
She spotted the taillights of the other SUV turning down the street and breathed out a sigh of relief. Okay, good. They were gone, and just she, Rowan and Rory would deal with the cops.
Because there was no way around that now, but at least they had Rory on their side. “We’re going to have to get our stories straight,” she murmured as they reached the driveway of Rory’s house.
He was standing in his driveway, looking a thousand times better as he smiled at the two of them. “Pretty sure I owe you both drinks for lif—”
A boom echoed through the night air and he fell backward as if he’d been punched. His body dropped to the concrete with a sickening thud and before her brain had fully processed that he’d been shot, Rowan tackled her to the ground, covering her body with his.
She’d made a move for her weapon, ready to take out the threat, when three police cars jerked to a halt, one after the other in front of Rory’s house. Six men and women in uniform jumped from their cars, weapons drawn.
“Stay on the ground, hands up!”
“Just great,” Rowan growled even as he put his hands up and lay flat on the concrete.
“A sniper just shot Detective Rory Collins,” Adalyn shouted at the cop who pulled her wrists behind her back and cuffed her. “Whoever it is has to be across the street, potentially in one of the houses or on foot. You still have time to catch him!”
“Shut up,” the woman snapped as she removed Adalyn’s pistol from her holster. She handed it off to someone before she hauled Adalyn to her feet and shoved her into the nearest waiting patrol car.
To her surprise, the cop who’d cuffed Rowan put him across from her. She knew that normal operating procedure for most cops was to separate witnesses or suspects. Ah…they wanted to see if they’d say anything they could catch on their vehicle’s recording.
“Lie down,” Rowan growled.
She blinked. “What?”
“If the shooter is still out there, we’re not taking any chances.”
“The shooter is gone, but if he’s not, his bullets will rip through this car…” Trailing off, she swallowed hard and closed her eyes as she tried to banish the image of Rory on the concrete. Lying there so still, blood pooling around his head.
“Humor me, then.”
Sighing—and ignoring the weird scents of Fritos and fried meat in the car—she lay down in Rowan’s lap and he laid his body over hers. The cops were going to strap them in soon enough but she stayed low for now as she tried to bury her grief and shock.
“Someone called something in. The shooter, likely,” Rowan said quietly.
The radio squawked once, then was silent. And she knew they were currently being recorded. It was the only thing that made sense for them being put together. “Yeah, they reacted too quickly, arrested us way too fast.” The neighbors had likely made calls too, but they hadn’t hurt Rory, they’d been helping him.
“We give a short statement, then we don’t say another word without a lawyer,” he murmured.
And she simply nodded, because there was nothing else to do at this point. The tears she’d been trying to keep at bay fell as she lay stretched out onto his lap in the most awkward position ever, but she couldn’t stop them.
A good man had just been murdered and it was all her fault.