Chapter 4 #2
A splash to his left. She surfaced twenty feet away, coughing and gasping but alive. Her braid had come loose, hair ash blonde hair dark with water and plastered to her face. She still clutched her bag protectively against her body.
“You okay?” he asked over the roar of the flames.
“I’m good. You?” she called back.
“Good,” he replied, moving closer to her.
They swam toward each other, meeting in the middle. Liam reached out instinctively, needing to touch her, to confirm she was real and unhurt. His hand found her shoulder, and she didn’t pull away.
“The papers?” he asked.
She patted her bag, water streaming from it but the flap still sealed. “My bag is water-resistant. They might be a little damp, but should still be readable.”
In the distance, sirens began to wail. The police and fire department would be here in minutes.
The neighbors were already outside, and the closest ones were evacuating in case the fire spread.
Others had broken out their garden hoses to put out the flaming debris that had rained down on their properties and the street.
“We need to go,” Liam said. “Before we’re spotted, and before the authorities show up with questions we can’t answer.”
“Agreed.” Lina was already swimming toward a neighboring dock that wasn’t too close to the burning home, her strokes strong and sure despite everything.
They hauled themselves onto the dock of a darkened house several properties down from the chaos, dripping and singed but intact.
Liam took stock. He thought he might have a couple minor burns on his back, and his ears were still ringing.
He was soaked through, of course, but other than that, he had no serious injuries.
Lina looked similarly battered but functional.
She met his eyes, and despite everything—the explosion, the cold water, the narrow escape from death—she grinned. It was fierce and wild and absolutely beautiful.
“Hell of a first date,” she said breathlessly.
Liam couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Agent Goodwell, this wasn’t a date.”
“Right.” Her grin widened. “Just two colleagues nearly getting blown up together.”
She chuckled, and he couldn’t help but follow suit. She definitely had an odd sense of humor, but it was very much like his own, so he understood and appreciated it. Grace under pressure. She was the total package.
They moved quickly through the shadowed yards, keeping low as emergency vehicles screamed past on the main road.
His lion was still on high alert, protective instincts in overdrive now that the immediate danger had passed.
Every fiber of his being wanted to get Lina somewhere safe, where he could properly check her for injuries.
But first, they had to disappear before anyone saw them leaving the scene of an explosion.
“Where to now?” Lina asked as they reached the street where they’d parked, both of them staying in the shadows.
“I’ve got a place we can go that’s not too far,” Liam said.
Liam went to the back of his SUV and opened the hatch.
Like most shifters, he carried extra clothes with him in case had had to shift and leave his clothing behind.
He saw Lina had gone to her trunk as well.
Since they were on a public street, she was discreet about changing out of her soaked clothes, doing it quickly and mostly behind cover of her car’s open door.
He did the same, and then he signaled for her to follow him.
Then, he got into his SUV and drove away from the chaos of the burning house a few blocks away.
He sent a quick text to Rich Kinkaid, one of his newfound cousins who was mated and now lived in the same subdivision that most of the Marsh Witches had lived in for decades.
He’d arranged for Liam to use one of the vacant houses in the development as a base of operations, should he need one.
It was also a coastal community on the South Shore of the Island and wasn’t too far from where Mrs. E had set up her alter-ego of Margaret Thornfield.
They arrived in less than fifteen minutes, and Liam parked in the driveway.
Lina parked her car on the street in front, then got out and joined him, walking up the front walkway.
Rich was there, with the key, waiting for them.
He greeted Liam with cautious friendliness.
They’d ironed out a few things between themselves, but the three brothers had spent all their lives estranged from the Kinkaid Clan and had only made peace recently.
Things were still a bit tentative, but Liam hoped their relationship would even out, given time and shared experiences.
Liam shook Rich’s hand. “Thanks for arranging this.”
“Happy to help. We want to catch Mrs. E as badly as anyone. She caused a lot of heartache for the ladies of this community,” Rich said, his expression going hard for a moment.
“Rich Kinkaid, this is Lina Goodwell of the FBI,” Liam introduced them.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Thanks for looking into the Mrs. E situation,” Rich said politely as they shook hands.
“Happy to help,” Lina replied. “Thanks for setting up this place. Looks like we’ll need a spot to go over evidence.”