Deliverance (The Archers #3)

Chapter 1

EVELYN

Sirens blared through the night by the time the van skidded to a stop outside the Archers HQ. Or what was left of it. The SUV with my guys squealed to a stop beside us.

I threw open the door and leapt out into the chaos.

The smoke hit me first, thick and acrid, coating the back of my throat.

Three fire trucks were parked haphazardly around the building, like they had flown in from different directions.

Their red and white lights strobed against the surrounding buildings.

Liam and Sebastian stayed on my heels as I wove through the trucks.

The heat hit me next, radiating off the rubble in waves I could feel from twenty feet away.

Nothing was left standing. Not the walls, the roof, or the door I had walked through a thousand times.

Just a skeleton of smoke and debris with embers still floating up into the night sky. My heart dropped. Maya…

“Hey, you can’t—Evelyn!” A firefighter waved me over.

I recognized Jeff, the captain of the local firehouse.

His eyes darted from me to the still-smoldering building, then widened.

The Archers HQ was a secret from most people except select people.

Jeff wasn’t an Archer, but we had helped his sister get out of a domestic situation a couple of years ago, and he was a solid guy.

“Jeff,” I rushed out. “Maya was in the building.”

Jeff frowned, his tone careful but resigned. “I’m so sorry, Evelyn, but there’s no way anyone could have survived that.”

Liam let out a strangled sound beside me as my hand flew to my mouth. No, there was no way. Maya wasn’t…

“The safe room,” I blurted.

Liam stiffened, his eyes wide. “The safe room,” he breathed.

“What safe room?” Jeff asked.

“Before we bought the building, the guy who owned it was a survivalist type. Tried to have a warehouse and sell the stuff, but the business went under. He had installed a bunker, and I updated it when I bought the building.”

“Where is it?” Jeff asked, stepping towards me urgently.

“Back right corner of the lot.” I moved forward to show them, and Jeff caught my arm.

“It’s not safe. We’ll find them. Back right corner of the lot?”

I wanted to rush in and help, but the heat coming off the building was insane. “Yes. It was a trapdoor in the floor. Black metal door. It’s supposed to slide, but…” I gestured at the fire.

Jeff turned and yelled at some of his crew. “Martinez! Gonzalez! Grab the jaws of life. Smith! I need a pathway to the southwest corner of the lot!”

All I could do was stand there as the firefighters sprang into action. Liam trembled beside me quietly. I reached out and squeezed his shoulder, keeping my hand there as we waited.

Sebastian pressed in close behind me, and the rest of my guys fanned out around us.

No one said anything. The seconds seem to tick by endlessly, every moment stretched out like a rubber band.

Adrenaline thrummed through me, and I shifted on my feet.

The smoke was so thick still that I could barely make out the muffled shapes of the firefighters as they headed into the building.

I needed to be doing something, but I was paralyzed to the spot.

The rubble crackled and popped. It looked like there had been a central blast explosion in the main room, but the rest of it burned quickly. What could have done this? The director’s words came back to haunt me. You’ll learn tonight. Was this what he meant?

It felt like hours before we saw any movement in the smoke.

Liam clutched my hand on his shoulder as dark shapes emerged from the rubble.

Three firefighters stepped out of the smoke, and my knees went out from under me.

Maya was in Jeff’s arms, coughing but alive.

Sebastian wrapped his arm around my waist, catching me.

Liam sagged into me briefly, then we rushed towards them.

“Maya!” Liam cried as we reached them.

They coughed but reached out to Liam as Jeff set them on their feet. I wrapped my arms around both of them, and we clung to each other.

“Hey boss,” Maya rasped. “Remind me never to give you shit about the bunker ever again.”

I choked out a laugh through the tears. “I’ll resist the urge to say I told you so.”

They, along with the others, had given me some shit when I first insisted that we spend a lot of money to update the bunker into a safe room. I never dreamed that we would need it for something like this, but I was so glad we had it.

“We need to get them checked out,” Jeff gently reminded us. “They inhaled some smoke, and the concussion of the blast might have ruptured an eardrum.”

I pulled back and cupped Maya’s chin, tilting their head. A trickle of blood ran down the side of their face from their ear. “Fuck, Maya.”

“I’m okay,” they said. “I might have some hearing loss, but I’ll take it.” They were alive and that’s what mattered.

“Come on. Let’s get you checked out.” Liam tucked them under his arm and gestured to the ambulance, where two EMTs waited.

“Go to the hospital,” I instructed. “You need to get checked out thoroughly. I’ll handle things here.”

“I’ll call their dad,” Liam said over his shoulder, guiding them away.

I winced. Detective Patel was going to kill me. Maya winced as well, and I didn’t envy them for the conversation they were about to have with their dad.

“Do we have to?” they asked.

“Yes. You almost died,” Liam reminded them. “You’re going to let him yell and fuss over you.”

“Evelyn.” Jeff stood at my elbow, Alexander next to him. Marcus and Adrian were standing closer to the burning structure, pointing at something.

“What is it?”

Jeff regarded me carefully. “This wasn’t an accident.”

I snorted before I could help myself. “Sorry, but no shit.” I rubbed a hand over my face, exhausted.

“I know the arson investigator pretty well,” Jeff continued. “All I need to know is how you want us to classify the explosion.”

It took me a few seconds for my tired brain to catch up. “You mean classify it as intentional or accidental?”

Jeff nodded. I bit my lip and looked at Alexander.

Classifying it as intentional meant an investigation and more eyes on the building.

Plus, who knew what they would find in the rubble?

With our close brushes with the Federal Investigative Agency and now the Special Investigative Division, we didn’t need any more eyes on us.

Plus, the arson investigator wouldn’t be able to catch who did this. That would be up to me.

“Classify it as a gas explosion,” I said slowly. “But if the arson investigator has any ideas about how it happened or what caused it, I would appreciate a report as the building owner to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

Jeff nodded. “Got it. I’ll have him prepare something for your and my eyes only.”

I looked over the burning rubble. “Is anything salvageable?”

“I’m sorry, but it doesn’t look like anything is. Maybe once everything cools down, but whoever…this gas explosion was very thorough.”

Fuck. I didn’t even want to calculate how many tens of thousands of dollars of equipment was housed in this building. Liam’s setup alone…plus all of our backups, our security systems, medical supplies.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Adrian said.

I looked up and realized they had all approached while I was lost in thought.

“You have insurance, right?” Marcus asked. “We can help you call tomorrow.”

I laughed bitterly. “I have insurance on the building but not on all the equipment inside.”

“Why not?” Alexander frowned.

I know they meant well, but I couldn’t help the snark that escaped me. “Because I run a secret organization that operates under the radar and having insurance for close to a quarter million dollars in equipment spread out over multiple locations isn’t possible.”

HQ was more than just a central meeting place. All our extra equipment was stored there. Would it even be possible to rebuild?

Sebastian wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “We’ll help cover whatever insurance doesn’t.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.” I shook my head. “This is my mess, not yours.”

“What’s ours is yours,” Alexander said, pinning me with his icy blue eyes.

“You’re not asking; we’re offering,” Adrian said.

I rubbed my temples. I know they meant well, but this was years of work.

And people were relying on us now. I had no idea what even needed to be replaced.

I would need to talk to Izzy and see if we had enough to float us at the other locations until we could get things replaced.

I could take the security system down at the manor if I needed to and use it at a safe house.

“Eve!” a familiar voice called my name. Matt and Jerome, two of Danny’s guys, jogged towards me. “I heard what happened on the scanner,” Matt said as they approached. Matt was a volunteer firefighter. “What happened? Is anyone hurt?”

“No one’s hurt,” I said. “Maya was in the building but made it out in time. They’re at the hospital now.” I left out how Maya survived the explosion in the safe room. “Publicly, a gas explosion.”

“And privately?” Jerome crossed his arms, frowning as he scanned the rubble.

“Not sure yet,” I said.

Until we knew more, I needed to shelter the Archers from all of this.

The organization couldn’t afford any more hits.

People needed our help, and we couldn’t do that if we were fighting a war on all sides.

I had to shield the Archers as best I could from the Kingfisher until this was over.

The guys and I could handle the Kingfisher, but no one else needed to get hurt on my watch.

“We can stay and help supervise cleanup if you need to go to the hospital,” Matt offered.

I scanned the scene. There was nothing else to find here. I needed to find out from Maya what happened before the explosion. I doubted whoever did this was going to come back tonight, so it should be fine if Matt and Jerome took over.

“You don’t mind?” I questioned them.

“Of course not,” Jerome said firmly. “Go, handle what you need to. Let us know if you need anything.”

“Thanks, guys,” I said. Exhaustion tugged at my steps, but my night wasn’t over yet.