Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
The explosion tossed Piper in the air like a rag doll.
Intense heat swept over her like a tidal wave. Pain exploded along her shoulder and hip as she crashed to the unyielding ground and rolled. Her body collided with Jackson’s vehicle and came to a bone-jarring stop. Her chest was tight, her heart pounding. She couldn’t breathe. For several seconds, she lay there stunned, staring at the tire in front of her face. Her handgun, strapped to her waist, dug into her side. Debris fell around her. She barely registered it.
Spots danced across her vision. The explosion had knocked the wind from her lungs and it was a struggle to take in air. Piper drew in a shallow breath. Then another. Finally, her brain kicked into gear and was able to control her body. Ears ringing, she pushed off the cement driveway into a sitting position.
Elena’s house was engulfed in flames. Parts of the roof and the building were scattered everywhere. In the yard. Down the street. Fear reached up and stole the air Piper had worked so hard to pull into her lungs.
Jackson. Where was Jackson?
She screamed his name. Or thought she did. It was hard to hear anything over the ringing in her ears. Piper moved to stand and pain vibrated through her arm. She glanced at her shoulder and realized she was bleeding. Her shirt was ripped, a chunk of flesh missing from her arm. Dizziness hit her. She had no issue with injuries on other people, but the sight of her own blood… it was traumatic. A reminder of the assault.
Shoving aside the pain, Piper used the car for support as she maneuvered into a standing position. White hot agony shot through her left knee. She shifted, immediately taking the pressure off, while scanning for Jackson. Smoke billowed from the house and was carried on the wind, making it impossible to see farther than several inches in front of her face.
Please, God. Please let him be all right.
“Jackson!” The cry was followed by a fit of coughing as the thick smoke entered her lungs. She bent over to drag in a breath and yelled again. Tears filmed her eyes. Another side effect of the smoke. “Jackson.”
He’d been right behind her. Seconds. Only seconds. But in this particular instance, seconds mattered.
Suddenly, the wind shifted. The smoke cleared as it blew away from Piper toward the woods along the back of Elena’s property. A large form appeared. It grew closer, and as Piper wiped the tears from her eyes, Jackson came into view. His face was blackened by soot, his shirt torn along the chest, and blood dripped from a cut on his cheek. But he was alive.
Relief rippled through her with such intensity she had to use the SUV to hold herself up. More tears filmed her eyes, and this time, Piper couldn’t blame them on the smoke. Crying had never been her thing. She’d done it maybe five times in her entire adult life, but the thought of Jackson not being okay… it hit her hard.
He got close enough, and she threw her arms around him. Jackson held her for a long moment, his strong and tender embrace unleashing every buried emotion inside her. She pulled back to look him in the face and had the insane urge to plant a kiss on his lips. The heat from the blaze and the smoke stinging her eyes held her back.
His mouth moved, but she couldn’t make out the words over the ringing in her ears. Piper swallowed. Her mouth tasted like sand. “I can’t hear you.”
It sounded like she was shouting in her head, but she doubted Jackson could hear her any more than she could hear him. His gaze swept over the injury on her shoulder and then he wrapped an arm around her waist and pointed to the end of the driveway. Yes, they needed to get a safer distance away from the fire. Sweat beaded across her skin. The heat from the flames was intense.
Piper took a step and nearly hit the ground as her hurt knee gave out. The next moment, she was lifted off the ground by Jackson. Muscles along his chest rippled as he pulled her closer. Instantly she was sheltered. Cared for. He carried her across the street as if she weighed nothing, and that sent an uncharacteristic wave of femininity through her.
Jackson had always had that effect on her. He had this way of taking care of her without taking advantage. Protecting without being domineering. He was a man confident in his skin. Had always been, even at eighteen. Piper rarely let down her guard, but Jackson was her weakness. Obviously, he still was.
An elderly woman materialized in front of them. She wore a housedress and slippers, her gray hair clipped short to frame a mahogany face. Winnie Wainwright. Worry clouded her dark eyes and created lines between her brows. She waved Jackson forward and held open the screen door to her home. Seconds later, Piper was deposited on a kitchen chair.
Jackson bent down next to her. “How badly are you hurt?”
Finally, she could hear him. The ringing was still there but fading. “It’s not bad. My knee got banged up and this scrape on my arm probably needs stitches, but I’ll live.” She lightly touched the cut on his cheek. “You?”
“I’m fine.” Jackson’s gaze shot to the windows overlooking the street before returning to focus on her. “Elena’s house was searched by investigators on the night she died. Whoever planted that bomb did it after they left.”
A shudder rippled down her spine. “The bomber was nearby. Watching us. ”
“Yes. The device was controlled by a remote detonator. This was a targeted attack.”
Horror sank into Piper. This case had gone from murder to bombing. Things were escalating quickly.
Winnie returned with a first aid kit. “I’ve called the police. They’re on the way, along with EMS.” She clicked her tongue as her gaze took in the gash on Piper’s arm. “That needs to be cleaned immediately.”
Winnie had been a school nurse before her retirement. Her husband’s cancer diagnosis had wiped out their savings, leaving her with little after he passed. She’d moved into the trailer park shortly after Piper turned ten. Many nights, when things at home were too much, she’d camped out on Winnie’s couch. She still came by regularly to visit her.
“I’m going to leave you in Mrs. Wainwright’s capable hands.” Jackson rose. “I need to check on the other neighbors. Make sure no one else was injured.”
Piper pushed against the chair. “I’ll help?—”
Jackson stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “You’re hurt and I’ll work faster if I know you’re getting the treatment you need.” His gaze bounced to Winnie before latching onto to hers. “Please.”
His unspoken message was received loud and clear. Piper was likely the target of the attack. Jackson still believed Marcus had been sent to shoot her yesterday morning. In light of the bombing, she had to admit, he could be right. Piper settled back into the chair. “Be careful. ”
“Always.”
He flashed her a smile that warmed her insides before turning to leave. The screen door slammed shut behind him.
Winnie approached with a bottle of antiseptic and cotton pads. She winced slightly. “This may hurt.”
“It’s all right.” Piper settled against the wooden chair, bracing herself for the pain. Every muscle in her body ached, and she knew the soreness would last for days. Soot covered Winnie’s floor. “Thank you for fixing me up. I’m sorry about the mess.”
“Nonsense, child. I’m just glad you and Jackson are okay.”
She poured the liquid over the gash on Piper’s arm. White hot agony shot through her. She inhaled sharply. The best thing for the pain was a distraction. “Did you know Elena?”
“Of course. Good girl. Her mama’s pride and joy.” She poured more antiseptic. “Bessie was a good friend of mine, God rest her soul, and after she passed, I did my best to look after Elena.” Winnie’s mouth turned down as a film of tears appeared in her eyes. “I know how cruel life is, and death shouldn’t shock me anymore, but it hurts that someone would murder such a sweet young woman.”
Piper reached out and patted the older woman’s hand. “It should hurt. When it stops hurting is when we’ve lost something of ourselves.”
Winnie nodded. “I suppose that’s true.”
Piper winced as Winnie gently cleaned the wound. “ What did Elena think of her job at the Kingston Law Firm?”
“She liked it. The pay was good and the schedule allowed her to take classes at the community college at night. The Kingstons are a hard bunch, but I have to admit they treat their staff well.”
She weighed her options. Winnie wasn’t a gossip, and so far, questioning Elena’s friends hadn’t gotten them very far. Maybe it was time to be more direct. “I heard a rumor that Elena was secretly involved with Shawn Kingston.”
Winnie froze and then her mouth pursed. “Well, that explains a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew Elena had a boyfriend, but she wouldn’t say who. It worried me. Elena was a hard worker, but even though she’d grown up in this neighborhood, she was a touch na?ve. Bessie sheltered her from a lot.” She huffed out a breath. “Shawn Kingston takes after his daddy. That man couldn’t stay faithful to his wife if you gave him a million dollars. Guess the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in this case.”
“Did Elena ever complain about the relationship with her boyfriend?”
“No. I got the sense it wasn’t serious.”
That made sense since Shawn was married. It was well known most of the Kingston men were womanizers. Maybe Elena understood it was a fling and had no intention of exposing Shawn. Having an affair was morally questionable, but it wasn’t a crime.
Piper gritted her teeth against a fresh wave of pain as Winnie continued cleaning her wound. “I also heard Elena helped a friend escape her abusive boyfriend.”
“She did. Wally Hutchinson is as mean as a rattlesnake and just as toxic. His brother, Todd, ain’t much better. A’course, I understand their childhood was awful. Their daddy was scary. But there comes a point when a man has to decide for himself who he’s going to be.” She ripped open a package of gauze. “Wally wasn’t too happy with Elena for meddling in his affairs. He confronted her on the street last week as she was leaving for work, yelling and screaming about how she needs to mind her own business.”
“Did she report the incident to the police?”
“Not to my knowledge. With a man like Wally, sometimes going to the police escalates things rather than helps matters.”
Piper curled her hands into fists as frustration bubbled. She understood Elena’s logic, but she wished the woman would’ve reported him. “Was that all Wally did?”
Winnie stuck a bandage on her wound and sealed the edges down. “I’m not sure. The day before she died, Elena came to my house and dropped off her tablet and some other items for safekeeping. She was nervous. She felt like someone was watching her and suspected her house had been broken into. I urged her to report the matter to the police, and she swore she would, but?—”
Her voice broke off. Piper understood why.
Elena hadn’t reported the incidents to the police because she’d been murdered before she could.
Her mind whirled. If Elena was being stalked, her home broken into… then why on earth did she meet her killer in the nature preserve? It made little sense. Unless the person she thought she was meeting was a friend. Or her ex-boyfriend, Shawn.
But then why bomb her house? Unless… unless the person was afraid of what Piper and Jackson would find.
Elena’s killer had taken her cell phone. That simple act had stalled their investigation. What if the killer had previously broken into her house to steal her tablet? Text messages, phone calls, internet searches… most people stored them on a cloud service so they could be easily accessed across devices.
Piper’s heart sped up. “Mrs. Wainwright, I need to take Elena’s tablet, along with the other personal items she left you.”
“Of course, dear. Let me get them.”
She shuffled off to the back room and then quickly returned with a jewelry box, a stack of bills, and a tablet. The wail of sirens showed backup had arrived, along with the fire department.
Piper lifted the device. It was charged. The screen glowed, the background a lovely Texas sunset, but in order to unlock it, she needed Elena’s fingerprint or a passcode.
She winced. Most devices with biometric fingerprint locks required electrical conduction, meaning the reader sensed the faint electrical charge running through a person’s skin. Elena’s tablet was one of them. Once she died, it was impossible to open the tablet with her fingerprint.
Piper blew out a breath and glanced at Winnie. It was a long shot, but she had to ask. “I don’t suppose you know the passcode.”
The old woman’s face broke into a soft smile. “Actually, I do.”