“Okay. Leave you to rot and go get help.”
Damn, she was something else. As soon as she was down, he set the timer, shoved it into the C-4 and hightailed it behind the boxes. Wrapping his body around hers, he waited. Had he used too much? Not enough? No, he definitely used enough. Only a few more seconds. Did he have any last things he wanted to say in case hedidn’t make it?
“Princess?”
“Mm,” the sound came out muffled. Almost time.
“God, I love you.”
“You—”
The explosion roared through the small space, the sound echoing in his ears. Debris rained down around them. Bits of wood and bone and probably parts of the wall filled the air, swirling and choking him with dust. He curled closer around Heather as his back was pummeled, protecting her from the backlash of the explosion. As the soot and grime settled, he slowly released his grip on her. They were still alive.
Easing back, he pulled Heather up. “Everything still attached?”
“I think so. You said—aah!” She pointed to a detached foot that rested near her thigh. Askeletal foot.
“Come on, let’s check how we did.” Kicking aside the debris, his breath released when he saw a much larger hole in the wall than had been there. Larger than when they’d first gotten here too. Perfect. Glancing at his watch, hisheart tripped.
“Ten minutes until the rest of them go off. Let’s get out of here.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her along and half-shoved her through the hole. He picked up the flashlightthen followed.
“Up the stairs and outside. Get away from the building and see if you can find someone with a phone tocall the cops.”
As they got to the basement level, she whirled around. “Why are you telling me to do this? Where are you going to be?”
“I’m not letting this building go without a fight. I’ve got ten minutes and if I can disarm any of these bombs, then I plan to dothat. Now go.”
He ran along the basement flinging aside wood and soon found the first bomb. Ripping the detonator out and tossing it aside, he raced on. Heather blocked his way.
“Why the hell aren’tyou gone yet?”
“This is my building too. No way I’m letting you risk your life for it if I’m not willing to.”
“I don’t want you to risk your life, princess. I want you to be safe.”
“Too bad. You pull out the detonator. That’s all?”
God, this woman was insufferable and so damn stubborn. Wasn’t that what he loved about her though?
“Holy shit. Fine.”
They ran around the basement finding only three bombs then sprinted up to the first floor.
“I’ll head up to three and four while you do one and two. But don’t take too long. We only have a fewminutes left.”
Nodding, she sprinted off and he dashed up the stairs. He found three bombs on that floor, but the time was almost gone. His concern for Heather was far more than his concern for the building, so he rushed past the second floor, briefly checking if she was still there. Nothing. Not on the first either, and his glance out the window didn’t show her out there. Damn, had she gone upto the fourth?
He sped back up the stairs, the two bombs on this floor sitting out in the open. There was nothing to hide them behind up here. Pulling out the first, he started for the second when flashing lights in the detonator caughthis attention.
Shit. Out of time. He turned to run but the explosion threw him across the room and then everything went black.
