“Not if I put a bullet in your head.”
Amir chuckled. “I don’t think you want to do that.” His cocky remark made the hair on the back of Roarke’s neck stand straight up.
Amir held out his palm.
Roarke squinted, but he couldn’t make out the slim object. “What the fuck do you?—”
A flame appeared. He held a lighter. In the glow, Amir’s uneven yellow teeth gleamed with excitement.
“Put it out,” Roarke demanded.
If it weren’t for the smirk on the guy’s face, Roarke would’ve killed him right then.
“You shoot me, and a bomb goes off.”
Wraith’s curses floated on the wind. Viper mumbled something about Amir bluffing.
“We’re gonna play a game,” Amir said.
“I don’t play games,” Roarke replied, his patience snapping and his head roaring with uncertainty.
“First,” Amir said, “can you smell the gas?”
An icy finger slid down Roarke’s spine. “Where are they?” The question sounded ridiculous even to his own ears.
Amir laughed. “Hang on.” He reached behind him and opened the door without turning his back. “Second,” he sang, “see if you can find them before they burn.”
He threw the lighter into the house.
A wall of flames leapt up from the kitchen floor and shot toward Amir, who laughed and dodged out of the way.
Laine . . . Emmy.
Christ.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Laine stayed glued to the window. The stench of gasoline made her head spin. Bile stuck to the back of her tongue, and every gulp of air from the window came with more fumes.
Roarke.
She’d heard his voice. And gunfire before that. Unless she was hallucinating, which was very possible. Her legs had gone tingly and her stomach was thick with nausea.
She strained her ears, wishing she could silence her raging pulse. She’d called Roarke’s name, so either Cameron and Amir hadn’t heard or they were ready to light the house on fire—with her in it.
She slumped against the wall and closed her eyes. Exhaustion made her grip on the windowsill loose.
Shouts floated through the air. Real? Imaginary? Somehow it didn’t matter.
Just get my baby to safety. Please, someone.
A crackling noise poked her awareness. She snapped open her eyes and lifted her head. An acrid scent hit her nostrils.
She froze.
Adrenaline filled her.
