Moments later, Owen heard the front door slam.Good riddance!Before he could collect his thoughts, Ryder skidded into the kitchen through the opposite doorway. “Hi, Dad! Me and Coop wanna go play with the chickens, but Aunt Jen said we had to ask you.” He smelled of soap, and his hair was damp from his bath.
Unfortunately, now wasn’t the best time for Owen to chaperone a playdate. “I don’t think going outside is such a good idea right now, champ. Even superheroes need their rest.” He was surprised Jen was passing the buck instead of laying down the law with her nephews.
Ryder looked disgusted. “Only babies take naps!” He straightened his shoulders and did his best to sound older. “We have chores to do, Dad. Eggs to gather.”
Rex ambled up, looking as restless as Owen felt. “If you’d like, I can help Jen keep an eye on the boys.”
Owen gave him a grateful look, knowing he was armed to the teeth. “If you’re sure you don’t mind.”
“Nope. Not at all.” Rex leaned closer to Owen and muttered, “We both know what’s going on in this kitchen is a big nothing burger.”
Reading the situation as a win, Ryder gave a hoot of victory and bounded out of the room to share the good news with his brother.
“Just to be safe,” Rock drawled as he limped over to them, “I’ll tag along.” Before he left the room, he leanedcloser to Owen and rasped for his ears alone, “Take a bathroom break or something. We need to talk.”
“Roger that.” Owen bent to pick up the chair he’d knocked over, and froze when a blinking red light caught his eye. A black rectangular box was mounted to the underside of the table. Digital numbers flashed through a countdown sequence.Thirty. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight.
“There’s a bomb!” He lunged for the door. “Everyone out of the house,” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Now!” He sprinted into the hallway, shouting like a maniac to get his sister, the twins, and everyone else outside.
“Go! Go! Go!” He stayed at the back of the group, spurring them on. Knowing they only had seconds to spare, he yanked open the gates to the chicken pens as he passed them, hoping some of them would escape. He didn’t see the Carters.
“Jensen and Kenny, if you can hear me, take cover! There’s a bomb about to go off!” He wasn’t sure how far the blast radius would extend.
He kept hollering warnings and running until the world erupted behind him. Then he dove for the ground. Jen and Rex, who were several strides ahead of him, used their bodies as shields to blanket the twins.
Smoke enveloped them, blinding Owen to his surroundings. Dirt and debris pelted the back of his head, shoulders, and legs. He could hear nothing but the ringing in his own ears.
His hearing returned in slow degrees. It might’ve taken seconds. It might’ve been minutes. He had no way of knowing as he pushed to his hands and knees and crawled toward the whimpering sounds his sons were making.
“Ryder? Cooper? Are you okay?” He was afraid of what he was going to find.
“Over here,” Rex called hoarsely. “We just finished a fingers and toes check. They’re all accounted for.” It sounded like a weak attempt at humor, probably for the boy’s sake.
“It tickled.” Ryder was laughing and crying at the same time. “My ears hurt.”
“Mine, too,” Cooper blubbered.
Owen’s heart constricted at the sound of their weeping, knowing his sons had seen and heard things today that children should never have to see or hear. As he made his way to them, he bumped into something warm and solid. It was the unconscious figure of his boss.
“Man down,” he announced hoarsely to no one in particular, checking to ensure Rock was still breathing. He was.
Rock sluggishly slapped his hand away. “We’re all down, Tolliver. I’m fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me.”
Relieved, Owen helped him sit up. Seconds later, his sons found him and dog-piled on him. He gathered them close. “How’s your aunt? Did you use your superpowers to protect her?”
Ryder buried his face in his dad’s neck. “She used her superpowers to protectus!”
“I’ve had better days.” Jen crawled into view, picking grass and twigs out of her hair.
Rex stumbled through the smoke to join their growing huddle. He cast a few worried glances at Jen that weren’t lost on Owen. The guy genuinely cared about his sister.
The sheriff and his deputies held arapid-fire conference. Then they dispersed to form a perimeter around the group.
“I think it’s safe to say,” the sheriff announced in a hushed voice, “we’re all supposed to be deader than dead. It might not hurt to stay that way for a while.”
The sound of a motor made everyone jolt in horror, but it was only Jensen’s old two-toned Chevy pickup rumbling up to them. He was behind the wheel, and his son was in the passenger seat. At the sight of them, he jammed on his brakes and leaned out the window. “Get in!”
He and Kenny sandwiched Jen between them in the cab, while the twins rode on her and Kenny’s laps. Everyone else climbed into the back. It was a tight squeeze for six grown men, but they made it work. Since they were supposed to be dead, they pulled a large black tarp over themselves and held it in place by hand.
