I whipped the car into the parking area of the Lorde’s apartment complex and swung the wheel in a rapid turn. She crashed against the side of the car, and the gun went flying. I hit the brakes, and we skidded into a bike, crumpling the metal and running it over. Then we teetered on top of it, high-centered.
Screaming, I jumped out of the car and started running.
Men hustled out of apartments, including Aiden and Saber. They ran down the stairs and toward us. Tears streamed down my face as I catapulted myself into his arms.
“What is—” he started.
The ground shook. Then the apartment buildings exploded on both sides of us.
Aiden tackled me to the ground, covering me with his body.
The world went dark.
Chapter 32
Iwas on a cloud. Soft and smooth, the fluffiness around me soothed me. The noise roared in. I opened my eyes to find myself in the back of an ambulance looking up at…James Saber? “Aiden?” I asked.
Saber ducked his head to look closer at my eyes. “Welcome back.” He turned and whistled out the open door.
Heavy footsteps sounded along with crackling. A lot of crackling. “Is she okay?” Aiden’s brogue was hoarse.
I struggled to sit up and Saber helped me. Then I lost my voice. It was like a scene from an action movie. Flames consumed both apartment buildings while debris and ashes scattered through the air and covered the ground. Fire licked at three vehicles, and several motorcycles lumped in a mangled mess. Emergency vehicles with swirling lights threw red and blue through the haze. “What happened?”
Aiden drew closer. A gash bled above his left eye, and soot covered his face and hair, but he wore an earpiece and an ATF jacket. “Explosives.” He motioned a crew toward the brightest burning buildings.
I struggled to center myself. The smell of burning rubber assaulted my senses. “How long was I out?”
“Too long,” Aiden said grimly. “You’re going to the hospital.”
“Not yet.” I sat on the stretcher. “I don’t understand.” My head hurt and everything was blank.
Aiden whistled toward a couple of other guys in ATF jackets. “Get out a BOLO on Barensky and the two men we met with the other day. The names they gave were false, but we caught them on camera.”
One of the guys nodded and hustled away from the fires.
“I take it you’re no longer undercover?” I croaked.
“No,” he said, turning to watch the firefighters spray water. “I don’t know if this was an attack against the Lordes by Barensky for some reason, or if he discovered we were ATF, but either way, I’m done. We’re going after him and he will give up his client. Period.”
Saber patted my shoulder. “The fire is dying down in the northern building. I’ll go investigate.”
Aiden shook his head. “Not yet. The roofline is too unstable. I’ll go in with you as soon as we’re solid. Need to see what he used.”
I tried to swallow and ended up coughing instead.
“Get her water,” Aiden said.
A paramedic jogged up and jumped into the back of the ambulance to hand over a bottle. “Went to get it. You’re awake.” She was young, and soot covered her brown hair and part of her face. “How’s the head?”
“Fine.” I accepted the water and drank carefully. My throat felt scalded.
Another ATF agent jogged over. He was tall and blond and looked familiar. “We have four missing Lordes members.” It took me a second, but I placed him. He’d been with Aiden during the last time the world had gone crazy. It was during a gunfight, and it was also the first time I realized Aiden was one of the official good guys.
Aiden looked toward the building. “ATF?”
“We’re all accounted for,” the guy said. “When we heard the car, all of us ran outside.”
Must be good training. Oh yeah. I was driving that car.
