Ride the Fire (24 page)

Oh, God. “Was he home? Tell me he wasn’t!”

“His Tahoe is here, Howard. I’m sorry.”

“I’m coming over there.”

“See you.”

He hung up and faced his wife. “Sean’s house just burned to the ground,” he choked out. “Lance said it blew up. His truck is there.”

“Oh my God!” she gasped. “I want to go with you.”

“Not a chance, angel. I don’t want you anywhere near there. Just lock up behind me and I’ll call you when I know something.” He paused in the act of grabbing his wallet and keys off the kitchen counter. “You can do something for me.”

“Anything, you know that,” she said softly.

“Call the team and let them know.”

She nodded, face pale. “I will.”

He rushed out, moving fast.

And prayed his best friend hadn’t been home.

He should’ve come with her, not stayed to play hero down in a dank tunnel full of explosives. He was sick and injured. If Jesse came back—

No. She couldn’t allow herself to think that way. She’d get help, bring them here. Everything would be fine.

Reaching the diner, she nearly fell over with relief. She burst inside, heedless of the startled glances of a few folks having coffee and dessert. The dinner hour was long past.

Barely able to catch her breath, she grabbed the hostess by the arm. “I need to use your phone. It’s an emergency.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Hey, sure, no problem. There.” She gestured to a phone sitting by the register.

“Thank you.”

Stumbling over, Eve snatched it up and dialed 911. Waited.

“Nine-one-one, please state your emergency.”

“I need the police downtown, at the Sugarland Diner,” she panted. “No, not just the uniformed ones. Detective Shane Ford and, um, Kayne. T-Taylor Kayne. The chief. Hell, send everyone!”

“What is your name, please?”

“Eve Marshall, Sugarland Fire Department.” That would help give her call, which was going to sound like a wild tale, more credence. Get them moving faster. She hoped.

“Can you tell me what’s happening?”

“Jesse Rose has wired the drainage tunnels under downtown with explosives! He’s going to blow up the whole damned town!”

“Jesse Rose, you said? And you’re saying this is a terrorist threat?”

“Yes! I need the FBI, too. There’s an agent here working on this case who’ll know exactly what’s going on. Nick Westfall. Someone has to call him. Now, please!”

“All right. I’ve got units on the way to the diner now. I’ll notify the detectives of your call, and they will notify Agent Westfall if necessary.”

“Believe me, it’s necessary. Send lots of units. Downtown will have to be evacuated. We’ll need the fire department here, too, to block off the streets.”

“All right, Ms. Marshall. Stay on the line with me until our units arrive, okay?”

“Yes, fine. Just hurry.”

Within two minutes, a police car pulled up and parked in front of the diner. As Eve stared, incredulous, one cop got out.

“Okay, the unit has arrived, so you can hang up,” the dispatcher said. “Good-bye.”

“Wait!” The click sounded in her ear and she nearly screamed in frustration. Pushing out the door, she met the cop on the sidewalk.

“Eve Marshall?”

“Yes. I call in a terrorist threat and you’re all I get?” she hissed. “Someone’s ass is toast for this!”

The look he gave her said,
Speak slowly and calmly to the crazy lady.
“Ma’am, you know phoning in a fake bomb threat is a serious offense, don’t you?”

“Jesse Rose has wired the drainage system downtown with explosives,” she insisted. “He’s a known terrorist that the FBI is here to apprehend. Get either Shane Ford or Taylor Kayne on the phone. They’ll know what I’m telling you is true. For God’s sake, don’t you guys get briefed before every shift, especially if there’s a terrorist around?”

The man paused, and his entire demeanor changed. “Jesse Rose. Shit, that’s right! Hang on and I’ll call this in.”

“You do that. And tell them to get here, fast. My fiancée is down in that tunnel trying to disarm the explosives, and if Jesse comes back and catches him—God.”

He nodded. “Be right back.”

Eventually she’d have to tell the whole story of how Jesse had kidnapped them, but there wasn’t time right now. She listened as the officer sat in his car and spoke into his cell phone, but she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. He made more than one call, however, and, when he was done, joined her on the sidewalk again.

“Got hold of the chief and Detective Ford. They’re sending a bunch of units out to evacuate the few businesses that are still open, and the fire department will block off the streets. Thank God it’s late and almost everything is closed.”

“Yes.” A huge blessing.

“Ford said he’d just talked to Kayne, and the man told him a fire captain’s house blew up tonight. Sean Tanner. Said he’s your boyfriend. That have anything to do with this?”

“Wait a second—his house
blew up
?” She stared at the cop, trying to process what he’d just said.

“That’s what Kayne told him. The place is nothing but a pile of burned rubble.”

“Oh my God,” she gasped. Sean’s home, his children’s things. His mementos. All gone.

How much more could the man take?

“Again, is that connected to what you’re telling me about Rose and the drainage system?”

She shook herself. “Yes. Jesse and his men kidnapped us at my boyfriend’s house tonight and tied us up down in the tunnel. When we woke up, Rose showed us the explosives wired inside the tunnel. He left, Sean got us loose, stayed behind to disarm them, and sent me to get help.”

“That explains some stuff. The cops and firefighters on the scene think Tanner was in the house. I’m sure Ford will tell them, though.”

She nodded, past thinking about anything other than Sean. Fear clawed at her lungs and she knew she had to get to him.

That she had to wait was driving her insane.

Enraged and miserable, they stared at the glowing remains of Tanner’s home. Nearby, Detective Kayne stuck close to Captain Holliday of the fire department, in case the firefighters found something in the rubble.

A Ford truck came skidding into the yard, the driver braking hard. The door swung open and one of the biggest men Nick had ever seen jumped out, scanned the area. The man’s jaw clenched, his expression a mixture of dread and fear. He saw Holliday and made a beeline straight for the captain. Nick wandered closer to hear better.

“Was he home? Have you found anything? Heard from him?”

“Not yet. We’ll find him, Six-Pack. I promise you.”

Easy to see how the man earned that nickname. He could likely break any man here in half without breaking a sweat.

“You’d damned well better. I will
not
lose my best friend after all the shit he’s been through.”

“I’m trying, Howard.”

“Try harder.” Howard pressed into the captain’s space.

“You need to back off, buddy. Calm down.” Holliday placed a palm in the center of the big man’s chest, though he couldn’t really hold Howard if push came to shove.

The situation was saved from deteriorating further when Kayne jogged over, closing his cell phone. He waved over Nick and Jack, and included the two spar-ring firemen. “Listen up. Just talked to my colleague Detective Ford. Jesse Rose kidnapped Tanner and Eve Marshall earlier, then blew up the house.”

Howard’s face was stunned. “Kidnapped? What the fuck is going on? Does this have to do with the guy who’s been harassing him?”

“Listen, because I’ve got to make this quick. Eve Marshall is okay. She escaped from where Rose had her and Tanner tied up in the drainage system downtown. She says the tunnels are wired to blow, and that Tanner stayed behind to disarm them. Rose had left the two of them, but said he’d be back. She’s scared Tanner and Rose are going to go at it.”

“Goddamn,” Nick muttered. “If that ain’t the meat on my clusterfuck sandwich.”

Jack groaned. “Does he know anything about explosives?”

“Yeah,” Howard said. “He was a marine. Did all kinds of stuff.”

Kayne turned to Holliday. “They’ve called for all available engine companies to head downtown, block off the streets. The uniforms are evacuating the businesses.”

“I’ve got my hands full with this,” Holliday said, gesturing to the smoldering house. “But when we’re sure it’s out, we’ll be there if you still need us.”

Nick slapped his partner on the arm. “Let’s rock ’n’ roll.”

Time to find a stinking traitor and send him to meet his boss in the underworld.

“Show us the manhole you escaped from.”

“It’ll be faster by car. I had to run from that way, across the park.” She pointed behind them.

“I’ll drive,” the other agent said.

They jumped in, Eve riding in the back with Kayne. She directed them using the closest route she could see, and pointed to an open cover on the sidewalk. “There!”

The agent pulled to a stop beside the curb.

“Right at the bottom of the ladder is where we were tied up,” she said. “The explosives were wired high on the wall of the tunnel, though I hope Sean has managed to dismantle them. I don’t have a clue how much of the tunnel was set to go, but to hear Rose talk, quite a bit of it.”

“Detective Kayne, would you have one of your uniforms take Miss Marshall to the police station? That will be a much safer place for her to wait.”

Kayne nodded at Westfall. “I agree. I’ll have one of those guys drive her,” he said, pointing to a knot of officers standing on the corner looking important.

Eve wanted to shout in frustration.
Sean, where are you?

No way in hell was she leaving him down there, not knowing what was happening. The agents got out and jogged to the hole. One after the other, they disappeared under the street. Eve pretended to be cooperative as Kayne handed her off to the officers and left to follow the two agents.

The cops then proceeded to argue about who would drive her to the station. Seemed no one wanted to miss the action. While they were hashing it out, one of their radios squawked and an announcement ensued that from the best she could tell sounded like some of Rose’s men had been apprehended. This, in turn, caused a great deal of excitement.

And allowed her to walk off unnoticed. Any moment, she expected a shout for her to stop, but none came. Reaching the hole, she hauled herself over the edge and found a toehold. Began to descend. She was more frightened than she’d ever been in her life.

But she wasn’t leaving without her man.

At the bottom, she peered into the gloom. Smaller lights lined the top of the tunnel, probably for maintenance workers who might have to come fix something. But they weren’t nearly as bright as the bright one Rose had had, which was gone. She heard faraway voices, but had no idea whose they were, where they were coming from, or which way the agents and Kayne had gone. She chose the right for no reason, and struck out, shoes squelching in the muck under the water, on the tunnel’s floor. She didn’t want to think about what was down there.

Pushing on, she began to worry. If she chose the wrong direction, got lost down here, she might never find her way out. It was right about there that the arrows began. About a foot long, drawn in mud.

Sean. Setting a trap for Jesse? Had the two of them already met up, had it out? If Sean was hurt or worse—

Suddenly, a sloshing noise sounded from an alcove to her right. She was grabbed by a pair of strong hands, shoved against the wall face-first. A hard, round object pressed into her lower back. Of course, he’d heard her coming from a mile away and he’d hidden, waiting.

“Where’s your lover, sweet cheeks?” His sour breath wafted next to her face.

“I don’t know. I was trying to find him.”

“Liar.” The gun pressed harder.

“I’m telling the truth. Otherwise I wouldn’t have come back down here.”

“Then let’s find him together,” he said, tone mocking. “Ladies first.”

Pulling her from the wall, he shoved her ahead of him. Legs trembling, she started walking. “He’s going to kill you.”

“He thinks he’ll try, but in the end? He won’t be able to do it.” So confident. Smug. “When we were in the service and he shot me, he was riddled with guilt. Cold-blooded murder? Sean isn’t made that way. I know him better than he knows himself.”

She seriously doubted that, but kept it to herself.

Rose would find out soon enough how wrong he was.