Relentless Pursuit (24 page)

“Ma’am, I need you to open your eyes.” Tammy opened her eyes and looked into Webber’s face—at least, the part that wasn’t covered by a huge collar and helmet. “Good. Now, I am not going to let you die. Do you understand that?”

Tammy looked at him again and saw that he truly believed it and it gave her hope. “Yes. I do.”

“Excellent. We’re going to hold onto the chair on its back and on the armrests. I need you to lean back and grasp the edges here as hard as you can.” Webber waited for her to follow his instructions before he nodded to Jamison to grab the chair. “Now you’re just going for a little ride.”

Tammy held her breath as they started rolling slowly across the carpeted floor. The further across the room they got, the worse she became. She was afraid her grip would loosen or they’d hit a bump.

“So while we’re just hanging out. I have a question for you, ma’am.”

Tammy looked into Jamison’s dark face and saw a hint of humor in his brown eyes.

“Yes?” Tammy asked, unsure really how to handle a question at a time like this.

“Who is that woman out there with the huge knockers fawning over all the officers?”

Tammy broke out laughing. She didn’t need any further description because one woman truly fit that description. “That’s Kandi.” She laughed again when she saw the huge smiles on their faces. “Figures you all would notice her.” Tammy rolled her eyes at the typical guy behavior.

“It’s pretty hard not to when she purposely runs the barricade just to have an officer escort her out… four times. Maybe you can settle our bet then. See, I bet Webber here that she’s a stripper at Big Bunny’s in Lexington.”

“And,” Webber jumped in, “I bet she’s a three-time divorcée looking for husband number four.”

“So, which one of us won?” Jamison asked with the nicest smile that had Tammy giggling as she was moved down the hall toward the back door.

“Neither. She’s a married soccer mom.”

“Poor bastard,” Jamison said as Webber nodded in agreement.

“But if I had to pick someone to date, it wouldn’t be her. What kind of men did you take us for?” Jamison joked.

“Um, typical?” Tammy teased.

“Ouch. See, I’d have chosen you if you weren’t already taken,” Webber winked and they rolled her through the open door.

“Nah, I’d have taken Granny with the Smith and Wesson. Any woman who carries a gun like that is a keeper,” Jamison laughed.

Tammy took a deep breath and realized they had reached their destination. The guys had successfully kept her distracted as they transported her. Just having that over with was enough to bolster her confidence.

She looked around the tiny parking lot and saw that all the cars had been moved. A couple of boards had been put up to cover the nearest windows. In the middle of the lot stood the large metal dumpster and what looked like a clear dressing screen.

“You ready to do this?” Webber asked as he positioned her against the dumpster.

Tammy took a breath and nodded. “I am. I have a date to go on tonight.”

Jamison chuckled as he let go and climbed the stairs that had been placed beside the dumpster as Webber wedged the bottom of the chair in place and then draped a bomb blanket around the three sides, leaving the leg area uncovered.

“This is to help contain the explosion. Jamison there has a bomb blanket against the inner wall of the dumpster as well. So we’ll be safe. Now it’s you we need to work on.” Webber attached a collar and helmet to her as he explained it wasn't nearly as thick as the ones they were wearing, but it would be enough to help her. He attached a bulletproof vest as well before checking on Jamison.

“Okay, we’re good to go. Now, Jamison is going to be behind and above you. He’s going to lower that sandbag there. It’s very heavy. When you feel it being wedged behind you, you need to start scooting forward in your chair. Don’t get off. Just scoot forward until you’re on the edge of the seat. Got it?” Webber asked.

“Got it. What then?”

“Then I’m going to count to three and pull while you jump. Don’t go for distance, just jump right into my arms, okay. Pretend I’m that boyfriend of yours. You leap into my arms, I'll catch you, and then I’m going to dive behind the blast wall. I'll land on top of you. Since you’re so tiny, I’ll be able to completely cover you, keeping you safe. Don’t panic, because I'll probably knock the air out of you. Just know it’ll come back. At the same time, Jamison is going to drop our last bomb blanket over the chair in hopes of further containment and dive into the dumpster.”

“Oh, is that all? A perfectly orchestrated pound-for-pound exchange and then just jump to safety?” Tammy felt the panic start roaring to the surface.

“Yes. That’s it. A simple exchange of weight. The device will need to recalibrate the weight to determine if it should explode. That will give us the second we need to get behind the wall.”

“A second? That’s all?” Tammy tried to take a deep breath and calm herself.

“A second was all I needed to fall in love with you,” Webber winked.

Tammy rolled her eyes before she could even stop herself and all the nervousness bubbled out as laughter. “Do you know my boss?”

“If you’re done flirting, we’re ready to go,” Jamison called from where he stood above Tammy with a large sandbag.

“Ready?” Webber asked her as he looked her right into the eyes.

“Let’s do this!” Tammy said as her anxiety peaked.

Webber took a step back so that he was slightly behind the blast wall, widened his stance, and opened his arms. Jamison slowly lowered the sandbag onto the seat behind her. Tammy held her breath and slowly inched forward as the bag pressed further and further down on her back.

Soon the bag was sitting fully on the seat and she was sitting on the edge. The whole time she hadn’t taken her eyes off of Jamison. He held up one finger. It was Go Time. Two. Deep Breath. Three. Tammy closed her eyes and thought of Pierce as she launched herself forward.

Pierce stood in the police truck watching the steady progress down the hall. Henry stood next to him in his customary shiny suit and continually moved from one foot to another as they listened to the discussion between Jamison and Webber. He strained to hear Tammy’s voice, but it was too muffled through the bomb suits.

Ahmed snuck into the truck and stood quietly as they all continued to watch. The bomb squad commander was giving directions every now and then, but Pierce didn’t hear them. He just kept his eyes glued to where Tammy sat. He felt Henry laugh next to him when Webber laid his one-liner on Tammy and saw the way Tammy relaxed a little. He'd never been so thankful for someone to hit on his girlfriend.

Pierce lost his breath, though, when he heard Webber start the countdown. He dared himself not to blink as Tammy launched herself into the air. Webber reached out and snatched her right out of the air. He tucked her tight against him and dove for the blast wall. Pierce saw them hit the ground hard, but then the cameras went dark. The truck rocked and car alarms went off all down the street.

Not waiting for the smoke to clear, Pierce shoved his way out of the truck and knocked an officer to the ground who tried to prevent him from entering the office. The abandoned office seemed so surreal as he ran down the back hall and shoved the door open. The heat pushed him back for a second as the smoke instantly clung to him. A tree was ablaze and pieces of debris lay scattered.

“Where are they?” Ahmed called as he ran to Pierce with Henry right behind.

Pierce looked around and as the smoke cleared, he saw Webber in his bomb suit on the ground to the right. “There!”

The men pushed forward through the smoke as the sirens from the fire trucks and first responders entered the barricaded area. Pierce dropped to the ground beside Webber and tried to push him off to get to Tammy. Webber fought to untangle himself, but Henry and Ahmed each grabbed an arm and pulled him up. Tammy lay motionless on the ground with her eyes squeezed shut.

“Tammy!” Pierce yelled, but she didn’t respond.

“She probably can’t hear you because of the explosion and the adrenaline,” Ahmed said as both he and Henry quickly forgot about Webber and knelt beside her.

Pierce grabbed her then and pulled her to him. Her eyes shot open and Pierce was overcome with joy. She was alive! He watched as a huge grin covered her face. Ahmed and Henry leaned forward and hugged her as he just savored having her in his arms.

“Henry! You’ve ruined your favorite suit?” Tammy laughed as she clung to Pierce.

“It’s okay. I was thinking of getting some new ones anyway. There was this great pinstripe I saw when I was out with Neely Grace the other night.”

Tammy laughed again. Neely Grace had managed in one week to get rid of the shiny suits. She was her hero! Tammy looked to see two firemen rushing to help Jamison out of the dumpster. He saw her and gave her a thumps-up. Ahmed stood up and helped Webber get out of his suit as Jamison made his way over.

“Damn, girl! You did great!" Turning to shake Pierce's hand, Jamison said, "You are one lucky man, if I may say so.”

“You did perfect. I’m going to talk to the bomb squad. I’ll see you in a minute, okay?” Webber asked as Tammy nodded with the thanks she didn’t know how to express in her eyes.

Ahmed and Henry went with him to let everyone know she was all right and he finally got to have her all to himself for just a moment. Pierce pulled her into his lap and kissed her with everything he had.

“You were so brave,” Pierce said in between kisses.

“I was, wasn’t I?” Tammy laughed. “I’m sorry, I'm just so happy to be alive. Oh, Pierce, all I wanted was to get back to you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.” He lowered his head and kissed her again while the parking lot filled with people.

Tammy sat on the edge of the ambulance as Dr. Francis and the EMTs examined her. Noodle had called Emma when he found out about the situation and she’d left work to make sure Tammy was well cared for.

“You’ve had a tough couple of weeks. You’re remarkably lucky. You have some cuts and I'm sure you’ll have some bruising, but that’s it. Sergeant Webber protected you well,” Emma said as she put her equipment back into her black medicine bag.

“They both did.”

“And it looks like Pierce is here to take even better care of you.” Emma gave him a kiss on the cheek before squeezing Tammy’s hand and heading over to the impatient Rose sisters.

Pierce sat down next to her and wrapped her in his arms. Tammy leaned against his chest and watched the chaos around her with absolute peace. The firefighters putting out the fires, the bomb squad and Ahmed going through the debris, and the town pushing against the barricade that had been moved closer out of fear of riot.

“Can I get you anything?” Pierce asked as he rested his chin on top of her head.

“I have everything I need right here.” Tammy snuggled closer to Pierce and took a deep relaxing breath as she soaked up the warmth of his body. “How were things at the farm?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been there since Friday. I’ll try to get there tomorrow.”

Tammy pulled away and looked at him with the confusion she felt written all over her face. “Then where were you this morning when we were calling you?”

“I was out.”

For the first time, Tammy felt anger surging forward. Out? Look at him! He was looking all around at the crowd and not at her. There she was sitting on a freaking bomb and all he can say is he was out!

“Out?” She said as calmly as she could.

“Yes.” Pierce stood up and nervously looked around before turning to her.  “Good, it seems they’re otherwise occupied. I got something for you.” Pierce reached into his pocket and Tammy’s eyes went wide at the bulge in his pants.

“As much as I love you, I don’t know if now is the time for this,” Tammy said with a blush.

“I think it’s the perfect time. In fact, I can’t wait a minute longer to make you mine.” Tammy felt her face flame and she was about to smack him when he pulled a box out of his pocket and got down on one knee. “Tammy Elizabeth Fields, I love you and I want to spend every day for the rest of my life showing you just how much. You’ve brightened my life with your love and support. I would be proud to call you my wife and to share the rest of our days and nights together. Tammy, will you marry me?”

Tammy felt her body shaking with tears of happiness as he opened the box to show the perfect diamond with two pink sapphires on each side. He pulled it out of the box and held it out for her. All she had to do was say yes, but she couldn’t find her voice so she just nodded and leapt into his arms.

The firefighters and bomb squad stopped to clap and the town erupted. Miss Violet thwacked a trooper on the hand with her spoon and the three Rose sisters pushed past the barricade with the trooper chasing after them until Jamison waved him off. Tammy laughed with pure joy as Pierce picked her up and spun her around before kissing her to the delight of the crowd.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Tammy joined Mrs. Davies and the women on the couch to chat happily about the wedding and babies. Emma had told her to do nothing but rest for the next week, but there was no way she was going to rest at night when Pierce was in her bed. Ever since the bomb incident the other night, Mrs. Davies, or as Tammy had been instructed, ”Mom,” was playing nurse. Tammy had her feet up and a pillow at her back as they all laughed at the latest gossip.

Annie and Bridget teased her about the pink pepper spray can that dangled from her key chain while Kenna, Dani, and Paige all wanted to know if there were any wedding plans. Morgan joined them and soon the discussion turned to dates, colors, and dresses until the front door banged open and Henry rushed in.

“Bless your heart, what is the matter?” Marcy jumped up as Henry was almost unrecognizable in black slacks and a red polo shirt with hardly any gel in his hair.

He looked around and zeroed in on Pierce. “You did it!” Henry ran past the ladies to where Pierce stood with the guys having a sip of bourbon in celebration of  another Davies brother falling to the
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word.