Explosive Attraction (12 page)

She hurried down the sidewalk, taking advantage of traffic slowing down for a horse and buggy loaded with tourists, so she could cross the busy street.

When she reached the wooden drawbridge over the moat, a wave of people jostled past her, their footsteps making loud, hollow sounds. They made their
way inside the fort and Darby followed behind them. But when the others stopped to look at the glass cases of models and read the historical summaries mounted on the walls, Darby passed through to the open grass courtyard that formed the middle of the fort.

Pausing at the edge of the grass-and-gravel courtyard, she looked left and right, deciding which way to go first. To the right was the
stone staircase that hugged the wall, ready to take her to the battlements where she could look out at the river. She decided to save that awesome view as her treat when she finished her tour. For now, she’d head to the left and explore the labyrinth of stone-walled cells where prisoners had been kept, and the rooms where the soldiers had been housed.

The first cell she entered was so low
she had to duck her head. A feeling of unease swept through her because it was dark and close, but she forced herself not to give in to her fear. The interior was cool, a welcome contrast to the muggy heat outside. And there weren’t any tourists here, which was a big plus in her book.

“Finally, we’re alone.”

Darby whirled around. If she hadn’t recognized the voice, she wouldn’t have
known who the man was, blocking the entrance, because she couldn’t see his face. The sun was behind him.

Just like it had been at the figurine shop.

“You’ve been following me.” She tried to keep her fear from her voice. But this was the same man who’d hunted her and Rafe in the hospital. Her instincts told her to run. But that was crazy, right? Jake was a cop. There was no reason not
to trust him.

So why was she shaking?

“Yes, I followed you. We need to talk.” He took a step toward her.

She glanced at the doorway off to the left. Did it lead outside, or to another cell?

Jake took another step toward her, then another, his face no longer in the shadows.

Darby moved a step closer to the door, keeping to Jake’s right.

His eyes narrowed. “Are you
afraid of me?”

“Should I be?” She took another step. “You did say you’d followed me. That doesn’t strike me as the behavior of someone I
shouldn’t
be afraid of.”

A buzzing noise sounded.

Jake swore and dug his cell phone out of his pocket. The light on the phone’s screen shined in the dark cell. His mouth tightened with displeasure when he saw whoever was calling. “He never gives
up.”

Darby slid another foot closer to the door.

Jake didn’t seem to notice. He pressed a button on the phone, answering the call. “I’m busy. What do you want?”

Two more steps, maybe three, and she’d be out the door. Her entire body trembled as she eased one more step to the side.

Jake wasn’t even looking at her anymore. He seemed absorbed in whatever the person on the phone
was telling him. “How do you know it wasn’t mailed earlier and just now made its way to you?”

Another step.

Then another.

She took off, out the door.

“Darby, wait!” Jake’s voice called out behind her.

She ran through the next cell, around the corner.

“Darby, come back!”

Daylight ahead. She ran for the blue patch of light and burst into the courtyard. She was
gasping for breath when she half turned to gauge how close Jake was.

Her stomach clenched and she clutched her throat in horror. “Jake, no. Oh, my God. Jake!”

Chapter Twelve

“You’ve got to give me a better reading than that.” Rafe clutched his cell phone against his ear. He stood on the sidewalk watching the crowds of tourists while he waited for a better GPS reading from dispatch. The Bridge of Lions was visible just down the street. Sailboats lazily navigated the water on the other side of the Spanish fort in the historic district.
All these tourists, enjoying the summer day, none of them realizing a serial bomber was in their midst.

“That’s the best I can do,” the voice came through on the phone. “There’s some kind of interference. The signal just disappeared.”

“How could you lose the signal?” He waved at one of the uniformed officers who was helping with the search and held the phone away from his mouth. “Check
the marina. Maybe someone over there saw something.” The officer took off running. Rafe held the phone back to his mouth. “What could cause that kind of interference?”

“Lots of things. Buildings are the worst, something with concrete or brick walls.”

Rafe eyed the coquina and stone walls of Castillo de San Marcos, a hundred yards in front of him. The walls were several feet thick. He
started walking toward the fort. “What about stone?”

“Oh, yeah, that would do it.”

He started running. “If you get the signal back, call me.” He hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket.

A shrill scream filled the air. Rafe froze, trying to pinpoint where it had come from. Two officers who were close by stopped as well, turning, like him.

The front entrance to the fort
suddenly filled with people. They poured out onto the lawn as if a mass evacuation had been ordered. The scream stopped, as though someone had been cut off in midscream. The hairs on Rafe’s arms stood on end. He motioned to the two uniformed officers and pointed toward the fort as he took off running again.

When he reached the drawbridge, he grabbed the arm of a man rushing past him. “Why
is everyone running out?”

The man’s eyes were wide with fear. “Someone got stabbed in there.”

“Who?” When the man didn’t answer, Rafe shook him. “Who got stabbed? Is the perpetrator still inside?”

“I don’t know. Let me go.” He yanked his arm out of Rafe’s grasp and took off.

Rafe stood to the side, helpless to stop the flood of people exiting the fort. He waved one of the cops
over. “Crowd control. Stop as many of these people as you can and collect them on the green over there. Someone’s been stabbed, and one of these people could be the perp.” He yanked his gun out of his holster and held it down at his side. “Get the other uniforms over here and secure the area. I’m going in.”

He shoved past the last of the people running out of the fort. His stomach sank and
he slid to a halt. Darby was running toward him through the courtyard, her shirt soaked in blood.

No, no, no.
Please.
He didn’t know what he was praying for. All he knew was he wanted her to be okay.

He shoved his gun in his holster and ran toward her. She met him halfway, her eyes wide and searching.

“You’ve got to help him, Rafe. Come on.” She grabbed his hand and tugged, but
he didn’t budge.

He grabbed her by the shoulders. “Where are you hurt?”

She twisted out of his arms. “It’s not my blood. It’s not...” She shuddered and swallowed. “Come
on.
” She grabbed his hand and this time he didn’t resist. He let her pull him behind her.

They rounded the stone wall and he drew up short, yanking Darby to a halt.
No, not this.
He swore and pulled her back to the
entryway. “Where’s the perp?”

“Perp? I don’t under—”

“The person who did this. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I never saw him.”

“There are some police officers outside. Tell them to get an ambulance, and to get the bomb squad out here.”

She nodded and ran through the entryway.

Rafe turned back around and rushed to the opening of the nearest cell. Jake was lying half
in the cell and half on the courtyard grass. Rafe crouched beside him. There was so much blood he wasn’t even sure where Jake was injured, or if he was even alive.

Jake’s eyes fluttered open. “Darby, is she—”

“She’s fine. Where are you cut?”

“Abdomen. I heard someone behind me and started to turn around when he knifed me in the gut. All I got was a glimpse of a ball cap pulled low
over his face. I couldn’t even tell you how tall he was because I was doubled over.” He grimaced, and Rafe wasn’t sure if it was because Jake was in pain or because he was disgusted that he couldn’t identify his attacker.

“I told you on the phone the bomber sent me your picture. Why weren’t you on alert? How did you let this happen?”

“It’s not like I just stood there and let him do this,”
Jake snarled.

Rafe took off his shirt and bunched it into a wad. It was hard to tell where to press, and he had to be careful so he wouldn’t move the vest strapped over Jake’s shoulders. He pressed the cloth against the largest spot of blood he saw. From the way Jake sucked in his breath, Rafe figured he had the right place.

“I thought I’d killed the bomber,” Jake said. “Three days ago.
I didn’t think there was any danger anymore. What the hell is going on?”

Rafe shook his head. “I don’t know. But right now, we’ve got a bigger problem.”

Jake’s mouth curved in a rueful grin. “Yeah, you got that right.”

Rafe held the cloth pressed tightly against Jake’s stomach, trying to stanch the flow of blood so he could focus on his next task.

Disabling the bomb strapped
to Jake’s chest.

* * *

T
HE
SOUND
OF
SOMEONE
running had Rafe turning. His mouth fell open in stunned disbelief.

Darby skidded to a halt beside him.

“Get out of here!” Rafe leaped to his feet and grabbed her by the shoulders. He turned her around. “Go on, run!”

She shook her head violently back and forth, her hair flying around her face. “No, I’m not leaving.” She shoved
his hands off her shoulders and dropped to the grass beside Jake. “This is my fault. I’m so sorry.”

Rafe knelt down beside her. “Darby—”

Her mouth set in a hard, determined line. “I did exactly what you told me to do. I told those cops outside what had happened. And you know what they did?”

Jake laughed, then started coughing. Bright red blood sprayed out of his mouth, onto the
vest.

“Be still, you fool.” Rafe pressed his shirt back against the wound.

“They told you,” Jake said, his voice barely above a whisper. “They told you to stay back, wait for the bomb squad. After the all clear, then they’ll send in the medics, right?”

“Exactly! They’re all morons!” Darby reached across Rafe and swatted his hand away from the shirt. “You can’t disable a bomb and
stop the bleeding at the same time. And since all your sissy cop friends are too scared to help, here I am.”

Rafe clenched his teeth together. If he wasn’t so frustrated and worried about Darby’s safety, he’d be laughing right now. “My fellow sissy-cop bomb techs will be here in a few minutes, just as soon as the truck arrives with equipment.”

“Fine. When they get here, I’ll leave.”
Her eyes were overbright with unshed tears. “I’m not abandoning him. This is my fault. I thought Jake was trying to hurt me. I ran. That’s the only reason someone was able to surprise him. I’m not abandoning him.” Her voice broke on the last word. She bit down on her bottom lip and turned the shirt, pressing the dry side against the wound. “Go on, do whatever you bomb guys do. Save your friend.”

“It’s not your fault, you know,” Jake said, his voice low and weak. “I should have just gone up to you when I saw you on St. George Street instead of following you. I scared you.”

“Why
did
you follow me?”

Rafe gave up trying to get her to leave. He took out his pocketknife. It wasn’t much, but it was the only tool he had. He palmed it in one hand while he gently felt along the straps
of the vest, searching for how it was secured, feeling for trip wires. If he could get the vest off Jake without blowing all three of them up, he could worry about disabling the bomb later.

“I wanted to warn you,” Jake said. “About Rafe.”

Rafe hesitated. He already knew what Jake would say. This was the part where he normally left whatever room he and Jake were in at the time. Unfortunately,
that wasn’t an option. Not today.

“What do you mean, warn me?”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

Darby’s startled gaze shot to Rafe.

“The same way he looked at my sister. He sees something he wants, and he takes it. No matter the cost.” Jake coughed, frothy bright red blood bubbling from his lips.

Rafe did his best to hold him still. “Shut up. This isn’t the time or
place—”

“It’s exactly the time and place.” He grabbed Darby’s arm. “He cheated on her. He broke her heart, and then he was a coward, and he let her die. Stay away from him if you don’t want to get hurt.”

Rafe risked a quick glance up to see the effect of Jake’s tired accusations. But whatever Darby was thinking, it didn’t show on her face.

She twisted the cloth against the wound.
“We need help. He’s losing too much blood.”

“No one but the bomb squad comes in until the bomb is disabled...or until it explodes,” Jake said. “No one wants to be a pink cloud.” He grabbed Darby’s arm again. “You should go. There’s no reason for you to die, too.”

“What about Rafe?” she asked. “Aren’t you worried about him, too?”

The anger in her voice surprised Rafe.

Jake’s
lack of a reply didn’t.

He twisted his knife against the cheap lock holding the vest on one side. A loud click sounded. Darby jerked against him.

“It’s okay,” Rafe reassured her. “That was the lock giving way, but I can’t get the other one. It’s wired to explode. Help me work his left arm through here and we might be able to pull it over his head.” Hopefully without triggering the bomb.

Darby let go of the cloth. Fresh blood welled up. “What about his cut?”

“We don’t have a choice. We have to get the vest off now.”

He held the bomb in place while she worked the half-open vest over Jake’s arm. Jake’s face turned a sickly gray and he surrendered to unconsciousness.

As soon as the vest was over Jake’s head, Rafe gently lifted it and set it on the ground. He jumped
to his feet and tugged Darby up. “Go on, run, get out of here.”

“Not unless you come with me.”

“I’m right behind you. Go!”

She took off for the exit.

Rafe knelt down and grabbed Jake’s arm to lift him onto his shoulders in a dead-man hold. Jake was nearly as tall as him, and just as heavy. Rafe grunted with exertion as he hoisted Jake’s body over his shoulder.

He risked
a quick glance at the digital timer on the underside of the vest, the timer he’d been careful to conceal from Darby. When he saw the numbers counting down, a sick feeling shot through him.

He stumbled to his feet, but even as he lunged forward, he already knew.

He wasn’t going to make it.

* * *

D
ARBY
RACED
ACROSS
the drawbridge toward the large group of police officers standing
on the grass outside the fort. When she skidded to a stop in front of them, one of the officers grabbed her arm, steadying her.

“Whoa, there. You’re Dr. Steele, right?” he asked, as two more officers surrounded her.

“Yes.” She twisted her arm out of his grasp and turned around to watch Rafe and Jake. The drawbridge was clear. Rafe wasn’t running across it. Had he already come out and
had taken Jake to one of the waiting ambulances parked on the grass?

“You okay, Dr. Steele? Are you hurt?” One of the officers was staring at her shirt.

She glanced down and sucked in a surprised breath at the amount of blood. “It’s not my blood. Where’s Rafe? I mean, Detective Morgan. He was right behind me.”

He exchanged a glance with the other officers. “You’re the only one who
came out. Detective Morgan is still inside, defusing the bomb.” He gestured to some men dressed in heavy-looking, thick dark suits. “The bomb techs are going in now. Why don’t you sit—”

An explosion sounded from inside the fort. Everyone dove to the ground. One of the officers dragged Darby down with him, covering her with his body. Everything went silent. No one moved.

Then suddenly
everyone was shouting and moving at the same time.

The officer jumped to his feet and helped Darby up.

“Dr. Steele, are you okay?”

She couldn’t answer. She was too horrified to speak. Black, angry smoke rose over the top of the stone walls of the fort. And Rafe was nowhere to be seen.

She slumped to the grass, hugging her middle, numbly staring at the fort. She shook off the
officer’s hands when he tried to help her up again. He mumbled something to one of the other men and they stepped a few feet away, giving her space.

The smoke quickly cleared, and a group of policemen and bomb techs moved as one across the drawbridge. Their faces were drawn and sober, telling Darby what she already knew. They’d just lost one of their own—no,
two.
Rafe and Jake had both been
killed.

Hot tears splashed down onto her hands, and it was then that she realized she was crying. She covered her face and gave in to the deep, racking sobs welling up inside her. She should have been weeping for both men, but she knew that was a lie. She was crying for Rafe because she’d just now realized she cared about him. He was the bravest man she’d ever met, risking his life every
day to protect people he barely knew.

To protect her.

Damn him for working his way into her heart, for making her care.

Somewhere behind her a radio crackled to life. Someone calling for a gurney. The police must have reached the bodies.

The squeak of wheels rolling across the grass had her opening her eyes. Two EMTs ran across the lawn, then across the drawbridge, rolling
a gurney between them. One of them had a red box sitting on top of the gurney and he held on to it as he and the other EMT raced into the fort.