Consumed by Truths (Truth or Lies 6)

I scoop her up in my arms and start running as I toss my gun to Beckett.

He turns to fire behind us, but there are no men to fire at. The entire pier is rigged with explosives. The men aren’t here. They are waiting elsewhere, hoping the explosives do the job.

“We need to get into the water,” Beckett shouts.

I nod, agreeing. But there are boats lining each side of the pier. It’s impossible to get off without running off the end.

I run as fast and as hard as I can while carrying Kai and my babies in her belly. My entire future rests in my hands and how fast I can run. I’ve never run so fast in my life, but that doesn’t mean I can outrun fate.

I feel the blast before it hits me, and I know I failed, even though I’m running faster than Beckett or Kai’s father. It’s still not fast enough. We are only ten feet from the end of the pier. So close to safety. But still so far away.

We are falling, the blast knocking us sideways. And I do everything I can as we fly through the air to be the one who hits the ground first instead of Kai or the babies. Somehow the world hasn’t completely turned on us, and I cushion Kai’s fall. My shoulder taking the brunt of the blow as we are knocked to the ground.

“Run!” I yell to Kai. We can’t stop.

She gets up and holds out her hand.

“Run!” I yell, telling her with one word that I’m coming, but she has to go now. She has to save our babies, our future. She has to put herself first.

I see the pain, but in a split second, she starts running.

I see the next explosive. If I can dismantle it, I’ll give Kai more time to get to safety. Kai is five feet from the end of the pier. My leg is splitting, and my shoulder throbs, but I push that all out as I crawl to the side and quickly dismantle the next explosive. Giving Kai three to five more seconds to get to safety.

I scramble up to my feet to run after.

Kai’s father is slightly ahead of me.

Beckett is ahead of him.

And Kai is the furthest down the pier, but her breathing is slow and heavy. If she doesn’t move faster, she won’t make it.

I spot the next bomb about to go off. We are all too close to it. This one is going to impact us. But I’m not close enough to stop it.

Kai’s father is. And he gives me one look—a look begging me to take care of his daughter. And then he dives onto the device.

It explodes, knocking me on my ass. I scramble back to my feet quickly. Kai’s father is gone. But he contained the bomb enough that it didn’t obliterate more of the pier.

I spot Beckett scrambling to his feet, while Kai is still knocked on the ground. But she’s moving. She’s alive. Her father just saved her life, by sacrificing his. She hasn’t realized it yet. She just lost another person who loved her. And by the end of this, she might be the only one of us that survives. But her life is all that matters.

Each bomb was placed less than ten feet apart, which means there is one more. We aren’t safe yet.

I run harder as I yell, “Run!” to Kai. She’s barely on her feet, now seven feet from the end, the explosion knocking her back.

Beckett looks from me to Kai, making a split-second decision similar to Kai’s father. He is the only one who can save Kai.

I can’t.

I’m too far away.

He’s close enough to grab her and get her in the water.

I won’t make it. Not unless a miracle happens and the bomb doesn’t go off.

Take care of her, I mouth.

Beckett grits his teeth, but instead of running toward Kai, he runs toward the bomb. He’s going to try the same move that Kai’s father did. Even though he knows how that ended—with his death.

It’s in that moment, that I know Kai is right, Beckett is one of the good guys. He could have run off the end of the pier and gotten into the water. He could have saved himself.