Issam threw open the door of his SUV. He wanted to shout, to warn Inan, but there wasn’t enough time and what could he say over the traffic that would save him? Oh, no—
He ran forward through the stopped traffic.
She jerked her wheel.
Her car turned.
She missed Inan, missed the other children, missed the other people who were grabbing children and backing away, quickly, quickly.
The mosque was not so fortunate.
She hit one of the carved stone columns at the front of the building with the front of her car, a horrible crunch of metal.
He ran faster.
The column wobbled, the ancient stones threatening to fall, and Issam registered Inan’s face, his mouth a round, surprised O.
“Get out of the way! Get back!” He shouted at the boy, waving his arm, and then he was next to the car.
Inside was a field of white, the airbags having deployed, and he wrenched uselessly at the handle. Issam pounded on the driver’s side window with a closed fist, and the woman inside blinked as if the airbag had stunned her.
“Unlock the doors!” He pounded again. “Unlock the doors, right now!”
She turned her head and looked at him, her eyes wide with shock.
“What?” Her mouth formed the English word, but he couldn’t hear it. He switched languages, hoping—
“Unlock the doors!”
She raised a quick hand to the armrest and hit a button there. Click. Issam threw the door open and reached inside for her seatbelt. He released it with one deft motion.
“I didn’t hit anyone, did I? Oh, god,” she said, voice shaky. “Was there anyone inside the building that I hit? I was trying not to—”
Issam lifted her up into his arms. If she had any injuries, this wouldn’t be good, but there was no choice.
The column was coming down.
“We have to go,” he said urgently.
She put her arms around his neck.
Issam ran.
He ran straight toward Inan, hooking his little arm with one hand and dragging him backward. Away, away, away.
“Where are we going?” asked the woman. “What’s going to happen to—”
Behind him, there was the sound of falling rock, a great crash into metal.
Her arms tightened around his neck.
“There goes my car,” she said.
2
Mackenzie’s car was completely crushed.
The front end was crumpled in by hitting the column she’d destroyed, and the roof—