But Rachel got in the car.
She got in the car.
Dylan ran around the vehicle and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Rachel was in the car.
No. She had to get out.
Jack rushed forward. Horns blared as he ran right across the busy street.
* * *
“SO MUCH FOR listening to your senior officer,” Dylan snapped. Rachel was already buckled up, and the woman’s delicate jaw had locked. No matter what he said, Rachel wasn’t backing down.
“Drive, Dylan. Now.”
Car horns honked, blaring loudly. There was a police cruiser a few feet away. The uniforms were talking with a few college-aged guys.
And...
Someone was rushing across the street.
That was why the cars were honking.
Dylan turned the ignition, frowning.
“Rachel!” It was a man’s scream. The man running across the street. “Get. Out!”
The car’s engine sputtered. The vehicle was in top condition—always perfectly maintained because it belonged to the EOD. It shouldn’t have sputtered.
I know what that sputter means.
And he knew who the man was—the man shouting because he was so afraid.
“Get out!” Dylan yelled as fear froze his own blood. Not fear for him, but for Rachel. Her fingers were fumbling with the seat belt. He jerked the belt free. She opened her door. He shoved her toward the sidewalk. “Run!”
Then Dylan pushed open his door. He lunged out—
The car exploded.
Dylan felt a wave of fire rush over his skin, and then he was flying, hurtling through the air as the force of the blast picked him up and tossed him ten feet.
He landed in the middle of the street. The pavement tore off the skin on his lower arms. He rolled, tumbling, and car lights blinded him as the vehicles screeched to a stop near him.
The thunder of the explosion slowly faded. Dylan shoved up to his feet. He had only one thought then—only one person mattered.
“Rachel!”
He spun back toward the car.
And saw nothing but a wall of flames.
* * *
RACHEL LAY ON the ground like a broken doll.
Her hair was spread beneath her. Her arms limp.