Copy That

“The back door is rigged with explosives.”

A NEW WAVE of panic crashed over Meredith. Her knees buckled and she would have gone right down except for the sudden touch of Jeremy’s hands under her elbows.

“Whoa.” He ducked his head until his gaze met hers. “You okay?”

“We have to get out of here.” She looked up and down the street, her movements frantic and out of control now, every cell in her body exploding into action. “Clear the neighborhood so no one gets hurt.”

“It’s fine.”

She dug her fingernails into the bare skin of his forearms. “How can you say that?”

“The trigger is hooked to the door. Well, was. I detached it.”

“So it’s safe.”

“I’m not an explosives expert, but it can’t blow unless someone rigs it again.” He let go of her and grabbed keys out of his front jeans pocket. “You’re going to get in my car and drive away from here—”

“But you said—”

“Just as a precaution.” He held up his hands as if surrendering to her. “And I’m going to wait for the team to arrive.”

She could barely hear him over the buzzing in her ears. “What team?”

“Garrett’s people.” Jeremy put the keys in her palm and closed her fingers over them.

Her mind spun and the first stupid thought in her head ran right to her mouth. “I don’t have my wallet or my license.”

The corner of Jeremy’s mouth kicked up in a smile but his eyes stayed steely cold. “Not your biggest problem at the moment.”

“I guess not.” Reality settled over her. “Tell me the truth. Are you staying calm so I don’t panic?”

His mouth opened and closed before answering. “Yes.”

“But this is bad, right?”

“Very.”

For some reason, the honesty eased the spinning ball of terror inside her. “Okay. This doesn’t have anything to do with the package, right?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Someone dropped off a package for Garrett. It was wrapped in brown paper and this big.” She made a square with her hands. “It stuck with me because it was so odd. Maybe that’s what the guy was looking for.”

“I think he wanted Garrett.”

She had no idea what to say to that. “Oh.”

“I’ll do a quick check.” Jeremy put his hand on the small of her back and edged her in the direction of the car. “It’s the blue Mustang. You go.”

She looked over her shoulder, about to make a comment on his car choice being the same as Garrett’s except in color, when she saw a flash in the front-door window.

Jeremy took one look at her expression and his face went blank. He spun around and raced up the porch steps. He yanked the door open then slammed it shut just as fast.

Before she could blink, he shot back down the steps, his feet barely touching as he reached for her. His hands landed on her shoulders as he half pushed, half shoved her toward the street.

Her sneakers skidded across the sidewalk at the end of the small front yard before a surge of hot air swept underneath her body, sending it airborne. Her muscles went weightless as a clap of thunder exploded behind her.

As she flew, the air stopped as if sucked up into a vacuum, then rolled back out in a rush. Burning heat licked at her from every direction. Her skin itched, feeling all prickly and singed, but all she could see was the ground rushing up to meet her face.

She would have crashed headfirst into the street but Jeremy twisted, his arms coming around her, as his back knocked against the hard cement and she slammed into his chest. Their bodies bounced and her vision blurred, then focused long enough for her to see him grimace.

With his face right next to hers, she heard his sharp inhale over what sounded like a thundering drumroll. She struggled to sit up, but he dragged her back down, pulling her under him and covering every inch of her body with his. He probably outweighed her by a good seventy pounds, and the added heat from his skin nearly suffocated her.

She peeked through the small space between his arm and the ground and saw shoes and the tires of a car stopped in the middle of the street. When she swallowed, her ears popped and the muffled echoes gave way to screaming reality. She could hear sirens and talking and someone calling her name.

Jeremy lifted his body off hers and tugged on her shoulder until she flipped to her back. The burning smell hit her, like the scent of fireplaces during the few cold days of the year, but that couldn’t be right. It was summer.

“Meredith, open your eyes.”

The command came to her in a raspy voice and she obeyed without thinking. A man loomed over her, his face dark with soot and eyes filled with concern. It took her a second to put the pieces together. “Jeremy?”

He nodded. “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure.” She struggled to sit up.

He turned to talk to a group of people gathered around them. “Everybody step back.”

She could hear questions and bits of conversation all around her. And the crackling—it was as if someone was breaking bunches of twigs right next to her ear.

This time she grabbed on to Jeremy’s muscled arms and used him to help her crawl off the ground. He sat back on his heels, taking her with him to a sitting position.

Her heart sputtered to a stop as she sat on the sidewalk and watched the flames devour her house. The lower floor was nothing more than a mass of bright red and orange. Sparks rose into the air as the fire tore through the trees, walls, furniture—all gone.

Glass covered the grass. Upstairs, the only thing she recognized was the tattered remains of her once pretty off-white eyelet curtain blowing through the opening of what remained of her bedroom window.

“It’s just stuff,” he whispered, but his voice rose above the sirens, squealing tires and the older woman who stood in the street and wailed in horror about “the devil’s heat”…whatever that meant.

Through it all Meredith felt the heat of Jeremy’s stare and finally faced him. “I’m fine.”

“You sure?” He glanced down to where she had his shirt in a stranglehold.

“Sorry.” She forced her fingers to unclench.

“No problem.”

“Everything is gone.” She didn’t know she’d said the words out loud until Jeremy grunted. She looked at him again, watching him scan the crowd. Tension radiated off him as every muscle pulled taut. “Are you okay?”

“We need to get out of here.” He glanced at a point over her shoulder and gave a small nod.