Page 82 of Blood Money

“Detectives, get the hell outta here!” Two firemen appeared through the smoke just as the floor beneath them gave a creaky moan and began to shake.

Gray and Dom followed two firemen down the short hallway. Alex coughed the entire time, and he worried there’d be permanent damage to her lungs. Hopefully the root cellar had protected her from the worst of it.

Just as Gray’s feet hit pavement, the barn’s failing timbers began creaking. One of the firemen beside him shouted something, but the roar of the fire obliterated his words. Gray didn’t have to hear him to know what he was saying.

Run.

His heart raced as he tore across the pavement, hugging Alex’s limp body to his. Dom and the two firemen were on either side.

Loud crackling, followed by a roar as loud as a freight train, came from behind them. A second later, a blast of heat slammed their backs. Smoke, cinders, and dust billowed past Gray’s feet but he kept running.

Without looking behind him, he knew the barn had just collapsed. Up ahead, the smoke cleared, giving way to a slew of emergency vehicles parked at a safe distance.

Dom’s hand on his back guided Gray to the nearest bus. EMTs waited at the open doors, oxygen masks in their hands. Gasping for air, he let them take Alex from his arms and lay her on a stretcher. They immediately placed a mask over her face, and he watched thankfully as her chest rose and fell. As much as he wanted to be in the ambulance with her, holding her hand, anything to let her know he was there, he understood the EMTs needed space to do their work and he would only get in their way.

“Get that tape off her.” A fresh surge of rage filled him at the thought of Alex bound and helpless in that burning building.

While one EMT began cutting off the tape with a scalpel, another handed Gray a mask that he held over his nose and mouth. The fresh, smoke-free oxygen felt good as he breathed it in. His eyes still burned like they were on fire, watering enough that tears streaked down the sides of his face.

“You all right?” Dom rested a hand on Gray’s shoulder. “I found the woman’s body. Nice grouping, by the way.” He formed his fingers into a tight, three-inch circle.

Gray removed the mask from his face. “There was another body inside, a man. Shot in the forehead.”

“Apparently,” Dom said, “good help is hard to find, and this one didn’t meet the grade.”

Gray took another hit of oxygen. “If you hadn’t shown up, I don’t think I could have found my way out.”

“You always did suck at directions.” Dom chuckled.

“I mean it.” Gray gripped his partner’s upper arm. “You saved my ass.”

“That was a close one.” Dom nodded. Clearing his throat, he looked at the burning, collapsed building. “Unfortunately, any evidence is nothing but ashes.”

Gray didn’t care. As long as Alex was alive.

“Detective?” an EMT called out from the open ambulance doors. “You need to see this.”

Gray hauled himself into the bus and sat on a bench next to Alex. An IV tube ran into her arm and an oxygen mask covered her face. He reached for her hand, smiling when she clasped his fingers.

When the EMT handed him a thumb drive, he narrowed his eyes. “Where did you get this?”

“It was in her hands.” The EMT nodded to Alex. “When I cut off the duct tape it was stuck to the inside of the tape.”

“I’ll give it to Forensics and tell them it’s a rush job.” Dom reached for the thumb drive.

“Thanks, buddy,” Gray said.

“My pleasure.” Dom grinned, holding up the tiny storage device. “I can’t wait to see what secrets are on this little gem.”

On the opposite bench, another EMT continued monitoring Alex’s vital signs. Her eyes were closed, but her chest rose and fell steadily, and condensation clouded the inside of her oxygen mask.

Gray squeezed his eyes shut and thanked the powers above for the miracle he’d been blessed with.

“How’s she doing?” He nudged a lock of blond hair from her eyes with the tips of his fingers.

“Can’t say for sure, but you got her out of there alive. That’s the main thing. She’ll need X-rays and a few other tests to determine if there’s any lung damage.”

“What about that head injury?” A white bandage covered most of the bump on her upper forehead.