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All at once, the roof collapsed.
She let out a yell, this time forcing the sound through her battered windpipe. “Chris!”
She was grabbed from behind and screamed, fearing the bomber had come back.
Lips pressed to her ear, and she could barely make out the most precious words she would ever hear. “Diana! I’m fine. I’m here.”
She stopped struggling and turned to face him. His beautiful face was right there. “Oh thank god. I—I thought you were inside.”
“I thought the same of you.”
She burst into tears as he held her tight. But the embrace didn’t last long.
“We need to get out of here. Now.”
She nodded and glanced toward the structure that was now rubble and flames.
Nothing was salvageable. But everything inside was replaceable.
Without warning, Chris scooped her up and ran down the long driveway to his vehicle.
He yanked open the passenger door and placed her on the seat. The vehicle was still running. A second later, Chris was in the driver’s seat, and they backed up at speed down the driveway, just as the black pickup truck had done.
They had just backed onto the main road when Diana heard the sirens. Help was coming.
Hopefully, they’d be long gone before anyone remembered the make and model of the vehicle they’d spotted fleeing the destroyed vacation rental.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chris thought his heart was going to stop when he circled around the building just in time for the roof to collapse. He’d been certain Diana was inside. That she wasn’t was a damn miracle that they would discuss when they both could hear again without shouting through singed throats.
They were on the interstate heading north when Chris finally spotted a sign for a rest area and pulled off.
There were only a few cars in the lot on the winter weekday, and he parked at the far end, closest to the exit, should they need to leave in a hurry.
“How’s your hearing?” he asked.
“Getting better. Still ringing, though.”
“I need to call Freya. FMV didn’t know where we were staying, but the explosion is probably all over the news at this point. If anyone clocked us as a Black man and white woman staying there, Freya will worry.”
“They’ll probably take hope from the fact that your car isn’t there. But yeah, we need to call.”
“Tell me what happened first?”
She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the burner phone. “You can see for yourself. I got it all on video. I think.”
His heart leapt. “Holy shit. Really?”
She nodded. “I started filming when I realized the guy wasn’t a US Marshal.”
He thumbed open the photo app and found the last recording. “Why were you in the woods?”
“Luck. I was going stir-crazy, so I went for a walk, and they showed up.”
“They?”
“I only saw the one guy, but someone else drove the truck.”
