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He and Tai would be long gone before the sheriff arrived. No way he’d hang around with Jane on her way to the closest hospital. They could consult with law enforcement later.
Once the group reached them, Bridger helped load Jane and the pastor into the back of the ambulance. Except for the part where she was unconscious, she looked all right. A few cuts on her face and hands from the gravel, but other than that, she’d do.
Heart thudding, he lifted another prayer. Of all the ways this could have gone south.…
The pastor groaned. He looked okay. Unlike Jane, he was awake, and mostly coherent and his color was good. “I don’t know what happened,” he kept repeating. “I just locked the door. Then everything exploded.”
Bridger stood outside the ambulance while the techs secured the gurneys, making sure he was in the pastor’s line of sight. “Did you have any other visitors this morning?”
“Just Jane,” he said, his voice hoarse and weak.
“How about last night?”
The pastor shook his head. Blood trickled down the side of one cheek. “Not that I know of.”
Huh. The guy was more perceptive than Bridger had given him credit for.
Tai jogged around from the back side of the burning building. He reached Bridger just as the attendants hopped out of the back of the ambulance.
“We’ll take them on to Buttermilk Valley,” the kid told them. “They’ve got the closest trauma center.” He started to swing the door closed.
Bridger held up a hand, stopping him. He leaned in and planted a kiss on Jane’s dirt-streaked forehead. She looked so fragile. So innocent. The urge to smash something with his fist warred with the need to hold her.
“I’m right behind you,” he whispered.
Her eyelids fluttered. “What happened?”
He smiled down at her. “Long story. I’ll tell you later.”
Fear and tension widened her eyes. “There was a blast.”
“A big one. But you’re okay. The pastor, too. You’re on your way to the hospital to get checked out.”
She clutched at his hand. “Don’t leave.”
“There’s no room for me in here,” he said. “I’m following right behind. See you at the hospital. That’s a promise. Okay?”
“Okay.”
She looked up at him with such trust, his heart slammed against his ribs. The medic shuffled his feet, waiting to close the doors. Bridger backed out of the way.
Tai watched him as the attendants buttoned things up. “You okay?”
“Not even close.” He swiped the sweat running down his face. “What’d you find?”
“Not much, yet.” Tai wiped his own face with the hem of his tech shirt. “My guess is IED. Good sized one, judging from the mess here.”
The flames had reached the church itself now. Accidental explosions weren’t unheard of, for sure, but with the exception of large city gas mains or tanker trucks, they weren’t this big. Propane tanks and domestic gas lines didn’t put out this kind of explosive force.
Tai squinted at the remains of the front door. “I saw pieces of a plastic timer. No way this was accidental.”
“Copy that.”
A whole slew of sirens were audible now, wailing in the distance.
He slapped his buddy on the arm. “Time to make tracks.”
“We’re not waiting?”
