Adverse Possession (The Anna Albertini Files #3) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,101
and hefted him up. “We have to run. Now. Come on, Orrin.”
Another explosion ripped through the building from the park side. People screamed, and the smell of smoke and burned metal filled the air. The actual smoke was dark and impaired visibility. I dragged Orrin to the door and he regained his balance, finally helping me.
Pete pushed us through and then slammed the door. “Down the stairs. Hurry.”
I tripped, but Orrin and I helped each other past the judge’s chambers to the back stairwell leading up.
Another explosion behind us propelled us out the door and into the August storm.
I skidded across the rough concrete sidewalk, scraping both of my knees. My hands flopped down, and rocks cut across my palms. I gasped and tried to turn, but my shirt jacket became caught on the grill of a truck. Rain slashed across my face.
Orrin hauled me up, and I pulled free of my jacket, leaving it hanging from the grill. “Keep going. Get away from the building,” he urged. We made our way through vehicles toward Justice Road while sirens erupted all around us and emergency vehicles roared in.
“Over here,” Kelsey called, leaning against a yellow truck and partially bending over. Soot covered her head, and blood dripped from her temple as the rain matted her hair against her head.
“You go.” Orrin reached the curb where the judge sat, flanked by the bailiff. “I need to sit.” He wiped rain off his face.
I turned and limped toward Kelsey, my knees aching and my ears buzzing. Rain soaked my blouse. Emergency personnel swarmed the building. I reached Kelsey. “Are you okay?”
She coughed and lifted up. “Yeah. I think so. Are you?”
I did a quick inventory. Nothing was broken, but my knees really hurt. “Yeah. I’m okay.” I pivoted to see Teddy shutting the door of a gray truck parked on Justice Road and hurrying our way. Blood covered the right side of his face. “Eesh. Teddy, how bad is it?”
He blinked blood from his eye and drew a couple of T-shirts out of a bag. “Here are clean clothes to wipe away the blood.” His concerned gaze moved to Kelsey. “You’re bleeding, honey.” He tossed me a shirt. “For your knees.”
I caught it and leaned over to press the cotton against the scrapes, patting until I could see better. Small rocks and gravel were embedded in my skin. I winced. It was going to hurt to get those out. I kept patting as Teddy pressed a shirt to Kelsey’s face and ignored his own wound. “Teddy? You’re going to want to put some pressure on that.”
Teddy took Kelsey’s hand and put it on the T-shirt on her face, and grabbed another shirt out of the bag to put against his cut. “These are workout clothes, but they’re clean.” Blood slid over his lip when he spoke.
The day hazed and I shook my head to keep in the moment.
There was so much movement around us. I tried to stay out of the way. Another firetruck lurched to a stop closer to the building. Blue and red lights were everywhere, and ambulances rushed closer to the scene.
A man caught my eye. Kurt Stockwood. I partially turned. His gun was out, and he was moving toward us from the far side of the parking lot.
It all became clear. My lungs jolted and I scrambled to find a cop. Anybody close to us. Kurt kept moving.
I turned. “Run,” I whispered, fighting the wind. “We have to go. We have to get away from Kurt.”
Teddy moved his bloody rag from his face. “Who’s Kurt?”
I rushed toward Teddy and grabbed Kelsey’s arm. “It makes sense. He knew about Sasha, he knew about Aiden, and he knows about me. He was by the office before it was bombed. We have to run. Now!” My tone must’ve convinced him because he grabbed Kelsey’s hand.
“This way,” Teddy yelled, running toward the gray truck.
“Anna!” Kurt bellowed.
I ran faster and jumped in the back seat while Kelsey and Teddy leaped into the front.
I leaned over. “Just drive over to the front of the police station and we’ll run inside. Hurry, Teddy.” I turned to see Kurt with his gun pointed at the truck, running full bore through the myriad of vehicles to get to us. I needed my phone to call Aiden. He hadn’t thought to look inside his organization for the danger. “My phone is inside the courthouse.”
“Mine, too,” Kelsey said, her eyes wild and her hair covered in debris.