Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,45

up at her companion and they took off into the steady throng of people walking up and down the street.

This was crazy. Darby leaned back against the nearest wall and passed a shaky hand over her face. If she didn’t get this irrational fear out of her system, she’d be useless at work tomorrow.

A familiar, small wooden sign hanging over the door across the street caught her eye. The Bunnery. She’d been there many times, but even if she hadn’t, she would have known it was a bakery the second someone stepped out the door and she smelled the delicious aroma of fresh baked cinnamon rolls.

Sitting down in a quaint little bakery eating homemade cinnamon rolls might be just the thing she needed to calm down and regain her perspective. She glanced both ways on the pedestrian-only street, and told herself she was doing so just to make sure she didn’t run into anyone.

She certainly wasn’t checking to see if anyone was following her.

* * *

JAKE DUCKED INTO the narrow passageway between two buildings when Darby Steele looked his way. That was twice she’d looked right at him, which meant his skills at following people sure needed work. He wasn’t ready to let her know he was here, not yet. Their little confrontation was going to be on his terms, on his timetable, not a moment before. He waited a few seconds, then eased around the corner of the building.

When the door of the bakery closed behind Darby, Jake debated his next move. He couldn’t exactly march inside in front of all those people. Darby didn’t strike him as the docile type. She’d make a scene. He needed to catch her when she was alone.

He moved back into the shadows to wait.

* * *

“BREAK IT DOWN.” Rafe stepped back from the front door of the house to give the SWAT team room to maneuver. He didn’t know what they’d find when they got inside, but he had the bomb squad van out front with a full team geared up just in case.

“You sure about this, Detective?” the SWAT team leader asked. “Buresh wouldn’t—”

“Buresh isn’t here. I am. Break it down. Now.”

The leader shrugged and gave the signal. One swing of the battering ram against the doorknob and the frame gave way. The door sagged open and the team ran inside.

Less than a minute later they came back out. Alone. One of them spoke in low tones to their commander before the team headed back to the truck.

The commander crossed his arms. “Everything looks normal inside, except for the busted door. You ordered this because of a note? That’s a lot of wasted resources. And you dragged a lot of guys away from their families on a Sunday for nothing.”

“I don’t care one bit that it’s a weekend, Commander. Keep your men on standby. This isn’t over.” He raced back to his car. He hit Redial on his phone and floored the accelerator. Just like the last time he’d tried, and the dozen calls before that, the phone rang and rang.

But no one answered.

He hung up and called the station. As soon as dispatch came on the line, he gave them the cell number he’d been calling. “Get me a GPS location on that phone. Then get every officer we have out to that location, including the bomb squad. Especially the bomb squad.”

* * *

THE CINNAMON ROLL Darby had eaten sat like a rock in her stomach. It wasn’t The Bunnery’s fault. The food was delicious. Anxiety was what was twisting her insides into knots. She stood at The Bunnery’s front window, several minutes after finishing her sugary snack, and still couldn’t work up the nerve to step outside.

She studied the crowd of people walking by. Searching for...what? A man who’d died several days ago? A man who could never hurt her again, and who shouldn’t have this much power over her emotions?

“Darby, is that you?”

Darby turned at the sound of a familiar voice. The petite blonde woman standing in front of her was the owner of The Bunnery, along with her husband. Darby had known them for years, but she so rarely took time off from work anymore that it had been months since she’d seen either of them.

“Hey, Pam.” She hugged the other woman, then cast another glance out the window.

Pam followed the direction of her gaze. “Is someone bothering you?”

Darby fisted her hands beside her. She didn’t want to seem weak, scared. But she knew that at this