Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,49
“I should have just gone up to you when I saw you on St. George Street instead of following you. I scared you.”
“Why did you follow me?”
Rafe gave up trying to get her to leave. He took out his pocketknife. It wasn’t much, but it was the only tool he had. He palmed it in one hand while he gently felt along the straps of the vest, searching for how it was secured, feeling for trip wires. If he could get the vest off Jake without blowing all three of them up, he could worry about disabling the bomb later.
“I wanted to warn you,” Jake said. “About Rafe.”
Rafe hesitated. He already knew what Jake would say. This was the part where he normally left whatever room he and Jake were in at the time. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Not today.
“What do you mean, warn me?”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
Darby’s startled gaze shot to Rafe.
“The same way he looked at my sister. He sees something he wants, and he takes it. No matter the cost.” Jake coughed, frothy bright red blood bubbling from his lips.
Rafe did his best to hold him still. “Shut up. This isn’t the time or place—”
“It’s exactly the time and place.” He grabbed Darby’s arm. “He cheated on her. He broke her heart, and then he was a coward, and he let her die. Stay away from him if you don’t want to get hurt.”
Rafe risked a quick glance up to see the effect of Jake’s tired accusations. But whatever Darby was thinking, it didn’t show on her face.
She twisted the cloth against the wound. “We need help. He’s losing too much blood.”
“No one but the bomb squad comes in until the bomb is disabled...or until it explodes,” Jake said. “No one wants to be a pink cloud.” He grabbed Darby’s arm again. “You should go. There’s no reason for you to die, too.”
“What about Rafe?” she asked. “Aren’t you worried about him, too?”
The anger in her voice surprised Rafe.
Jake’s lack of a reply didn’t.
He twisted his knife against the cheap lock holding the vest on one side. A loud click sounded. Darby jerked against him.
“It’s okay,” Rafe reassured her. “That was the lock giving way, but I can’t get the other one. It’s wired to explode. Help me work his left arm through here and we might be able to pull it over his head.” Hopefully without triggering the bomb.
Darby let go of the cloth. Fresh blood welled up. “What about his cut?”
“We don’t have a choice. We have to get the vest off now.”
He held the bomb in place while she worked the half-open vest over Jake’s arm. Jake’s face turned a sickly gray and he surrendered to unconsciousness.
As soon as the vest was over Jake’s head, Rafe gently lifted it and set it on the ground. He jumped to his feet and tugged Darby up. “Go on, run, get out of here.”
“Not unless you come with me.”
“I’m right behind you. Go!”
She took off for the exit.
Rafe knelt down and grabbed Jake’s arm to lift him onto his shoulders in a dead-man hold. Jake was nearly as tall as him, and just as heavy. Rafe grunted with exertion as he hoisted Jake’s body over his shoulder.
He risked a quick glance at the digital timer on the underside of the vest, the timer he’d been careful to conceal from Darby. When he saw the numbers counting down, a sick feeling shot through him.
He stumbled to his feet, but even as he lunged forward, he already knew.
He wasn’t going to make it.
* * *
DARBY RACED ACROSS the drawbridge toward the large group of police officers standing on the grass outside the fort. When she skidded to a stop in front of them, one of the officers grabbed her arm, steadying her.
“Whoa, there. You’re Dr. Steele, right?” he asked, as two more officers surrounded her.
“Yes.” She twisted her arm out of his grasp and turned around to watch Rafe and Jake. The drawbridge was clear. Rafe wasn’t running across it. Had he already come out and had taken Jake to one of the waiting ambulances parked on the grass?
“You okay, Dr. Steele? Are you hurt?” One of the officers was staring at her shirt.
She glanced down and sucked in a surprised breath at the amount of blood. “It’s not my blood. Where’s Rafe? I mean, Detective Morgan. He was right behind me.”
He exchanged a glance with the other officers. “You’re the only one who