Explosive Attraction - By Lena Diaz Page 0,52
the fort before it blew, so I ran into one of the cells. Two-foot-thick stone walls deflected most of the blast.”
Darby sat down before her shaking legs could buckle beneath her. “Most of the blast?”
“The walls are old, not reinforced. The ones closest to the bomb buckled beneath the force of the explosion. I had to dig Jake and me out from beneath a pile of rubble, but it could have been a whole lot worse. Jake’s main injury was the knife wound, and blood loss.”
“What about you?” she asked. “Were you hurt?”
“Cuts and scrapes. Nothing serious.” His brows drew down. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re shaking.”
Darby’s face flushed with heat again. Why was she always blushing around him? “I’m a little freaked out by all of this, but I’m fine. I don’t understand how this happened. Who is doing all this? Was the bombing today a copycat crime or something?”
“It’s too early to know yet.” Rafe sat in the chair across from her. “But I’m inclined to believe the guy who tried to kill Mindy was hired by the bomber to kidnap and kill her. That’s why there wasn’t a bomb. She wasn’t a primary target. She was just a way to get to you, to hurt you. The real bomber is still out there, and he’s not finished yet. He has a vendetta against a specific list of people. We know you’re on the list. And now we know Jake is on the list.”
“So are you.” Buresh opened his top drawer, took out a photograph and pitched it on his desk. “This is a copy. The original is in evidence. This came from another courier right after you left the station to search for Jake. No timer this time, just the photograph with one word on the back.”
“Let me guess,” Rafe said, eyeing the picture of himself. “Boom.”
Darby curled her fingers around the arms of her chair.
“This sicko is playing a game with all of us,” Buresh said. “We need to figure out who else is on his list. But first things first. Both of you are in danger, and you’re dangerous to everyone around you. Get out of here. Hide out together until this all blows over.”
“What’s the plan?” Rafe asked. “I need to be involved in this investigation. You can’t bench your best detective with this guy spiraling out of control. Everyone’s in danger now, not just me or Darby.”
“Take a laptop with you. Dial in remotely and snoop through the case files. You can give us a list of people you want interviewed and we’ll do the legwork here. That’s the best I can offer. Stop in administration on your way out. Have them set you up with a fake ID, some credit cards, cash, a new burn phone. Leave your old phone here, your badge.”
“Aren’t you going a bit overboard? I already have a burn phone. And no one’s going to search me, looking for my badge.”
Buresh glanced at Darby. “Dr. Steele, can you give us a minute, please? Just stand right outside the office where we can see you.”
She blinked in surprise, but did what he asked.
Chapter Thirteen
Rafe flicked a glance at Darby, sitting outside Buresh’s office. She was only twenty feet away, clearly visible through the glass. She was safe, for now. He knew that, and yet he had to curl his fingers around his chair to remind himself not to jump up, grab her and run. Even though one of the female officers had loaned Darby a clean shirt, he couldn’t quit picturing her in her blood-soaked blouse and remembering his own terror thinking the blood was hers.
He dragged his gaze from Darby and looked at Buresh. “All right, tell me. What has you acting so strange? What’s going on?”
Buresh absently rubbed his stomach where he’d been stabbed. “This case doesn’t pass the smell test. There’s something rotten going on.”
Rafe stilled. If Buresh had said that before today, before Jake had almost been killed, he’d have expected it, because he’d been suspicious of Jake. But now, Buresh’s statement hit him like a fist in his gut, sucking the air from his lungs. His mind started racing, thinking through the possibilities. He looked through the glass wall at the squad room beyond. It had always been home, a safe haven, and suddenly it took on an aura of evil and danger as his mind painted everyone he saw with the broad brush of suspicion. “You think the bomber has inside help.”
“I’m