the front of the room.
Mona stared at the largest screen as the feed from the post office flashed across it. It was hard to breathe as she waited, watching for her first peek at Anthony Sanders.
After what felt like forever a man appeared on screen, carrying the same small box she watched explode in a vacant lot.
“He’s skinny as hell.” Heidi’s lip curled, lifting one side of her nose up as she stared up at the video.
“What time was this?” Pierce sat on Mona’s desk, watching along with them.
“This was yesterday.” Harlow turned to her computer. “Around ten in the morning.”
Bess chewed on the edge of a Saltine. “He could have killed people with that thing.”
“I think that was the plan.” Mona leaned forward, waiting for Anthony to return into the camera’s view. “Right now he’s putting the bomb in the PO Box.”
“Was there a trigger connected to the door?” Heidi spent an hour researching homemade bombs, trying to narrow down what it was and where Anthony might have gotten it.
“There was a wire taped to the inside of the door. The box was wedged behind the door ledge so it pulled loose when Mona opened the door.” Pierce reached back to find her hand with his.
A second later Anthony was back, slowly walking through the post office.
Like he hadn’t just planted a bomb.
But he didn’t simply walk out.
He paused, looking directly at the camera.
And then he smiled.
“Holy shit.” Eva turned to Mona. “That dude’s fucking crazy.”
“I think that might be an understatement.” Mona pressed her lips together as the cold reality of their situation hit her in the gut.
She’d seen the listings. She knew he wanted her dead.
Hell, she’d even played into it, covering herself in fake blood and bullet wounds.
For no reason, apparently.
But seeing his face. Witnessing the lengths Anthony was willing to go to in order to have all he wanted was disturbing.
It made her retroactively afraid. She shouldn’t have gone out with Pierce. The only reason they were alive was because Pierce saw that little wire. It was something she would have missed on her own.
And would have been dead because of it.
“Are you able to find where he went after leaving the post office?” Pierce continued on with the conversation as if seeing the man who might take them all down wasn’t a big deal.
“Can’t we just make Vincent deal with this?” Her heart was racing. “I mean, he tried to blow up a government building.” She pointed to the screen. “We have proof it was him. Can’t we just give that to the government and let them handle it?”
Fear tightened Mona’s throat and her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
To swallow.
Pierce slowly turned her way, his eyes focusing on her. In the blink of an eye he was up off her desk and pulling her from her seat. The walk down the hall was a blur as the potential of what might have happened spun through her mind.
She could be dead.
Pierce could be dead.
That personalityless man at the post office could be dead.
All because she thought making herself bait would be a great idea.
Pierce grabbed her around the waist and dropped her butt onto his desk. He leaned down to come eye-level with her, both his hands resting on the sides of her face.
“Breathe, Love.”
She shook her head.
What in the hell was she thinking? She wasn’t like Heidi and Eva and Harlow.
She couldn’t be tough and confrontational and brave.
She was the girl who puked when someone was mad at her.
The girl who apologized for everything so no one would get upset with her.
The girl who tried to pacify everyone to avoid conflict.
Because conflict sucked.
“You must breathe.” Pierce rested his head against hers. “It’s okay to be afraid, Love. It doesn’t change who you are.”
“It is who I am.” The truth almost hurt.
She’d tried so hard.
Thought she could do it.
His lips barely lifted. “You’re right. It is who you are.” His thumbs stroked over her skin. “But it’s not all you are, remember? We’re all two people. Who we are and who we want to be.”
The soft slide of his touch relaxed her enough to finally get in a deep breath. “The person I want to be is in Hawaii.”
Pierce laughed. “We can go find her as soon as this is all over.” His expression sobered. “But we have to protect the people we love first.”
She’d put Eva in danger by letting Chandler run wild. Let him ship her here where she was literally in