Star Witness - By Mallory Kane Page 0,30

Harte watched the flames spread, another bottle sailed through the window and bounced and rolled. The first one was a Molotov cocktail. This one was a smoke bomb.

Yeoman’s men. It had to be. Had they followed him from the courthouse through all the traffic? He should have been watching, should have been aware that he could be followed. His Jeep wasn’t exactly the standard for the courthouse parking lot. They must have been waiting outside for the right moment.

He lunged toward Dani, grabbing the candle out of her hand and blowing it out. “They’re trying to burn us out,” he said. “I’m calling 911.” He snatched his phone from his pocket, but he still had no service. He thumbed the three numbers anyway, but the phone just made a pinging noise and went back to the default screen. He dove toward the landline phone.

“How’d they find us?” Dani croaked.

“Get into your room. We’ll go through the windows. My car’s parked on that side.” He grabbed the phone to dial 911, but the line was dead. The smoke from the bomb was filling the air as he ran toward the bedroom behind Dani. He’d break the tall windows and make a run for his car.

He hoped whoever was out there didn’t have the house surrounded. The only thing that might save them was the darkness and the cover of the driving rain. Right now, though, lightning streaked the sky directly over their heads.

Just as he made it through the bedroom door, the biggest flash lit up the sky. It outlined two dark figures in the yard, moving toward the house. Dani was standing in front of her dresser, picking up something. He grabbed her by the hand. “There’s someone out there. We’ve got to head for the kitchen.”

She pulled away. “I need my purse!” she cried.

“It’ll just get in your way!” he countered, but she grabbed it. As soon as she grasped the handle, he jerked her back out into the living room.

“Come on!” he croaked, coughing with every breath. The Molotov cocktail had burned itself out, but clouds of smoke still rose from the smoke bomb. Beside him, Dani was coughing and choking too.

He knew their only chance now was through the kitchen. He’d inspected the bed-and-breakfast thoroughly before he’d booked it. The manager had gladly turned the keys over to him and left to visit his grandkids in Baton Rouge. On the key ring was the master key to the house and another, smaller key. It went to a storeroom off the kitchen that opened onto an alley.

The manager had passed right by the door, but Harte had insisted on checking it out. The storeroom was small and dark, filled with cleaning supplies and boxes. It had an identical door on the other side of the room that led outside. On the outside, the door was finished just like the rest of the house. At a glance, it was impossible to tell it was a door.

All of that slid through his mind in the three long seconds it took for them to cross the living room. By the time they reached the small door, both of them were coughing constantly.

“Where are we going?” Dani asked, hanging back as he unlocked it.

“This goes to the alley. It’s our only chance.”

“What happened?” she cried. “How did they find us?”

“I don’t know. I’ll go first. Make sure they’re not out there waiting for us.” He unlocked the door to the outside and slipped through. With any luck, the men hadn’t noticed the delivery door. They’d be guarding the front and back, poised to grab Dani when she was forced out by the smoke and flames. With a little luck, he just might get her out alive.

Harte pressed himself flat against the clapboard wall of the B & B. The rain was punishing, but the narrow overhang of the roof kept the worst off him. It didn’t help with his vision, though. The veil of falling water obscured everything beyond a couple of feet. And if that weren’t bad enough, it turned to steam as soon as it hit the hot asphalt. Everything was enveloped in swirling gray. Harte couldn’t see anything or anyone. And he could barely hear through the rain’s dull roar.

Dani touched his arm. “Harte?”

He held out his hand. “It’s okay. Come on,” he said as loudly as he could to be heard over the rain, “but be quiet.”

She took his hand and stepped through the doorway, ducking her head