“Oh no! Get it off me!”

He spun around and dashed for the door of the restaurant, cursing himself the whole way. He shouldn’t have left Kay behind, even for a moment. Then behind him he heard a curious ticking. Instant recognition flowed though him and he threw himself to the side behind another parked car.

The air behind him exploded and it sounded like the world was being ripped apart.

Eli had instinctively dropped into a ball, but he tugged his jacket closer over his head as debris, metal, and ash rained down. His hearing cut out for a second as the air grew hot, then came back in a roaring wave. A flaming piece of debris floated down to land right next to his hand.

After a moment, he chanced a look around. The door to the restaurant burst open and people streamed out, cell phones held aloft to capture pictures of the scene. A mother held her children closer, trying to soothe their cries. A distant siren approached. All Eli could think of was getting to Kay. He pushed his way through the crowd, fighting against the tide of people trying to get out of the building.

The same waiter who’d brought the message stood in the middle of the bar area. Waiters scurried back and forth between them, yelling things to the man behind the bar. Eli pointed at him and yelled over the chaos, “You! Who gave you that message?”

The waiter looked frantic for a moment, then turned to run. Eli sprang forward and grabbed him by the collar. “Who gave you the message? Start talking.”

“I don’t know, I swear,” the man babbled. “I didn’t even answer the phone. One of the other servers gave me the message. We were all supposed to ask our tables and since I was working the bar, that’s why I asked you.”

Eli pushed him away and ran toward the back of the restaurant where Kay had been sitting. His eyes scanned every face until he saw her. His heart stopped for a moment, then it beat once, twice. Finally he could breathe again.

“Eli! What just happened?” Kay stood on the seat of her booth, trying to see over the crowd of people. Her date watched him with barely veiled curiosity. Eli nodded hello and then turned back to Kay.

“Some kind of explosion.” He tugged on her hand until she hopped down. He reached into the booth and grabbed her coat and bag. “Our car. We need to leave.”

Kay followed him as he dragged her by the hand toward the back of the restaurant. “Where are we going?”

“Back way. Come on.”

He dodged fallen chairs and frantic people and pushed through the doors leading to the kitchen. It was a den of chaos, people running in every direction. They moved through the narrow lanes until they reached the back door. He shoved his shoulder against the heavy door and they stepped out into the cold air. The door led to an alley with a few dumpsters. He glanced in both directions and then pulled her to the left.

“If my memory is correct, we should hit a major road if we go this way.”

Kay didn’t speak, just trotted to keep up. A few minutes later, they emerged onto Jefferson Avenue.

“I must have touched the door handle.”

“What?”

“The handle. I was given a message that my lights were on. I was walking to the car to check it out. But just as I touched the door handle, I heard you say “Oh no” and so I turned and ran back to the restaurant. That’s when it blew.” The bomb must have been on a pressure sensor. If he’d taken Kay back to the truck, they’d be dead.

Kay stopped walking suddenly. “Someone blew up our truck?” Her voice wavered a bit before she brushed her hand against her cheek. “Someone wanted to blow us up?”

He recognized the beginning stages of shock. He put his arm around her and steered her in the right direction. “We have to keep moving, angel.” He pulled out his phone and sent a message to Nick. His brother responded immediately and his shoulders sagged.

“Our ride is on the way.”

They needed time to get to a safe location, and he needed to start making calls. It wouldn’t take local police long to figure out who the car belonged to, but Agent Harris could shut the investigation down all the way from the nation’s capital. Then he could start the important work of unraveling Kay’s life to figure out what the hell was going on.

One thing he knew for sure was they couldn’t stay in Kay’s usual environment. They didn’t have the advantage here. They needed a place to hide out and regroup. This guy would start to make mistakes when he was forced out of his comfort zone.

It was time to take things to Eli’s turf.

ELI FORCED THEM to keep walking, pulling the hood up on Kay’s coat to shield her face. His phone buzzed in his pocket. “Yeah.”

“I’m right around the corner. Where are you?”

Eli glanced behind them, looking for Nick’s dark sedan. It was early evening and there was a respectable amount of traffic. It was impossible to tell who was near them. The thought made him pull Kaylee a little closer. Anyone could be out here. He’d deliberately left through the back of the restaurant, but he had no idea who they were dealing with. Or how many people they were dealing with. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that they’d been followed.

“We’re walking east on Jefferson Avenue.” He glanced up and rattled off the street number of the store next to them.

“I’m right there. Hang tight.”

They weren’t far from Jackson’s studio. He’d briefly considered walking over to see if Jackson or his assistant was there but in the end decided against it. For whatever reason, this battle had just been kicked into high gear. He didn’t want anyone he cared for caught in the cross fire.