Chapter 21

"Jep?" He felt a sharp jolt at his cheek. "Agent Booth?"

He fought against the darkness, but it was slow to recede. The apartment exploding came back, and he wondered if he'd dreamed the rest.

"Jep? You okay? Wake up." Another slap. He blinked his eyes open and saw the sky above and a shadowy figure perched above him. "There you are. Welcome back to the land of the living. I thought maybe your pulse was lying. You look like a corpse."

"Pearce?"

"Hey, buddy. You just lie there. The paramedics are on their way."

Jep's eyes shifted to look around and make sense of his surroundings, but it sent a shock of pain through his skull, and he closed his eyes. "What happened?"

"It's hard to say. You're a mess. Among other things, I'd say you got a nasty bump on the head."

Jep pushed up onto his elbows, and the pounding in his head sent bile into his throat.

"Hey," Pearce said. "Slow down. There's nowhere you need to be. I'd hate to think what's on the ground in this alley, but that's the least of your worries. Try not to think about it and lie still."

"No." Jep touched the side of his head. There was no blood, but there was a sizable lump. "I'll be okay."

He sat up farther, pausing to let the giddiness pass before getting the rest of the way up. "I'm gonna feel this in the morning."

"Aren't you feeling it now?" Pearce said, holding his arm at his elbow to steady him.

"You know how it is when you're on the job. No time to feel anything." Jep looked up the alley. "His friend must have been watching and followed me."

"Who?"

"You would have noticed the explosion?"

"It's hard to miss. Was that you?"

"Not directly, but I almost got caught up in it. I was outside the door."

"Whoa. No wonder you look like you do. You must be a cat. How many lives do you have left?"

"I think my ledger might be in the red."

"Were you on your own? Should we be looking out for anyone else? When you made the call, it sounded like you said agents, not agent."

Jep almost gave Emery away but caught himself. "Just me. I was checking on a lead. How long was I out?"

"Not long, but I don't know how long you were knocked out before that. We arrived just after the firetrucks. What was the lead you were checking out?"

"Emery called me and told me she had found her sister's address. She wanted me to check it out."

"That's Jade's place that's up in smoke? So you didn't get a chance to look inside?"

"We—I did. But they must have been watching because I was ambushed. Had to escape out the window and left a journal behind that looked like it would be helpful. I doubled back to get it and got a face full of bomb instead. I'm hoping there's something left to be salvaged."

"Won't have any luck there. It's blown to smithereens. What the bomb didn't destroy the fire did. Nothing left. You're lucky you're alive."

"Yeah." Jep squeezed the back of his neck. "That journal would have been our best lead yet. It looked like it had details in it that could have been invaluable."

"You had a look at it? Can you remember of the details?"

"No. It was hard to make out the writing. We would have needed someone to look at it. The few things I could make out weren't enough to get us anywhere."

Pearce sighed. "We can't seem to get a break in this investigation."

"They had bomb-making materials in there as well, so there's a chance another attack is coming."

"You let me worry about. You've had a big day already. Let's get you looked at. We'll still be here when you get back."

"I don't need to see anyone. There's too much to do. I've got some stuff I need to look into."

"What? Jep, come on, you're injured. What's more important than looking after yourself?"

"I'll stop in to see the doctor later."

"Where are you going?"

"It's a personal matter."

"Right now?" It was clear Pearce wasn't convinced.

"Yeah."

"If I give you some advice, will you take it?"

"I'll listen," Jep said. "That's all I can offer."

"Lawson's going to be livid when he finds out about how this all unfolded. You and I both know you should have run it by him before coming here. If we had brought a team first?—"

"Lawson will live."

"You've made quite a mess with very little to show for it. The best thing you can do right now is to lie low."

"I'm not planning on making another move today."

"You should be taking this more seriously. This doesn't look good."

"You should know by now I don't care about looks."

Pearce shook his head. "Fine. It's your head."

"I'll see you later."

Em didn't know if it was the chemical smells that were making her dizzy or fear. When the building had shaken, she'd known it was a bomb. She tried to quiet the shouts in her head, insisting that Jep was dead. But in the dark, all she had for company were her thoughts, unwilling to obey her command. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fend off the pounding in her head. She needed air. But leaving the closet also meant she'd have to face what was out there.

"God, give me the strength." Her voice sounded hollow in the close space. She shifted on the box, sending a shock of pain down her legs, not from the jump off the fire escape but from the pins and needles that had started twenty minutes before. She couldn't stay here forever.

Her hand felt down the door in the dark and wrapped around the knob. "You can do this." She needed light and air or she'd go crazy.

Before she could turn the knob, the door gave way under her hand, and so did the box underneath her. She tumbled sideways, but the figure that met her in the light caught her.

"Whoa. Hey," Jep said. "Looks like I turned up right on time."

She hung awkwardly from his arms as he tried to help her stand, but her legs wouldn't cooperate, and she was so overwhelmed by the sight of him that she dislodged her arms from his grip and wrapped them around his neck, holding tight while she cried into his shoulder.

"You're not dead," she said into the warmth of his shirt.

"No. I'm okay. It's okay." He ran a hand over her head and rested it on her back. "You're shaking. Everything's okay."

"I thought you were dead. Was there a bomb? I thought I felt a bomb."

"Yeah, but I'm okay."

She held on until it edged on too long, then tested her toes on the floor. "I don't know if I can stand."

He carried her to the emerald couch and sat her down before bending down to prod her ankles, palpating up her calf. "Where does it hurt? I don't see any swelling or bruising." He looked up at her.

"Jep!" It was the first chance she had to get a good look at him. "What happened to you?" His hair was a mess and grayed from what looked like powder. "You've got blood on your face."

"I'm fine. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. We need to get your legs looked at."

"The pain isn't from the fall, it's from sitting in that closet too long. I'm all pins and needles. It'll pass."

"Are you sure? The way you fell, I expected a fracture, especially after you had to walk. We need to get x-rays. Just in case."

"But there's no swelling."

"Yeah." He made another pass over her other leg.

"Forget about my legs. Are we safe? Tell me what happened to you."

"The explosion was in the apartment. It went off as I approached the door."

She closed her eyes and rested her head on the back of the couch. "I couldn't stop thinking you were dead."

"I guess God's not done with me yet. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the journal."

"I'm just glad you're alive."

"You're not at all disappointed that we've got nothing?"

"Are you kidding? The journal never even crossed my mind. I mean, I know it was important, but not at the expense of your life. Allow me a moment to celebrate the fact that you are here right now, living and breathing."

He bit his lip while the corners of his mouth turned up, and he looked at her from under his brow. She couldn't remember a time when a man had looked at her like that.

"By all means," he said. "Take your time."

"Good. Thank you." A silence opened up that embarrassed her, but he teased her with a charmingly crooked grin.

"All right. That's enough," she said, pushing up off the couch. "I think I'm good now."

"You sure? I can wait."

"Yes, that was plenty."

"It's not often a beautiful woman celebrates my life. I have a birthday once a year you could commemorate if you like."

"Me and my big mouth."

"You ready to get out of here?"

"Yes, please." She held his arm as they walked to the door until she was confident she could do it on her own. "So that's it then? You almost died, and we got nothing?"

"I came close to catching one of them."

"When?"

"After the explosion. I saw him fleeing the scene and followed him. I had him cornered, but his friend came in from behind and knocked me out."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She pulled him to a stop and looked at him again. Reassessing. "You're lucky he didn't kill you."

"I think our backup arrived before he could."

"Another miracle."

"We've had a few of those lately."

"But not the kind that gives us the answers we need," she said.

"We don't know that for sure."

"I don't think my sister will ever talk, and if there are bombs out there somewhere, who knows what's coming? And there's nothing we can do to stop it."

"We both got a good look at what was in the apartment. I think we should go over it again."

"But you said it's all gone."

"Yeah, but there could be other clues." He tapped her head. "Up here. Something to tell us where to look next."

"I can't remember anything important."

"You've also been stuck in a closet, frozen in fear. We need to clear our heads and take the time to think back to before we were interrupted in the apartment."

"Interrupted? That's a mild word for it."

"There might be something we missed. Something we didn't have the time to process."

"It's worth a shot."

"Great," he said. "Let's get back to the office—actually, that might not be a good idea. I'm not ready to face Lawson yet, and he definitely won't give us any time to think."

"Good point. And the place will be crazy. Someplace quiet would be better. My head is spinning. I think I'm high off the fumes from that closet."

"What about your place?"

"I have a better idea." She checked her watch. "My aunt has a lovely little garden in her backyard. It's one of my favorite places, and she won't be home right now. It would be a really good spot to clear our heads."

"Does she have coffee?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Let's go."