Chapter 12

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Heart pounding out of control, Heidi crawled on her hands and knees. She peered around the van and watched as Stephen and his friend tried to rescue Donald.

Then they paused. Took a step back.

And started to run.

The next instant, an explosion ripped through the air.

She muffled a scream as she covered her head.

What about Stephen? And the man who'd been with him? Were they okay?

As the flames died down, she lifted her head.

Stephen and his friend crouched in front of her . . . unharmed.

Thank God!

She offered him a nod to let him know she was fine.

"I need to see if Donald is still alive!" he yelled.

A moment later, Stephen and his friend darted toward the burning SUV.

In her gut, Heidi knew it was too late. There was no way the man had survived that explosion. Still, they needed to know for sure.

Stephen and the other man returned a moment later. They both had grim looks in their eyes. Donald was dead.

Her heart panged with grief.

"We've got to get out of here." Stephen took Heidi's arm and helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"All things considered, yes."

"Then we need to go." He nodded toward the van. "Now."

Sirens sounded in the distance. Someone must have either seen the fire or heard the explosion and called it in. Or maybe Donald's vehicle had an alert system that let people know when an accident occurred. She couldn't be sure.

Either way, Heidi knew she didn't want to stay here. What if the gray sedan came back? She couldn't risk that.

Stephen helped her into the van. Then he and his colleague climbed inside also, and they took off down the road, in the opposite direction of the sirens.

She looked at the remains of the SUV as they drove past. Flames still flared from the hood. The airbags were charred but blocked the sight of anything inside—including the backpack she'd grabbed before leaving her home. Smoke rose from the open door.

Someone had tried to kill both her and Donald. She couldn't stop thinking about that fact.

They'd succeeded in taking Donald out—permanently. Heidi may not have liked the man, but she hadn't wanted this either.

The whole situation could have turned out so much differently. Stephen had come for her. Saved her life.

Maybe she could trust him after all.

But she still had a lot of questions he had yet to answer.

Stephen stared at the road, double checking to make sure the gray sedan didn't return. That the driver didn't come back to inspect his work.

So far, the coast was clear.

The wailing sirens remained behind them, so they shouldn't cross paths with any emergency vehicles.

"I'm so glad you guys showed up when you did." Heidi leaned forward from the back seat to speak with them.

"Me too." Stephen's jaw hardened as he said the words.

That had been too close for comfort. If only one or two things were different, Heidi would be dead right now.

"This is Gage, by the way," Stephen said. "He's my new colleague."

"Thank you for being here." Heidi rubbed her arms as she drew in a shaky breath. "Where are we going?"

"We need to figure that out." Stephen gripped the wheel as he stared at the road ahead.

Gage was working on those details now. They needed to go somewhere they wouldn't be traced.

"If it wasn't Rafferty who tried to kill me, then who hired the person in the sedan? Who killed Beau? And threw the Molotov cocktail into my house?" Heidi's questions hung in the air.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure," Stephen told her.

"Won't Rafferty know you're helping me?" Alarm filled Heidi's voice. "He's going to realize Donald is dead and that I'm not with him."

Stephen had already thought that one through. "He'll know someone grabbed you. Most likely, he'll think it was the person driving the sedan. He shouldn't know it was us."

"Good point." She blew out a breath. "That will buy us a little time."

Her words were spoken like a true operative. She'd obviously been working in this business for a while—for too long maybe.

Despite that, he was impressed by her level-headedness in the situation.

But her question was excellent.

Who was behind this? And why did they want Heidi dead?