Sawyer burst through the door carrying a body and Alex was on his heels with another. These people needed help and that was something she could do. She opened the door and ran to where the injured were being placed on the ground. Alex brought another person out and gave her a look.
“I have to help.”
He nodded reluctantly and placed the body on the ground. Jonah! She hurried to his side. “Jonah, are you okay?” Her producer didn’t answer. Blood covered the side of his head, but she could feel a pulse.
Sirens wailed in the distance and a fire truck screeched to a stop a few feet away, followed by two cop cars. Firemen poured out of the truck and filed inside. One of them stopped Alex as he was toting another person out. It looked like they tried to stop him from going back in but he didn’t listen.
“Jonah, can you hear me?” He still didn’t respond and her worry skyrocketed. She moved to others, trying to do what she could to help. Several ambulances arrived to tend to the victims. A few were beyond help and Olivia felt a sob building in her throat as blankets were placed over their bodies.
Jonah was lifted on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance. She wanted to go with him but she couldn’t leave the others who might need assistance. She applied pressure to bleeding wounds and offered words of comfort to the injured. Several emergency vehicles piled into the parking lot until it was packed full. People were running back and forth, orders were being shouted and radios squawked. Controlled chaos. Alex came out carrying another body but after he placed the woman on the ground, a cop physically restrained him from going back in. Good. He was covered in soot and debris and he looked like hell. She rushed over and threw herself at him. He staggered back a step when he caught her and buried his face in her hair. “Are you sure you’re okay?” His voice was a rasp.
She nodded. “Now that you’re safe, I am.”
Alex leaned down and kissed her. He tasted of smoke and his kiss was desperate. She whimpered when it ended. Raised voices had them turning their heads to the confrontation. The cops were stopping Sawyer from reentering the building, too.
“Oldham,” Alex called out. “You don’t need to be going back in there. They have the equipment. You aren’t that far removed from a gunshot.”
“You, either,” Sawyer gritted as he limped over. He ran his hands down his sooty face. “The screams…they’re going to haunt me.”
Olivia knew the screams would haunt her, too.
A few employees huddled together looking shaken but uninjured. There was no way to get a count of who was in the building because people came and went all the time.
Water was being pumped on the fire from several sources on the ground and from a fireman in a ladder truck. It looked like most of the flames had been extinguished.
A fireman came over and handed them bottles of water. Both Alex and Sawyer poured some over their heads before drinking. A uniformed cop asked them questions but all they could tell him was that one minute everything was fine, the next, the world exploded. Ambulances were being filled and pulling out at an alarming rate.
Detectives Benson and Kramer arrived and Benson went in search of the fire chief.
“Are you guys okay?” Kramer asked. At their nods of confirmation, she said, “It looks like our unsubs have upped their game.”
Benson walked over to them. “Definitely a bomb. It’s too hot so they can’t investigate yet, but based on what some of them saw when they were rescuing victims, they think it might’ve been some kind of flower vase.
Olivia cried out and all eyes snapped to her. “I saw it. It was a huge vase of roses. Mindy, the receptionist, brought it to the break room. She said her boyfriend gave them to her but they made her eyes water.”
“Can you point Mindy out so we can question her?”
Tears filled her eyes. Mindy was one of the ones covered with a blanket. “Sh-she didn’t make it.” Alex pulled her close to his side, his hand rubbing her shoulder. She gasped again. “I just thought of something else. I’d never met Mindy before but she said she didn’t like me because her boyfriend seemed obsessed with me. He asked her about me all the time.”
“I’d say her boyfriend is a prime candidate to be our perp.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Alex felt battered and bruised, but at least he was clean. His lungs were a bit scratchy and he had cuts and gashes that stung when the water hit them but nothing serious. His stitches had been ripped open but he just slapped a Band-Aid on and called it good. No way was he letting Olivia know. She’d rig up a tourniquet and rush him to the Emergency Room.
She refused to clean up until she found out about Jonah and the rest of her co-workers. Jonah was going to pull through, though they weren’t sure of his injuries. Due to HIPAA laws, the hospital wouldn’t release information to non-family members. Eleven people had been killed in the blast, including Mindy, the receptionist. Two others were in critical condition, clinging to life. The others varied from serious to good. She was still on the phone in the bedroom talking to her parents, assuring them she was okay. He didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to hold them off. They wanted to come get her and take her home. He didn’t blame them.
He should probably be embarrassed he’d poured out his feelings to her after the bombing, but he wasn’t. He loved her, had since the moment he’d laid eyes on her. She was it for him. It didn’t escape his notice that she didn’t return the sentiment, but Sawyer had interrupted, so the moment had been ruined. Still, even if she didn’t feel the same way, he didn’t want her to spend another day without knowing how he felt.
His phone rang and he answered. “Turn on the news,” Luke told him. He picked up the remote and found the channel. It was footage of the fire, shot from outside the building. It zoomed in as Alex was carrying a woman outside, followed by Sawyer toting a man in a fireman’s hold. They placed them on the ground and raced back inside.
He turned the sound up when the reporter’s face appeared on the screen. “Those two men bravely risked their lives to save others before firemen arrived at the NYC-TV3 news building. They went inside numerous times without regard to their own well-being to bring people to safety. We’ve been able to positively identify the men as Alex Mylonas and Sawyer Oldham of COBRA Securities.” Their pictures flashed on the screen.
“Damn, that’s my academy badge shot,” Sawyer muttered.
“That’s my old PD photo,” Alex grumbled.
The video kept playing with them carting more people out until the fire trucks arrived. “You might recall Mr. Mylonas from the shooting earlier in the week aimed at NYC-TV3 anchor Olivia Larrson.” They replayed the video where he carried Olivia to safety. “Sources say that the fire appears to have been a bombing. It’s not known yet if it was a terrorist attack. Eleven people have been confirmed dead, with dozens injured.”
“Damn,” Sawyer murmured. “How did we survive it?”
Alex shook his head. “Maybe being inside the office helped. The walls took much of the impact. Those out in the bullpen…”
Both Alex and Sawyer’s phones rang at the same time. Word of the fire was out, now they needed to assure their family and friends they were okay.
#
Olivia tipped her head back, allowing the stream of water to wash the soot and tears down the drain. Eleven of her co-workers were dead. Along with Darla, Arlo and Callie, that was fourteen people on her conscience. Fourteen. How was she supposed to live with the guilt? More tears poured out to mingle with the water.
The curtain moved aside and Alex stepped in the shower. With a choked cry, she turned into him.
“I’m so sorry, baby.”
She collapsed against him as he murmured words of comfort. He held her head against his chest, one hand massaging her nape, the other stroking her back.
“I-I’m not doing it anymore,” she sobbed. “I can’t. The families might not get closure, but I can’t be responsible for one more death. Why would someone target me? I have nothing to do with the
Vigilante.”
“I don’t know, babe. There are sick people in the world.” He tipped her chin back with his thumb. “These deaths are not on you. You didn’t pull the trigger or set the bomb. You were just doing your job.”
She shook her head and her face crumpled. He gently eased her against his chest again. She wasn’t sure how long they stood under the spray before he turned the tap off, grabbed a towel, wrapped her up and carried her to bed. She fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. When she woke the next morning, she was still nestled in Alex’s comforting embrace.
She felt a hand gently stroking her hair. “Are you feeling any better?”
“Not really.” She rolled around until she faced him. He brushed a tender kiss against her lips. He made her feel so cherished and protected.
“I need to make some phone calls but I didn’t want to move until you woke.”
She smiled and stroked a hand down his face, loving the rasp of his whiskers against her fingertips. “I was serious earlier. I don’t want to do the reports anymore. But that would make me a bad person. There are families out there who want to bury their loved ones. I just don’t want anyone else to lose their lives.”
“I’ll support you, whatever you decide.”
She loved him so much and she could’ve lost him yesterday. She pushed him to his back and climbed on top. She needed to be as close to him as possible. He let her take the lead, knowing how much the control meant to her when right now, she felt like she had none in her life. She wanted to go slow and explore every inch of his muscular body, but she was suddenly on fire. Neither had bothered to dress after the shower last night so the skin on skin contact was exquisite. He reached into the drawer and extracted a foil packet. After rolling the condom on, she took hold of him and slowly lowered herself down. They both groaned when he was embedded deep inside of her. She started moving, Alex’s hands grasping her hips to guide her. She wanted to go slow but the sensations were overwhelming. The pace became frantic and then she was hurtling off the cliff, the release stealing her breath. She felt Alex stiffen beneath her and his low groan. She collapsed against his chest, their hearts beating in tandem. She didn’t want to move. Ever. She must’ve dozed again because a knock on the door woke her.
“Stay here. Sleep.” Alex kissed her temple and brushed a strand of hair from her face. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and headed outside.
Heaving a sigh, she pushed upright. She wanted to sleep, but she needed to figure out how to show the Vigilante’s video now that the station was destroyed. She grabbed her cell phone from the bedside table. She didn’t remember putting it there so it must’ve been Alex taking care of her…again. Her purse had been inside her desk and after the blast, the firemen thankfully found it intact. It was protected from the smoke and water inside the drawer. Both Alex and Sawyer’s laptops survived the blow, too. They were made out of some kind of military grade materials that absorbed the shock of the explosion. She called the station manager and they came up with a plan for her to shoot the footage with Roddy and Phil in the remote broadcast van. Pierce Prescott owned a station in Newark and they would release the report from there. The stations’ duplicate of the video had been destroyed in the explosion but Alex had a copy on his computer. She made plans on where to meet the van and headed for another shower. She didn’t think the Bride of Frankenstein look she was sporting after going to bed with wet hair would look particularly good on camera. After she dressed, she headed into the living room. Alex saw her and walked over. He clasped her cheek with his palm. “Okay?”
She nodded. “I will be.”
“I just got off the phone with Dorian.”
“Please tell me they are not coming back.”
“I filled him in on the bombing and told him to keep it from Kendall as long as possible.”
“Good. She’ll be pissed when she finds out, but I want her to enjoy her honeymoon. I’ve already disrupted it enough.” She told him about making plans to record the breaking news report and they left to meet Roddy and Phil.
Alex’s cell rang as they were driving to the meeting location. He looked at the screen and then answered on speaker phone.
“Hey, BeBe. What’s happening?”
“Hey boys. Ms. Larrson, are you there, too?”
“I am. And please, call me Olivia. Thank you for all you’ve done.”
She made a pshaw noise. “Just doing my job, Olivia. I’m glad you are all okay after the explosion yesterday. I saw the footage. Wow. You guys are lucky. And speaking of the footage, the phones are ringing off the hook. Everyone and their brother wants to interview you. I had to hire help to handle the requests.”
“You’ve turned them all down, I hope,” Sawyer groaned.
“I let them know you are unavailable for the time being.”
“Good,” they chimed in unison.
BeBe chatted for a few more minutes and Alex disconnected as Sawyer pulled in behind the remote broadcast van. It took less than thirty minutes to get set up and tape the segment that would be played on the evening news. They had just climbed back into the SUV when Olivia’s cell chirped. “That’s Jonah’s ringtone.” The ringing stopped before she could answer. A chime indicated an incoming text. She pulled it up and read the note: Have 2 confess. Need 2 speak 2 U ALONE. Now. Pls hurry. Room 402.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
After Jonah’s surprising text, they headed straight to the hospital. Olivia’s stomach churned with dread. What could Jonah have to confess?
Alex was on the phone with Detective Kramer as Sawyer parked in the visitor garage. He hung up and helped her out of the SUV. When Sawyer joined them, Alex filled them in on his conversation as they made their way inside. “Definitely a bomb in the flower vase. They finally tracked someone down who met Mindy Prescott’s boyfriend and they thought his name was Ray Smith. Apparently she just started dating him a few days ago. The cops are working on locating him but there are hundreds of Ray Smith’s in the area.”
“The name sounds familiar.” Olivia repeated the name over and over in her head. She grabbed Alex’s arm, jerking him to a stop. “We met a Ray Smith at the gala on Sunday.”
Recognition came into Alex’s eyes. “The guy who almost gave you a champagne bath.”
“He was surprised I was there. Mindy said she didn’t like me because her boyfriend was obsessed with me. Could he be the one doing all of this?”
“I’d say it’s a good possibility.” Alex dialed Kramer back and relayed the information. “She’s going to track down the list of attendees to the gala.” He pushed the button for the elevator. The doors instantly slid open and they trooped inside.
“Kinda strange that your producer wants to confess something to you, isn’t it?” Sawyer mused as the elevator climbed to the fourth floor.
“Maybe a near-death experience was a wake-up call,” Alex added. “I looked through the information Benson gathered on your friends. Wasn’t his sister attacked a few years ago?”
At her nod, Sawyer asked quietly, “Could he be the Vigilante?”
Olivia’s denial was instant. She shook her head vehemently. “No. No way. Jonah isn’t a killer.”
“Sometimes people get pushed past their limit,” Alex said gently.
“Maybe he wants to confess his undying love,” Sawyer mused. “What?” he asked at Alex’s glower.
She shook her head again. “He’s like an older brother. I don’t get the vibe that he’s in love with me.”
The elevator doors parted and they stepped into the sterile white hallway. They passed a small sitting area with a beige sofa and matching chairs. “I don’t think either of those two things are what he has to confess, but I’ll find out. You two wait here.”
“I’m not letting you go in without me,” Alex protested.
“We’re in a hospital and his room is right over there,” she pointed. “He asked that I come alone, so I want to honor his wishes. You will be steps away. If I need help, I’ll
holler for you. I’ll be back soon.”
“Wait a minute.” Sawyer pulled out his cell and opened an app. “This will record the conversation. If it’s something personal, we can delete it and no one has to hear. But if it’s not…” He let the sentence hang. She slid the phone in her purse.
Alex kissed her. “For strength,” he murmured.
She smiled at him, hoping he could read the love in her eyes. With a deep inhale, she turned and walked to Jonah’s room at the end of the corridor. The room was dark when she pushed open the door. “Jonah?” She eased the curtain back and gazed at the empty bed. “What—”
An arm grabbed her from behind and a hand covered her mouth. “Make one sound, bitch, and you’re dead. I’ve got a gun trained on your spine and my trigger finger’s itchy.” Something sharp poked against her lower back. “Now we’re just going to peek to make sure your boyfriend isn’t looking. Then you and I are going to take a little ride.” The voice sounded familiar but she couldn’t see his face.
He towed her roughly backwards and she stumbled against him. “Get up.” With a brutal jerk, he dragged her to the door and peered out the small window. “Dammit, we have to wait until he’s not paying attention.” He ground the barrel into her back. “I’m going to remove my hand. You aren’t going to make a sound, are you? Because if you do, I will put a bullet in your boyfriend’s head and you can watch him die before I put a matching one in yours.”
She shook her head and he removed his hand. She gulped in a breath, desperately wanting to call out to Alex but she didn’t want to test his threat. He wrenched her purse off her arm and rooted around inside. He pulled out her phone, dropped it on the ground and crushed it under his heel. “Don’t want anyone following us and ruining the fun, now do we Olivia?”
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