* * *
Screams erupted around Chloe as the fire danced along the front of the stage and up the walls toward the back. Panic mushroomed as the fire exploded nearby.
“Get behind me,” Rob said to Chloe and Mary.
“Lord, put a shield of protection around these people,” Mary said as she looked around.
“Amen.” Chloe had seen this kind of crowd chaos before. From what she’d read about the stink bombs in Paris, that was mild compared to this.
A man near Chloe pulled another guy back and surged into his place. The first man returned and jumped on him. In the midst of the mob, a fight broke out. The sight shot adrenaline through Chloe, and her heartbeat accelerated even more. People circled past the two wrestling on the floor and kept heading for the exit. Sweeping her gaze through the theater, Chloe glimpsed the same thing happened at all the doors—panic taking over.
Chloe grasped Mary and pulled her even closer. With Rob in front, Chloe covered the area behind them and to the sides.
Finally the double doors loomed a few yards ahead.
“We’re almost out of here,” Chloe said close to Mary’s ear as the noise around them kept rising.
Tears running down her face, Mary nodded, then started coughing.
Gray smoke like a menacing veil mingled with what red was left in the air above them, becoming thicker—darker.
Rob, carrying the passed-out woman, burst through the exit, followed by Mary and Chloe. The mob dispersed out into the lobby, charging for the bank of glass doors that led outside. Fire trucks lined the front of the building while firefighters and police swarmed the area inside, helping the crowd to move in a safe manner. Some of the firefighters were pushing into the auditorium against the tide of people.
Out in the fresh air Chloe propelled Mary farther from the theater. Police waved the throng past the barricades set up. Rob sought paramedics for the woman. As Chloe scanned the crowd for the perpetrator, she searched for T.J. and Paul, too.
Were they still in the theater behind the stage where the fire had started? She needed to see T.J. and Paul—that they were alive and safe.
* * *
The paramedic took the oxygen mask from T.J. “I’m okay,” T.J. said. “How is the man we brought out?”
“He’s being transported to the hospital, but he did recover consciousness.”
“Praise God.” Paul also gave his mask back. “Can we go now?”
“I’m fine with that, but the police officer wants to talk with you.” The paramedic waved his hand toward a young woman waiting a few feet away.
She approached them when the EMT left. “What is your name and contact information?”
After T.J. told her, he asked, “Please see if you can contact Detective Rob Matthews. I’m a bodyguard hired to guard Paul Zimmerman here.” T.J. indicated his client next to him. “I need to know if the detective and the women with him made it out okay.” T.J. went on to explain why Matthews was involved.
The woman officer stepped away and spoke into the receiver at her shoulder.
Paul shifted from one foot to the other. “We should go around front and see if we can find Mary and Chloe. I need to know they’re okay.”
So do I, especially Chloe. She’s here because of me. A vision of Chloe, concern deep in her eyes, as she’d left with Mary, taunted him.
“You think this area is a madhouse? The front will be twenty times worse as all the audience exits. I’m hoping she can track down Detective Matthews and he’ll have Mary and Chloe with him.” Safe. Please, Lord. I haven’t asked much lately. Please let them be unharmed.
As T.J. waited for the officer to return, Chloe haunted his thoughts. Her smile could melt him, although he did his best not to let her know the effect it had on him. Her long, wavy hair down around her shoulders—the memory of letting it slip through his fingers. Her scent that teased him every time she came near him.
The policewoman retraced her steps to T.J. and Paul. “Detective Matthews is on his way and he told me to tell you he would bring Mrs. Zimmerman and Chloe. You’re not to go anywhere until he arrives. You two can sit in my patrol car. He asked me to stay with you.”
Paul collapsed on the backseat behind the driver while T.J. slipped in next to him, his gaze intent on the direction Chloe and Mary would come from. Until he saw Chloe with his own eyes, he wouldn’t be satisfied she was okay. He knew all the things that could happen in a crowd during a disaster. Pandemonium ruled, and that made it possible for the person hunting Mary to take her out. Chloe would protect her client, putting herself in harm’s way. The realization iced his blood.
* * *
Coming around the side of the theater about a hundred yards from the building, Chloe glimpsed a woman officer standing next to a squad car. Through the windshield she noticed two figures in the back of it. “Is that them?” she asked Rob, who flanked Mary’s other side as they weaved their way through the throng milling behind the barricades.
“I think so. I’m not personally familiar with Officer Parks.”
As she swept her glance over the crowd, Chloe caught sight of the smoke churning from the roof of the theater. “What happened in there? We saw red smoke bombs first, then a real fire.”
“The woman I carried outside came from the back area of the stage, where some of the red smoke was. Once she is tended to at the hospital, I plan to talk with her. Maybe she saw something, or maybe she’s the one who set off the smoke bomb.”
“Why would she do that? I don’t know her. What have I done to her?” Mary stared straight ahead, a dazed expression on her face as though in overload.
Chloe couldn’t blame her after all that had happened to Mary and Paul this week. She knew one thing. This tour could not continue. If need be, she would decline the assignment and hope T.J. would, too. Mary and Paul had no business being out in public until whoever was after them was caught. She’d never walked away from a job in the middle before, but she cared about Mary and Paul and wanted to keep them alive, so she would leave if that would keep Mary and Paul from continuing the book tour.
“What sets someone off can be one of a thousand reasons, big or small. Some you can’t even comprehend. When dealing with situations like this you need to look at everyone as a suspect,” Chloe finally answered.
“I agree, Mrs. Zimmerman. What Chloe says is true. If you want to stay alive, there’s no question the person doing this wants you and your husband harmed. This isn’t a prank like Paris.” Rob stepped up to the officer and introduced himself. “Can you drive these folks to their house and stay there until I arrive?” Then he turned to Chloe. “I’m staying here and working this scene. We’ll talk later.”
“No. I don’t want Officer Parks driving us. We can take care of it. The fewer people who know where we are the better.”
Rob pulled her away from Mary and lowered his voice. “I can’t force you, Chloe, but the Zimmermans are in danger.”
“Why do you think T.J. and I were hired? But yesterday the guy after them put a tracker on the rental so he would know where they were staying. I need this evening to convince Mary and Paul to cancel their tour and retreat to a safe place. Maybe even stay where we are until you find whoever is doing this.” The sound of the car door behind her opening and closing alerted her a few seconds before T.J. joined them.
“I suggest you quit the chitchatting and let’s get out of here. The person responsible for this is probably somewhere in this crowd.” T.J. gestured toward the theater where the firefighters were beginning to bring the blaze under control. “I called Kyra and told her what happened. She’ll meet us to exchange cars again.”
Chloe swung her attention to Rob. “Will it appease you if Officer Parks follows us to the exchange in our rental to make sure everything goes all right?”
Rob nodded. “But we’re still
talking tonight. I need your address, and I promise no one will track me. Where’s your rental?”
T.J. pointed to a green Chevy not far away.
“I’ll talk with Officer Parks, then walk with you to your car.”
As Rob approached the police officer, T.J. escorted Paul to Chloe and Mary. Paul embraced his wife for a long moment. Chloe heard the words I love you, and turned away to give them some privacy while watching the people around them.
“Let’s go,” Rob said when he came back. As they walked toward the Chevy about a hundred yards across the parking lot, he continued. “Mr. and Mrs. Zimmerman, are you sure you can’t think of anyone who would do something like this? There was a lot of anger behind what happened today. Four red smoke bombs were set off to cause panic much worse than the stink bombs at the Paris event. Then there was a fire, too.”
Paul scowled. “Can a smoke bomb start a fire?”
“Not likely.” Rob opened the back door for Mary. “A flash bomb would be more likely to do that.”
Mary climbed into the rental. “Then why the smoke bombs if the person was setting a fire?”
“Don’t know the answer, but I may know more when I talk with the fire investigator about how it started. That may be a while, though.”
“Thank you, Detective.” Mary leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes.
After shutting the door, Chloe faced Rob. “I echo her thanks. I hope you can give us some answers this evening.” She gave her friend the address of the safe house. “Call when you arrive at the gate and I’ll open it.”
“Take care, Chloe. We’re coming up empty with the clues we’ve found so far. I have my partner tracking down one lead from the photo of the man yesterday.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this right away?”
“I found out right before everything started and since then we’ve been kind of busy.”
“Thanks for being here today.” Chloe gave Rob a small smile.
T.J. shook Rob’s hand. “See you later.”
Her friend started back toward the theater, homing in on the fire captain in charge. Chloe expelled her breath slowly. “We have our work cut out for us. We need to convince the Zimmermans to cancel.”
“They will. If not, I’ll get the publisher to cancel it.”
As T.J. slipped into the driver’s seat, Chloe rounded the rental and slid into her position next to Mary.
Paul angled around and peered at his wife. “Before we go, I want to make it clear that Mary and I agree that the tour has to be canceled. We can’t put people in danger, and today this person made it clear he didn’t care who was in his way.”
Thank You, Lord. Now we have a chance to protect Mary and Paul.
* * *
“We caught a break, or so we thought,” Rob said when he entered the safe house later that evening.
T.J. closed the door behind the detective and turned toward him. “I like the first part of your sentence. You need to improve on the last bit, though.”
“I wish I could.” Rob surveyed the entry hall. “Where’s everyone? I want to say this only one time. I need to return to the station as soon as possible.”
“Chloe, Paul and Mary are in the kitchen cleaning up the dinner dishes. I volunteered to be on door duty.”
“I wish I could do that at home. My wife won’t take any excuse. All the duties are split fifty-fifty, and I can’t really say anything since she works as much as I do.”
T.J. started for the back of the house. “More than a detective in a big city?”
“Yep. She’s a doctor in the E.R. Since we don’t have children, she fills in when needed, if possible.”
“It sounds like you have an understanding wife.”
“Yes. It was a great day when I met her.”
T.J. listened to the love in Matthews’s voice, and he was bothered by the fact he didn’t have what the detective had. For a long time, he hadn’t even considered having a wife and family. Then he’d met Chloe and that had changed. He’d started thinking about the possibility of getting married. But on one occasion when they had dated, she’d expressed how she hoped to have children one day, and he hadn’t seen that in his future as a Secret Service agent. Was that one of the reasons he’d jumped at the chance to go to Washington D.C. and be on the vice president’s detail? He’d never thought he had a commitment phobia. Did he? Or had the timing been all wrong? And even if it had been, that didn’t mean it was right now.
When they entered the kitchen, Chloe looked at Rob. “Do you know how the fire started?”
“Not yet, but by morning the rubble should have cooled enough for the arson investigator to go through it. I have a few things to ask and tell you.”
Mary crossed the room. “Then let’s sit down in the living room. I’m exhausted. I’m sure you’ll want me to be fully awake, but I can’t stand much longer.”
Paul took her hand and accompanied his wife out of the kitchen.
T.J. liked the way Paul and Mary supported each other. There were times he’d needed that but hadn’t experienced it. He settled on the couch across from Paul, Mary and Chloe.
Matthews stood at the end of the coffee table, his mouth set in a grim line. “There were sixteen people who went to the E.R. Five of them were hospitalized.”
Stiff, Mary blinked several times. “Anyone critical?”
“No.”
Her shoulders sagged, and Mary wilted against the couch. “Thank You, Lord.”
Matthews scanned his notes. “It has been confirmed the sprinkler system was tampered with. From what we can piece together, four red smoke bombs went off pretty close together. I suspect someone used a detonator to set them off. The back part of the theater has been searched, since the fire didn’t reach that far and the devices were attached to the seats. Several hours earlier the theater owner had had a dog sniff for bombs before setting up for the event. Only people who had been vetted were allowed inside after the stage was set up. The doors were locked and guards posted until the event opened. People were checked as they came in.”
“So how were the smoke bombs planted?” T.J. asked, not liking where this was going.
“There are security cameras, but not all over the theater. Interestingly, the smoke bombs were placed where the cameras didn’t reach.”
“Inside job?” Had this job been hired out to a pro? T.J. began to wonder if there was more going on here.
“I think so, and we’re looking at staff employees, but that will take time. I’ll keep you informed if we get any kind of lead. Mary, Paul, can you think of anyone who is holding a grudge against you?”
“You don’t think it’s our message?” Paul asked.
“It’s possible, but I think this is tied up in a more personal angle.” Chloe rose and prowled the room, stopping to stare out the window.
“I have to agree with Chloe.” T.J. leaned forward and placed his elbows on his thighs, clasping his hands together.
“No, when we aren’t writing or speaking, we have a quiet life at our ranch. We treat our employees like friends.”
T.J. stood across from the detective. “We’re leaving early tomorrow morning for the Zimmermans’ ranch between Houston and San Antonio. We’re making a slight detour to pick up their sixteen-year-old son at Bethany Academy in Houston. You have my number. Call if you find out anything.”
“Will do.” Matthews nodded toward the couple then Chloe. “I’ve got more I have to do tonight so I need to get back, but let me know if you can think of anyone who would want to hurt you.”
T.J. saw the detective out of the house and waited until he went through the gate before returning to the living room. “I’ll take first watch again tonight since I’ll be driving tomorrow. Mary, are you going to call your son and let him know what you’re doing?”
<
br /> “Yes, now that we know we can leave. I was afraid Detective Matthews would need us to stay, but I really have no idea why this is happening, especially today. What was done was bolder than in Paris or at the church the other day.” She delved into her pocket. “Can I use my phone? He’ll know that number. In fact, he’s probably expecting a call after what happened and wondering why I’m not answering my cell. At least I was able to call the school and let them know we were okay since he was on a field trip.”
T.J. handed her his untraceable one. “Use this one. If he wonders why you’re calling on a different phone, chalk it up to me being cautious.”
Paul came to sit beside Mary while she made the call to their son. T.J. left the room with Chloe to give the couple some privacy. In the entry hall, he turned toward her. “Ready to go?”
“As I said at the other house, I haven’t unpacked. Maybe at the ranch I actually will.”
“On the ride to the ranch, we need to have a conversation about how the ranch operates. Who does what? Who works there? How long? I know Mary called her cousin, who takes care of the home, and Paul talked with his foreman to let him know he would be returning earlier than expected to the ranch.”
“Mary has mentioned a Vickie Campbell. Is she the cousin?”
“Yes. The foreman is Zach Bradley. I overheard Paul arguing with him about selling some cattle. He told him to hold off until he got home.”
Chloe’s forehead scrunched. “Paul’s the owner.”
“Who is gone a lot of the time. Maybe Zach is used to running the ranch without someone looking over his shoulder.”
“I’m just glad that Mary and Paul called off the tour, but they are doing a TV interview after they get back home. The TV crew has agreed to film it at the ranch, so at least the Zimmermans won’t have to go to the studio.” Chloe kneaded her hand into her neck. That had been to appease Nancy, who was throwing a fit about canceling the interview tomorrow morning. “But if it’s not safe at the ranch, that TV interview will be canceled, too, no matter what Nancy says.”
“You’re still tense.”
“Your powers of observation are amazing.” A twinkle sparkled in her eyes. “I’m trying to loosen those knots the best way I can.”
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