I crossed the street and realized that I kept going back to Elise. There was something about her that was off, as if her mind were full of secrets. I was ready to get to work. I checked the stopwatch—I had just enough time to take a shower and join the conference call in about thirty minutes.
I jumped onto the sidewalk and…
I was knocked off my feet. Pushing myself off my back, I saw the front part of the house had exploded. I could actually see the splintered staircase.
My heart leaped into the back of my throat, and I ran toward the flames.
36
Ozzie
As I flew through the air, it took me a second to wonder if I was dreaming. Not until my back smacked against a post on the stairs did I realize this was no dream.
Before my body fell to the floor, I was pummeled with a million stings—I squeezed my eyes shut as each stab hit me like a poisoned dart. I rubbed my face—wood splinters jutted out of my skin like the coat of a porcupine.
Mackenzie and the kids. Ezzy. Those were my first salient thoughts. I crawled along the floor as flames engulfed the front of the house. I looked up and saw half the staircase missing. The second floor sagged toward the opening. I took a couple of steps—it seemed as though the floor was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle.
I closed my eyes for a brief second and shook my head, which was a big mistake. It felt like ice picks had plunged through my ears and out the other side of my skull. My brain was rattling around like coins in a metal can. I pawed until I found a broken post and pulled myself up to my feet. I looked through the billowing smoke and began to cough.
Somewhere, someone was screaming. My daughter?
“Mackenzie, Dad’s here. I’m going to come and get you.”
More yelling, but not just from Mackenzie. “Erin, Luke, hold on. Don’t move. I’m coming to get you.”
The flames were mostly near where the door and front window used to be. It was the thickening smoke that slowed me the most.
“Dad, is that you? Please help me.”
My heart lifted and dropped to the sounds of Mackenzie’s voice. My balance started to return as I searched for a part of the staircase sturdy enough to hold my weight.
I jumped and grabbed hold of a post from the upstairs railing that was five feet lower than before the blast. I waited a second to see if I would drop back to the ground, and then I used every ounce of energy I could muster to pull myself up, hand over hand, one grip at a time. I shimmied up six, maybe seven feet. I lunged for the upstairs floor.
“Ozzie, is that you?”
Through the crackling fire, I could hear Alex. She was somewhere below me, but I wasn’t sure where.
“It’s me. Going after the kids.”
No response.
I threw a leg onto the second floor, and the structure buckled. Where I was, the floor dropped a good foot. The whole damn thing might crumble. I didn’t have long.
I pulled my body onto the second floor. The smoke had filled up the center hallway.
“Dad, are you coming?” Mackenzie yelled through her sobs.
“I’m on my way, sweet pea. Stay calm.”
Her room was the last one on the right. Erin’s room was first on the left, and Luke was across the hall from her.
I went to Luke’s door first. It was stuck—the frame had shifted. “Fuck!” I moved back a few feet—almost slipped into the funnel that would have sent me tumbling back to the first floor—and rammed my shoulder into the door. It budged, but not much.
“Dad, please help me!”
Mackenzie was panicking. I ran over to Erin’s door and pounded my fist on it, and then I ran across the hall with all I had. Finally, I busted through Luke’s door, and the frame around it splintered. He was under his desk, shivering. I ran over to him. “Luke, we’ve got to go. Come on.”
Tears were pouring down his face. His whole body was trembling.
“Luke, we can’t wait. Come on.”
I grabbed his arm, but he pulled it back. “I can’t. I’m too scared.”
“I’ve got it, Ozzie.” I whipped my head around and saw Erin standing at the threshold. “Go help Mackenzie,” she said.
I didn’t argue. I rushed past her, raced down the hall, and tried to open Mackenzie’s door. It was jammed, but not as bad as Luke’s had been. “Back away from the door, Mackenzie.”
“Okay,” she whimpered.
I gave the door two heavy shoves with my shoulder. Before the door had even opened all the way, she jumped into my arms and wrapped her body around me.
“It’s okay, sweet pea. I’m here. You’re going to be safe.”
I flipped my head to look over my shoulder. Erin had an arm around Luke, and they were walking toward us, staying as close to the hallway walls as possible. He was whimpering when they entered Mackenzie’s room. Erin, though, was a picture of remarkable resolve.
“What now?” Erin’s voice was serious but steady. She kept her arm around her brother.
I knew we couldn’t go down the staircase. Beyond that, I was concerned about flames getting to the gas line—another explosion. I didn’t know how much time we had. Twenty seconds? Five minutes?
With Mackenzie still stuck to me like Velcro, I ran over to the window. It faced the side yard. I pulled up on the window, but it was stuck. “Dammit!”
I peeled Mackenzie off me and told her to hold Erin’s hand.
Just then, I heard this horrific squeal—as if a thousand wooden chairs had been dragged along a waxed linoleum floor. And then a thunderous boom. The room quaked.
All three kids cried out as they reached for the frame of Mackenzie’s bed. I almost lost my balance, but I got to them. They clung to me like sandspurs.
“We’ll get through this,” I said.
But I wasn’t sure the house would hold our weight for another minute.
37
Alex
Aside from seeing a blur of Ozzie’s green sweatshirt, there was no way I could make it through the front part of the house—or what was left of it. Too much fire and smoke and splintered remnants of…everything.
Ozzie had been pulling himself up to the second floor; he was going after the kids. I had to trust him and focus on getting Ezzy out alive.
As I raced around the house, I heard a screeching noise and loud boom, as if two ocean liners had just crashed into each other.
I looked up to the second floor. Bricks from the fireplace were tumbling off the rooftop. It all appeared on the verge of collapsing. For a moment, I stopped under Luke’s bedroom window and yelled for him. No response.
Trust Ozzie. Go get Ezzy.
I circled the house and found the kitchen door slightly ajar, two of the windows blown out. I pushed on the door, and it moved only an inch. I stepped back and kicked the door in—broken glass flew at my face. I quickly turned my head and then ran inside. The kitchen looked like a war zone. Dishes, glasses, bottles, jars, bags, and cans had fallen out of the cabinets and onto the floor. The ceiling sagged in one section.
I ran into Ezzy’s room. Crap had been thrown everywhere, but I didn’t see her.
“Ezzy!”
No response. I jogged to her bathroom and pushed open a partially jammed door. “Ezzy?” She wasn’t in there either.
Had she already made it outside, and I just hadn’t seen her? Maybe she’d gone into the detached garage.
I ran around her bed, and then—as if a hand had reached up and grabbed my foot—I tripped and face-planted on the floor. I grunted on impact and looked over my shoulder.
Hell, it was a hand.
Ezzy was under her bed. I scrambled toward her.
“Ezzy, what’s wrong?”
“It’s my heart,” she said, wheezing.
No. No, no, no. It can’t be!
“Can you move?”
“I’m fine.”
Fine? She was a walking contradiction, this woman! We’d deal with that later—I just wanted there to be a “later.”
&nbs
p; “Ezzy, I’m not sure how much time we have. I need to know the truth. Can you move?”
“A little. Every time I move, though, it feels like I’m being stabbed in my chest.” She took in a deep, phlegmy breath.
I didn’t ask how she’d ended up under her bed.
“Let me slowly pull you out.”
“Okay.” Her voice sounded weak.
She gave me her arm. I leaned backward. She moved a couple of inches.
“Ah!” she cried out.
I’d never heard that sound from her before. It scared me—this whole damn thing scared me.
“Alex, let’s get real for a second. I’m an old woman. This might be my time.”
“It’s not, Ezzy. Come on; we can do this. You’re going to be fine.” I could hear a quaver in my voice. And then, for a fleeting moment, I wondered if somehow she knew. I’d read stories about people on their deathbeds who had a period of clairvoyance just before their final breaths.
But it couldn’t be.
My throat became parched, and I couldn’t swallow. I thought of Erin and Luke and all that we’d shared since their dad had died. We were at each other’s throats half the time—just as dysfunctional as the next family—but we were a family, dammit. I couldn’t lose my family. None of them. Not Luke, Erin, or Ezzy. Not Mackenzie or Ozzie either. He was like my little big brother. And then there was Brad.
I dropped to my stomach and looked Ezzy in the eyes. Her hair was a tangled mess—again, something I’d never seen before. I gently moved the locks away from her face. “I love you, Ezzy.”
Her eyes were glassy. “I love you too, Alex. You are the daughter I never had. I know you’re not religious, but you and the kids have been a gift from God. I know it was His work that put you into my life. It has uplifted me beyond anything you can imagine. I’m at peace, though. Just know that.”
No way was this the last chapter of Ezzy’s life.
“Listen to me,” I said through gritted teeth and teary eyes. “You are going to be okay. The kids need you. I need you. Now, work with me, dammit!” A sob escaped me, and I bit my lip.
She had a hand on her chest. Her eyes looked up at the bed just a few inches above her. It was as though she were deciding whether she would live or die, right at that moment. We had no time to debate it. We had to get out of the house. I counted to five.
At four, she turned her head to me and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here, Alex.”
“I’m right there with you.” I took hold of her arm again.
“That won’t work,” she said. “Grab my ankles and pull me out that way.”
I hustled to the end of the bed, grabbed her feet, and slowly started pulling.
“Doing okay?”
“Yes.” Her voice had a bit of hope in it. And right now, hope was damn good to hear.
A few more seconds of pulling, and I saw her face. She rolled onto her side and got to her knees. As I helped lift her to her feet—her arm was hooked around my shoulder—a staccato of booms came from the ceiling, spraying dust on top of us.
“Dear God,” she said, heaving out a breath. “That’s the last thing I need. Is the house going to cave in on us, Alex?”
It couldn’t, not with my family still inside. Had Ozzie been able to rescue the kids?
“Let’s go!” We hobbled out her bedroom door. Smoke now filled the kitchen. Ezzy covered her mouth, but we both coughed. Each cough made her lurch—I could see the pain in her eyes. The moment we exited the house, she stopped for a second and took in a breath.
“That’s better.”
Bricks continued to tumble from the roof, landing on either side of us. It was like being under attack. A war zone. Ezzy yelped a couple of times, but I didn’t stop. We kept going, hobbling through the yard and across the street. I sat her on the grass by the sidewalk. Pumpkin sprinted up and jumped on her lap. The cat had escaped. I looked back to the house, and a jolt zapped the base of my skull.
My son was dangling out of his window.
38
Alex
Sirens blared around me as I ran to the side of the house. Luke had something tied around his waist—a sheet. I slipped on the wet dew as I stopped just under him. He was crying as Ozzie lowered him to the ground from the window above.
“It’s okay, Luke.” I reached for his foot, but he was still too high.
“Mom, you’re alive!” He wiped his snotty face and grinned.
“You’re going to be fine, Luke.”
“Erin, Mom is alive. She’s okay!” he yelled back up to the window.
I jumped but couldn’t quite reach his shoe. “A little more,” I yelled to Ozzie.
A few seconds later, Luke was on the ground. He hit me with a hug so hard I thought I might topple over. I untied the sheet, and Ozzie pulled it back up.
“I’m sending Mackenzie down next,” he said.
I kissed the top of Luke’s head, and we encouraged Mackenzie on her way down. She was oddly calm, although her face was creased with stress. “It’s okay, Mackenzie. You’re safe now.” Down on the ground, she hugged me—Luke had never let go. I now had two kids hugging me.
“What about Erin?” I asked. A second later, a brick dropped off the roof. I grabbed the kids and dove to the right.
“Are we going to die?” Mackenzie said, wiping hair off her face.
“No, we’ll be fine. I didn’t want you to get a bruise from the brick.” I wondered how much longer the house would be standing.
“What about Erin?” Luke asked.
I stood up as Erin put two feet on the windowsill. Ozzie started lowering her down. A few seconds later, she was on the ground next to me. She didn’t hug me, but I hugged her neck with one arm anyway.
“Are you okay?” I lifted her chin to look at me, as if she were five years old again. My baby girl.
“I’m good, Mom. Really.”
Ozzie started making his way down. He was coughing as he hit the ground. I winced when I saw his face—it seemed like blood was leaking from every pore.
“It looks worse than it is,” he said with a wink.
We quickly ushered the kids across the street. First responders were on the scene now. Paramedics were talking to Ezzy. I approached the one who was asking questions and giving orders to his partner. “What do you know?” I asked.
He pushed his glasses up his nose as his partner placed an oxygen mask over Ezzy’s face. “Not enough information yet. But her pulse is uneven, and we see the symptoms of a minor myocardial infarction.”
A freakin’ heart attack. I took hold of Ezzy’s hand but kept my emotions at bay.
“We just gave her some aspirin, and her breathing has calmed. My partner will get an IV going and administer nitroglycerin, which will help dilate the arteries, reducing the pain and potential damage. We’ll make her comfortable, get her to the hospital. The fact she’s lucid and able to move on her own is a good sign, though.”
Ezzy squeezed my hand and started speaking. I couldn’t understand so I leaned closer. She lifted the mask. “Thank you for saving my life, Alex. I can tell that I’m going to be okay. No need for you to worry.”
The old Ezzy was back—the woman with a fight in her that couldn’t be deterred.
“I know you will, Ezzy.”
The paramedic asked me to step back. I turned around and saw cops, firemen everywhere. Another ambulance was on the scene, two more paramedics making sure the kids were okay. They were nodding a lot. I walked over to Erin. “Thanks for being so brave,” I said, touching her arm.
“No problem, Mom.”
“She’s a mini-Alex,” Ozzie said with a smile, and then he flinched. A paramedic had just blotted one of Ozzie’s dozens of cuts with some type of antiseptic.
“They’ll need to extricate a few of these splinters at the hospital,” the female paramedic said.
“I’ll be okay. I feel fine.” He held his head as Mackenzie nuzzled up against his arm.
“Where were you when it hit?�
� I asked.
“I’d just come downstairs, walking through the living room.”
I put a hand to my mouth. “What…?” My eyes went back to the house. The flames were out, but there was still a plume of gray smoke curling into the blue sky. Shit was all over the yard, and the house looked like it was about to crumble.
Jerry drove up, jumped out of the car as fast as he could—which wasn’t very fast at all.
“We need to find out who the fuck did this to my family,” I said, jabbing a finger in the air.
“Mom…” Luke looked up at me and then put his hands over his ears. Innocent Luke. A second later, he was hugging me again. I pulled Erin closer, and then Mackenzie joined us. Finally, Ozzie wrapped his big arms around all of us.
“Hugging sandwich,” Mackenzie said with a giggle.
“I love you guys. All of you. Ezzy too.” A tear bubbled in my eye.
“What about our house, Mom?” Luke asked.
“I don’t give two shits about the house. I’m just happy you’re safe.”
“Mommm…” he admonished.
“I know I cussed, Luke. There’s a time and place for everything.”
He giggled. Erin put a hand on his shoulder. They were brother and sister—that unbreakable bond. I’d never had siblings, which was probably why I could never understand their constant spats.
A paramedic asked Ozzie to sit again on the back of the ambulance as Jerry walked into our space. “Alex, Ozzie, I’ve got four agents on the way. Two will go to the hospital, the other two will transport everyone else to a safe house.”
I glanced over my shoulder to check out my fallen home and all the first responders on the scene.
“Who the hell did this?”
“I have no clue,” Jerry said. “The terrorist, al-Salehi, or if you want to call him Avery Garza, is dead. I also know that Maya Sherman killed herself. How many more are out there? I have no fucking clue.”
AT Stake (An Alex Troutt Thriller, Book 7) (Redemption Thriller Series 19) Page 18