by Misty Evans
It looked like both facilities used the same alley for supply trucks. A visual sweep of the area showed no signs of movement, but perhaps the man indeed moving the ambulance to the front.
She waited, leaning out as far as she could without letting go of the door—in case it locked from the inside—to see if she could see him in or near the vehicle.
Nada. All was deathly quiet. It was like the EMT had disappeared into thin air.
Uneasiness gripped her, echoing what she’d sensed the night before. Something wasn’t right, she would bet money on it. Not taking any more chances, she went inside and dialed Cooper’s number.
“Where are you?”
Celina winced at the edge in his voice. “I’m at the loading docks at the rear of the arena.”
“What the…?”
A stream of curses erupted, and she had to pull the phone away from her ear for a second until he calmed down. “Are you done?”
“You tell me. Why are you not in the gymnasium?”
Men. “I need you to come to the loading docks.”
“When you say loading docks, you mean you’re just on the other side of the basketball court, in the designated hallways laid out in the plan, right? Because we were specifically told not to leave the training session areas once it went live.”
Celina sighed. “No, I mean the actual docks where trucks come in to load and offload supplies on the other side of the arena. See the doorway with the pink tape under the flag in the gymnasium?”
“What the hell, Celina?” he growled, though there was something new in his tone—worry maybe? He knew she would never disobey a direct order, not unless she had a really good reason for it.
“Go through that door and I’ll fill you in as soon as you get here.” She quickly gave him directions, then went inside to wait, walking out of the large bay area. A part of her hoped the EMT—or whoever he was—did move the ambulance to the front and all was well. Yet, as she went out and checked the end of the alley she could see, and the ambulance was still there, she knew all was not well.
I really am paranoid, thanks to this training session. Regardless, she hadn’t gotten where she was—survived what she had survived—without listening to that paranoia.
It wasn’t long before she heard Cooper’s long stride, and then he appeared, bio suit and mask gone, but still wearing his Kevlar vest and looking worried. Pissed and worried.
“Are you all right?” His eyes raked over her.
“I’m fine,” she reassured him, quickly bringing him up to speed about the guy she’d noticed in the bar the previous night and seeing him again today dressed as an EMT. The discrepancies in his story. “There’s something off about this, Cooper. I can feel it.”
Storm clouds gathered in Cooper’s eyes, and his jaw clenched. “And you didn’t think to tell me about this last night?”
“We were kind of busy last night, and I put him out of my mind, because really, what was there to tell?” Busy, as in, by the time they went back to their room, she’d been too focused on getting his clothes off to worry about some guy in the bar.
He smirked, his eyes darkening at the memory of their night’s activities, but all too soon, they grew serious again. “Everyone here underwent intensive background checks, but let’s say you’re right. What’s he up to?”
“I don’t know, but it’s quite possibly happening in…” She looked at her watch. “Four minutes. There’s an ambulance in the alley, but unless he’s hiding in the back and skipping the training session, he seems to have disappeared. At the very least, he should be held accountable for going MIA if he didn’t get permission from his boss. This is serious business for all of us, but especially the first responders.” Bottom line, she trusted her instincts, and right now they were screaming that something was off.
Cooper didn’t look nearly as convinced as she was, but he went out the door, telling her to keep it open while he checked the ambulance.
He looked in the windows, knocked on the back doors, and called to the guy. There was no response.
Back inside, he cupped her elbow, steering her toward the main arena again. “Let’s go back and find the other EMTs or his team leader and clear this up. Someone will know who he is and vouch for him.”
Celina stopped to stare at him. “You disagree that this is suspicious behavior.”
It wasn’t a question, and he hesitated, sighing softly. Gently, he pressed a kiss to the end of her nose. “I know that you think the guy is trouble, and maybe he is.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to protest, silencing her with a long finger pressed against her mouth. “I also believe you’re feeling out of sorts without Via around and you might be seeing things that aren’t there. Let’s get back before someone notices we’re gone and our asses land in hot water for leaving the designated areas.”
A twinge of anger snaked down her spine, and Celina jerked free from his grasp. “I am not seeing things that aren’t there, Cooper. A man who looked extremely suspicious left a live training session that he was specifically told not to leave.”
“Which you yourself also left,” Cooper pointed out, grinning when she shoved his chest none too gently.
“To make sure he wasn’t lost. And then, I realized he’s not lost at all. He’s up to no good, or at the very least, he’s gone AWOL on us, which is just all kinds of wrong.”
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for his departure and we’ll figure it out.”
Digging in her heel, Celina whirled and marched down the dark hallway, around the bend, and down another corridor.
Seeing things that weren’t really there? She took the stairs two at a time, huffing her annoyance. Of all the stupid, idiotic things Cooper Harris had ever said to her, this one really took the cak—
Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet shook and a deafening roar filled the air.
“Celina!”
Strong arms wrapped around her from behind and she was lifted up the remaining steps, deposited onto the floor, and roughly pushed up against a wall. Cooper’s strong body covered hers as ceiling tiles and debris rained down around them.
It was over in a matter of seconds, and then a deafening quiet filled the corridor, offset by the occasional shattering of glass or a large object hitting the floor in the distance.
Shakily, Celina drew in a breath, one of her ears ringing. “What the…?”
“I don’t know.” Cooper slowly pushed off the wall, digging around until he came up with his cell phone and turned on the flashlight. He helped Celina and she followed suit, using the combined lights to assess the damage.
The corridor that led to the gymnasium was completely caved in.
“That was an explosion. A real one.” Cooper’s face was grim, and Celina’s mouth went dry. It was what she suspected as well, but hearing him say the words out loud made it that much worse. “We need to get out of the building. Are you okay?”
She did a quick body check and looked down the stairs, which were mercifully clear. “Other than a few bruises that I’m sure will show up tomorrow, I’m fine. How are we getting out?”
“Not that way.” He pointed to the right, then jogged down the stairs and came back. “Let’s backtrack. I think there was an exit past the locker rooms before the supply bay doors.”
Acrid smoke hung heavy in the air, burning the back of her throat. She coughed, tucking her camera—she’d have to assess it for damage later—under her suit. She tugged the material of her biohazard suit up to cover her mouth and nose, praying nothing toxic floated in the air around them. Likewise, Cooper pulled the collar of his t-shirt from underneath his Kevlar vest and used it to cover his lower face.
They picked their way through the corridor, carefully stepping over broken concrete, glass, and parts of the ceiling that had fallen in their path. Even with the biohazard suit covering her face, the air was still pungent and she fought back coughing fits, not wanting to suck more smoke into her lungs.
By the time
they reached the loading dock, her lungs were on fire and she was struggling to breathe. Slightly oxygen deprived, she stumbled on a damaged light fixture that once hung from the ceiling and would have fallen face first if Cooper hadn’t caught her.
“We’re almost there,” he promised, looping an arm around her waist and hauling her against his side. He couldn’t have been fairing much better than she was, the sound of his muffled cough confirming as much, but she leaned on his strength anyway, drawing some sense of security that at least she wasn’t alone in this mess.
The closer they got to the docks, the worse the debris became until soon they were forced to practically climb over pieces of walls.
What if we’d still been standing here? The thought sent a hard shudder down her spine.
The air seemed to grow heavier, the smell of smoke sharper. Building damage was always worse the closer you got to ground zero of an explosion.
Which could only mean one thing—
The loading dock was full of smoke when they finally arrived, the glowing embers of a fire confirming what Celina had already suspected. A patch of the roof was missing.
“Jesus,” Cooper exclaimed, his hand finding hers and squeezing hard. “We could have been killed.”
He was right. Had they stood there even a minute or two longer, they would now be lying in the embers of the blast. Celina returned his hand squeeze, trying desperately not to cry.
“But we weren’t,” she coughed, leaning into him. “We’re fine.” Fine, if you didn’t count the smoke inhalation that was slowly killing them. They needed to get out of there, and fast.
The loading area appeared completely destroyed and they walked to the west, avoiding it. One remaining overhead light flickered in conjunction with flames that jumped here and there, as heavy ash and smoke blew about the room from the jagged openings where she could see the sky.
As they carefully stepped over debris and avoided the worst of the heat and smoke, Celina caught a glimpse of sunlight through a broken window high on a far wall still standing. The floor seemed to dip and she realized it was another loading area, one where trucks could back into the building. Below the window was a door marked Exit, and she nearly sagged to her knees in relief. The door looked to be intact; maybe they could get out.
“There,” she pointed, tugging on his hand. “An exit we can get to.”
The only problem? Heavy smoke blew over the sunken loading area, ready to cut them off from the door.
Cooper climbed into the loading well, turning to help her down beside him. He pushed her toward the ground, saying firmly, “Get low and start making your way to the door. I’ll be right behind you.”
Celina felt along the concrete ground as she went, her watery eyes barely able to make out a few feet in front of her at a time. The concrete should have been cold, but it wasn’t. Everything was hot, slimy, smoky. Under her suit, sweat ran in rivulets down her neck and spine. She raised a hand to wipe some off her forehead before it ended up in her eyes, but found her hand covered in ash and dirt.
Finally, they came to the other side, and her hand made contact with the solid door. She checked the handle to see how hot it was—warm, but not searing. She grasped it and turned, ready for the fresh air that awaited them on the other side, only the door wouldn’t budge.
No, she wanted to cry, her strength waning. They were so close.
“Let me try,” Cooper rasped, his smudged face appearing next to hers.
He propped himself up and hesitated for a second, then rammed his shoulder into the door.
No give. He swore, jiggled the handle, smacked the door with his shoulder again. “It’s warped from the explosion.”
Heat rose behind her, a sign the fire was spreading. Celina looked over her shoulder and her heart sank. Sure enough, the fire now stood between them and the other side of the loading docks. Their only way out was through this door, and if they couldn’t get it to open, they were done for. An image of Via rose sharply in her mind, pinching her heart and she suddenly feared she would never see her baby girl again.
Frustrated and scared, she shoved her shoulder into the door at the same time Cooper did, desperately pushing with all of her strength in a combined effort.
Come on, you son of a bitch, open, she pleaded as the heat behind her grew worse. With a groan, the door gave way and flew open, and Cooper and Celina fell through the open doorway.
Thank God.
Smoke billowed out of the opening as Cooper scooped her up and carried her a safe distance away before he sank to his knees. His hands ran over her face, shoving the biohazard suit aside as he checked for injuries. “Are you okay? Did anything get hurt?”
With a small cry, Celina threw her arms around him and buried her face against his neck. They were alive. Her eyes still watered and her lungs burned from all the smoke, but thank God, they were alive.
“I’m fine,” she finally managed to get out shakily, leaning back to find his face. They were both coughing. “How about you?”
“Well, I think I now know what a three-pack-a-day smoker’s lungs might feel like,” he joked lightly, grimacing with the movement. He coughed and spit, wiping at his face and the sweat coating it, and making the smudges worse.
It was then that Celina noticed the blood on his sleeve.
“You’re hurt.” She grabbed his arm, lifting the sleeve to take a look. It was a nasty gash, the blood mixing with the ash covering his skin. “You need stitches.”
Cooper shrugged away and she noticed more blood on the back of his shirt. “I’m fine, we can worry about that later.”
“You’re bleeding here, too,” she said, trying to figure out where the blood around the back of the Kevlar vest was coming from. Some of the falling debris must have nailed him.
He took her hands and held them in his. “Right now we need to see if anyone else was able to get out.”
A sobering thought considering their friends were inside. She watched as Cooper dug out his cell to hit Nelson’s number, putting it on speaker. As the phone rang, she couldn’t seem to stop the million thoughts flying through her mind. What if they were hurt? What if they were all…dead?
“Please tell me what the fuck just happened,” Nelson said by way of a hello. Celina could tell that his teeth were clenched.
“All I know is the explosion was real and it was big,” Cooper ground out.
“What the ever-livin’ fuck?”
Cooper sighed like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. “Yeah, looks like someone used our training session as a cover to engineer an actual terrorist event.”
“Boss, I hate to say this,”—his voice dropped low and was hesitant—"but Roman and I can’t find…Celina.”
Cooper gripped Celina’s hand as another coughing fit hit. She leaned toward the phone and relieved Nelson’s fears. “I’m okay. I’m with Cooper. We made it out—barely.”
“Thank God,” Nelson said.
Cooper wiped his mouth on his sleeve and blinked at the sweat dripping into his eyes. “What’s the status in there?”
“We’re trapped on the basketball court, the ceiling in the hallway completely collapsed. My leg is busted, so Roman is playing nursemaid.”
A curse rose in the background that Celina assumed belonged to Roman. Somehow she didn’t picture the large man as the nursemaid type.
She unzipped her suit, allowing air inside. It wasn’t much help since the air temperature was so hot. “Any sign of Polly?” she asked, almost afraid to.
“Negative,” Nelson gasped, pausing for a second, “but I saw her and the doctor guy from the bar last night heading to the water containment area shortly before it happened. We’re hoping they got out too.”
She dittoed that hope . As Nelson continued to report on the casualties and the real search and rescue now kicking into gear, Celina’s gaze drifted to the entrance of the alley. A piece of warped, melted metal lay on the pavement.
She released Cooper’s hand, hearing s
irens in the distance and people yelling from the sidewalk, as she made her way toward the alley.
The parked ambulance she’d spotted earlier was now completely blown apart, leaving only a smoking hull where the vehicle used to sit.
Car bomb, her mind instantly asserted.
Or, in this case, ambulance bomb.
The side of the arena here was half gone and completely engulfed in flames. That’s how the fire had spread so quickly when they were in the loading area, she realized. It was being fed by the fire outside.
“Looks like a bomb in the loading bay area, must have been brought in with one of the supply trucks,” she heard Cooper say, bringing her back to the conversation. He was making his way toward her, scanning the area.
“No it wasn’t, look.” She pointed. “It was in the back of that ambulance. That’s where our EMT guy was heading when he left the training session.”
Cooper stared at the smoking hull, then glanced at Celina. She could tell he was putting two and two together, so she wasn’t surprised when a curse fell from his lips. “Fuck.”
Goose bumps rose on her still-hot skin as she made out more damage through the flames. “Oh, no. The hotel has damage too.”
“Sophie,” Nelson ground out, agony in his voice. “I’ve got to call her.”
The line disconnected. Celina’s heart sank. Sophie had stayed behind in her and Nelson’s room while they went to the training session, and their room overlooked the sports arena.
Shit.
“We need to get over there, now,” Celina rezipped her suit, heart thumping against her rib cage. A burst of adrenaline took over, the need to get to Sophie outweighing the burning in her lungs.
“Let’s see if Cruz gets—” Cooper’s phone rang. “Nelson? Did you reach her?”
Even without the speaker phone on, she heard his reply. “No! She’s not answering her cell and the hotel phone seems to be down.”
“We’re on it, Cruz,” Cooper reassured his friend, his serious eyes finding Celina’s. Unspoken words drifted between them. There was no need to state the obvious. Sophie was so close to her due date and not feeling all that well. A blast like this could send her into early labor. The sooner they got to her, the better. “I’ll call you when we have something to report. Just take it easy and wait for the rescue crews to do their thing.”