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The soundof her car exploding froze me for a split second, then I jumped out and raced around my Suburban. The corner of her hood had bent skyward, and flames shot out.
“Serena?” I yelled.
She hadn’t gotten out, and I could see panic on her face as she struggled with the door. I tried the door handle, but it was locked. I grabbed my weapon and hit the glass. It didn’t break.
Nothing. Smoke had filled the inside of the small car, and she screamed my name.
“Cover your eyes,” I yelled. Releasing the safety, I aimed behind the seat and shot the edge of the window. It cracked, and after that, two strikes with the butt of my SIG and the window gave way.
Serena coughed terribly as I reached in and wrestled the door open. I holstered my weapon and pulled her out and away. She clung to me, continuing to cough.
“Hands up.”
Turning, I found two marshals advancing with their guns drawn and another talking into his radio.
I kept one arm around my coughing girl and raised the other. “I had to shoot out the window to get her free.”
One of the marshals pulled Serena away while the other took my weapon and frisked me.
Lucas would surely blame me for not checking the car again before letting her—or, in this case, telling her—to get in. It was a rookie mistake to assume that since I’d checked it earlier, it was still clean.
I was not paid to make rookie mistakes.
But none of that mattered. Serena was safe, and that was the important thing. I’d let her push my buttons, and my emotions cloud my judgment. I wouldn’t let that happen again. I couldn’t.
An hour later,the fire crew was cleaning up, the marshals had finished asking me questions, and Serena’s car was being loaded onto a flatbed.
Terry had arrived, and I’d looped Lucas in on the events.
“Wanna tell me why your client had a bomb placed in her car?” LAPD Lieutenant Marcus Wellbourne asked.
I looked up. “You know I can’t.”
Several years ago, when Lucas had specialized in kidnapping cases, he’d located the lieutenant’s wife andneutralizedthe kidnapper. That had made Marcus our go-to guy at the LAPD and earned us the kind of consideration within the department that money couldn’t buy.
He shrugged. “The bomb squad says it was tiny—basically an M-eighty meant to send a message, not kill her. The fire investigator says the guy placed it too close to the fuel manifoldand the battery. Otherwise, it would have only blown the hood off, nothing else.”
“Thanks.”Message fucking received, asshole.
Marcus offered me my weapon. “I’ve smoothed things over with the marshals, but next time, have your accident off of federal property. It’ll make my job easier.”
“Hey, Marcus, one more thing. Don’t let this get back to Serena’s father.”
His brows creased. “Okay, I’ll try, but if he finds out, it’s your ass in the wringer, not mine. Now get outta here.”
I collected Serena from the paramedics.
She snuggled against me. “I can’t thank you enough. Now I owe you too.”
This wasn’t the time nor the place to question her about anything, so I bundled her into my car for the ride home.
Serena
As we drove back,I kept looking over at Duke and thanking my lucky stars that he’d been close. While they were cleaning up, the fire guys had said the explosion was only meant to scare me.Mission accomplished.
To avoid obsessing, I forced myself to shift gears and consider the barbecue coming up at my parents’ place this weekend. Duke clearly did not want to go, but the way I’d felt for just the short few minutes we’d played boyfriend and girlfriend in front of Katelyn convinced me we could pull it off. Bringing him would be perfect.
Would I also feel a little empowered that I got to tell big, grumpy Duke what to do for a change? Yeah, that too.
