Page 105 of Love Bomb

She probably shouldn’t have said insane to the crazy lady.

The woman jabbed the knife at her, her arm waving wildly. “Stop moving! I know you’re just trying to run. Don’t move.”

Rona held up her hands. “Not moving. See. Standing very still.”

“You don’t understand,” the woman wailed. “We were going to have a family together. I had it all worked out.”

She looked wistful for a second, as though she could see it all play out in the air around them. Rona tried to think of a way to get her to stay like that, because it was much better than her pacing the room.

Suddenly, things changed again, and her captor glared at Rona. “Then you came back to town. You ruined everything!”

“I’m not here to stay,” Rona said hurriedly. “I’m going home soon. I have an apartment on the outskirts of Edinburgh. It backs onto a field, so my cat can chase mice.”

She remembered a TV show where the police officer stressed you should make your kidnapper see you as a person so they wouldn’t kill you. It sounded like sensible advice.

“My cat is called Tom. He’s a Maine Coon. Have you ever seen a Maine Coon? They’re huge. Like lions. You could see mine if you like. He’s very friendly.”

“Stop talking!” The woman took a threatening step toward Rona, the knife held high. “I need to think.”

Okay, so that didn’t work.

Rona nodded furiously. Her hands were shaking so badly that she pushed them into her coat pockets to get them out of the way.

And felt the stun gun Kirsty had stolen from Benson Security.

Heart racing, mouth dry, her fingers curled around it. Could she use it?

The woman was pacing again. Each step closer to the wall. It wouldn’t take much for the folly to explode. All she had to do was stumble forward, or kick the bricks, or realize she could blow them up just by hitting the charge with her knife.

Rona had to do something to save them both.

As her hand wrapped around the stun gun, she remembered Kirsty’s advice.

“It’s simple,” she’d said. “You press the button and hold the stun gun against the person you want to zap. That’s it.”

Okay, she could totally do that.

Right?

She kept her eyes on the woman as she paced. Each time she got close to the wall and the explosives, Rona held her breath. Sweat was pouring down her back now. A chill of pure dread went through Rona’s body as another thought occurred to her.

What if Bain set off the blast with her still inside?

No. Surely he’d make sure everyone was accounted for before he used the detonator. Wouldn’t he?

Time was running out in more ways than one. If the woman didn’t kill them, Bain might do the job accidentally. Rona had to act. She had to get the woman close enough to use the stun gun.

“It’s too late,” the woman muttered to herself. “I thought I could make him love me, but it’s too late.”

“Let me help with that,” Rona said. “I’ll talk to him for you.”

“Shut up!” the woman screamed and, as Rona hoped, rushed toward her with the knife.

It was now or never.

Rona quickly jumped to the side, out of the way of the knife, and yanked the stun gun out of her pocket. She jammed it against the woman’s side and pressed the button.

A lightning storm passed through Rona’s body.