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Before he could speak again, he heard Abby cry out.
“Mum!”
Both men jumped, racing to the living room.
“Abby, what is it?” Scott had gotten ahead of him, blocking Zep’s view. He stepped around him.
Rachel lay against the sofa, her head resting at a strange angle. Scott dropped to his knees, rubbing her chest with his fist and calling her name. Abby shifted her mother’s head, stroking her cheek and she said her name over and over. Her skin was grey, and she wasn’t responding to anyone’s attempts to wake her.
“We were sitting here, talking.” Abby was breathing hard. “And she just passed out.”
“Her breathing’s shallow. We need to get her to hospital,” said Scott. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
“No.” Zep woke from the nightmare unfolding in front of him. “It's too risky and it’ll be faster if we drive.”
Scott nodded. “You got a car?”
“I’ll get it.” Zep glanced at Abby, cradling her mother in her arms and begging her to wake up, before heading for the door. The SUV was parked a block over, in the driveway of a vacant house. He moved quickly, scanning his surroundings for any sign of trouble. A woman walking her dog on the other side of the road was the only sign of life.
He reached the SUV and got inside, driving the vehicle without bothering with his seatbelt, the car protesting with its infuriating beeping. Worry for Rachel consumed him, his hands gripping the steering wheel. The urgency of the situation magnified with each passing second. How could she be sitting there, as right as rain one minute, and unconscious the next?
The car barely slowed as he pulled into the drive. The front door opened and Abby appeared, weighed down with a number of bags. Behind her, Scott carried Rachel in his arms. She looked so thin and lifeless. The ache in Zep’s gut grew sharper. He left the motor running as he jumped out of the SUV and opened the back door. Taking the bags from Abby, he threw them in the tray. She jumped into the back seat and Scott manoeuvred Rachel inside, her head resting on Abby’s lap.
“You lock up,” Zep said to Scott. He pulled the seatbelt around Rachel’s body as best he could, hoping it would hold her once they were moving.
“You good?” he asked Abby.
Her face was pale, panic straining her features. She nodded, her eyes never leaving her mother’s face.
Zep closed the door just as Scott got into the driver’s seat. “It’ll be faster if I drive, and easier if we attract a traffic cop’s attention.”
Zep nodded. He hauled himself into the passenger seat, removing the gun from his jeans. He double checked the clip, then held the gun between his knees. He wasn’t taking any chances.
Scott backed out of the driveway, then hit the accelerator. As the SUV approached an intersection, Zep’s instincts screamed that something wasn't right. He scanned the area as the SUV slowed to avoid the cars travelling on the crossroad.
Just as his eyes fixed on a movement on the far pavement, a deafening explosion ripped through the tranquil neighbourhood. The blast sent shockwaves through the air, rattling the windows of the car. The SUV rocked violently, swerving dangerously close to colliding with a parked car.
Zep swore. Abby screamed as Scott dragged the car back on course, jerking them in their seats. Rachel remained unconscious.
“What was that?” Scott yelled.
Zep twisted in his seat. The blast had come from the direction of Rachel’s house. He craned his neck, but all he could see was a cloud of black smoke. In his back pocket, his phone rang.
“Brodie?”
“Zep, where are you?” His alarm radiated down the line.
“We’re headed towards the hospital. Where are you and the boys?”
“Just arrived at Rachel’s. Did you all get out? Who’s injured?”
Sirens sounded. Zep looked over his shoulder again at the billowing black cloud of smoke. “Everyone’s accounted for. What are you talking about?”
“Zep, that explosion?” There was a lot of noise in the background now.
“What the fuck was that?”
“It was Rachel’s cottage.”
