by Siara Brandt
Ailin had made it safely out the back door of Beau’s Bar and Grill. She carefully threaded her way down the deserted alleyways, making it all the way to the waist-high picket fence that bordered Elthea Tullitt‘s yard.
Why she thought of Elthea’s house as a safe haven she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was the stone wall that started where the white picket fence ended. It might have been the two sheds in back of the house that helped to further enclose the big yard. Or maybe it was the bigness of the old house itself. She didn’t stop to analyze her decision. The three-story Victorian loomed before her like a lighthouse in a storm.
Elthea’s neat beds of old-fashioned, vibrant flowers were famous in Willow Grove, second only to her prized lilacs and the sheltering fringe of white pines along the back of the property. Perhaps Ailin thought that the lilacs and the pines could hide her, too.
Stay calm, she whispered to herself. But her heart was hammering against her chest like the drumbeat on a slave ship.
She knew she wasn’t safe yet. Not by a long shot. She slipped into the cooler shadows of the lilac bushes around the perimeter of Elthea’s picture-perfect yard. The sounds of gunfire and screams in the distance unnerved her, but she fought against giving herself over to mob hysteria. She couldn’t let that guide her actions. She knew that survival meant clear thinking.
Not that she didn’t want to run. She wanted to be far away from here. She wanted to be anywhere else. She wanted to be home. But she stayed right where she was. She wasn’t going anywhere until she knew it was safe to do so. Screaming and running blindly through a hail of bullets wasn’t an option.
But she did scream when a bullet, maybe more than one, tore through the wood picket fence not far from where she was hiding, sending a shower of splinters right at her. There were more shots, but she stayed frozen like a deer in headlights. She was too terrified of becoming a moving target.
So she waited. And she prayed. And she clutched the little dog closely to her, maybe to comfort herself as much as to comfort him.
It wasn’t time to panic yet, she told herself. But as her deep breaths rasped in and out of her lungs, she was fighting the urge to do just that. That’s when she smelled smoke.
She looked up and saw grey smoke pouring out of Elthea‘s upstairs windows. The big house was on fire, she realized in stunned shock. While she was looking up, someone, or something, ran right by her, so fast it was only a blur, but she heard heavy breathing. Whoever it was disappeared without even being aware of her hiding place.
There was another explosion. Thick black smoke started rising over the trees a few blocks away. Closer, she heard the crackle of flames. The smell of smoke was getting stronger. Big plumes of dark smoke were spiraling out of the downstairs windows now. The wind must have veered because it brought the smoke to her. She breathed in two lungfuls of acrid smoke. Immediately, she started coughing.
She knew she had to find another hiding place because this obviously wasn’t the safest place to be. The whole house would soon be engulfed in flames. In fact, the whole town might burn down, Ailin realized, because she didn’t hear one single siren. She looked up at the house, thankful because she knew that Elthea wasn’t home right now. But how devastating it was going to be when Elthea did return home to find her house gone.
Ailin was near enough to feel the heat of the fire now. When a vortex of flames began shooting out of one of the downstairs windows not far away from her, Ailin knew she had to move. If even a part of the structure collapsed, she would be in danger of being buried alive beneath red-hot debris. With the instinct of any panicked animal fleeing from a fire, Ailin turned and bolted away from the flames.
Black smoke was pouring out of the windows of the big house in front of him. Eli could see orange tongues of flame begin to waver greedily through the smoke. He took his helmet off impatiently and felt a slight breeze tease the damp strands of his hair. But the sun was still blazing down with a vengeance and it combined with the heat from the fire. He wiped the sweat away from his brow with his sleeve.
Rafe was with him. He was holding his arm and his sleeve was dark with blood. He had taken a bullet and he needed medical care as soon as possible, but whatever kind of wound Rafe had was going to have to wait until they got out of the line of fire. They were off the main street but bullets were still flying everywhere.
With Rafe following close behind him, Eli edged along the yard of the burning house, trampling down flowers with his combat boots and impatiently shoving branches out of his way, and wondering what the hell their next move was going to be.
Glass shattered. The fire was quickly devouring the old house. It was a three-story house so it was going to be a big fire. The flames were almost roaring now. That’s when he froze. He sensed something in the bushes straight ahead of him. His hand automatically dropped to his leg holster. He already had his weapon drawn when two people came out into the open. It was a man and a woman. They were both middle-aged and they were both wearing back packs.
The guy had a gun trained on him. And Eli had his gun trained on the guy. Nobody moved. Well aware that guns in the hands of civilians could be a very dangerous thing, Eli knew he had to defuse the situation. And fast. There was one thing he knew for certain. He wasn’t going to shoot these people down in cold blood. No matter what his orders were. Even if they were armed.
So he took a chance. A dangerous one. He gave the universal sign of surrender with his palm outward while he lowered his own gun. Real easy.
No one spoke. Probably because there was nothing to say. They all had the same thing on their minds. To get out of the line of fire and out of danger. To get out of this alive. The man lowered his own weapon and by tacit agreement everyone agreed to go their own way. And that’s just what they did.
Ailin could no longer see through the thick smoke in the yard. With her eyes watering, she flailed around in the bushes like one of those zombies they were talking about. She dropped her purse somewhere in the bushes. She was about to search for it, when the dog must have had enough, too. He wiggled out of her arms in spite of her efforts to hold him, and bolted. The last she saw of him he was running past Lloyd Jensen‘s garage.
It was too late to call him back, but she decided to go after him. She had just cleared the bushes when someone appeared out of nowhere, grabbed her arms and jerked her forward. She stumbled badly in the too-big shoes and hit something that felt like a brick wall. Only this wall was distinctly male and instead of bricks, it was made out of solid muscle.
She gasped audibly and took in a deep breath of the man’s scent. Right before he shoved her backward and pressed her tightly against the stone wall that bordered Elthea’s yard.
She had been jarred by the unexpected collision and she wondered dazedly what the heck the man meant by manhandling her like that. Her eyes still stung and now her head hurt. Maybe it was because of the collision, or maybe it was because of the smoke. Or it could have been a combination of both. The smoke was getting thicker and she could feel the heat from the fire against the side of her face. But more than that, she could feel the immoveable male force that was keeping her from going anywhere.
The man’s grip on her arms was like steel bands. She saw that he was wearing camouflage and realized that he was a soldier. One of those same soldiers who were doing the shooting. The ones who had trapped them here in the first place. The ones who had opened fire on defenseless civilians.
When she realized who he was, caution and clear thinking flew right out of her head as she went into survival mode. Frantically, with a renewed surge of adrenaline pumping through her veins, she started to fight.
All Eli’s attention had been on the house engulfed in flames right before him. At least the part of the house that he could see through the smoke. Smoldering embers were drifting all around him and the air was getting damned near breathless. He knew they had to get out of there before the whole house came down on top of them. He was about to do just that and he signaled to Rafe. He had
to take a few steps to avoid some garbage cans. And he had just turned when, without warning, he was slammed to a jarring halt.
Thrown slightly off balance, he didn’t know what stunned him more- the unexpected appearance of the woman out of nowhere. Or her delayed reaction. Probably blinded by the smoke, he saw that she was headed for a collision with the garbage cans, too. But when he tried to yank her out of danger, she fell forward and crashed face-first into his chest. She was blinking rapidly as she pulled back with her tear-filled eyes and tried to focus on his face. Those red-rimmed eyes suddenly widened. And then she started to fight.
Eli easily evaded her first blow. He deflected the next with his shoulder. As she twisted around and tried to run, his arm snaked around her waist. The little fool was going to get herself killed if she ran blindly out into the open, so as he pulled her against his body, he snagged her flailing wrists. Only after some desperate maneuvering did he manage to spin her around and pin her against the stone wall. He did everything he could to keep her there until he could make her understand that he wasn’t going to hurt her.
“Quit fighting me,” he growled behind his clenched teeth, still having trouble subduing her. “You’re going to get us all killed.”
Despite his warning, she made one last desperate, but futile, effort to try and get away from him. And then she went limp. She was still breathing hard, but the fight was apparently out of her. At least temporarily.
“I’m going to let you go. But don’t try to run,” Ailin heard the soldier say. His deep voice was close to her ear, but he still had to raise it to be heard above the crackling of the flames. She wasn’t sure herself what she was going to do. As the fire grew into an inferno, she seemed to be driven by instinct alone. And self-preservation.
Eli gradually loosened his grip on the woman. But when he eased his weight away from her, what he felt next caught him completely by surprise. He was racked by blinding pain as she immediately brought her knee up into the sensitive muscle of his thigh. Caught off guard, the air left his lungs in a raspy groan. That had been hard. Really hard. Of course, he realized that she had probably been aiming for a different place entirely. But still, it hurt like a sonofabitch.
When he saw that she was about to take what might be her one and only opportunity to run from him, he ignored the pain and blocked her path. He had to protect her. It’s what he did. Even if, at the moment, she didn’t look like she wanted to be protected.
With wide, terrified eyes, she held her hands out in front of her, as if that would hold him at bay. “Keep your hands off of me,” she warned. “Or I . . . Or . . . ”
Her tear-stained eyes were darting wildly back and forth, no doubt looking for some kind of weapon that she could use to protect herself.
“Believe me, honey,” Eli rasped. “I wouldn’t even think of touching you again.”
As Eli tried to straighten, he squinted down into the shadowed face that was framed by a profusion of dark curls. Because he had to know his enemy, he was mentally assessing her. The woman was probably in her late twenties. He registered smoke-smudged cheeks. Blue eyes blurred by tears. And a murderous look that would have discouraged most men.
Despite that, he saw that she was an attractive woman. More than attractive actually. For a moment or two he stared in helpless fascination at her sensuously-full lips.
It had been a long time since had been anywhere near a woman. Obviously it had been too long, because he was more than a little surprised that he could let himself get so sidetracked in the dangerous situation they were in. He shook off his wayward thoughts immediately. No matter how deprived he might be for sex, his survival instincts needed to be a priority here.
But she was full of surprises. He arched a dark brow when she glared back at him from beneath those thick black lashes and said, “Get out of my way.”
There were two of them. Ailin saw right away that they were the very same soldiers she had seen on the sidewalk outside of Beau’s Bar and Grill.
Confronted by the Captain who had planted his combat boots directly in her path, Ailin did the only thing she could do. She tried bluffing her way past the man.
He looked formidable. More than formidable actually. He had to be over six feet tall, and she knew by the way he had just manhandled her, that he was all muscle beneath his combat fatigues. His face was even more intimidating.
His eyebrows were dark like his hair. At the moment they were drawn together in a fierce frown. She knew she had hurt him. What she didn’t know was what he was going to do to her because of it. His pale gaze swept over her, starting at her gym-shoe-clad feet and moving slowly upward. She drew in a slow breath, trying to will her limbs to move, because that steely, unwavering stare-down made her feel as if she’d been helplessly frozen to the spot. She felt just like a rabbit must feel when confronted by a hungry mountain lion that is about to pounce.
She could still feel the heat of the man’s fingers burning all the way through the blue fabric of her shirt. Could still feel the press of his chest against her face. His scent was imprinted upon her memory. And so was his voice.
Eli was assessing the woman in purely military terms. She looked like she was more than ready to do battle again if he made any kind of a move towards her. He could easily overpower her, no matter what she tried. But she seemed clueless.
He understood that in her mind she was fighting for her life and that would make her desperate. Possibly dangerous, too, but it definitely would make her unpredictable. At the moment, she stood there unmoving, like she was trying like hell to understand what was going on and how she was going to get past him. But whatever was going through her mind, they weren’t out of danger yet, so he was focused entirely on survival as he took a step towards her.
To Ailin it all felt surreal. Like a scene straight out of a war movie. Complete with helicopters, burning buildings, smoke, explosions and the rattle of bullets in the distance. And soldiers.
“We need to get out of the hot zone,” she heard.
The what? she thought numbly. Was he talking about the fire?
“We can’t stay here.”
Was he talking to her?
She heard the other soldier say, “We can’t leave her behind, Captain.”
The Captain didn’t answer. He scanned their surroundings as if he was evaluating the situation with machine-like precision. Those steel-grey eyes narrowed as they focused on her again.
“If you want to get out of this alive, lady, you need to come with us. Now.”
Getting out of this alive was exactly why she had been fighting him.
She shook her head as she took a step away from him. When she realized she couldn’t go any farther, she held her ground like a cornered wildcat. And she held that position. Until part of the house suddenly collapsed with a loud whoosh and burning beams scattered all over the lawn.
“We need to get away from this house- ” Eli began. He’d seen, through the smoke, the gas meter on the side of the house.
But the stubborn woman before him looked more confused with each passing second.
Fine. If that’s the way she wanted it.
He picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her outraged gasps and her frightened squeaks. Then he headed down the alleyway at double quick.
Only when they reached the back porch of another big house down the block did he lower her wriggling body to the ground. Paying no attention to her sputtering protests at all, he shoved her unceremoniously into the corner of a brick fireplace. And then, once again, he held her pinned there with his big body.
“Wh- What are you d- ” Her voice was muffled against his shirt, but she didn’t get a chance to finish. There was a massive explosion as Elthea Tullitt‘s house disintegrated in a huge ball of fire.
The soldier kept her covered with his own body, protecting her from the blast and the flying debris. One hand was braced on the wall behind her as he leaned into her. The other hand held tightly onto her waist, probably to
make sure she didn’t bolt.
A second explosion followed the first. And like the first one, it shook the entire neighborhood.
This time Ailin was clinging to the camouflage jacket. “What’s going on?” Her voice was shaking. This time her pale blue eyes didn’t even bother to hide her fear as she stared up at him.
But he didn’t give her any answers. Like he was used to making split-second decisions and having his orders immediately obeyed, he said, “We need to get out of here. Let’s go.”
He gave some kind of military hand signal, but she still hesitated. “Who are you?”
“Your best bet right now for staying alive.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You don’t have to understand. You just have to follow me.”
There was another explosion. That shut her up, Eli saw. He didn’t have to tell her again to follow him. That was good because they had already wasted enough precious time.
As Ailin stared at the man’s broad back right in front of her, she knew there was nothing else for her to do but to follow him. What else could she do? He was experienced at this. She wasn’t. She didn’t resist as they headed straight for the cornfield west of town and the heavy woods that bordered it.
Chapter 11
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She wasn’t like most women Eli encountered. She didn’t cower before him. She didn’t back down. And she held her ground in a way that few men would have done. She had guts. He had to give her that.
That didn’t mean she was smart, but she was definitely scared. There was no denying that. But to be fair to her, this was probably the first time she had ever been in a combat zone, and it was likely the first time she’d been under fire. It was surely the first time she had nearly been blown up. He knew he should cut her some slack, but he was trying to keep them all alive. Sentiment didn’t enter the equation. And so far there hadn’t been any time for lengthy explanations. He had to treat her like any soldier under his command.
