by Laura Scott
But knowing that Tess would suffer—and probably die if he failed—elevated the tension to a whole new level.
He twisted several of the wires and found the bogus ones, holding his breath as he clipped them and tugged them from the clay inside the box. When he was down to four wires remaining, he wiped his brow with his forearm.
“Five minutes and counting,” Isaac said in his ear.
He didn’t want to think about what Tess was going through right now. She hadn’t said a word as he worked, not even to ask how close he was to disarming the bomb.
“I’ve got four wires left. The rest were decoys,” he informed Isaac. “They’re all the same color, so I have no way of knowing which one is the ground, which one is attached to the timer and which one is the live wire leading to the fuse.”
“You can do it, Deck,” his teammate said. “Go with your gut.”
Normally that was good advice. But not now. Not when Tess was the one who’d die alongside him if he failed.
He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, trying to imagine what the device looked like on the inside. With Tess’s knee pressed up against the trigger, he hadn’t been able to get the casing off to see for himself.
“Three minutes and counting,” Isaac said.
“Dear Lord, please guide Declan,” Tess whispered. “If it be Your will, give him the wisdom and strength to disarm this bomb. We ask for Your mercy and grace, Amen.”
Tess’s prayer caught him off guard, but then again, praying certainly couldn’t hurt. He opened his eyes, and lifted the wire cutters.
“Two minutes, ten seconds and counting,” Isaac told him.
Declan stared at the wires. He grabbed the one that was farthest away from the timer. If he were the one creating the bomb, he would thread it through to come out the opposite end as a confusion tactic. He clipped it with the wire cutters. The timer stopped and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ve got it,” he muttered. He clipped the next wire and relaxed when the bomb didn’t blow. “Tess, I want you to slowly move your knee away from the box.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, fear evident in her tone.
“I’m sure.”
She moved her knee and the trigger popped back out. And then nothing. Relief flooded him. He’d done it. But the danger wasn’t over quite yet.
“I’m going to ease out from under here, okay?” Declan slid out on his back, until his head was clear. He rose to his feet and then slowly pulled her chair back until her knees were free. He helped her to her feet and she clutched his arms, as if her legs weren’t strong enough to hold her up.
“I need you to get out of here. I still have to get rid of this thing.”
“Come with me,” she begged.
“Shh, it’s okay.” He pulled her close for a quick, reassuring hug, before he spoke into his radio. “The teacher is clear, I’m sending her out.”
“Roger, Deck. Good work.”
“Go now, and I’ll be out shortly, okay?” He hated pushing her away, but he needed her to be safe.
She stumbled a bit but then managed to get out of the classroom under her own power.
After summoning Isaac inside to lend a hand, he shoved Tess’s chair out of the way and peered beneath the desk. The device had been neutralized for the moment.
But until they’d safely taken it off the desk and placed it inside the cast-iron container, there was still a chance it could detonate.
Blowing him and everything around him to smithereens.
* * *
Tess shivered and rubbed her hands over her arms, chilled to the bone despite the warm September sunshine. She hadn’t wanted to leave, not until she knew Declan and the rest of the SWAT team were safe. Thankfully, no one asked her to; in fact, they requested that she stay, explaining that she still needed to give a statement.
The parking area was deserted, although there were plenty of cops along the perimeter. She saw a flash of green out of the corner of her eye, and when she swung around to look, she glimpsed a man wearing a green baseball cap, brown shirt and blue jeans hurrying away. She stared for a moment, thinking he looked familiar, but then shrugged it off. No doubt, he’d been told to steer clear of the crime scene by one of the officers.
“What’s taking so long?” she asked after a long thirty-five minutes had passed.
The guy in charge, who’d introduced himself as Griff Vaughn, barely spared her a glance. “They’re trying to cut through your metal desk in order to remove the device. They need to get it inside the steel box for safe transport and disposal.”
Logically, she understood what they needed to do, but she was still inwardly reeling from seeing Declan Shaw again. He looked different from the eighteen-year-old she remembered. Granted, he still had his dark brown hair and penetrating ice-blue eyes, but he was bigger, more muscular than before. And his face had matured, as well. Back when he was younger, he’d worn his dark hair long enough to brush his shoulders, but now it was cut military short, giving him a tough, no-nonsense look.
They’d been as completely opposite as two people could be, yet she felt oddly connected to him, just the same.
How ironic to meet him again in yet another circumstance where she needed to be rescued.
“They’re coming out, boss.”
“I see them. Caleb, get the woman out of here.”
“Come on, ma’am,” Caleb said, taking her arm.
She didn’t want to leave the vicinity, but since she wasn’t exactly given a choice, she allowed the tall, lean, dark-haired man to hustle her away. She glanced up at him, remembering the brief conversation between the guys, when Declan wanted someone to take her place. Caleb was the one who had just gotten remarried, and he had a young daughter. She found herself wondering what it was like for his wife to know he went into dangerous situations every day. She shivered and imagined it couldn’t be easy.
“We’re clear,” Caleb said into his mic.
They were too far away for her to see much, but she shielded her eyes with her hand anyway, catching a glimpse of Declan and Isaac carefully carrying a large box between them as they stepped slowly across the school parking lot. They tucked the box inside the back of the armored truck and then shut the back doors.
The two men spoke for a few minutes before the sandy-haired one opened the driver’s door and slid behind the wheel. Declan jogged over to where she and Caleb were waiting.
“Good job, Deck,” Caleb said as he approached.
Declan brushed off the praise with a quick shrug and focused his intense gaze on her. “Tess, we need to talk.”
This must be the part where she was to give her statement. She nodded and Declan took her arm, guiding her over to another sheriff’s department vehicle parked in the shade of a tall maple tree that was just barely beginning to change colors in the warm autumn sun. She glanced over her shoulder, watching thankfully as the armored truck drove away with the bomb.
She slid into the backseat, feeling inexplicably nervous when Declan joined her. He turned sideways in the seat so he could face her.
“I need you to start at the beginning,” Declan said as he pulled out his notebook.
Tess explained how the events transpired in the classroom before she inadvertently triggered the bomb.
“How often do you sit at your desk during the day?” he asked.
“Hardly ever,” she admitted. “I tend to stand in front of the room and walk around as I’m teaching, but I do sit down for tests. And at noon, since I normally eat a bag lunch at my desk while grading papers.”
He nodded, jotting down a few notes. “Do you have anyone who might be holding a grudge against you? A boyfriend? Maybe an ex-husband?”
She blushed and glanced down at her hands entwined in her lap. “No, I’m not seeing anyone and I
’ve never been married.”
“Tess, this is important,” Declan persisted, his gaze serious. “I need you to tell me anything in your personal life that might be remotely connected to this.”
She didn’t understand what he was getting at. “What? Why?”
Declan paused for a moment. “I believe your desk was chosen on purpose. And if you’re the target, we need to figure out what connection you have to the perp.”
TWO
Tess instinctively wanted to protest, but the somber expression on Declan’s face forced her to bite her tongue. She thought back over the past few months. Pathetic as it sounded, she led a boring, noneventful life. She volunteered at the church, playing piano for the choir, and couldn’t imagine anyone who’d want to hurt her.
She didn’t have any enemies that she was aware of. In fact, she couldn’t even think of one single thing that she’d done to make anyone angry.
The thought that someone might have purposefully planted a bomb under her desk made her feel sick. She glanced at Declan, grateful to know she wasn’t alone. Just like ten years ago, she felt safe with him sitting beside her.
“There isn’t anyone I can think of,” she said finally. “The last guy I dated was the vice principal of Greenland Middle School, but he moved last year to take a principal position down in Missouri. I’m sure Jeff would never do something like this.”
“What’s his full name?” Declan asked, a frown puckered in his brow.
She sighed. “Jeff Berg. And I’m telling you, he’s not involved.”
“How long were you two seeing each other?”
She grimaced, wondering if this interrogation was really necessary. “A little less than four months. We weren’t engaged or anything. When he told me about the job offer, I was happy for him.”
“You didn’t want to follow him to Missouri?”
She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling defensive. Maybe she once had a silly schoolgirl crush on the younger version of Declan, especially after he’d saved her from that disastrous prom date with Steve Gains, but at the moment, she didn’t much like the man he’d become. Declan was all business, determined to get to the bottom of whatever connection he thought she had to the person who’d planted the bomb under her desk. There wasn’t a speck of personalization in his tone.
In that moment, he reminded her too much of her father. The thought was enough to get her ridiculous schoolgirl emotions back under control.
“No, I didn’t. Are we finished now? I need to get back to my colleagues.”
“We sent everyone home...there won’t be any school for the rest of the week,” Declan said bluntly. “But I’d be happy to take you home.”
“I don’t need a ride, I have my car here.” She pushed open her door and slid out of the seat, determined to get away from Declan’s overwhelming presence and clear her mind.
She didn’t get very far, because within seconds he’d caught up with her, lightly grasping her arm. “Tess, wait.”
She stopped and glared at him over her shoulder. “For what?”
“Just give me a few minutes, okay? Which car is yours?” he asked.
“The grayish blue Honda Civic parked beneath the large maple tree,” she retorted. “Why? Don’t tell me you think there’s a bomb planted there, too?”
“I’m going to make sure there isn’t,” Declan answered grimly.
What? Tess gaped at him in shock. She hadn’t been serious when she made that remark, but it was clear that Declan really believed she was in danger. As upset as she was with him, when he let go of her arm, she missed his warmth.
Tess folded her arms over her chest, feeling vulnerable and alone as Declan crossed over to talk to Caleb. The two of them jogged across the parking lot to where she’d left her car and dropped to the ground to search underneath it.
She didn’t want to think that she was the target of some crazy bomber, but it was difficult not to be afraid when Declan so clearly believed she was.
Maybe Declan was just being overly cautious. She simply couldn’t imagine what she’d done to cause someone to hate her enough to plant a bomb under her desk, risking not only her life but those of her students.
There had to be some mistake.
* * *
“I can’t see much,” Deck muttered, flashing his light across the undercarriage of Tess’s car.
“The car is too close to the ground,” Caleb agreed. “I can’t even get my head under there, can you?”
He shook his head. “Nope. I can’t see anything obvious, but we’ll need to get it up on a ramp to be sure.”
“Yeah, good plan,” Caleb agreed.
Declan took one last look before he reluctantly rose to his feet. No way was he going to let Tess drive the vehicle until he was certain it was safe. He caught Caleb’s gaze across the hood of her car. “Maybe we should send a team to check out her house, too.”
His friend lifted an eyebrow. “You really think she’s the target?”
Declan nodded, unable to explain the niggling sensation that told him he was on the right track. “I do. But I can’t prove it, at least not yet.”
Caleb let out a low whistle. “Good luck trying to get Griff to buy your theory.”
“I know.” Declan understood their boss dealt with facts, not feelings. “Although it doesn’t really matter if he believes me, since he’ll expect us to cover all possibilities as we investigate anyway. All I have to do is come up with a plan to keep Tess safe.”
“Well, good luck with that, too,” Caleb said, flashing him a wry grin.
Yeah, he already knew Tess wasn’t going to like his idea of forcing her to go underground, but he wasn’t going to accept no for an answer. Not when her life was potentially in danger.
As he walked closer to Tess, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from her. Even wearing her business casual teacher’s attire—gray slacks paired with a bright pink sweater—she was more beautiful now than she’d been ten years ago, decked out in her fancy prom dress. Why on earth had that Jeff dude let her go so easily? Something didn’t seem right with that scenario, and he silently promised himself to double-check the guy’s whereabouts for the time frame in question.
“Did you find anything?” she asked, breaking into his thoughts.
He hated seeing the fear lurking in the depths of her amber eyes. “No, but we couldn’t get underneath your car to really check things out.”
“So now what?” she asked wearily. “I really need to get home.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing there was an easier way to get her to go along with his plan. “I’m going to take you to my place for a while,” he said slowly. “Just until we can verify that your car and your home haven’t been tampered with.”
Her eyes widened. “I don’t think so,” she said firmly. “My younger brother gets out of school at three o’clock, and I intend to be home when he gets there.”
“Your brother?” Now he was the one who was taken by surprise. “I didn’t know you had a brother.”
“Bobby is ten years younger than I am, so you wouldn’t remember him,” she explained. “He’s a senior at Greenland High School.”
Deck frowned. “And he lives with you and not your parents?”
She hesitated and then nodded. “My parents died in a car crash right after my college graduation. Bobby was only eleven, so I used my science degree to become a teacher and moved into my parents’ home so he wouldn’t have to switch schools.”
He was impressed that she took on the responsibility of raising her brother, and that also explained why she didn’t follow her dream to become a doctor. There’d be time to find out more about that later, because right now he needed to stay focused.
“Okay, then you can both come to stay at my place.” Declan underst
ood Tess wasn’t about to expose her brother to danger, and he didn’t blame her. “At least until we know you’re safe.”
Tess sighed. “Look, I know you’re being extra careful, and I do appreciate your concern, but I’m not at all convinced that I’m really in danger. Why is it so hard to believe this bomb was just as random as the other ones?”
“What makes you think the others were random?” Declan countered. “If my memory serves me correctly, you worked at the custard stand during high school. And I’m sure you stopped by the minimart at some point, too.”
The way she dropped her gaze told him he was definitely on the right track.
“In fact, the more I think about it,” he continued, “the more I’m convinced that you really are the target. And I plan to protect you while we figure out what connection you have to the mastermind behind the bombings.”
* * *
Tess didn’t like ultimatums, especially those given by a bossy, take-charge guy like Declan. He was crazy if he thought she was going to let him run her life.
She’d been taking care of herself and her younger brother just fine for the past six years. Jeff had tried to run her life, too, demanding she do things differently, which really meant his way. He’d specifically expected her to be stricter with Bobby which she refused to do. As a result, she’d broken things off with him a few weeks before he’d gotten his promotion. Jeff’s moving away was a blessing in disguise as far as she was concerned.
She refused to believe she was a failure at being a parental role model. She knew firsthand what it was like growing up in a super strict household. Her father had controlled almost every aspect of her life and she’d refused to do the same thing with her brother. Granted, Bobby was going through a rebellious phase, but she didn’t think his behavior was that much different than most teenagers’. Deep down, she knew her brother still loved her. Even if he didn’t often show it.
