Page 55 of Maverick Detective Dad
“Kill the alarm,” Noah instructed her. The beeps wouldn’t help them now, and they ran the risk of masking other sounds.
Because she wasn’t especially steady, it took Everly a moment to get her phone from her pocket, and she silenced the alarm. Noah wished he could take a moment to try to reassure her. To let her know that he would do everything possible to get them out of this, but there wasn’t time. Later, he’d try to make up for the huge mistake of allowing her to come here.
“What happened?” Noah heard Helen shout.
But Noah ignored her and ended the call. He didn’t want the distraction of the woman’s wails especially since those wails could be masking the sounds of a killer. He didn’t believe Helen was a willing participant in the murders, but that didn’t mean Bobby, Jared or River wouldn’t use her in some way to make it easier to get to Everly and him.
“We need to get out of here,” he told Everly though she was already well aware of that. Judging from the smell, the explosions had also set off a fire in her bedroom. “When we get to the front door, you stay to the side. I’ll unlock it and let Molina know we’re coming out.”
Noah didn’t want Everly and him hit with friendly fire, and the explosion had likely put Molina on edge. He’d need to call out to the deputy to let him know they were coming out of the house.
That had huge risks.
Because the killer would hear him as well. But it couldn’t be helped. Even a text or phone call to Molina could be an alert, too. Noah suspected the killer was out there, waiting. Maybe to see if the explosives would end their lives or if he’d try to do that with a secondary attack.
It was impossible to pick out the sound of something like footsteps. Not with debris and maybe even the roof falling in the bedroom. Added to that, the storm wasn’t cooperating. The rain was still coming down hard which might turn out to be a blessing though, if there was indeed a fire. It could mean Everly’s house might not end up burning to the ground since there was no way Noah could risk calling out the fire department right now.
After some long moments where too many bad thoughts fired through his head, they made it to the front door, and Everly automatically moved to the side. She also started firing gazes around the living room and kitchen. Looking for a killer who might be on the verge of ambushing them.
An ambush could certainly happen, but Noah was betting this vigilante wanted them outside. If not, why not just gun them down when they returned from the hospital? Or hell, when Everly and he had been in the bathroom? No, this and the explosive were part of some plan, and Noah had to be ready for, well, anything.
He unlocked the door and eased it open. The headlights to Helen’s car were still on and were cutting through the slashing rain, but Noah didn’t see the woman.
Molina was nowhere in sight either.
Noah already had a bad feeling about this, but that bad feeling soared when he heard the engine. Not Helen’s car. But Molina’s SUV.
The SUV started toward the house.
“Stay back,” Noah told Everly, though that, too, was a risk if another explosive went off.
“Molina?” Noah called out.
No answer. Not from a person anyway. But the driver of the SUV revved the engine and sped right toward them. The big SUV had a reinforced bumper that plowed right through the wooden porch.
Noah jumped back, trying to push Everly out of the path. But he was too late. The SUV slammed into the house. Glass and wood flew, but that didn’t cause the biggest jolt. No. That had come from the back of the house.
From another bomb.
There was a loud thundering boom, and the roof caved in on them.
Chapter Seventeen
One second Everly was standing, and the next second, she found herself on the floor. Or rather what was left of the floor. Her house was literally falling down around them, and that wasn’t all.
There was another explosion.
This one came from the rear of the house, from the direction of the back porch. Mercy. The killer was trying to bury them alive.
Everly shoved away some of the debris from her face, and she tried to get up so she could find Noah. Hard to do what with the rain now pouring through what was left of the ceiling. The rain ran down her face, stinging her eyes. The smoke wasn’t helping either. Despite the rain, there was white smoke billowing through the house.
Groaning, she managed to sit up, and she silently cursed when she didn’t see Noah. Or the gun he’d given her. She’d dropped it in the fall, and she was very much afraid she might need it.
She heard Noah make a sound of sharp pain. A hoarse groan. And Everly tried to clear her head and her eyes so she could see him. The relief came when she felt the hand take hold of her arm and yank her from the debris.
Then, the relief vanished when she saw it wasn’t Noah.
This was the man in the dark raincoat, the one who’d crawled through the window.
