LITMIR.BIZ

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gave her a fresh jolt of adrenaline.

      They were stuck here. Right where the killer could get them. And this time, he just might succeed.

      This nightmare wasn’t over. It was just beginning.

      “Try to level your breathing,” Cord told her. “I don’t want you to hyperventilate.”

      Since she was very close to doing just that, Karina tried to slow down her breathing. Tried to steady her heartbeat, too. She wasn’t very successful at doing either.

      “Jericho should be here any minute,” Cord assured her.

      She wasn’t sure if that was wishful thinking or if he’d gotten confirmation of that when he’d used the ambulance’s radio. Karina certainly didn’t hear any sirens.

      But then she also didn’t hear their attacker taunting them.

      “Is he still out there?” she asked, and wasn’t aware she was holding her breath until her lungs started to ache.

      Cord didn’t jump to answer her. He continued to look around. “I don’t see him. That doesn’t mean he’s not there.”

      True. “You’ll have to warn Jericho.” She didn’t want the sheriff driving into a trap.

      “He knows,” Cord assured her. He shifted his position, lifting his head.

      And then he cursed.

      He drew in several more breaths and cursed again.

      “Can you walk?” Cord looked at her first for an answer, then at the bleeding paramedic.

      “Yes,” Karina answered at the same time the paramedic mumbled a not so convincing “yeah.”

      “Why?” she asked.

      But it wasn’t necessary for Cord to answer her because she smelled two things that she didn’t want to smell.

      Gasoline.

      And smoke.

      “Did he set a fire?” she blurted out.

      Cord didn’t answer her question. “We’re getting out of here now. Now!” he ordered, glancing back at the paramedic in front.

      “What’s going on?” the paramedic asked, but despite being dazed and injured, he started climbing over the seat toward them.

      Now, Cord made eye contact with Karina. Their gazes held for a few intense seconds. “When you get out, start running as fast as you can and don’t look back.”

Chapter Three

      Their situation had gone from bad to much, much worse.

      Cord wasn’t sure if he could get Karina and the paramedics out of there alive. Still, he had to try because he didn’t have many options here.

      “Stay out of the ditches,” Cord reminded them.

      Maybe their attacker had lied about putting explosives on both sides of the road, but it was too big of a risk to take. Especially since there had indeed been explosives somewhere near the ambulance. Where exactly those explosives had been placed, Cord still didn’t know, and he didn’t have time to find out if there were others.

      Cord stepped out of the ambulance. Not easily. He’d been banged up when they’d been tossed around. No broken bones, thank God, but he’d have bruises, and he was still recovering from injuries he’d gotten last month, thanks to the Moonlight Strangler. Those bruises and injuries made themselves known when he pivoted, looking for the idiot who’d done this to them.

      No sign of anyone.

      But at the moment the bomber wasn’t even his main concern. It was the thin line of fire snaking its way from the side of the road toward the ambulance. The fire line was too narrow and straight to have been spilled randomly or have leaked out from the ambulance.

      Which meant their attacker had set it.

      Probably before they’d even arrived at this point on the road.

      In addition to the smoke from the fire trail, there was white steam spewing from what was left of the ambulance engine. Normally, he wouldn’t have considered that a good thing, but he did now. Because the steam and the smoke just might conceal them enough so their attacker wouldn’t be able to gun them down when they made a run for it.

      “Stay low and move fast,” Cord told them, doubting either of the paramedics could do that last part.

      He had to keep watch, but he reached behind him, and with his left hand, he hauled out Karina. The paramedics followed after her, and once they all had their feet on the ground, Cord got them moving.

      Away from the spot where he’d last seen the man in the ski mask.

      Away from the ambulance.

      That meant jumping the ditch. Again, it wasn’t easy. Everyone was limping, hurt, struggling. But Karina and the paramedics all had a clear sense of how critical it was to put some distance between them and the fire.

      Cord sure had a clear sense of it.

      “Try to make sure the ambulance and steam hide you as much as possible,” Cord added.

      They each crossed the ditch while Cord kept watch. Still no signs of their mask guy or of Jericho. Cord figured both were out there, though. The trick would be to avoid another attack before backup arrived and not hit Jericho or one of the deputies with friendly fire.

      He braced himself for shots to come right at them. After all, their attacker was armed. But no shots came. Nor were there any sounds that the man was about to launch another attack. Just the stench of the smoking rubber tires and the gasoline.

      Cord was the last to jump the ditch, and as soon as he was on the other side, he hurried the others into a cluster of trees. Not ideal cover since someone could sneak up on them, but if the ambulance did explode, then they’d at least stand a chance of being protected from flying debris.

      “Get down on the ground,” he told them. “And stay low.”

      Again, not easy. The paramedic with the head wound tried to muffle his groans of pain, but he didn’t quiet manage it. Worse, he was still bleeding, and even though Karina was trying to add some pressure to the gash, he was losing a lot of blood.

      “The killer wants me,” Karina whispered. “If he has me, you and the paramedics might be safe.”

      Hell, no. Cord knew where this conversation was about to go, and he nipped it in the bud. “You’re not going out there. He wants us all dead. That’s why he set those explosives.”

      That was possibly true anyway. Obviously, the blast hadn’t killed them, so maybe this was all part of some sick plan to get them in the open.

      If so, it’d worked.

      They were indeed in the open with only one gun among them and a likely copycat killer ready, willing and able to do them all in.

      “Just stay down,” Cord snapped to Karina when she lifted her head. “I don’t have time to watch you and everything else.”

      Yeah, it was a jab that she probably didn’t deserve, since she’d certainly pulled her own weight getting out of the ambulance. But maybe it was enough of a jab to keep her head out of the path of a bullet.

      Or an explosion.

      Even though he’d tried to brace himself for it, the blast jolted through his body, shaking him to the core.

      The debris came bursting out from the fireball, all that was left of the ambulance. The trickle of flames had obviously made its way to the engine and heated it enough to cause the blast.

      That was probably what their attacker intended.

      A chunk of metal flew into the tree, inches from where Cord was

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