Love & Deception (Agents in Love - Book 1) (37 page)

Paul must have hired Stephen to do this, and
that’s why he sent Nick running around town and kept him away from
the shop. He felt sick wondering what Stephen did to her to keep
her from exiting the building. The one thing he knew for sure was
that the fire department wouldn’t make it in time to help her.

As he rounded to the back door, the window
in the kitchen exploded. Glass shattered and fire rushed out of the
sudden opening, consuming the new source of oxygen and blasting
Nick with intense heat.

He shielded his face with his arm, though
his heart sunk. That window had been his plan to get inside. With
the inferno blazing through it, that was now impossible.

“Carlie! Carlie! Where are you?”

He searched all around, praying with all his
being that she stood somewhere just out of his line of vision in
the delivery truck parking area. Praying she wasn’t inside her
office. She was nowhere to be seen, however. S.A.T.O. wanted her
dead. Stephen wouldn’t have let her escape.

Desperate, he grasped the metal handle on
the back door, hoping it was unlocked. The super-heated metal
scorched his fingers, but Nick forced it down despite the pain. The
handle jiggled but didn’t open the door. Locked.

“Shit.” He rushed back to the window. The
fire crackled, smoke filling Nick’s senses. Items inside the
kitchen popped under the heat. “Carlie!” he screamed into the
opening. “Carlie? Are you in there?”

He held his breath, struggling to hear
anything over the sounds of the blaze.

“Help me.”

The thin wail sounded like it came from the
hallway area. Nick grasped the frame of the window seal, but shards
of glass punctured his skin and the flames licked at his face. He’d
never get to her that way.

There was only one thing he could think to
try. It would tell Paul without a doubt that Nick saved her, but he
was beyond caring at this point. He just hoped it worked.

“I’m coming for you, Carlie! Hang on!”

***

Carlie rammed her shoulder one more time
into the door and then dropped to the ground, coughing and choking
as she struggled to suck in cleaner air near the floor. Even though
she filtered it by placing her coat over her mouth and nose, the
putrid stench gagged her.

The door had finally opened enough that she
might be able to squeeze through. Her bruised shoulder throbbed
with pain from the repeated pounding, but she figured things would
get worse while fighting her way through the doorway. Already
everything she touched was hot and ash flew through the air,
coating her hair with soot and hot embers.

Once she thought she heard Nick calling her
name. Time seemed to stand still and she didn’t know if that had
been only moments before or hours. Actually, she wasn’t even sure
he’d really called her, or if it was the imaginings of a desperate
brain hoping for rescue.

Either way, she wasn’t about to lie down and
die waiting for someone else. Metal shelving from the kitchen was
what held the door in place, wedged in the hallway so tight, it
formed a barricade that moved agonizingly slowly with every lunge
of her body against the door. Though it would be a tight squeeze,
Carlie thought she could crawl through it now and get out of the
office. In her narrow line of vision through the door, fire raced
up the walls, eating everything in its path.

If she could somehow get to the front of the
shop, she could get out. Even if she had to run through the fire,
it was better than incinerating in the office.

She shuddered, not wanting to think about
how hot the metal blocking the doorway had to be. The only way out
was through it. Carlie took a deep breath and squeezed herself into
the opening. The leg on the shelves blocked her path. She’d have to
wiggle past it.

Trying to bolster her courage, Carlie
slipped her hands inside her coat sleeves and grasped the metal
bar. The intense heat seared through the fabric and into her
skin.

Whimpering, she scrambled to pull herself
through the too-small opening, breaking free of the office door,
but still needing to get past the shelf blocking the way.

Her face and chest scrapped along the hot
metal frame and pain flared everywhere she touched. She finally
fell onto the bottom rack of the shelf itself and struggled to pull
herself to the other side. Though she crawled as quickly as she
could, everywhere her skin bumped into the super-heated unit
pricked with fierce pain.

Carlie was beyond worrying about the fire
licking the walls around her. She had to get off that metal before
her skin burned off. With as much force as she could, she grasped
the far side of the bottom rack and jerked herself through, rolling
onto the tiled floor beyond.

More coughs wracked her body and Carlie
raised the coat to her face, struggling to get enough oxygen. She
felt dizzy and the groaning in the ceiling above her shocked a jolt
of fear clear to her toes. If that fell in, she was done for.

Once she caught her breath as much as she
could, Carlie attempted to move forward. She bumped into a wall and
then once more into the shelving unit, only then realizing she went
the wrong way. The darkness and smoke completely disoriented
her—the flickering firelight only serving to confuse her brain
further. No light shone in from the front of the store, and Carlie
didn’t know which way led to freedom.

Another creaking groan sounded and a loud
crack.

Screaming uselessly, Carlie shielded her
head with her arms as fiery ceiling tiles and boards rained down on
her.

***

Nick’s hands trembled against the steering
wheel. He backed the Porsche to the end of the delivery truck lot
and took a deep breath. The more time that passed, the more he
feared whether Carlie could live through the fire. It felt like an
eternity had passed, but it couldn’t have been long because he
didn’t hear sirens yet.

Popping the car into gear, he floored the
accelerator, zooming toward the back door. The Porsche rammed into
the building, and Nick slammed into his seat belt. His head and
chest hit the airbag, which was deflating even before he understood
that it deployed. Though slightly dazed and coughing from the
powder that came out of the airbag, Nick jerked the car into
reverse and floored it again.

With a horrendous groaning, the front of the
car ripped loose of the building and the kitchen door fell
outwards. It clattered loudly against the asphalt of the parking
lot. Nick hopped out of the car, watching as fire flared from the
new opening. By the time he reached it, the flames died down and
Nick could see inside the kitchen.

He had to get in there and find Carlie, plus
get away before emergency crews made it there. If he didn’t get her
out of town fast, Paul would send Stephen back to finish the job.
Assuming Carlie was in good enough condition to leave.

Taking a deep breath, Nick knew he couldn’t
think like that. He would be in time and would rescue her.

“Carlie!” he screamed into the opening. “I’m
coming to get you. Where are you?”

He listened for a second, but there was no
reply. With no time to waste, he shielded his mouth with the sleeve
of his shirt and stepped inside. Flickering light revealed most of
the room had already burned. Melted plastic and a few fallen pieces
of the walls and ceiling littered the counters and floors.

No Carlie, though, and Nick walked to the
hall beyond the kitchen. She was probably in her office. Hopefully
the fire hadn’t spread there.

He turned down the hallway. The heat was
even more intense, and fire crackled along the walls. By its eerie
light, Nick made out something metal gleaming in front of the
office door. That was how Stephen kept her in. Bastard trapped
her.

“Carlie?” Taking a step forward, Nick
stumbled over a pile of rubble he hadn’t seen on the floor. He fell
to the ground. Hot ash coated his body and his hand struck
something soft. Something fleshy.

“Oh, God. Carlie?” He dug at the hot ashes,
trying to find her head. The heat of the flames no longer had any
meaning. All he could do was dig.

Carlie didn’t move.

Around them, the building groaned, seeming
to breathe with fire. Nick was out of time. He had to get Carlie
out. He could worry whether or not she breathed once they were in
the parking lot.

He scooped her into his arms and turned for
the kitchen. Behind him, more ceiling crashed down and he leapt
forward. One headlight on the Porsche still worked, showing the way
outside. Though he coughed and his eyes streamed with water from
the smoke, Nick jumped the obstacles in their path. He tried not to
concentrate on how limp Carlie’s form was in his arms.

Once at the side of the car, he laid her on
the ground. He struggled to clear his lungs of smoke, but Carlie’s
chest didn’t rise or fall.

With shaking hands, Nick checked for a pulse
in her neck. He thought he sensed a weak beat, but couldn’t be
sure. After tilting Carlie’s head back and plugging her nose, he
forced two breaths into her lungs.

He placed his ear against her chest, trying
to detect her heartbeat once again. The adrenaline coursing through
him made it hard to focus, but he didn’t want to start chest
compressions if her heart was beating. Uncertain, he went back to
her mouth and forced more air into her lungs.

As he moved away, Carlie sucked in a breath
on her own and coughed.

“Carlie, can you hear me? You’re safe
now.”

She continued coughing, but didn’t open her
eyes.

Just then, sirens sounded from further down
the road. They had to leave before the rescue crew showed up.
They’d never let him take Carlie once they saw her, and he couldn’t
risk Paul finding her at a local hospital where the emergency crew
would take her.

He lifted her into the Porsche and drove
down a side road, avoiding the main road. The emergency lights
flashed in his rearview mirror, but by the time they dealt with the
fire, Nick and Carlie would be far down the road. They’d have to
get the new car from the 24-hour market—the beat-up Porsche
wouldn’t make far.

Once they were in the sedan, he’d find
Carlie medical attention. There was a large hospital in the nearby
town of Bellingham. Though he hated the delay, he had to risk
driving her there. If they stayed in Sayle, she was as good as
dead.

Carlie licked her lips, attempting to
moisten them, though her mouth was dried out too. Pain coursed
through her body and she wished she would lose consciousness.
Curiously, her hands and knees hurt the least, though she knew she
burned them both badly on the shelf. The distinctive smell of
scorched hair surrounded her.

She forced her eyes open, looking at Nick.
His jaw was hard set and he leaned over the steering wheel in an
unfamiliar car. Carlie vaguely remembered him lifting her into the
new vehicle, though she lost time as waves of pain hit her.

Shifting slightly, pain once again erupted
in her hands and arms. “Nick?” Her voice was rough and scratchy,
though she struggled to keep her tone even. “I need a doctor,
really bad.”

“I know.” He didn’t look at her, but stared
at the road. “Here comes the exit. We’ll be at the hospital
soon.”

She closed her eyes, trying to block the
pain. The more time passed, the worse it was. A small whimper
escaped her lips and she struggled to bite it back. Nick was doing
everything he could, and screaming wouldn’t get them to the
hospital faster.

At least she was alive...as long as the
assassins didn’t find her again.

***

Nick parked the sedan in the emergency
loading zone at the general hospital in Bellingham, leaving Carlie
inside. He didn’t dare move her again. Panic fluttered through him
at her rough condition, but it would be okay now. The hospital
staff would know what to do.

“I need a doctor!” he screamed, running into
the building. “My wife’s in the car and burned horribly. Help
her!”

Although the waiting room was full of
people, the receptionist looked up at him with startled eyes. “Bad
enough she can’t walk in here?”

Nick nodded. “There was a fire and a roof
collapsed on her. She was conscious for a while, but passed out
right as we got here.”

The lady picked up a phone, talking tersely
into it before replacing the receiver.

Within seconds, a double door swung open and
two men raced through, pulling a gurney with them.

The burlier man’s name tag said ‘Ted,’ and
he zeroed in on Nick. “Your wife’s the burn victim? Is she out
front?”

Nick nodded as the men rushed past him, and
he followed in their wake.

Ted pulled open the door to the car, and his
coworker shook his head. “Damn.” He exchanged a grim look with the
other man and then glanced over his shoulder. “How long ago did
this happen and why didn’t you call an ambulance?”

“I pulled her out of the fire.” Nick tried
not to think about how bad things might be. The workers both looked
worried. “It’s been about fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty.”

Although he knew it was important to get
Carlie to the hospital quickly, he had to take the few minutes to
change cars. The front end of the Porsche was smashed in badly
enough, Nick didn’t know if he trusted it on the freeway. Plus,
their chances of remaining undiscovered were higher in the new
vehicle. No one knew about this car except the man he bought it
from, and he gave that man a bogus name and paid cash. Nick hoped
that would throw Paul off the trail.

At least it gave Carlie a fighting chance.
Staying in Sayle hadn’t been an option.

The men pulled her from the car and lifted
her onto the gurney. Her pain-filled shrieks began when they
touched her, and Nick’s body ached with sympathy. He’d heard burns
were the most painful thing imaginable. Even the small burn on his
hand throbbed enough that touching the steering wheel had been
torture. He couldn’t imagine her pain level.