WILL TIME WAIT: Boxed set of 3 bestselling 'ticking clock' thrillers (35 page)

T
ears rimmed the
bottom of Kerry’s eyes.  I wondered if she was crying because of her predicament,
or because she’d put two innocents in danger.  I walked over to my bag and
pulled out a pair of trainers.  After taking a seat on the sofa, I shot
Kerry a look that would melt even a cold hearted person.  What had caused
her to get involved in something like this?  I thought it best not to
ask. 

Dylan
finished chatting to John, then walked over and sat beside me.  “There
must be something reinforcing the boards.  Anyway, I agree with John that
we need to find out who is outside before we do anything else.  God knows
what could be waiting for us.”

I
slipped my feet into my trainers.  “And if there are still people
outside?”

“These
people mean business,” John said.  “We have to assume they’re carrying
guns.”

I
gulped. 

“We
need to get prepared.”  John took a seat opposite us on a big, comfy
chair.  “We need a plan of attack for when they come for us.”

“I
wonder...”  Dylan narrowed his eyes at John.  “You thought this place
was empty, right?”

He
nodded.

Dylan
ran a hand through his short hair.  “So whoever’s out there might not know
that Jenna and I are here, too.”

“Good
point.”  Kerry perched on John’s knee.  “What do you have in mind?”

“We
need to turn this place upside down,” Dylan said.  “Search for tools, sharp
knives, anything that could help us defend ourselves.” 

“And
then a hideout,” John said, his tone now chirpy, full of motivation. 
“Someplace you two could wait, unnoticed, until the time is right to jump out
and attack.”

“Exactly.” 
Dylan stood.  “Now that’s what I call a plan.”  He made his way to
the back rooms, subtly beckoning me.

I
followed him, irritated that he had soaked John’s ambush plan up like a
sponge.  Once John and Kerry were out of earshot, I said through gritted
teeth, “We’re going to help them?  Are you kidding me?  Hide and then
jump out to attack a bunch of drug-hungry thugs who probably have guns?” 

A
cunning grin played across his face.  “I said that for
their
benefit.  That’s not my
real
plan.”

“You
lied?”

“Bent
the truth.  I told them what I thought they needed to hear.”

Double-crossing
people I hated and barely knew wouldn’t be so hard, would it? 

“I’m
going to find you a hiding place, Jenna.  I’ll tell John that if jumping
the men won’t work, we’ll follow them if they take them out of the house. 
Whoever’s outside will probably search every inch of this retreat, so our
hiding place needs to be good.  And you can stay there... until it’s all
over.” 

“Me?” 
As I looked into Dylan’s eyes, a connection flowed between us, invisible yet as
real as a flame.  He wanted to protect me, and me, him.  My heart
gave a hefty jolt, concerned about Dylan.  “But what about you? 
You’ll stay hidden, too.  Right?”

“If
I think I can help them, maybe I will.”

“No! 
We don’t know Kerry and John.  We owe them nothing.  And certainly
not our lives.”

“I
meant that I’ll just try to follow them, so I can tell the police where they
are.”

I
was taut with worry, incensed.  Didn’t like this plan, not one bit if it
meant Dylan might put himself in danger.  “It’s their mess.  Please,
Dylan.  I don’t want you to get hurt.  What if these people spot you
following them?”

“I’ll
be careful.”

“The
people outside are drug kings... lords.  Whatever you call them. 
They’re not going to leave any witnesses.  If they see you, they’ll kill
you.”

He
kissed me, probably to shut me up, then pulled me through to the bedroom where
we searched the wardrobe and chest of drawers.  “Look around.”

I
opened every drawer.  “I can’t find anything that looks remotely useful,”
I said, imagining my fingers touching a sledgehammer rather than spare
bedding. 

Dylan
sank to his knees and looked under the bed.  “If there’s nowhere better,
I’ll take the wardrobe and you can slide under this bed.  Take a knife
with you.” 

Despair
built in my gut.  “We’re going to be all right, aren’t we?”  I asked,
knowing he would probably lie, but I would accept that right now. 

“Yes. 
And then we’ll go and do something fun.  Have a picnic at my park, take a
bottle of wine and do midnight ziplining.” 

I dug
my teeth into my lip.  ”Erm... the picnic part sounds good.” 
Not
ziplining.  Please no.
  I hated not having my feet on solid
ground.

Dylan
rose to his feet.  “I can’t believe we’re in this mess.  I couldn’t
have picked a worse place to lay low if I’d tried.”

Even
if we survived, there’d be trouble.  It would be splashed all over the
papers.  I’d be branded as an adulterer, but I didn’t care about
that.  No.  My deranged, possessive husband would hunt Dylan down and
get one of his men to beat him to death.

Dylan
pushed the bedroom door shut and hugged me.  His warm body in the cold
room provided a measure of comfort, and I didn’t want to step out of his
arms. 

“Stay
positive,” he said.  “We can get through this.”

I
sighed.  The words, “I’m trying to,” died on my tongue when his heartbeat
thudded in my ear.  I was worried this might be the last hug he ever gave
me. 

He
gripped my shoulders, held me away from his body and looked down into my
eyes.  “I know your husband is a far worse man than you’ve admitted. 
Kate filled me in.  I know you’ve gone out of your way to stop him finding
out about me.  If you hadn’t left him today, I’d have intervened whether
we were together or not.  No one should have to put up with that kind of
abuse.  So now it’s my turn to protect you.”  He nodded toward the
door.  “From whoever’s gonna bust in here to get us.”  He ran a slow
hand along the edge of my jaw.  His eyes twinkled as he said, “I swear to
you, Jenna, I ain’t gonna lose you... us... without a fight.  On the day I
met you, my world became a better place.”

A
shiver danced across my shoulders.  “Mine, too.” 

It
had only taken a month for me to fall for Dylan, but it had taken me years to
admit that my marriage to Alan was like pushing a boulder up a steep hill named
disappointment.  Perhaps, with Dylan, it wasn’t yet love, but it sure felt
close.

He
parted his lips, tilted his head, and sealed his promise with a much-needed
kiss. 

Sparks
jumped inside my belly the instant our lips came together.  My body cried
out for his.  I slid my hand around his neck and grasped him
tightly.  We deepened the kiss.  He slipped his tongue into my mouth
and teased mine with his.  I gave a little groan of pleasure.

A
moment later, he gave my butt a cheeky slap then pulled away.  “Back to
work,” he said, sighing. 

I
wanted to keep hold of the moment, push him down onto the bed, strip him of his
layers and feel his warmth move inside me.  But playtime was over.  I
opened my eyes, only to be greeted by the boarded up window.  Reality,
although it had never truly gone away, had now returned served colder than
ever.

He
took my hand.  “Come on.  Let’s see what the others are up to.”

On
entering the living area, I thought I heard noises on the roof.  A faint
bang and clatter.

“Anything?”
John asked.

“Not
a sausage,” I said. 

“We
need to think out of the box on this one,” Dylan said to John.  “Maybe two
of us should work on finding weapons, and—“

The
noise came again.  I glanced up.  “Did you hear that?”

Dylan
gripped my hand.  “Shhh.  Listen.”

“What
is it?” Kerry asked, spinning around.

I
flinched as a metallic sounding object rattled its way down the chimney. 
“See!  I told you I heard something.”

Dylan’s
hand slipped from mine as he ran to the fireplace.  A small tin box
dropped down from the chimney.  It hit the burning mound of wood and
bounced out of the flames. 

“Dylan!
Watch out,” I shouted.

A
blazing log rolled off the fire, setting the edge of the rug alight. 
Dylan folded the rug in half and began stamping on the rising flames. 

“Your
jeans are on fire!” Kerry screamed, then she raced into the kitchen. 

“Oh,
my God!”  I grabbed a cushion and beat the flames on his leg, while John moved
to a window and tore a curtain off the pole.  Dylan hopped on the spot,
shaking his leg furiously, then dropped to the floor and started rolling. 

Kerry
returned.  Large bowl of water splashing in her hands, she threw it over
Dylan.  John stamped out the last few flames, smothered Dylan and the
smouldering rug in the curtain.  Dylan coughed.  He rested on all
fours on the floor, breathing in a spiral of smoke.  The log fire sizzled,
and the flames died down. 

I
dashed over and put my arm around him.

“Jesus!”
Dylan groaned.  He got to his feet and stared at his burnt
jeans.   “Ooh!  That hurts.” 

“We
have to get those jeans off you.”  I sank to my knees to examine his
leg.  “Kerry, will you see if there’s a first aid kit somewhere, please?”

She
nodded.  “I’m on to it.”

“What’s
in the box?” Dylan said, flicking his chin up at John.

John
sidestepped us and picked it up.  “Only one way to find out.”  As he
released the catch and flipped the lid, Dylan shuffled across to him. 

Kerry
ran back to us.  She handed me a pair of scissors and a small first aid
kit, then stood next to John. 

I
started cutting Dylan’s jeans off at the knee, but when Kerry said, “Fridge
magnets?”  I stopped and got to my feet to take a look. 

We
circled John as he held the box open.  Inside lay a small piece of
rolled-up paper and three plastic numbers.  They were bright-coloured 3D
fridge magnets, the kind a child would use when learning to count. 

John
lifted the numbers out of the box and lined them up along his palm.  “Yeah. 
Strange.  One, two, three.”

I
pulled the piece of paper out of the box and unrolled it.  The words ‘Take
cover!’ were printed in a fat font on a grainy, shooting star background. 

Another
package, something heavier, bounced and scraped down the chimney walls.

Dylan’s
eyes doubled in size.  “Move it!”  He dragged me by my waistband
across the room, pressed me face down onto the hard floor and upturned the sofa
on top of us.  We waited, our bodies squashed so tight together that his
thumping heart echoed mine.   Frantic footsteps made the floorboards
judder as John and Kerry ran for cover, screaming all the way to the kitchen.

The
package thudded and clinked in the fireplace, before rolling across the
floorboards. 

Dylan
wrapped his arm over my head.  “Oh, shit!  Brace yourself.” 

I
squeezed my eyes shut, steeled myself and then...

Boom!

An
explosion impacted the room, causing a deafening bang and a brilliant flash of
light.  The sofa lifted, then crashed back down and wobbled above us.

Kerry
screamed, and so did I.

“Christ
almighty!” John yelled in the background.  “That wood nearly got me in the
eye.”

Then,
in a heartbeat, the house fell quiet again.  The bang from the explosion
had muted my hearing.  Dylan rolled onto his side.  He raised the
sofa a few inches, peeked out from under it.  “I think that’s it.” 
He slid belly down along the floor, then let the sofa drop down on me
again. 

I
stayed under it, too frightened to move.  “What can you see?” I panted
out.

Slow
footsteps creaked on floorboards nearby.  “It’s okay,” Dylan said in a
reassuring voice.  “You can all come out now.”  He raised the sofa
enough for me to crawl from underneath.

“Are
you sure?” John asked.

While
I rose from the floor, John and Kerry walked, with caution, over to us. 

“Did
that really just happen?” I asked, shocked. 

They
stopped in front of a blackened three-foot-wide hole in the floorboards. 
Dust hovered in a low mist near their legs.  Wisps of smoke rose around
them.

“That
was close,” John said, wiping his brow.

“Too
close,” Dylan added.

Two
stones from the chimney breast had dislodged.  A vase lay shattered on the
floor, and chippings of floorboard had blasted around the room like remnants
from a savage party popper.  The place was a state.

“I
guess that was just a warning,” John said, his crumpled face relaxing. 

Kerry
narrowed her eyes at him.  “A warning?”

“They
gave us time to hide.  So it was meant to scare us, not kill us.”