Читать книгу The Deputy's Witness - Tyler Anne Snell - Страница 12

Chapter Five

The deputy squatted down on the other side of the door so that his gaze was level with hers. Under any other circumstances she probably would have been distracted by the proximity, but right now her mind kept going to what might or might not be beneath her seat.

“You’re going to have to elaborate on that one for me.”

Alyssa licked her lips. They were already drying out despite her lipstick.

“Okay, so when I sat down I heard something click,” she started. “I hadn’t turned the car on yet, so it confused me. Then I heard two more clicks and actually felt those coming from under me. Under my seat. And then I saw the light.”

“The light?”

Alyssa moved her head to try to motion to the floorboard. She still wasn’t about to move the rest of her body if she could help it. Her hands were on her lap, fused together with sweat and nerves. In the movie, once Danny Glover’s character had gotten off the toilet it had exploded. And she was not about to blow up in a Honda.

“I can see the reflection of a red light blinking on the floorboard,” she answered. “It’s faint but it’s there. And it hasn’t stopped blinking.”

The deputy didn’t ask for permission, not that she was going to begrudge him for the invasion anyway, and moved his head in through the window to look toward her feet. Alyssa caught a whiff of either shampoo or body wash that smelled intoxicating as he moved into her personal space. Some kind of musk and spice infusion. Something she definitely shouldn’t be distracted by at the moment.

“I know I could be overreacting, but I guess I’ve just seen so many movies and TV shows where clicks and flashing lights equals bombs,” she admitted. The fear that had tensed her every muscle was now starting to feel a little silly. “And if it isn’t a bomb, which it probably isn’t, I’ll just be mortified for life.”

The man pulled out of the space and back into a squat next to the door. His expression gave nothing away.

“Can I open your door?” he asked, voice even.

Silly thought or not, the request scared Alyssa.

“If there’s a bomb under your seat, opening the door shouldn’t trigger it,” he added.

“But if it does?” she couldn’t help asking. A drop of sweat rolled down the side of her face. It was so hot.

The deputy’s expression stayed neutral when he answered.

“Then, I promise you, we won’t know the difference.”

Alyssa felt her eyes widen.

“I don’t know if I’m happy with that logic.”

The man didn’t apologize for it.

“I won’t do it if you don’t want me to,” he said. “I just need to take a closer look.”

Alyssa chewed on her lip but nodded.

“What’s your name?” she tacked on. The man raised his eyebrow. “Just in case we do blow up.”

“Caleb Foster.”

“I’m Alyssa Garner,” she introduced. “I would shake your hand, but I’m terrified that if I move I’ll—Well, you know...”

Caleb flashed a smile. It didn’t last long.

“Then let me do the moving for now,” he said. Alyssa watched as his attention focused on the car door’s handle. Her muscles tensed further.

Please don’t let us blow up in my Honda.

But nothing went kaboom when the deputy opened the door wide.

Alyssa let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“Okay, well, if it’s a bomb it’s not connected to the door,” he pointed out. He moved closer to inspect the space between the seat and him. “I can’t see anything here.” He met her gaze. “I’m going to try to look under your seat now, okay?”

Alyssa nodded, even though she was already trying to do the logistics of that in her head. She was on the shorter side and had her seat closer to the dash because of it. Which meant Caleb Foster was about to get really close to her.

He dropped to his knees on the concrete, braced himself with one hand on the inside of the door and then very slowly hunched over so that his head was near the floorboard. Alyssa felt his breath against her bare legs as he moved between them to get a better view.

The most irrational fear that she’d missed a spot while shaving flitted through her head. When Caleb popped back up after only a few seconds, she wondered if she really had. His expression was the definition of neutral.

“So, was I being ridiculous?” she asked, hopeful.

But that ray-of-sunshine feeling lasted only an instant.

Deputy Foster pulled out his phone, but he took a moment to look directly into her eyes.

“I need you to keep doing what you’re doing a little longer, okay?” he said, tone calm.

“You want me to keep sitting still,” Alyssa spelled out, just to make sure they were on the same page.

Deputy Foster nodded.

Before she could stop it, her breathing went off the rails. It was one thing to think there was a bomb beneath your seat while also thinking you were being a bit insane. It was another for a man of the law to tell you to keep sitting perfectly still.

It was real now.

“So there is a bomb under my seat?” she asked around two short breaths.

“There’s something under your seat, yes,” he hedged.

“But is it a bomb?”

“I don’t know for sure, but—”

Alyssa sucked in a breath and had the deepest urge to grab the man by the collar of his shirt. “You answer me right now, Deputy Foster. Do you think there’s a bomb beneath my seat or not?”

He seemed surprised by her outburst, but who could blame her?

This time the deputy didn’t hedge.

“Yes,” he said. “I do. Which is why I need you to keep calm until we can deal with this. Okay?”

Despite his answer Alyssa decided to panic. Or, at least, her body did. The heavy air in the car, the heat of the day and the sheer thought of having survived a gunshot to the back only to be blown up in a parking lot were all too much to take. Her heartbeat wasn’t just galloping anymore—it was full-out trying to exceed the speed of light. Its pursuit was having a chain reaction on what was left of her calm. Her breathing was no longer erratic. It was rushed, clumsy and impossible to conquer. It was starting to make her vision blur.

The urge to swipe her glasses off and completely freak was escalating. She wanted to try to scramble out of the car and escape the heat and fear that were tripling at an alarming rate. If the deputy hadn’t been between Alyssa and the door, she might have attempted an escape plan.

But the deputy was there.

And his eyes were enough to hold her in place long enough for his words to reach her.

“Alyssa,” he said, moving as close to her as he could without making contact. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve handled a lot worse than this.” His lips quirked up into a grin. “All you have to do right now is sit still, okay? You think you can handle just sitting?”

The way he said the last part, like he was looking down on her for her worry, made something snap within her. Like he was the parent and she was a child who was being ridiculous. She took a deep breath, exhaled and took another one before she answered.

“Yes, Deputy,” she said with a little too much attitude. “I think I can handle it.”

Deputy Foster’s grin grew.

It made her feel better. If only for a moment.

“I’m going to take a few pictures and then I’m going to make a lot of calls,” he said.

“You aren’t going to leave, are you?” she asked, already panicked at the thought.

The deputy shook his head. “I want you to know one thing for certain, Miss Garner. I will not leave you.”

Alyssa hadn’t realized how good that promise would sound.

But, boy, did it sound good!

* * *

THIRTY MINUTES.

That was all it took for all hell to break loose.

True to his word, the deputy had made several phone calls after he snapped a picture of the maybe-but-probably bomb. He’d done it far enough from the car so that she couldn’t hear what was said—no doubt, his intention—but not far enough that Alyssa felt alone. Because, also true to his word, he didn’t leave her.

Not even when the bomb squad showed up and confirmed the maybe-but-probably bomb was in fact a probably-and-definitely bomb. Though the head of the squad, a towering man named Charlie, encouraged the deputy to clear the area while they assessed options.

Options.

That was a word that might have brought Alyssa a sense of hope, or even fear, if she wasn’t baking alive. The day had gone from hot to hell and she was stuck in a vacuum of it. She no longer had the energy to panic. All of that had left her body in waves of sweat, adhering every article of clothing she was wearing to her like a second skin.

And yet the deputy kept coming back.

Along with Charlie, who was now suited up with a helmet and clear mask in front of his face to boot. He lifted it to address Alyssa directly.

“Miss Garner, how are you doing?”

“I’m okay,” she lied.

Deputy Foster raised his eyebrow.

“Alyssa, how are you doing?” he repeated with a tone that reminded her of a parent. She managed a defeated sigh.

“I think I might pass out soon,” she admitted. “It’s getting really hard to breathe.”

If this alarmed the deputy, he didn’t show it. In fact, neither man did. Which meant she probably looked as bad as she felt and they had been expecting it. The cold water she’d had through a straw hadn’t been enough. Just like the fan that had been set up next to the car. It had only pushed the heat toward her. In no way did it alleviate the temperature she was currently suffering through.

“Then why don’t we get you out of here?” Charlie said.

“That would be nice,” she responded. Picturing a bathtub filled with ice cubes with her name on it. Forget about citrus bath salts.

A man she didn’t recognize walked up to the car and cleared his throat.

“Can I have a moment, sir?” he asked Charlie.

He nodded, flashed a quick smile to Alyssa and then walked off. Again, she couldn’t hear what was discussed, but the movement brought attention to the far end of the parking lot. It was being cleared. The staff from the courthouse, and even some people from the sheriff’s department next door, were moving farther away.

Alyssa looked back at Deputy Foster. She realized he was wearing a bomb vest. “So, do they think they can really get me out of here?”

The deputy followed her gaze to his vest. He straightened it and then lowered himself to meet her stare head-on.

“I’ll be honest with you,” he started. “I don’t know them personally, but the sheriff and Captain Jones both say Charlie and his team are the best in the South.” He cut another grin. “And they think they’re going to get you out of this with all limbs attached, so I’m going to bet on a yes.”

Alyssa gave the smallest of nods. Her vision was starting to blur a little. She tried to pull in a calming breath. The air was so wet she felt like she was drowning.

“Hey, listen to me,” he continued, tone tough. Stern. “When they get you out of here, how about I take you out for a nice jug of sweet tea? That’s something you guys seem to like around here, right? Sweet tea?”

Despite everything, Alyssa snorted.

“You must be from up north,” she muttered, each word strained.

She watched as his look of concern seemed to grow. Then, altogether, he began to blur.

“Alyssa,” he said, voice raised. “All you have to do is sit still. You got that?”

“I’m trying,” she defended. To her own ears she sounded breathless. And not in that sexy Scarlett O’Hara way.

Charlie swam back into view a few seconds later. His mask was down now. He turned to the deputy. “I guess if your captain and sheriff can’t make you leave, then I shouldn’t try either.”

The deputy shook his head. At least, that was what Alyssa thought he did. Either way, when Charlie was addressing her, Deputy Foster was still there.

It was comforting.

“Okay, Miss Garner, I’m going to very slowly try to replace your weight with this metal plate,” he said, already going into the back seat, the only way to reach the bomb. Which made her a little happier, considering she didn’t think her floorboard could accommodate the big man like it had the deputy. “When we’ve done that successfully, then Deputy Foster here will take you somewhere much cooler.”

“O-Okay.”

The world around her was becoming one giant blur. Alyssa wanted to watch what Charlie was doing. She wanted to ask questions. She wanted to tell Deputy Foster to go where it was safe. But the fact of the matter was, Alyssa was putting all the energy she had left into not passing out.

* * *

CALEB WAS SWEATING BULLETS.

He split his focus between Charlie trying to fool the bomb by thinking Alyssa was still sitting on top of it and the woman herself. Since the water and fan hadn’t worked, she’d spent almost forty-five minutes being drained, and now he wasn’t sure if she’d make it past another minute.

Her head was leaning back against the headrest, and her eyelids seemed to be fighting gravity. Caleb wanted to touch her, to remind her he was there, but he couldn’t. Not just because of the bomb. While he was starting to get an idea of her character, she still had no idea about his.

And he wanted to keep it that way.

“Okay. Here we go. Get ready to grab her,” Charlie commanded. “I think I’ve—What the hell?”

Alyssa must have really been out of it. She didn’t look alarmed in the slightest at the sharp tone the man trying to disarm the bomb beneath her took on.

But Caleb did. “What’s go—”

Click.

“Damn,” Charlie interrupted. “Grab her!”

Click. Click.

“Grab her now,” Charlie yelled again, struggling out of the back seat in his uniform.

Caleb didn’t have to be told a third time.

He threaded his arms beneath Alyssa’s legs and back and hoisted her out in one quick move.

Click.

Charlie was already yelling, “Now run!”

Caleb tucked Alyssa against his chest and ran faster than he’d ever run before.

“Eight seconds,” Charlie yelled out to anyone who could hear.

Like ants in the rain, everyone in front of or behind the blocked-off perimeter of the parking lot scurried this way and that, trying to get as far away as they could. The crowd that had formed was yelling while deputies and bomb squad alike were barking orders to each other and bystanders.

Two members of the squad in particular stood out. Instead of running away from the car, they were running toward Caleb, Alyssa and Charlie with two dark blankets. When the five of them finally collided, Charlie yelled to hit the ground.

Caleb dove onto his side so he would take the brunt of the fall, and then just as quickly rolled over to cover the woman in his arms. The bomb squad men positioned themselves on either side of Charlie and Caleb and threw the blankets—which Caleb now realized were bomb blankets, made from layers of Kevlar—over each of them.

Caleb felt like he was being pulled every which way in the moments that followed. What-ifs sprang up in his mind like flowers in the spring—What if they hadn’t cleared the blast area? What if the bomb blanket didn’t help them? What if he never got to take Alyssa out for that drink of sweet tea he’d offered?—while his body seemed to be running on instinct. It created a cage around the woman, trying to make itself as big as possible to protect her at all costs. But then another part of him, one he didn’t know where it was coming from, was looking down at her face—slack from the unconsciousness she finally had given in to—and thinking how beautiful she was. But then everyone was yelling and he remembered to fear what was about to happen.

Not for himself, but for Alyssa.