At least they both knew the window was working, since she’d cracked it when he first stepped out of the car. She pressed the button to lower it in a careful and deliberate motion, afraid it might jam or something if she hit it. Probably stupid, but hell. This was not the time to be breaking things in a rush.
The window lowered smoothly. As soon as he could get over it, Gabe leaned in with something dark in his hand. He pulled her seat belt away from her chest and hooked it with the thing he was holding—a utility knife with a seat belt cutter. The fabric of the seat belt parted easily. He did the same at her lap instead of wasting more time to pull it loose. So glad he hadn’t had to use an actual open blade. What if she’d twitched?
“Just put your arms around my neck and let me pull you out. Watch your head.” Gabe coaxed her to him and tightened his arms around her torso as she leaned toward him. As soon as he had her out the window and set her on her feet, he grabbed her by the hand and yanked her into a run.
She ducked her head and watched the ground. At this speed she didn’t have much time to watch where she was going, but she did her best not to trip as they reached the tree line. Last thing he needed was for her to slow them both down.
He pulled her down behind the large trunk of a tree.
She crouched in the shelter of his arm, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her throat burned from sucking in air as they’d run. Her mouth had gone dry. She could blame that on either the run or fear. She’d settle on the former since the latter wasn’t something she had time to contemplate. Instead, she worked on settling her churning stomach and hoped her heart wouldn’t beat its way through her sternum. If they needed to run again, it’d be best if she could catch her breath.
Long seconds went by. Shivering against him, the rock solid strength of him anchored her, helped keep panic at bay. She’d expected something to have happened. Maybe a loud boom.
She lifted her head. “Wha—?”
BOOM.
The sound of the explosion reached them first. Cursing, Gabe tucked her close against him as a concussive shock wave passed right through the tree—and them. She felt it deep in her chest, like being right next to giant speakers at a dance party when the DJ had gone crazy with the bass. Wildlife in the surrounding trees called out in alarm, and leaves fell all around them.
As suddenly as it came, it’d passed, and Gabe was easing up his hold on her. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. He scowled. She cleared her throat and gave him a verbal answer. “Yes. I’m all right.”
He gave her a terse nod and then turned his gaze toward the car. Peering around the trunk of the tree, fear came crawling back up from the bottom of her belly and she tasted bile at the back of her throat.
It was like someone had gotten under the car near the front tire and shot a rocket up into the passenger side. Fire and smoke filled the interior and a hole had been blown through the roof of the car. Chunks of twisted metal and what might have been parts of the seat poked out through the new sun roof.
Her seat. She’d been sitting there, trapped by the seat belt.
Her lungs seized and her stomach churned. She turned away from the car, away from Gabe, and threw up.
Gabe’s big hand was rubbing her back in soothing circles. He was helping her hold her hair back too. She didn’t care. She heaved and heaved again until there was nothing. Then her stomach cramped and she gagged on the taste of bile.
“Easy. Try to breathe in through your nose, out through your mouth. Go ahead and spit out the taste if you have to. We’ll get you water as soon as we can.” Gabe’s voice as he spoke to her was soothing, low, but changed pitch to sharp and demanding as she heard him dial his phone and start talking. “Lizzy? ETA? Going to need cleanup.”
Maylin couldn’t hear Lizzy’s response, but she couldn’t stand bent over any more. She straightened, using the tree trunk for support, and sucked in more air. She looked around the tree and saw smoke billowing from the top of the car. A few flames still licked the inside of the car cabin.
Thank goodness she had the loaner phone and wallet with her in her pockets. Her duffel bag was in the car. She was going to need more clothes.
The trivial nature of the thought caught her and a giggle bubbled up in her throat, gained momentum, and she clamped her hands over her mouth hard to stop herself before she escalated into full-on insane laughter.
Hysteria. Had to be.
“Meet us about a half mile north of current location. Track our GPS signal.” Gabe ended the call and dropped his phone into his pocket.
“You can do that? Even on the way?” Maylin blurted out the questions. Too much adrenaline, no more filters.
Gabe hugged her to his chest for a split second. “With the right tech, yeah. It’s why I had you leave your smartphone back with Marc and gave you the temp. C’mon, we’re walking.”
Walking was good. Way better than running. “Well, yeah, I figured you had to be in a sort of control room or central computer hub to do it, though.”
He shook his head as he led her on a path parallel to the road, inside the tree line. “There’s an app for that.”