Alexander rubbed his temples, his head spinning. He didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep, the unforgiving desert heat, or the death surrounding him, but he felt completely drained.
“So… Not only do you plan on opening a women’s shelter no one is supposed to know about, but you’re also going to hide women so no one knows they’re even there?”
Landon grinned. “Sounds about right.”
“I don’t know,” Alexander began, thinking of a hundred different scenarios where this could all go wrong. He should have known there was more to Landon’s plan than he had originally let on. That was how it always was with him.
“I know how it sounds, but if I don’t do this, I’ll always wonder whether I could have prevented another unmarked shallow grave. Please, Alex,” he begged.
Alexander let out a long breath, staring into Landon’s eyes. He knew nothing he said would convince him the risk of something happening to him and everyone else was too great. If he didn’t finance this venture, Landon would find someone else who would. When his friend wanted something, he didn’t stop until he got it.
“Just be smart,” Alexander said finally. “I don’t want to get a phone call saying you’ll be coming home in a wooden box.”
Landon gave him a look that said he was up to something. “Smart is my middle name.”
Chapter Seventeen
Present Day
December 19
12:48 PM
IT ALL HAPPENED SO fast. One minute, Olivia was staring into the eyes of the woman who took her little girl. A woman she once considered to be a friend before she cut everyone out of her life. A woman Melanie trusted and played make-believe with.
A woman Olivia trusted.
The next minute, she was forced to the floor of the makeshift platform as it collapsed, a sound unlike anything she had ever heard filling the air, almost sucking the oxygen from everything around her. An inferno rolled over her, forcing her to recall all the Sundays she had spent in church growing up. The priest had warned his parishioners to follow the Bible or they’d spend eternity in hell.
If there was a hell, she was currently in it.
As the heat on her skin waned, she glanced up, unable to see Alexander through the smoke and utter pandemonium that had enveloped City Hall Plaza. FBI agents had sprung into action, uniformed officers running toward the smoke billowing thirty yards in front of her as everyone else tried to run away.
“Mrs. Burnham!” a muffled voice called out.
Every sound seemed to be dulled, as if it were all a dream. But if this were just a dream, Olivia’s head wouldn’t have been throbbing like it was. This was real. Something horrible had happened when, for a brief moment, she felt something she hadn’t all morning…hope. Hope that she was about to get her daughter back.
Looking at the blood-covered faces and unconscious bodies lying in front of city hall, she feared the one woman with answers would no longer be able to provide those.
“Come with me.”
Disoriented, Olivia slowly turned her head toward the sound as a woman in a navy FBI jacket helped her up. She had no idea what happened, but was pretty sure even the FBI agents swarming the area were just as confused, trying to piece everything together.
Olivia snapped out of her daze. “My husband!” The reality of the situation hit her like a truck as she struggled against Agent Long, who was trying to usher her to safety. “I need to find my husband!” She looked toward the spot she had last seen Alexander before it all went to hell. There was no sign of him.
“Alex!” she screamed, fighting with everything she had. She needed to see him, needed to feel him, needed to know she hadn’t lost everything.
“Mrs. Burnham, please!” Agent Long begged, using all her strength to pull her from the collapsed stage and toward flashing lights.
Smoke billowed around her like a cheesy haunted house during Halloween. It almost seemed like a scene out of one of those “end of the world” movies. She had never seen anything like this before.
“We need to get you to safety. We’ll find your husband, but you need to get checked out by the paramedics and stay out of the way so we can get to the people who do need help. Okay?”
“But my husband…,” she cried, her body growing weak, exhaustion setting in.
Sirens blared in the distance as firefighters in full gear rushed past her. She glanced over her shoulder at the confusion enveloping City Hall Plaza, praying Alexander was simply being who he was. That he rushed off to find the woman who had taken their daughter. She refused to consider the alternative. That he was one of the bodies lying on the pavement, bloodied and lifeless. Her husband was too strong, too resilient, too determined. She couldn’t stomach the thought of seeing him in any sort of vulnerable state. That wasn’t who he was. He was a fighter. Deep inside, she knew it would take a hell of a lot more than whatever had just happened to take her husband from her.
“I’ll go and look for him myself, but it’s too dangerous for you,” Agent Long assured her. “There are people who are seriously injured and need medical attention. Paramedics need to be able to get to them as quickly as possible. We can’t have anyone in the way.”
“But…” She looked into the young agent’s deep blue eyes, pleading. She couldn’t think clearly. All she knew was that her daughter had been taken from her, and now her husband was missing in a cloud of smoke and flames, people with gashes on their heads, arms, and legs limping toward safety. What if Alexander was injured and on the brink of drawing his last breath?
“If I have to lock you in the back of a cruiser so I know you won’t interfere, I will.” She raised her eyebrows, her formerly docile and easygoing mannerisms replaced with a fierce and stern expression. Despite her light, airy voice, motherly demeanor, and contagious smile that made Olivia think she moonlighted as a Disney princess, she came to the conclusion that Agent Long wasn’t someone to mess with.
Drawing in a breath, Olivia reluctantly nodded and allowed Agent Long to lead her toward a handful of ambulances several blocks away. A sense of familiarity washed over her when she saw Alexander’s mom sitting on a stretcher beside Tyler, who fussed over scratches and cuts on her face.
“Olivia, dear,” Colleen said in relief when she entered the area.
Olivia let out a sob and walked toward her mother-in-law. Colleen shook Tyler off her and stood, reaching her arms out toward Olivia.
“Colleen,” Olivia breathed. “Thank God you’re okay.”
“Of course I am,” she said, still the same spitfire, regardless of the situation. Olivia supposed she’d have to be after having been around this kind of thing nearly her entire life. She had been married to a navy pilot turned CIA operative, who then went off and started his own private security company. She probably lived every day wondering if her husband would come home at night, much like Olivia used to until she grew complacent that nothing would ever happen to Alexander.