Page 61 of Chain Reaction

Took off in a run.

Shouts sounded behind her.

She imagined Jake’s colleagues putting those weights on top of the bomb.

She held her breath.

Would their plan work?

Or would that bomb go off?

Everything still felt uncertain—and the feeling unnerved her.

Jake continued to run, her body bouncing against his.

More shouts sounded.

She waited for the detonation. For the blast of heat. For the pain.

But she didn’t hear it. Didn’t feel it.

Finally, Jake stopped. Took her off his shoulder. Set her down behind a tree.

Their gazes met.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

Raven nodded.

His gaze lingered on her another moment. Then he looked over her shoulder. At the site of the bomb.

Two seconds later, fire filled the air.

Jake knelt in front of Raven, trying to shield her from any debris that might fly this way. He thought he’d gotten far enough that she’d be safe, but he needed to be certain.

When the flames died, he raised his head. Raven was still okay.

Praise God!

He glanced at the site. The blast had knocked out part of the fence, and several trees were on fire.

Now he had to make sure the rest of his colleagues were unharmed as well.

“Stay here,” he told Raven.

He needed to check on everyone.

He started toward the area, burning debris still around him. The tranquil rhythm of the maritime forest had been shattered. Where ancient live oaks stood moments before, now a smoking crater had torn through the forest floor, surrounded by splintered trunks and shredded foliage.

The air, once perfumed with wax myrtle and pine, now stung with acrid smoke and the sharp tang of chemicals. Birds had fled in panicked flight, their alarmed calls piercing the sudden, eerie silence that followed the blast.

Moonlight illuminated a grotesque new landscape—twisted metal fragments embedded in tree bark, Spanish mosssmoldering on broken branches, and a fine dust of pulverized soil settling on the disturbed undergrowth.

The fire truck pulled closer and began to hose down any remaining flames.

He glanced in the direction his friends had fled.

They rose from the ground.