Page 83 of Chain Reaction

Why had the tracks led here?

His pulse quickened.

He turned to continue searching the place.

But a blinking red light above the doorway caught his eye.

Before he could examine it, Raven stepped toward him.

Their gazes caught.

She gasped. “Jake? Oh, you scared?—”

The blinking light turned solid above her.

His heart jerked into his throat. “No!”

He grabbed her and pulled her toward him just as an explosion sounded and debris began to fall.

CHAPTER 39

Raven sucked in a breath, unsure what had just happened.

One minute, she’d been looking at Jake.

Then he’d grabbed her. Pulled her into a room. Slammed the door.

An explosion rocked the world around them. Shook the walls.

Smoke filled the air, along with a blast of heat.

The building shuddered as if with pain.

However, it didn’t collapse.

They were safe, she realized.

But where were they?

As if reading her thoughts, a light popped on.

“You okay?” Jake held up his cell phone to see her.

She nodded. “Yes, thanks to you. I was trying to find you.”

“Someone left tracks on the floor, hoping we’d follow them here.”

His words only confirmed her theory. “Cassidy wasn’t the one who called and lured us out here. Someone used a deepfake to copy her voice.”

“What?” Outrage stretched through his voice. Then he ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “I guess I shouldn’t besurprised. Someone wanted us to come out here so they could trap us.”

“Trap us? They weren’t trying to kill us?” That was what it seemed like to Raven, at least.

“I don’t think so. If these people wanted us dead, the bomb would have been larger and placed differently. This one was rigged to take out the support beam. It was just a large enough explosive to trap us in here.”

Raven’s eyes widened as she realized the truth of his words.

They were now trapped.