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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“ F ire.” She whispered an echo of his word.

She couldn’t believe it. Except it was undeniable when smoke rolled under the doorway to lick at the floor as it rose into the room. Orange flickered under the door, visible in the gap between the tile and the bottom of the door.

The tang of smoke laced the air. It caught in the back of her throat so that she had to cough to get a breath in.

“We need a way out.” Jacob turned. “But the fire exit is that door.”

He pointed to the source of the smoke, then moved toward it. Instead of going for the handle he touched his hand to the wood. “It’s hot. The fire must be burning hot in the hallway.” He touched the metal handle, just a tap of one finger. “No go on the back door.”

Addie spoke aloud as she thought it through. “He cut the phone lines. Then he locked the door and started a fire in the only other exit?” She glanced at the front. That wasn’t counting the fact she now suspected she’d been herded here.

How was it possible the person outside had set this up? That seemed crazy.

With Jacob behind her she realized he didn’t need to see how completely terrified she was. All her training went out the window when she was the victim. Not something she thought she would ever get used to. Even with a badge on her belt, she felt like that scared teen again.

Most of the time on the job she could push it aside and focus. Assuming she wasn’t flirting with burnout. And yet, since she’d been back in Benson, things she’d successfully buried for years had shown back up, close to the surface. She’d dreamed nearly every night—nightmares really. And after going to the cabins today she couldn’t help thinking about it, even just seeing them fixed up and covered in snow didn’t matter.

That, coupled with the adrenaline of being followed and harassed in her car, meant she was having a hard time keeping her cool now.

Jacob frowned. “I’m guessing it’s some kind of quick-set epoxy. Squeeze it into the lock, it sets in minutes. We can’t get out.”

Addie winced. “So he did the doors, then set the fire, and now what? Is he trying to burn us alive in here?”

“That’s not going to happen.” Jacob crossed the room, went into a closet, and came out with a spray can in each hand. “They came in a pack of two. Lucky us.”

“What is it?” She took one. “Oh, a fire extinguisher. In a spray can?”

“Easier than an extinguisher you have to have checked every year, or whatever the rule is now.” He moved to the hall door, took a knee, and sprayed under the door. “We can keep the fire at bay, but we need a way out if we’re not planning to stay in here and just hope someone shows up.”

All she had was a gun and the can he’d given her. Only one of those things was helpful in a fire. If it got big enough, even the can wasn’t going to be able to neutralize a legit blaze.

She should’ve paid better attention in that ATF seminar.

Instead, she was reduced to looking at the ceiling for a sprinkler system. Shouldn’t a building like this have one?

Not only that, but the phones didn’t work. “You’re right. We do need to get out of here.”

For the first time she saw a flash of fear on his face. “What if he’s out there, waiting to pick us off the minute we step outside? Clearly this guy means business. He got to work straight away, and now we have only minutes before we succumb to smoke inhalation.”

Addie moved to stand in front of him. If she’d had a free hand, she’d have set it on his shoulder. Or taken his hand like she had when he’d held it out, inviting her to connect with him in that small way.

Addie wracked her brain for ideas. “Is there another way out?”

He winced. “It won’t be easy to use. And how do we know he didn’t bar that way as well? Or he’s got a gun and we get shot the second we leave?” He coughed. “We could be headed to our deaths.”

“Sometimes the chance is worth it.” It gave her strength to realize this was what they did. In times of fear, they shored each other up. Supported each other. The way she worked with her FBI colleagues as part of a team.

The way Russ had taken her camping and let her carry some of their stuff. Helped her to make a fire to cook dinner. She’d tried to do it by herself, but it never worked.

Being part of a team was so much better than flying solo. “We have to try.’’

“What if the fire draws a neighbor to call 911?” Jake asked. “He could’ve given us a way to get rescued rather than face certain death. This might actually be a good thing since we can’t get out without risking our lives. Setting this fire might be what saves us from whatever else he has planned.”

He was worried, so it was her turn to comfort him.

Any second now those tables could turn, and she’d be the one in need of reassurance.

“You’d rather sit around and wait to get rescued, assuming a neighbor will call 911?” Her stomach knotted, because even if she was focused on him that didn’t mean she’d lost all her fear. “Last time it took two days for anyone to find us. I’m guessing we don’t have that long here.” She got close to him. Looked for that solidarity she’d been trying to find with someone else since they parted ways.

Had he ever found it with anyone?

Now wasn’t the time to ask him and try to find out. Addie still wasn’t sure she wanted to know if he had. “Does your security here connect to the emergency system, or the company you bought it from?”

He shook his head. “I have an alarm for the door. It only alerts me if it’s disconnected or set off, nothing else.”

“Okay, so that’s a no on that.” She had to cough. The air was beginning to get thick. “Bathroom? Or a kitchen?”

“For what?”

“If we can wet some towels, we can tie them around our faces. So we’re not inhaling chemicals and smoke.” She remembered that, at least.

Maybe it was more that she’d seen so many episodes of that fire department TV show. Not that she watched it for the fire safety tips. There was way too much relationship drama for that.

“Oh.” His face fell. “That would be down the hall that’s on fire. I have waters, though.” He went to a cabinet under the coffee pot. Moving swiftly. Edgy. Still, there was familiarity even in those movements, coupled with the realization he was a man now—where before he’d been a boy who believed he was one.

When he opened the door, she realized it was a minifridge. “Here.”

She didn’t move.

“What?”

Since now wasn’t the time, Addie shook her head. “Nothing.”

She set the fire extinguisher spray down rather than holstering her gun. Still, he had to unscrew the lid for her so she could take a long drink. “Okay. That’s better. Now we…” Movement across the room caught her attention. “Jake.”

“What is…” He turned.

Moved in front of her.

Backed up, so Addie had to move as well.

Insects crawled through the vents. Poured into the room. Some took flight, filling the room with a buzz over the sound of flames burning the structure of the hallway.

Addie choked back the noise that wanted to emerge from her throat. She jumped up on the counter even though there wasn’t enough room to sit.

“We can’t…” Her mind blanked, and there was only terror. It licked with icy fingers at her spine and made her want to shake with fear. “Jake.” Everything in her wanted to pray. It was just like before. “Jake.”

“Easy.”

She had to swat away a fly. “He…”

Jacob spun around. “Look at me.”

She shook her head. Look at him? If she did that, she couldn’t see if any of the bugs were headed for them. She wouldn’t know if something was trying to crawl up her leg.

None of them were big enough to shoot. What did she have to fight them off with?

Memories of all manner of creeping and crawling creatures running up and down her skin stuck the air in her throat in a lump.

Addie coughed. “I swallowed one. I breathed one in.”

“No.” He shifted, and she realized he’d set his water down when he touched her cheeks. “He’s trying to scare us, that’s all.”

“It’s working.” She didn’t want to lose it. She wasn’t a scared kid anymore; she was a grown woman. An FBI agent. But that didn’t take the fear away.

Nothing did.

Jacob touched his forehead to hers. “You aren’t tied to a chair. You can move.”

She let go of the gun and clutched at the shirt on his sides. Hugged his elbows with her arms. Held on tight.

“Good. Hold on to me, Addie.”

He’d said the same thing to her before, fifteen years ago.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “We have to get out of here.” But she couldn’t move. There was no way she could get off this counter and walk across the floor knowing there were bugs everywhere. It was too much like before.

“There aren’t that many.” He shook her, just a fraction. Enough to get her attention. “Look, Addie.”

She shook her head as best she could when he had those warm fingers on her cheeks. Nothing had ever felt the way he did. He was her lifeline.

Only she’d relied on him entirely too much. Even before they were rescued, he’d pulled away, and she had no idea why. Some kind of recoil when he’d hit his limit and been unable to handle it—along with trying to be there for her the way she’d tried to for him. Then after they were rescued, he walked away completely.

He might be familiar, but it wasn’t a place she could be sure of.

“Look.”

Her eyes fluttered open. She shouldn’t have squeezed them shut so hard. Now everything was blurry. Or was that the smoke in the room?

She stared at the insects dispersed across the floor. “That’s your idea of not that many?” She wanted to tuck her feet up on the counter with her. Curl into a ball as tight as possible and pray nothing came anywhere near her.

Bugs were the last thing she wanted to deal with.

She looked back at Jake.

The expression on his face was something like yearning. She stared at those eyes. Saw in them everything she’d ever needed. A whisper of promise that she was worth sticking around for.

Until it all went wrong.

He moved closer, just a fraction. She felt the warmth of his breath on her cheek.

“Jake.”

He was going to kiss her.

Addie needed to figure out if she wanted that. Even while she considered the fact she always would. It’s always been you.

No matter what else happened, that would be true until the day she died. No matter who else became part of her life.

“I feel it too.” But he didn’t kiss her. Instead, he moved away an inch.

Out of reach.

“What’s happening?” Addie asked him. “This is too bizarre. Too similar.” Ideas wanted to coalesce in her mind, but there was too much terror to sort through it.

Maybe they would always have crazy chemistry. It didn’t mean there was anything between them after all this time.

“Whoever is outside wants us trapped. They know how both of us feel about bugs.” He shuddered. She felt it under her hands, even though she was squeezing the life out of handfuls of his shirt.

She tried to unclench her fingers. “Tell me about that way out you have. I don’t want to be in here. We need to be outside.” She gasped. “I can’t breathe.”

Even though they were going to walk across the floor covered with skittering bugs. Swat away the ones that flew around trying to escape the smoke.

One flew toward her face, and she made a noise in her throat she wasn’t proud of.

You’re an FBI agent. Act like it.

But those old fears reared their heads and drowned her good sense.

“The alternative is waiting for someone to call the fire department, and we don’t know how long that will take.” He kissed her forehead. “We might not have enough time to wait. Even if going outside could mean we get picked off by a bullet.”

“Okay.” She winced. “Let’s go.”

If they were up against a bullet, that wasn’t nearly as terrifying a prospect as insects everywhere. Touching her.

She shivered, and he shifted, so she hopped off the counter. “Let’s move fast.”

“I’ll warn you now”—he pointed—“you might not like this way out.”

“We can’t stay here.”

There were already two insects on her shoe. She didn’t want to look close enough to know what they were.

She took his hand. “Lead the way.”