Page 71 of Shrapnel

Harvey had regained himself and ran forward with several others. They took the woman from Noah, and he raced back in. She had mentioned a granddaughter.

Frantically he ran back to the place he had found her. The fire had spread, and he could feel the heat on his face now. The rain wasn’t strong enough to beat it back anymore.

Noah found the young girl. Half of her body was hidden under a thick wooden beam. The sparkly gold dress she had been wearing was blackened with soot and her limp hand was still holding a basket wreathed in ribbons. Two petals were still nestled in the basket.

He didn’t need to look to know she was dead. So was the wedding party. The bomb had been at the front of the church—the bride, groom, and their families were dead. Probably blown apart before Noah had even felt the blast.

Tears slid down his cheeks, dripping into his open mouth. He was screaming. Falling to his knees, he hung his head and wept. There would be no more survivors.

Noah was kneeling in a burning crypt.

His hands gripped the grainy ground, feeling thick chunks of mutilated church pressing against his palms. Noah didn’t want to get up. He wanted to burn. Let the fires escort him into the afterlife where he could exchange his life with that of the flower girl, beg whatever god to take him instead.

Sniffling he opened his eyes.

All around him were melted bits of plastic. He wiped his nose with the bloodied back of his hand and picked one up. It was a deformed blue Lego brick.

Blinking, he realized it wasn’t the only one. He was kneeling in the middle of hundreds of Lego bricks. They were scattered around the blast zone, some melted, and some embedded into the flesh of the dead.

14

God Save the Prom Queen

Sleek tires spunon the loose gravel as Elijah gunned it down the long driveway to White Sand Mesa. He grit his teeth when he had to slow down for the gates, flashing a grim look at the guard before flooring up to the circular drive. By this time the guards at the gate recognized him, and if they didn’t, he was perfectly happy to remind them. He parked beside the fountain and didn’t even take the keys from the car, just sprinting up the wide steps to the main front door.

Harvey met him at the door. Without slowing him down, Noah’s aide fell in step with him. He looked battered. His skin was dark from smoke and the hair on the right side of his face was singed. The face of the silver watch on his wrist was shattered. Harvey smelled like smoke, and it made Elijah sick to his stomach.

“What happened?”

Harvey didn’t flinch at Elijah’s tone. “Explosion. A third of White Sand Mesa was there, including most of our higher-ups. We have twenty dead, ten in critical care, and another forty being treated for minor wounds.”

Elijah’s steps stuttered as his stomach dropped out.So many.This made the attack on Weaver Syndicate look like child’s play.

“Noah?”

“We were far enough from the blast…he went back in for survivors but…”

“Is he hurt?”

“He won’t let anyone check him.”

Elijah lengthened his stride, ignoring the pleasant garden he usually loved. He needed to see Noah, now. Needed to hold him in his hands. Fill them with Noah instead of the violence they were craving.

Elijah was not a violent man. He killed because it was his job because someone ordered him to. He took no pleasure in it and would just as soon not do it if avoidable. Feeling the desire for revenge was new to him. Like a poison pumping through his veins, he felt it soak into his limbs. His fingers clenched, seeking something to soak up the hatred.

He would kill the bastard that put Noah in danger.

“The bomb had Legos,” Harvey sighed as he ran his fingers through his ruined hair.

“It’s our killer?”

“No doubt.” Harvey grabbed Elijah by the arm, gently asking him to pause rather than demanding he stop. “That’s not the worst of it.”

“A bomb isn’t bad enough?”

“Noah has been keeping the murders a secret. It hasn’t been fooling everyone, but—”

Elijah felt sick. “They know.”