Page 68 of Scorched

“That goes for all of you. Stick together.”

“We will,” Rayna said. “None of us have a desire to be alone right now.”

London and Macy murmured their agreement.

Declan let Maggie go. “Good. I’ll be right back.” He retraced his steps, heading for the firetruck to use its radio.

Crichton saw him coming and cursed. “I wondered if it was bad when I saw you make a beeline for the women.” He held out the radio.

“Yeah, it’s bad.” He took the receiver. “Thanks.” Pressing the mic button, he called for a forensics team. He was about to ask for a location on the sheriff when he saw the tall man walking through the crowd of emergency personnel and onlookers.

He glanced at Crichton. “There was a bomb under the driver’s seat. I’ve got Stickley keeping people out of the area. I need to go talk to Seb.”

“Man, what the hell is going on around here? First arson fires, now a bomb?” He waved a hand toward Seb. “Go talk to him. Keep me informed.”

“Will do.” Declan handed him the radio and hurried away, flagging Seb down.

“What happened?” Seb asked, his long legs closing the gap between them. “Where are London and the others?”

“They’re safe over there.” Declan pointed toward the sidewalk where the five women stood huddled together, watching the commotion.

Seb blew out a breath, relief relaxing his features. “Good. I heard you call for forensics.” He motioned to the radio on his belt.

“Yeah. Someone put a bomb in Maggie’s car.”

Seb’s eyes grew wide. “Are you serious? How bad is the damage? And why isn’t she hurt? I mean, that’s usually the objective of a bomb, right? To hurt or kill the target?”

Declan nodded. “I’m not sure. I think it went off prematurely, though. It was under the driver’s seat.”

“Shit.” Seb put a hand to his forehead and spun away several paces before coming back. “Any idea who it could be? Is it our arsonist stepping up his game?”

“Not sure. It could be Hank Tulley, too.”

Seb’s mouth flattened and he shook his head. “It’s not. He’s in my jail. Gentry brought him in just as I was leaving around six. He decided to drown his sorrows in a bottle and started a fight at a bar.”

“That leaves our arsonist or some other unknown suspect.”

“What’s your gut say?”

Declan chewed on his bottom lip and glanced away. With Tulley out of the picture, it was too much of a coincidence for it to be a third, unknown person. “I think it’s the arsonist. So far, minus my mom, everyone else is connected to your family.”

“Maybe this is about her. But I don’t know what connection Maggie would have to her.”

“Me either. But maybe the bombing will yield some clues. It’s a lot harder to set off an explosive without leaving a trail than to pour some gasoline on a building and set it on fire.”

Seb sighed. “Yeah. And Katie’s the best, so if there’s something to be found, she’ll find it.” He pointed toward the coffee shop. “Show me the car.”

Declan led him through the café and braced himself as he stepped out back, knowing what he would see.

Seb let out a low whistle. “Damn.” He looked at Declan. “Once we’re done here, we need to call a family meeting. I want you and Macy there, too. We need to make a plan to keep everyone as safe as possible.”

“I agree. We’ll be there.” Whatever the plan entailed, Declan was going to make sure it meant Maggie stuck with him. He needed to be there to keep her safe.

---