Page 10 of Saving Grace

“It’s good,” the other man muttered shortly.

Matt nodded. He was done with small talk. “Come on, then. I’m suddenly starved for bacon and pancakes.”

When they arrived at Millie’s, the diner was packed. This was unusual on a Monday morning. What was more unusual was that everyone was gathered around the widescreen TV.

“What’s going on?” Colt asked a blonde woman who met them at the entrance. For a moment, Matt thought it was his twin. Was Colt serious? He’d bet his left nut that this woman was Mya. Jesus, talk about moving on to Kate’s doppelgänger.

“There was an explosion at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta airport,” the blonde said, hugging the rancher around his torso and pressing close to him. “Oh my God, Colt! They think it’s a terrorist attack.”

“Did it happen just now?” Matt demanded, looking at the clock. It was just nine o’ clock. What time was Grace’s flight?

“I don’t know. What is happening to the world?” the blonde choked, clearly on the verge of hysteria.

“You’ll be safe here, Mya,” Colt murmured soothing words, but his grim eyes met Matt’s over the top of her head.

“Everyone shut up,” Millie hollered from the back of the room. “We can barely hear what they’re saying.”

An on-site reporter continued, “… Many walking wounded right now and I’ve counted about thirty stretchers with casualties. The reported explosions were outside the security checkpoint and at the Oceania and Jericho Airlines ticketing counters. Both carriers are located at the North Terminal.”

The scene switched to a XNN News anchor who cut in, “If you’re all just joining us right now, there are reports of triple explosions at the Atlanta airport. This happened around eight fifteen eastern time this morning. First responders are still evacuating the terminal. No known cause at this time.”

His co-anchor countered, “Social media is abuzz with speculations that this isn’t over.”

As riveting as the scenes were playing out right in front of him, Matt couldn’t think of anything or anyone else except Grace. He took out his phone, scrolled through his contacts, and thumbed her number.

Her phone rang and rang.

“Pick up. Pick up. Dammit.”

Her voicemail came on.

“Fuck!” Matt shouted and thumbed her number again. Same response. He wanted to hurl his phone. There was only one place to go.

He tore out of the diner.

“Where are you going?” Colt called from behind him.

“deLamar’s compound.”

“We’re most likely under a terrorist attack,” the rancher stepped in front of him. They were about the same height so they were pretty much in each other’s faces. “Could you forget about your dick for one minute and think …”

Colt shouldn’t have said that because Matt was a kindling strike away from exploding. He never did have the best temper.

He threw out a punch and hit his friend across the jaw.

Colt staggered back and glowered at him with fists already up in a fighting stance. Tough son of a bitch.

“What the fuck, Foster?”

“Grace was scheduled to leave from the Atlanta airport this morning.”

Understanding dawned on Colt’s features. He lowered his fists. “Shit.”

“I need to know if she has changed her mind about leaving.” Matt swallowed hard. “I’d rather she’d stayed with Troy than be in Atlanta right now.”

“She left early this morning,” a voice spoke from the top of the steps. Matt swung around and saw Cristiano. “I’ve been summoned to the compound. Looks like we’re heading to Atlanta. We’ll keep you posted.”

Cristiano squeezed Matt’s shoulder before moving past him to get on his Harley. Giving both men a salute, he revved up his bike and sped away.

---