Page 387 of Cold Case, Warm Hearts

“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.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Right here.” Jacob crouched at the back of the dressing room and shoved a rack of shoes over. He flipped the latch at the bottom of the wall, then stood and slid the bolt that secured the door shut. “Used to be a loading bay entrance, back when this place was a restaurant before I bought it. I was thinking of using it for storage. I just didn’t get to it yet.”

He looked back at her. “It’s been two years.”

The edge of a smile curled her lips, but it did nothing to extinguish the look on her face.

“Come on.”

Inside the door it was cramped. A few crates and a pallet, just junk mostly, littered the room. In one corner he’d had them install the new water heater. Jacob heard a rat scurry down one wall but didn’t react to it. Neither of them needed to acknowledge more living creatures in here with them.

Especially not after those insects had poured into the room, through the heating vent.

He wanted to shudder just thinking about it. The only reason he got through it this time was knowing she needed him to be strong. Talking her past her fears helped him reason it out. Thelast thing he’d wanted was for those bugs to be anywhere near him, but he’d worked hard to get over that particular fear.

The past wasn’t going to have him in a chokehold. Not that he blamed Addie if her history did. After all, she faced down killers. Something he would never want to do.

He didn’t want anything to do with crime. Or law enforcement.

The fact that she did impressed him. Even if it was about overcoming her fears and going after what drove her. He did the same thing, just in different ways.

For that matter, so did Hank.

Addie closed the door behind her. “Is there a way to get outside?”

“They boarded up the entrance, but it’s only two-by-fours. I can kick one out.” Jacob went to the exterior wall and pressed on one of the old boards. He could see out a gap between two of them. Only the air outside was so cold it hurt to stare out. All he got was a flash of light. Maybe a tree. “As soon as I kick one…”

She finished for him. “He’ll see.”

He pulled out his phone. “Whoever it is.”

“I’ll go first.” She was right that she should. After all, she was the one with the gun and the training.

“One sec.” He held the phone up by the exterior wall. Like the gap between the boards would let in a signal. It did give him enough to call out, maybe because there wasn’t concrete between him and the signal…he didn’t know enough about it. Or whatever tech had been used to jam his signal before and kill the phone line in his office.

“I’m gonna call Hank.” He put it on speaker so they could both hear.

Hank answered on the first ring. “Hey, I’m kind of busy, but what’s up?”

“Addie and I are trapped at my studio,” Jacob began. “It’s on fire, and we don’t know if we can get out. We think whoever set the fire is still outside.”

“I’ll call it in. But I’m across town. It’ll take me some time to get there, but I’ll get a patrol car and fire to your location.” Hank paused a fraction. “What’s the address again?”

Hank knew where the place was and what street, but Jacob gave him the number. The quicker help could get here the better.

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