Page 83 of Baited

“Jesus, Nate! What the—”

Boom!

The front kitchen windows exploded and glass erupted into the air. Ethan covered his face with his elbow and got to his feet, pedaling out of harm’s way of the shards leaping out like jagged fangs. His eyes burned from the smoke and debris that coated his clothes. He stumbled to the sidewalk with Nate at his heels, pain shot through his shoulder from where Nate had thrown him to the ground. Flames licked around the frame that used to be a window and through a hole in the roof. Black smoke billowed out from every orifice.

He gulped in fresh air but it did nothing to stifle the panic rising in his chest.

Nate gripped his elbow. “You can’t go in there man, there’s a fucking gas leak. Didn’t you smell the sulfur?”

Sweat rolled down the side of his neck and collected at his shirt. The wet material turned abrasive.

“She’s not in there,” he continued.

Ethan’s pulse dropped to a low hum. He wanted to take Nate’s word for it, but there was no way he could. “I need to see for myself. Call the fire department while I look in the windows.”

He didn’t wait for Nate to reply as he charged for the side of the house. A thick knot sat between his shoulder blades. If he had turned on the light switch when he’d been in the house, they’d both be dead.

Someone had planned that.

That’s why the blinds had been drawn during the day in the middle of summer—so that he would turn on a light. He shook his head. Fuck, he hadn’t been thinking. He’d been too concerned with finding Riley that he hadn’t registered the odor as gas.

Heat radiated off the exterior as he ducked along the house. He reached the living room and glass and faux wood blinds lay on the grass from the force of the ignition. He covered his nose and mouth and hefted himself to the windowsill. Light streamed inside from the now broken windows, but thick smoke made his sightline murky. His gaze scanned over the vacant couch, and the objects from the walls that now lay on the floor.

He leapt down and circled the back of the house where the only bedroom lay. Pulling himself up to the window again, he took in the ten-by-ten space. Aside from the bed and dresser, the room was vacant. Relief spread through him.

She hadn’t been in the house. The explosion had been intended for him and him only.

Which meant Riley had to be alive… Somewhere.

CHAPTER 24

Riley… Riley… Riley…

The chant pierced the fog that enclosed her. She squinted and pain exploded through her head. Her eyelids refused to lift open.

“Riley!”

Raw terror rippled through her and her eyes snapped open. Her chest rose and fell erratically as she darted her eyes around the room. Thick, off-white cushions encased every inch around her, including the ceiling.

She was in a padded room.

She bolted upright. Nausea tore through her, heaving her stomach muscles. She sucked in a deep breath and squeezed her eyes tight. She fisted her hand in her hair as she sucked the stifling air in. A small fan whirred from the corner of the room, stirring the hot air and doing absolutely nothing to cool it down.

“Riley, are you okay?”

She froze. Awareness buzzed through her. Her head shot up. At the far corner of the small room sat Hanna. Her pale strawberry blond hair scattered messily around her shoulders, her eyes wild in her thin face. Her skin was pale, and a loose men’s T-shirt covered her to midthigh.

Riley’s heart leapt into her throat. She scrambled to her feet and dropped down beside Hanna. She closed her arms around her. She was so small and frail…not like the Hanna she’d grown up with—but it was her.

“Hanna. Oh my god,” she ground out through the constriction in her throat. Tears stung her eyes.

“Riley, you shouldn’t have come here. He’ll lock you up too. He’ll—”

“Shhh. It’s fine. Everything’s going to be okay. The FBI is here and they’ll be looking for me by now.”

She held Hanna at arm’s length, her hands grasped her boney shoulders. Bruises covered Hanna’s wrists where the handcuffs restrained her. Anger simmered inside her. “I’m going to get you out of those.”

Hanna caught her arm, her eyes wide. “He’ll be back any minute. You have to find a way out. You won’t be able to get me out of these,” she said, rattling the chains. “He reinforced them to the stud after I loosened it.” Fear clouded her eyes and the smooth plains of her face creased with angst.

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