Page 101 of Tough as Steele

Londyn wanted to help subdue Holt, but she clasped the switch tightly and stayed in position.

After what seemed an eternity, Nate roared back and slammed a fist into Holt’s face. He lay stunned. Nate flipped Holt on his stomach and scrambled to get into place. Nate yanked the jerk’s arms behind his back.

Nate grabbed his handcuffs and slapped them onto Holt, then looked up at Londyn. “I don’t want to take any chances with the bomb. Can you hold until the bomb squad gets here?”

“Yes.” She let out a long breath.

His breath was coming hard, but his gaze remained focused. “Do you want to hold the switch, or do you want me to?”

“I will.”

“Such a gentleman,” Holt scoffed. “You always were an easy mark.”

“If having manners and caring about others means I’m an easy mark, then that’s a good thing to be.” Nate let out a shuddering breath. “Are you okay, Mimi?”

“Fine, now that all the drama is over.”

But it wasn’t over. Not for Londyn. She was still standing on a pressure switch, and even with the dead man’s switch in hand, the IED could explode and take her life.

25

“No way.” Nate shrugged off the sergeant’s hand. “I’m not leaving Detective Steele, and you can forget about trying to haul me away.”

The burly sergeant crossed his arms. “We have a live bomb here, and I can’t let you stay.”

“I’ve got full faith in the bomb tech.” Nate looked at the green-suited technician kneeling down next to Londyn.

She was trying to put on a brave front, but a sharp edge of terror blazed from her eyes as the sun rose in glorious reds and oranges behind her. That was why Nate couldn’t—wouldn’t—fall back. He wouldn’t even consider it.

Nate faced the sergeant. “You best be moving away, or you’ll have to explain to your men why you’re not following protocol. Not a good leadership example.”

“Fine. But stay put. No getting closer.” He flung his hands up and spun. “Detectives. Put on the earth to make the real job of policing harder than it needs to be.”

Nate turned to Londyn and had to work hard not to pick at his thumb, but he didn’t want to let on that his nerves were stretched nearly to breaking. “You hear that. We make things harder than they need to be.”

“You should go, Nate. No need for both of us to be in danger.”

He ignored her comment and the sergeant’s command and inched closer. “How are you doing?”

She took a long breath and exhaled, her body shuddering with the action. “You know how when you to have an X-ray or MRI and they tell you not to move? Normally you’d be fine lying there, but when you’re told you can’t move, that’s all you want to do.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, that’s how I feel. I know I need to remain in place, but my brain keeps saying move, and I’m at war with myself.”

He stepped even closer, now only five feet away.

“Hold up, Ryder, or so help me!” the sergeant yelled.

He wanted to respect this officer and the job he had to do, but Nate had to get as close as he could to Londyn to help her hold on while her life hung in the balance. Sure, he trusted the bomb tech, but even with all the skills and training he possessed, he could make a mistake. And it wouldn’t be unlike Holt to put some sort of failsafe in place. Nate warned the tech of that, and he nodded his understanding, his helmet moving up and down like a bobber on a clear lake, but it didn’t give Nate any sense of relief.

He took a few more steps. “You can do this, you know?”

“I don’t know if I’m strong enough.”

“Hey, you were the one who said you never know if you’re strong until you need to be strong. And I would add until you’re tested. Then you’ll see yourself do things you never knew you could do. Endure trials you never knew you could endure.”

“You’re talking about your SEAL days.”

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