Down to the Wire. Laura Scott

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       FOUR

      Tess couldn’t bear to think of Bobby being in danger because of her. He was seventeen, old enough to take care of himself, but not if he trusted the wrong people.

      And how could he protect himself from a bomb?

      “I need to get home,” she said, straightening in her seat. “Right now.”

      “Tess, it’s not safe for you to go home,” Declan pointed out. “There have been two attempts on your life already.”

      “But that’s the first place Bobby will go,” she argued. Was he really going to just sit there and tell her what to do? She opened her passenger-side door. “Listen, I’m going home with or without your help. So what will it be? Should I get out and call a taxi? Or will you take me home?”

      Declan blew out a heavy breath. “I’ll call the guys from the SWAT team to meet us out there. We need to make sure there aren’t any more surprises.”

      The thought of a bomb being planted inside her home made her stomach churn. All the more reason to get home before Bobby did, she told herself. She closed her door with a swift thud. “Go ahead and call them, but hurry. We need to get there before anyone else.”

      She listened as Declan called his fellow SWAT officers to arrange for them to search her property. She was surprised Declan still knew her address from the night he’d rescued her all those years ago and had taken her home in his beat-up truck, not unlike the one she’d purchased for Bobby. Declan finished his call and then put the truck in Reverse so he could back out of the parking spot.

      “I really wish I had my cell phone,” Tess murmured. “It could be that Bobby is trying to call me right now.”

      “Do you want to call him from my phone?” Declan offered.

      She nodded and took his smart phone, quickly dialing Bobby’s number. Of course her brother didn’t answer, probably because he didn’t recognize the strange number. Still, she left him a message, instructing him to call her back on Declan’s phone.

      Discouraged, she stared at the screen, trying to ignore the pounding headache she had, as Declan drove her home. He pulled up in front of her house and parked along the quiet, tree-lined street. When she moved to get out of the car, he caught her arm. “We have to wait for the SWAT team to clear your house first.”

      After everything that had happened that morning, she knew he was smart to be cautious, and tried to find comfort in the fact that she didn’t see Bobby’s truck in the driveway.

      However, she did notice her neighbor Allan Gray coming out of his house to stand on his front porch, openly staring at Declan’s police vehicle.

      “Who’s that guy?” Declan asked with a frown.

      Before she could answer, Allan came striding toward them. “Are you okay, Tess?” he asked, peering at her through the passenger window.

      This time, Declan didn’t stop her when she pushed open her passenger side door. In fact, he climbed out of the vehicle, too, and came around to greet her neighbor.

      “I’m fine, Allan,” she said, forcing a smile. “How are you doing today?”

      He bobbed his head and glanced nervously over at Declan, who still wore his work uniform. “I’m fine, Tess, but why is there a police officer with you?”

      “Hi, my name is Declan Shaw.” Greeting Allan causally, he stepped forward to shake the man’s hand. “I’m a friend of Tess’s.”

      Tess wondered why Declan was using the friend routine instead of grilling Allan about where he was earlier that day. Allan Gray was a nice guy roughly about her age. As far as she knew he’d never been married, although he did have a full-time job working as a night-shift security guard for the local СКАЧАТЬ