“Olivia? Olivia!” Daniel scrambled over the broken pile of timber that had been his front porch, searching the wreckage. He couldn’t see Olivia anywhere. “Shout if you can hear me!”
Oh, Lord, where is she? Was she buried underneath all this? Is she even still alive?
There was a groan to his left. He turned. Jesse was trapped under a support beam.
Daniel picked his way over quickly and checked Jesse’s pulse. It was strong, and there was no visible head trauma. Daniel grabbed Jesse’s hands and duct-taped them together.
His eyes snapped open. “You’re dead. You’re both dead. When I catch you and that—”
He slapped a piece of duct tape over Jesse’s mouth.
Then he saw her. Olivia was lying deep inside a pile of crumbled wood. He ran toward her. Her eyes were closed. Her face was pale. Lord, please let her be okay. He knelt down and gently pulled her body out of the wreckage. He cradled her into his chest. His eyes brushed the side of her face. “Olivia? Honey? Can you hear me?”
Green eyes fluttered open. He’d never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life.
“Hey!” A smile crossed her lips but her voice was faint. “That was some plan.”
“Yeah.” He chuckled softly. “Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She took his hand and tried to pull herself to her feet. A cry escaped her lips. She fell back onto the wood. “I hurt my ankle.”
“Hopefully it’s not broken, just sprained.” He slid his arms under her limbs and picked her up. He carried her through the rubble and out into the trees. “We’ll get you to the car and to a hospital.”
Her hands slid around his neck. Her heart beat into his chest. “Where’s Jesse?”
“Trapped well enough that he can’t chase us. But alive. Looks as though Jesse and the Faceless Crew will all live to face justice.”
Branches pressed up against their bodies. Her arms tightened their grip on his neck. “When you said you had a plan, I was expecting something a little more complicated than jumping out a window and dropping a roof on top of him.”
“Well, we didn’t have that many options.” He chuckled softly. “You’re the one who taught me it was sometimes good to be impulsive.”
Dazzling blue spread across the sky above them. The world was silent except for the sound of his feet moving through the underbrush and her breath against his neck.
“So now what?” she asked.
“Now we drive to Barrie. Trent lent me a disposable cell phone. As we go, you can keep trying your sister. She’ll be so thrilled to hear your voice. Then the cops will come to arrest Jesse, Shorty and Brute. We’ll provide the authorities with some really good information. You’ll end up with a pretty major story.” He bent closer to her. “And I’ll ask you out for dinner. Somewhere you and I can sit alone, with quiet and candlelight, without anyone shooting at us and nothing exploding.”
“Dinner?” Her breath teased his skin. “Last I heard, you just wanted to grab a quick coffee.” Her lips brushed against his jaw, sending a shiver down his spine, then up into his heart.
He pulled her tighter into his chest. “Let’s just say I’ve realized I want to get to know you better.”
Then, before another word could escape her mouth, he brought his mouth down toward her, and their lips met in a kiss.