OH, GOD. Jace stood behind the glass door, fear and frenzy turning his stomach. He’d lived through a war zone. Watched friends die. Watched his brother die.
This was so much worse. Standing there, knowing Quinn was in trouble and being unable to do anything to protect her.
He yelled for Daniel, dialing 911 at the same time.
The operator did her job, but all her questions frustrated him. He told the woman Quinn had been kidnapped at gunpoint and taken in his stolen truck. He reeled off the license plate and description.
The police were on her trail thirty seconds after she and Warren were out of the parking lot. But it wasn’t enough.
Daniel came running, and Jace didn’t even have to demand keys to a car before they were being pushed into his palm.
He was going to kill Warren. With his bare hands.
He was no more than a couple of minutes behind them when he peeled out of the lot.
Even as he headed in the direction Quinn had turned, he tried to reason his way into a calm he did not feel. Warren wanted his wife and Quinn knew where Caroline was. He wouldn’t hurt her until they had Caroline.
Unfortunately, he didn’t think Quinn would actually take him anywhere near the other woman. Which was good and bad—good for Caroline, but bad for Quinn.
Eventually, Warren would figure out she was stringing him along. And then... Jace’s stomach clenched tight with dread.
He heard the accident. The sickening grind of metal and several loud bangs.
As his car screamed around the corner, he saw the truck upside down in the grass beside the overpass, wheels spinning lazily, and felt his gorge rise.
Even in the few moments before he arrived the crash was already attracting a crowd.
His borrowed car tore through grass as he slid to a stop several feet away. The driver’s-side door swung drunkenly behind him as he raced across the remaining space.
Several people were scrambling around the crumpled truck. Others held cells to their ears, probably calling in the accident. Jace didn’t bother with that. His one and only concern was getting to Quinn.
The truck was totaled, crunched in the front and sides, and settled on the cab. The astringent scent of gas filled the air and a couple of people who’d obviously realized the danger were trying to push back the gathering spectators.
Two men were trying to pry off the passenger side door. Others were doing the same at the driver’s side. Jace skidded to his knees, trying to look inside and find her.
Adrenaline and fear pumped straight into his veins at the sight that greeted him. There was blood everywhere, but luckily he thought most of it was coming from Warren and not Quinn.
Somehow she’d managed to get out of her belt, but was crumpled into a heap on the inverted ceiling of his truck. Her hand lay on the door handle, as if she’d been trying to escape, but her eyes were closed and her body still.
At least she’d been conscious at some point after the accident.
But there was no way they were getting the driver’s door open. It was too banged up. Quickly assessing the situation, Jace grabbed a large rock and headed to the back windshield. Using all his strength, he pounded on it several times before it finally started to give, a spiderweb forming across the surface.
The sound of crackling glass had never been so sweet.
In the distance, he could hear sirens wailing, but they weren’t going to get here in time. Black smoke drifted into the gathering dusk, burning his lungs with apprehension. Something was on fire and when it reached the gas tank...
Ignoring the shards of glass cutting into his palms, arms and legs, Jace crawled through the opening he’d made and managed to grasp Quinn around the waist and tug.
Tucking her against his body, Jace backed out, careful to keep her from being cut by the shards everywhere. It took too long. His heart thumped erratically the entire time—he was certain the fire was going to reach the gas tank at any moment.
But at least if they went, they were going together.
People were yelling at him. Someone else was impatiently waiting to climb in through the hole he’d made, but Jace screamed at him to back away so he could get Quinn safe.
Once they were free, Jace didn’t stop until they were thirty yards away, then he finally collapsed to the ground with her.
The way her body flopped, limp and lifeless, scared the shit out of him. Cradling her in his lap, Jace ran his hands over her, frantically searching for a pulse and breath.
A little of his panic ebbed when he found both. What bothered him was the gigantic knot coming up on the side of her head.
Several emergency teams sped onto the scene, sirens blaring. Police and firefighters pushed everyone back from the truck. Warren was still trapped inside, but it was too dangerous to attempt a rescue until that fire was out.
The firemen began unwinding the hose that would extinguish the flames now curling up through the engine of the car.
Jace didn’t think they were going to make it in time. He could see orange, red and yellow fingers of flame licking several feet into the sky.
And then the whole world exploded. Or, at least, it felt that way. Jace had been close to several bomb detonations. But this was different. The reverberation of it rattled his chest. Instinctively, he curled around Quinn’s body shielding her from the heat and raining debris.
Several people screamed. A few were tossed backward by the force of the blast. The firefighters began blanketing the roaring pile of metal with foam.
Warren hadn’t gotten out. Jace couldn’t find a single piece of his soul upset about that fact.
Smoothing Quinn’s disheveled hair back from her face, Jace bent close and called to her. “Quinn, sweetheart, wake up. Please. Let me see those gorgeous eyes.”
Her lids fluttered and then opened slowly, as if weighted down by the force of her need to sleep. Her eyes were glazed with shock and pain, her pupils tight little pinpoints, but she was still looking at him. Cognizant. Her tongue slipped out, brushing across her plump lips. “Sorry about your truck,” she croaked.
Jace groaned, the sound a combination of relief and mangled laughter. “Don’t worry about it.”
But the relief was short-lived, quickly replaced by the toxic sludge of fear and frustration and panic he’d been holding back. “What the hell were you thinking?”
Her lips twisted. “I was trying to smash his side of the car. Didn’t plan on the roll.”
Yeah, because knowing that made it all better. Jace’s arms tightened around her. She winced, her eyes closing. For a moment he thought she’d passed out again, but she kept talking.
“I couldn’t let him get to Caroline.”
Sweet heaven above. Jace wasn’t sure what he wanted to do most, shake some sense into her or kiss the hell out of that smart, sassy, beautiful mouth.
She took the decision away from him, opening her eyes, she stared straight up into his face. A soft smile touched her lips right before she lifted her head, sealing her lips to his. The zing through his blood was immediate. His heart rate, only just now returning to normal, kicked high again.
Breaking the kiss, Jace pulled away and felt the words he’d been keeping bottled up finally spill out. “God, Quinn. I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you. You’re my world. My everything. I love you so much.”
Her chin trembled and her eyes shimmered with tears. “Say that again.”
Jace sucked in a hard breath, realization slamming into him. The words had just tumbled out the first time. This time he made a conscious decision to say them.
Tangling his fingers in her hair, he carefully shifted them both until they were as close as possible. “I love you, Quinn. I’ve loved you for a long time. I’m through feeling guilty for wanting you, for needing you in my life.”
Her hands found his face, bracketing both sides. “I love you, too, Jace. I’m not sure when it happened, maybe a long time ago. But I need you, more than I think you’ll ever know. I can’t imagine a single day of my life without you.”
Jace leaned in to take her mouth again, needing the feel and taste of her. The reassurance that she really was alive and with him.
A voice cleared beside them, breaking into the moment. “Uh, ma’am, someone said you were inside the car? We need to get you checked out.”