thought quickened her steps. She’d feel better behind a locked door where she could concentrate on the story she was currently working on.
Someone on the base was breaking into homes and stealing war medals, jewelry and cash. Whatever small items they could get their hands on. But it was the medals that were being targeted. Medals of Valor especially. People were antsy enough about the whole serial killer thing. Having a thief on base wasn’t helping matters.
She spoke into the recorder. “Mrs. Wainwright stated she hadn’t been home at the time of the robbery. However, as soon as she pulled into her drive, she could see her open front door and knew something was wrong.”
Heidi’s steps took her past the base hospital. She was getting ready to turn onto the street that would take her home when a flash of movement from the K-9 training center caught her eye. Her steps slowed, and she heard a door slam.
A figure wearing a dark hoodie bolted down the steps and shot off toward the woods behind the center. He reached up, shoved the hoodie away and yanked something—a ski mask?—off his head, then pulled the hoodie back up. He stuffed the ski mask into his jacket pocket.
Very weird actions that set Heidi’s internal and journalistic alarm bells screaming. And while she wanted to see what the guy was going to do, she decided it might be more prudent to get out of sight while she watched.
Just as she moved to do so, the man spun.
And came to an abrupt halt as his eyes locked on hers.
Ice invaded her veins, sending shivers of fear dancing along her nerves. He took a step toward her, then shot a look back at the training center. Back to her. Then at his wristwatch. With no change in his granite ice-blue eyes as he gave her one last threatening glare, he whirled and raced toward the woods once again.
Like he wanted to put as much distance between him and the building as possible.
Foreboding filled her just as a side door to the training center opened. A young man stood there, his uniform identifying him as one of the trainers. His eyes met hers, just like the hooded man’s had only seconds earlier. But this time, she knew who the eyes belonged to. Bobby Stevens, a young airman who’d recently finished his tech training. He hesitated, glanced at her, then over his shoulder.
Her gut churned with a distinctly bad feeling. With everything that had happened on the base in the last few months, there was only one reason that the man in the hoodie would be so anxious to run when it looked like he would rather do her bodily harm.
She started backing away, her feet pedaling quickly. “Run, Bobby! Get away from the building. Something weird is going on!”
Bobby hesitated a fraction of a second, then took off toward her, looking determined to catch up with her. Her footsteps pounded as she put distance between her and the building and the man behind her.
Then an explosion rocked the ground beneath her and she fell to her knees, her palms scraping the concrete as she tried to catch herself.
Rolling, Heidi held on to her screams and looked back to see part of the building missing and fire spurting from the cavernous area.
And Bobby Stevens lying sprawled on the ground.
People spilled from the buildings close to her, many on their phones. No doubt calling for help.
Heidi managed to get her feet beneath her and scrambled to stand. She raced back to Bobby and dropped beside him, wincing as her knees hit the concrete.
Already, she could hear the sirens.
Calling on her past first aid training, Heidi pressed her fingers against his neck and felt a steady, if slow, pulse. He had a laceration on his forehead and his wrist hung at an odd angle.
His lids fluttered, then opened. His brows dipped and he winced.
“It’s all right, Bobby,” she said. “Help is on the way.”
“What happened?”
“The building exploded, but you’re going to be okay.”
“Exploded? Why?” His eyelids fluttered. “Hurts.” He tried to roll and groaned.
Heidi pressed her hands to his shoulders. “I know. Just be still.”
“Hold my hand, please,” he whispered. “I’m...cold.”
She slid her fingers gently around his uninjured hand. “I’m here,” she whispered. “Just hold on.” Bobby’s eyes closed, but he continued to breathe shallow, labored breaths. “You’re going to be all right. Just hang in there.”
In seconds, she felt hands pulling her away. First responders had arrived. Heidi backed up, keeping her eyes on the now-unconscious man who’d reached out to her as though she could save him.
“Are you all right?” the paramedic asked her.
She focused in on the figure in front of her. “Um...yes. I was farther away from the blast. It knocked me off my feet, but nothing else. I just ran back to check on Bobby.”
“Your knees are bleeding.”
She blinked and looked down. “Oh.” Blood seeped through her slacks. And now that her attention had been brought to them, her knees throbbed.
The paramedic led her to one of the four ambulances now lining the street. “Let me just check you out and get these knees bandaged for you.”
“Yes, okay. Thank you.” She drew in a deep breath and let her gaze wander past the crowd that had gathered.
Was the bomber watching the building burn? Could he see the firefighters fight against the raging flames?
She had a bad feeling about this. A feeling that this was only the beginning of something that might be bigger than any story she’d ever worked on.
And she had a feeling that the man who’d done this would be back.
Because she’d seen him.
* * *
First Lieutenant Nick Donovan itched to get his hands on the person who’d just blown up part of the training center. Thankfully, it was an area of the building that wasn’t being used at the moment and no animals had been harmed. Airman Bobby Stevens was reported to be in stable condition and was expected to make a full recovery. That was the only reason Nick’s anger wasn’t boiling over, even though his patience levels were maxed out.
Unfortunately, he and his bloodhound, Annie, would have to wait a little longer to do their part in figuring out exactly what had caused the explosion. Annie was trained in explosives detection, but right now, she couldn’t get near the training center, even wearing the protective booties. The area was still too hot, and firefighters were still fighting the blaze. However, Annie and he could examine parts of the building that had landed yards away.
Office of Special Investigations, OSI, had arrived and would be taking lead on the case under the supervision of Ian Steffen. Nick also spotted FBI special agent Oliver Davison, who’d been a frequent visitor to the base—not only because of his search for the Red Rose Killer, but also to see his fiancée,
