glanced up at Laura, then back to her friend. “But that is the fire alarm.”
“I won’t touch you,” Laura pleaded. Her heart pounded, remembering the apprehensive look on the policeman’s face. She hadn’t smelled smoke. Not yet. But something was wrong, and she had to get these children to safety. “Just follow me out of the building. When you see Miss Walker, you can run to her.”
“Well—”
She could tell Tiffany was wavering. “Come on, hurry now. We don’t have much time.”
Tiffany looked to Jennifer, who nodded her consent. In the hallway, Jeremy hopped from one boot to the other. “Hurry up, you dumb girls.”
Laura motioned the girls past her. Just as they crossed the threshold, the floor heaved beneath them, throwing them off their feet.
A concussive blast pierced Laura’s ears.
The world around her turned black.
“FOUR MINUTES to the capitol,” Frank announced over the chopper’s intercom. The suburbs of Helena were visible below them through the helicopter’s Plexiglas bubble.
Kyle sank back in his seat and willed his tensed muscles to relax. It looked as if he would have a shot at that bomb after all. He focused his concentration on the details the Helena bomb squad had provided about the device, keeping his mind on the intricacies of its construction, the sequence of contacts to disconnect, the possible permutations of design that could trap the unsuspecting.
With bombs, he was in his element, for the first time since coming to Montana. Not that he wasn’t an outdoorsman. He’d grown up on his parents’ farm in southern California, working the citrus groves that provided their livelihood. But when he’d arrived at the Lonesome Pony last month, he hadn’t known a damn thing about ranches or horses. Hadn’t known an Appaloosa from a lalapalooza. Had never settled his butt in a saddle, much less spent the day in one. He’d had to work hard to master enough knowledge to pull his share of the load, but Daniel and Court had been good teachers—
A strong current buffeted the chopper, interrupting his thoughts.
“What the hell was that?” Frank fought to maintain control of the whirlybird.
“God help us!” Court’s awe-filled prayer echoed through his headset, and he pointed straight ahead.
Kyle leaned forward between the two front seats for a better view, and his heart stuttered at the sight. A cloud of smoke and dust rose from Helena, precisely over the spot where the capitol building stood.
“Damn,” Kyle swore. “If we’d moved a few minutes faster, I might have prevented that.”
Court turned in his seat to face Kyle. “Or been blown up with the rest of the building.”
Kyle shuddered at that possibility and glanced back over at Daniel. “I’m sorry. We’re too late.”
The older man’s face had gone pale beneath its weathered tan, and he seemed to fight to regain his composure. “Not too late to help. Frank, put us down as close as you can. We have to make sure everyone’s out of there.”
Like the pro he was, Frank set the helicopter down smoothly on a swath of capitol parking lot that had evidently been cleared before the explosion. One side of the building was in ruins, office walls blown away, furniture hanging from the floors slanting at precarious angles. In stark contrast to the devastation, the other side of the building appeared unscathed. Police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, sirens wailing, were converging on the scene. In a far corner of the lot, paramedics were setting up a triage station.
Kyle was first off the chopper. The stench of cordite and burning electrical wires filled his nose, and plaster dust choked his lungs. Despite the clamor of emergency sirens, he could hear the shouts and screams of onlookers. A quick survey of the area revealed shock and disbelief on everyone’s faces.
Roger Jordan, head of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms’ Helena office, strode across the debris-littered pavement toward Kyle.
“Everyone out?” Kyle asked.
Jordan shook his head. “We’ve got a hysterical teacher over there.” He wagged his head toward the capitol mall. “Claims she lost three kids inside. Some woman volunteered to look for them before the blast. They didn’t make it out.”
Daniel approached. “The governor?”
Jordan set his mouth in a grim line. “Haskel and his secretary are unaccounted for.”
Daniel turned to his agents. “Looks like our work’s cut out for us. Let’s find those folks.”
“We’ve got extra hard hats with headlamps at our command post.” Jordan jerked his thumb behind him. “You’re welcome to them.”
Kyle and his fellow agents followed the ATF leader and soon were fitted with headgear and additional flashlights.
“Tread carefully in there,” Daniel warned them. “What’s left of the building is unstable. I don’t want to lose any of you.”
With grim determination, the agents headed toward the devastated section of the building. Dust and smoke still billowed and swirled. Firefighters sprayed high-pressure hoses where flames continued to rage. Taking a deep breath, Kyle stepped into the ruins.
It was like plunging into hell.
LAURA STRUGGLED to her feet, coughing and choking on dust and smoke. Her first thoughts were of her father, and she prayed he had been safely evacuated with the governor. Her head throbbed, and although her ears rang from the concussion of the blast, she could hear the children crying around her. Her eyes ran so thick with tears, she couldn’t see the youngsters in the dim light.
Dear God, if she was this scared, how terrified were they?
“Kids?” she called. “Where are you? Are you all right?”
A pair of tiny arms snaked around her hips. “I’m scared. I want out of here.”
It was Tiffany’s voice. Laura stooped down and hugged the child. “Hear those sirens? The firefighters are coming. They’ll get us out.”
A scrambling noise sounded in the wreckage beside her. “Jennifer?”
The other little girl, her body racked with sobs, threw herself at Laura. “I wanna go home. I want my mommy!”
Laura gathered Jennifer against her side. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. Jeremy, are you out there?”
A low moan answered her call. It seemed to come from a few feet in front of her.
“Hold on to my skirt, girls, and stick together. We have to find Jeremy.”
Falling to her hands and knees, Laura crawled toward the sound of the moaning with the two girls close beside her. Debris scraped her knees and tore at her stockings, and she was operating almost blind in the suffocating dust. “I’m coming, Jeremy. Hang on.”
Her outstretched hand touched a boot, and she quickly lifted the little boy in her arms. “I’ve got you now.
