Crushed (Partners in Crime Book 3)

Chapter 3

What was she thinking? There could be another bomb. Jack raced after her, dodging fallen debris as he went. "Olivia!"

She ignored him and kept running. At least he was in good shape and had no problem chasing after her. Eventually, he caught up with her and grabbed her upper arm. She spun abruptly, "Jack! Let go!"

He pulled her away just in time, because something would have fallen on her if he hadn't. "Olivia! What were you thinking? There could be another bomb!"

Something in her eyes told him she didn't care. They glistened with rage and fury, but also compassion. "People could be dying in there! We can't just stand around and watch!" She yelled over the roar of the sirens.

He watched firemen and paramedics run in, "I know! But we can't risk it! We can help the paramedics out here!"

"Think about Sophia!"

He stiffened. He knew that she knew she had hit home. Indecisiveness ate at him. Risk their lives, or risk others. Olivia had made her choice already. She wriggled out of his grasp and started to run towards the building.

Anger boiled in him, "Olivia! Get back here right now!" Something about the steel in his voice caused her to stop.

She turned to face him, then gave him a look that said, "Come and get me." Then she kept running.

He fought the desire to throw something and went after her. He managed to catch up with her at the entrance of the Hospital. "Olivia!" He yelled for the millionth time.

"There's another bomb!"

"Get back! We can't disengage it!"

"Run!"

In seconds, Olivia was at his side running away as fast as she possibly could. The force from the second bomb shook and knocked them down. Jack jumped on top of Olivia and pulled her away. Despite the crazy aftershocks, he managed to get up with her and they continued running.

Finally, the explosion stopped. He heard ringing in his ears. The decibel level was way too high. Olivia scrambled out of his grip, breathing heavily. "This is awful." She whispered. "It's like 9/11 all over again."

He spotted Nicole by an ambulance, working on a patient. "Come on. Let's see if she can tell us where Sophia is."

Olivia nodded and followed him.

~~~~~

Olivia hated to break it to Jack, but the chances that Sophia was dead were really high. Really high. "Jack, for all we know Sophia could be-"

"No. She's alive. She has to be." Jack interrupted.

They made it to Nicole. Standing, she looked at them, "Oh. Hi." Nicole looked around, "This is terrible." Tears glistened in her eyes, but they refused to fall. Olivia gave her sister a hug.

When they stepped apart, Jack cleared his throat. Olivia turned to him. "Right. Nicole, Jack has a question for you."

Nicole raised a brow, but nodded. "Sure. Anything."

"Do you know where Sophia is? She's my sister. About five eight, dirty blonde hair, green eyes. Please. Just tell me if she's alive. Please."

Olivia saw the desperation in his eyes and for a split second, wanted to comfort him. But no. He was out of her boundaries. No way.

Nicole bit her lip. "I know who you are talking about." She stepped back, revealing the person on the gurney.

Jack's eyes widened, "Sophia."

Sophia was unconscious, her face burned, blood everywhere. Soot and ashes covered her face. It was hard to even believe she was alive. If she was even alive.

Nicole looked from Olivia to Jack, "I'm sorry. She's hanging in there. But it's hard to tell. I need to get her to the hospital right away."

Jack nodded, never taking his eyes from his sister, "Please. Give her all the help you can."

Nicole looked at him straight in the eye, "I will. Promise." She loaded Sophia, then hopped in with her and the ambulance sped off."

Olivia had stepped away to give Jack privacy, but he appeared next to her again. Like he always did. Every day. His face was blank.

She blew out a breath, "I need to get some evidence."

"Right. Yeah. We need to."

She quirked a brow, "We need to?"

He gave her a small grin, "We need to."

She rolled her eyes and went to get her bag from his Jeep.