There’s a crack and a snap.
“This thing is going to cave in. We need to get out of here,” Hunter says as he pushes up onto his knees.
Sirens grow louder. In this small town, I can’t imagine they have many firefighters or police.
“Over there.” He points, and I turn and spot a sliver of daylight.
“The roof must have shifted a little, which is good for us. We need to get out of here,” he says.
I go to the small opening and push at the debris, but it doesn’t budge. He pushes on it, too, and it barely moves.
“Dammit,” he says. “I’m going to use my legs. Move over here,” he instructs.
I crawl behind him, and he kicks enough debris out of the way for us to fit through. We make our way out, and Iflip onto my back. We’re both coughing as we take in the fresh air.
I stare at the now pile of rubble that sits in front of us and then at the building. Or what’s left. Half of the roof is sitting in front of us, crumbled. The back wall was blown out, and now, looking through the front door, all I see are the trees from the rear of the property.
“Damn, we got lucky,” Hunter says.
He’s right. The walls are made of cement blocks. If we’d been inside when the back wall exploded into the building, we would have been crushed.
Hunter says something I miss.
“What?” I ask.
“Someone set a trap, and we are lucky that guy, Clinton, didn’t want a full tour, or we would all be in the middle of that mess right now.”
Sirens grow louder behind us.
A trap. That’s what this was.
“I need any information you have on Clinton.”
“It’s on my laptop.”
I glance over, and miraculously, my car was spared.
An ambulance pulls up behind us.
Hunter glances back at it, then turns his attention to me. “The moment you have the information, send it to me,” he says.
“I don’t have your number.”
Two EMTs go straight to Hunter.
“Get it from Maria. I’m serious. I have a guy who can look into him. We need to figure out if he was the target or the one who set the trap.”
I nod. He couldn’t have set the trap; he just got here. My mind is spinning.
“Looks like you need stitches,” one EMT says to Hunter. “And a possible concussion. Come this way.” He leads Hunter toward the ambulance.
The other EMT approaches me. “Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine.”
A police car pulls up, and an officer gets out. “What the hell happened here?” he asks.
“Someone tried to kill us,” Hunter says from the back of the ambulance.
