Page 67 of Never Forgive

She rushed at Dirk, aiming a kick for his stomach, then aiming an uppercut for his chin. May wasn't a fighter, but she was desperate, and she realized she might be able to buy them some time, if she could just get in a few good blows.

Dirk was quick, though. He dodged her third blow, and with a powerful swing of his arm, he slammed her in the chest with a side-arm swipe that made her gasp and stagger back. May fell down onto one hand, landing painfully on a sharp chunk of stone.

But Owen had attacked again from behind, and putting his full weight into the tackle, Owen slammed Dirk onto the ground. He kicked out at his head, getting in a solid blow, and Dirk's neck snapped back.

Finally, he sprawled to the ground, seeming dazed. The vicious intent went out of his eyes, and they dulled. His head slumped back. Temporarily at least, he was down and out, and that gave them a sliver of a chance.

"We don't have any more time, Owen! We have to get out of here!" May cried, pointing to the escape route she'd tried to find earlier. "The bomb was set on two minutes. We have less than one minute left!"

But as she said the words, one of the concrete pillars nearby finally gave way, and the ceiling began to collapse.

With a roar, the area to the right of them gave way, plummeting down with a crash. That was the way they needed to go! And now it was blocked.

May tried to breathe, but she couldn't. The air was full of dust, smoke, and concrete. She coughed, her throat aching. Her eyes were burning.

She couldn't see Owen, but she heard him coughing too.

"Owen!" she tried yelling. "Owen!"

In the dusty madness, his hand grabbed hers.

"Come the other way," he yelled. "The route this side was open!"

May raced alongside him, clumsy and stumbling in the darkness that was littered with debris. Behind them, they heard the roaring crash of another pillar collapsing. Ahead, the burning hulk of a car blocked their way and they veered around it, with May hoping the gas tank wouldn’t choose that moment to blow.

It was a neck and neck race as to which would happen first - the total collapse of the basement, or the devastating bomb blast behind them.

And they had to fight through a lethal obstacle course to find the other exit point - wherever it was. She hoped Owen would remember the way in this chaos, because May now had no idea where they were.

They raced through the maze of debris and dust, tripping and slipping over the rubble, dodging around cars. They were moving as fast as they could through an unplanned obstacle course. May was sure they had only a few seconds left before that bomb detonated.

She kept running, hearing the sounds of the concrete smashing and raining down all around her. A chunk of brick hit her a painful blow on the shoulder and she staggered.

And then, ahead, she saw a faint light - a beam of hope in the darkness. The fire exit door.

"There!" she cried, pointing. "There, Owen!"

Racing toward the door, May flung her shoulder against it, feeling it give way.

They'd made it!

And then, just as they burst out of the door and into the open air, she heard the explosion behind them. The roaring, tearing blast sounded like a thousand trucks crashing into each other.

She was thrown out, the force of the blast tossing her away from the door and across the paved yard. She felt herself flying, and then hitting the ground with a hard, painful thump. The air was forced out of her lungs. Her head cracked down, and she crumpled.

She lay there, her limbs weak. Pain blossomed in her head, her chest, her arms, and her back. Her ears were ringing.

She opened her eyes. They were streaming and burning. In the distance, ambulance sirens were getting louder.

Owen was beside her, prone, but breathing.

They'd gotten out. Against all the odds, they had made it to safety before the final blast.

And, as the basement finally collapsed with a terrible, cracking sound, May knew for sure that it was the killer's final refuge.

Dirk had taken his last stand in there, been trapped, and had died among the destruction he'd caused.

At last, they had caught the killer, and it seemed only fitting that he had been the final victim in the lethal scenario he'd engineered. The man who had caused so much terror and death had been unable to escape his final bomb blast, and now, at last, the nightmare was over.


Tags: Blake Pierce Thriller