Thea's Hero: A Protective Hero Romantic Suspense (Heroes of Sleepy Hollow Book 2) by Gia Cobie

Author:Gia Cobie [Cobie, Gia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-01-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

BEN

As soon as I see the crowd gathered outside the library, my heart jumps into my throat.

There’s no way this can be good.

Not like this. Not with little clusters of adults talking urgently. Mothers clutching children to their legs. And as I get even closer, the blare of alarms sounding.

I jerk my car into the nearest parking spot and leap out, panic clawing at me as I race toward the library.

Calm down. Just because I can’t spot Thea’s curly hair yet doesn’t mean something is wrong.

Thea’s petite; it’s possible she’s hidden behind someone larger than her. Or she’s around the back of the library. There’s no reason to assume the worst.

Yet.

But I still have to force myself not to shout when I find Penny standing near the sidewalk, her features twisted with worry.

“What’s going on? Is it a false alarm? A drill?” Please.

Penny grimaces. “No. Someone saw smoke in there.” She pauses, gnawing on her lip. “I can’t believe it. I hope the books aren’t all ruined.”

“Where’s Thea?” Tension strains my voice. “I don’t see her.”

Her eyes widen, brows jumping up. “I… I don’t know. I thought she was out here.”

My heart rolls over, a boulder speeding downhill. “Could she be out back?”

“She could. But—”

Danielle joins us, worry darkening her eyes. “She should be here by now. All the employees are supposed to meet out front.”

In eerie synchrony, we all glance to the side of the library, searching for Thea. But it’s an empty expanse of grass and pavement.

“The fire trucks should be here soon,” Danielle offers, but it’s more question than statement. “The fire department is supposed to be called automatically whenever the alarms go off.”

But they aren’t here yet. And neither is Thea.

Fear drapes over me, heavy and suffocating. And a terrible sense of knowing.

There have been a few times in my life when I was absolutely certain of something without needing proof. The patient who wasn’t having an allergic reaction but a heart attack instead. The stairs that were about to collapse even though they looked stable.

Thea’s in trouble. I know it. And I need to do something right now.

Glancing back at the library, I take stock.

Wisps of smoke are curling through one of the open windows, a dull, orange glow beyond. Red lights flash from behind the glass doors. Sirens approach in the distance, but they’re still minutes away. Minutes to get here, and more still to assess. For the firefighters to unroll the hoses and form a plan of attack.

More precious minutes for them to get inside, to find the woman I’m sure is still inside.

The woman I love.

I can’t stand here waiting. Not while Thea is inside, trapped, possibly in pain, struggling to breathe…

There’s no time to waste.

Already running toward the entrance, I toss over my shoulder, “I’m going in!”

An older female voice shouts from behind me, “You can’t go in there! It’s not safe!”

A man runs alongside me and grabs my arm, tugging. His tone is stern and scolding. “You need to wait for the firefighters.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.