Her voice faded to the background as Frank’s eyes locked on his, then closed. His gun slipped from his slack fingers and Caden grabbed it before it hit the floor.
He shoved it into his waistband, then holstered his own weapon. “Ava? You okay?”
She met his gaze for a brief second, then nodded and focused back on Frank. “Help me get him on the floor and raise his legs. Quickly!”
He hurried to follow her lead, and together they maneuvered Frank to the floor and Ava grabbed the pillows from the sofa to shove under his legs. “Where are the paramedics?”
“On the way.”
“He’s got a stab wound in his neck,” she whispered. “And one in his chest. The one in his neck seems to be the worst. Put pressure there.”
Caden pulled off his shirt and pressed it to the neck wound. “Hold on, buddy.” He looked over his shoulder. “Get the paramedics in here now!”
Frank’s eyelids fluttered and she stroked his cheek. “Shh. Be still, Frank. You’re going to be okay.” She looked up, tears swimming in her eyes. “He saved my life, Caden. She would have stabbed me, too, if he hadn’t shot her.”
He nodded, his heart racing at the mental picture.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Sarah sent me. I’ll explain later.” Two paramedics pushed through, rolling a stretcher between them. When the lead paramedic dropped to the floor beside Frank, Caden moved and pulled Ava with him. “Let them do their job.”
Ava pointed to Ms. Tunicova. “She knows something about my father.” She pushed away from him to get to the woman’s side. Two agents flanked Ms. Tunicova while she stooped over her cane. The knife had been sheathed in the top, but the rest of it did its job and kept her from falling to the floor.
Seeing Ava, she curled her lip. “He’ll get you for this.” She coughed and let out a wheezing sigh. She muttered something else and Ava narrowed her eyes.
“What did you say?”
She muttered the words again and coughed. Then cackled.
“Ten seconds?” Ava asked. “Ten seconds to what?”
“What does she mean?” Caden asked.
“No idea.” Ava reached out to grip the woman’s arm. “Tell me what you know about my father.”
The agent held up a hand. “Ma’am, back up. We need to get her to the hospital to treat that arm, then she’ll be available for questioning.”
Ava glared. “You don’t understand—”
Caden rested a hand on her shoulder. “Come on, Ava. Let them take her. We’ll regroup and go question her after she’s seen and in custody.”
With a low, frustrated sound, Ava stepped back. The agents led the woman toward the front door. Her cane thumped the hard floor with each slow step, and Caden noticed Ava shudder with every thud.
“She knows what Nicolai is doing,” Ava said. “She’s aware and she’s protecting him.”
“We know that now. Nothing of that sort showed up when Daria did her investigation of the woman. I never would have agreed for you to walk into this kind of situation.”
“You didn’t know. No one did. I agreed to this, so don’t dwell on it.” She rubbed her eyes, then dropped her hand. “I’m grateful Frank intervened when he did.” The cane pounded on the porch and Ava’s frown deepened.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Something she said.”
“What?”
“‘I should blow you all up.’” Her eyes widened. “The cane, Caden.”
“What about it?”
“Get it from her.” She raced toward the door, with Caden behind her. “Get the cane from her!”
The old woman made a sudden spry movement and pulled away from the officers who held her, darting down the porch steps and onto the drive. Taking advantage of their surprise, she raced toward the dock and the boat.
“Stop her!” Caden called.
She turned. “I’ll blow you up!” The English words echoed around them. “I’ll blow you all up!” Her thumb moved as an agent from the left tackled her. She screeched and lay still.
Ava whirled. “Get out of the house now! She detonated it!”
“Ten seconds,” Caden whispered to himself. He raced for the house. “It’s a bomb! Get out of the house!”
That’s what she’d muttered. In English. Ten seconds.
Ten.
“Get out! Get out!”
Agents scrambled out the door.
Eight.
The paramedics hit the front porch steps with Frank between them.
Seven.
Six.
“Go! Go! Five seconds!”
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
A pause. Nothing.
Had he miscounted?
An explosion from the back of the house rocked the ground. The paramedic in the rear fell to his knees, then scrambled up, grabbed the stretcher, and raced for the ambulance.
“Run!” Caden grabbed Ava’s hand and yanked her after him.
Another explosion took the roof off, sending debris their way. Caden shoved her into the driver’s side of the SUV and climbed in even as she scrambled across the console and into the passenger’s seat. He threw the vehicle in reverse and raced backward.
Officers continued to hold the screeching woman down on the ground while pieces of the house rained down. Fortunately, they were far enough away that it didn’t reach them.
“She just blew up the evidence,” Caden said.
Ava nodded. “But I got some pictures, so maybe they’ll help.”
He turned to her, eyes wide. “You got pictures?”
“I got pictures.”
“Well, then. Once again, you’ve impressed me.”
She gave a half laugh, half groan, then dropped her head into her hands.
“How’d you know it was the cane?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” She looked up. “I just connected it. The ‘ten seconds’ thing, her insistence that she needed the cane, saying she was going to blow everyone up . . .” She shrugged. “It just made sense. And if I was wrong, well . . . then so be it.”
“You saved everyone’s lives. Frank’s and the paramedics, for sure.”
“I’m just glad the first bomb was at the back of the house, not the front.”
Caden nodded. “He did that on purpose.”
“In case he needed time to get out?”
“Yeah. That and the ten-second delay.”
Ava’s jaw tightened. “Well, no more escape plans for him. We need to catch him, Caden.”
“I know.” He spun the wheel toward the hospital. “Let’s go find Mickey and his grandparents. This time, we’re not taking no for an answer.”
“I want to watch the video John sent me.”
He nodded. “As soon as we pull in the hospital parking lot, we’ll watch it. In the meantime, can you send those pictures to me and we’ll see if there’s anything that can tell us where your dad is.”
Nicolai lowered the binoculars as the last ambulance pulled away. His anger smoldered just like the house he’d come to call home. Anger at the feds, yes, but mostly himself.