Part 21 (2/2)

”You're expecting a delivery?”

She glanced up at Blade and then at the box that was sitting on her doorstep. ”No.” She glanced at the label. ”It looks like a box from Mom. She's always sending me stuff if she sees something she thinks I'd like. Unfortunately, I inherited her shoe fetish. I'm sure you've noticed I have quite a few.”

Blade nodded. He had noticed. But still...

”When you get inside I want you to call your mother to verify she sent you this package.”

Sam rolled her eyes. ”Is that really necessary?” she asked, opening the door.

”Yes,” Blade said. ”It's necessary.”

”Fine, I'll do it,” she said, tossing her purse on the table. ”Will you at least bring the box inside the house?”

Blade looked over at her. ”I'm not touching that box and neither are you. Just get your mother on the phone, Sam.”

Sam glared. ”I hope you know if I call her she's going to wonder why I'm even asking, when I know she's sent me stuff before.”

”Doesn't matter, Sam. Call her.”

When she narrowed her eyes, he said, ”Please.”

She smiled sweetly as she went back to the sofa and grabbed her cell phone out of her purse. ”Sure, Blade, now that you've begged begged.”

He ignored her comment as he thought about the box sitting on her doorstep. He wasn't a paranoid person, but for some reason he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He heard the conversation between Sam and her mother and knew what she was going to say before she'd hung up the phone.

Blade was already pulling out his cell phone and dialing 91-1.

Chapter 23.

The man meant to kill her.

That was a fair enough a.s.sessment to make, Detective Adams thought, as he glanced over at Sam and Blade. Blade was holding her in his arms while her face was pressed against his chest.

The bomb squad was leaving after detonating what had been a bomb. Had she opened the box, it would have blown her and anyone standing within twenty feet of her to smithereens. He could tell that Sam was upset and afraid, and rightly so. To finally realize someone meant to kill you was enough to cause anyone distress. And it hadn't been one of those amateur, homemade bombs. Whoever had put it together knew exactly what he or she was doing. It was someone who knew enough about chemistry and physics to make a fairly sophisticated explosive device.

”I suggest the two of you find somewhere else to go tonight,” Detective Adams said. ”And the fewer people who know where you are the better until we can find out who's behind this. The only thing the guard at the security gate knows is that the package was delivered by the regular FedEx delivery man for this route.”

Detective Adams took in a deep breath. ”Chances are the deliveryman didn't have a clue what he was delivering. In fact, if someone had broadsided his truck, he and everything within twenty feet would have been blown up.”

Blade's lips tightened. Although he had called the police he had hoped it was a false alarm. The bomb squad had closed off the area while they investigated the package, and once they discovered it contained live explosives set to go off when the package was opened, they went to work.

”Mr. Madaris?”

”I heard you,” Blade said, trying not to show his anger, especially toward anyone a.s.sociated with the police. They had been more than helpful, considerate and very efficient. He just didn't want to think about what could have happened to Sam if she'd opened that box. His arms tightened around her just thinking about how he could have lost her.

”I understand you've called Alex Maxwell into this,” Detective Adams said.

Blade nodded.

”Then I'm confident we'll have the person responsible sooner rather than later. We don't have the manpower or resources that he seems to have. With Maxwell's help, we'll have this lunatic behind bars before he can try anything else.”

Blade hoped so, too. He wouldn't rest until the person who had tried to hurt his woman was captured.

He leaned back and looked down at Sam, and could tell she was still in a state of shock. ”We're leaving here tonight, Sam. I want you to go upstairs and grab some things. We'll be gone for a few days, at least three to four.”

The police and bomb squad had already done a thorough sweep of her house to make sure that nothing had been tampered with and there had been no forced entry. But until the authorities talked to the FedEx driver, no one was taking any chances.

She glanced up at him, and the look Blade saw in her eyes nearly ripped his heart out. The fire was gone from her eyes. But he knew that eventually it would return and when it did it she would be mad as h.e.l.l at the person responsible. Her temper would be out of control, and it would be the one time he wouldn't mind seeing it.

”Do you need me to help you pack, sweetheart?” he asked softly.

She shook her head as she stepped out of his arms. ”No, I can do it. I'll be back in a few.”

He watched as she walked up the stairs.

Ignoring how badly her hands were shaking, Sam hurriedly went through several drawers in her bedroom, pulling out items and throwing them in the suitcase on her bed. Enough for three or four days, as Blade had said.

She paused for a moment to take a deep breath when reality hit hard once again. Someone had tried to blow her up. Someone truly wanted her dead. She actually felt weak in the knees knowing there was a person who hated her enough to want to end her life.

”Samari?”

She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, then turned around. Blade rarely called her Samari except when they were making love. ”Yes?”

”Come here, baby.”

She quickly crossed the room and walked right into his open arms. ”I promise you that we will get this guy,” he whispered.

She heard the conviction and the determination in his voice. ”I know. But all this time I thought...I was really hoping that it was a bad joke. I never really thought that someone actually wanted to hurt me.”

She drew in a deep breath. Now she knew and she would never be caught off guard again.

”Luke, this is Blade.”

It took Blade a good fifteen minutes to tell his cousin what had happened. It would have taken less time if Mac, who'd been standing next to Luke, hadn't kept interrupting by asking questions.

”a.s.sure Mac that Sam's okay, just shaken up a bit. We're at one of those resort hotels in the mountains that have a cl.u.s.ter of chateau-style villas, and we're staying put for a while. Alex is supposed to arrive in the morning and he'll head straight to your place. I want you to bring him here, Luke. And you might want to check your rearview mirror periodically to make sure you aren't being followed.”

Blade gave Luke the name of the resort and their villa number. ”I don't know what information Alex has for us, and other than contacting you, I haven't made any other calls. The fewer people who know where we are the better. And have Mac clear Sam's calendar, because she won't be back in the office this week.”

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