It was so typical for stuff to blow up right when Sam had other things to do. Like, for example, that evening, he had a function to go to.
To celebrate one hundred years since its opening, his former high school had organized a ball and invited a few of its finest students from over the generations to make speeches and play chaperons for the resulting dance.
Sam had been invited and he'd even taken time out of his extremely busy death defying schedule to write down a heartwarming speech about following your dreams, because if he wasn't living proof that nightmares came true, he had no idea what was.
In normal circumstances, he'd be back home with Christine right now, getting ready for the dance and spending a night together with her and his friends from high school. It would be a great opportunity to see both Harry and Lisa. He hadn't seen Harry outside the Agency in months, and he couldn't even remember the last time he'd talked to Lisa, but he wanted to take this opportunity to get her back in his life.
Three years had gone by since they'd finished high school. She was a smart, resourceful girl. She surely got over him by now and they could be friends again. And he'd been really looking forward to that.
Instead, here he was on the twelfth floor of some random office building, searching for bombs.
"I found it," Jimmy said from behind him.
Sam turned around, breathing in relief. Jimmy had the most bomb squad training, so it was really lucky he actually got to it first this time. He'd already slipped on his gloves, turned the bomb over and was analyzing it.
"Anything complicated?" Sam asked, crouching next to him.
Even if he was already pulling wires out, Jimmy was frowning. "Now. It's a very simple one. Not too powerful either."
"Are you disappointed?"
"No, I'm worried." Jimmy took a small pair of pliers out and cut the red wire. The bomb's timer stopped and the entire thing switched off. "This can't be it. It's too sloppy."
"You know they get sloppy once in a while." And maybe Sam had some luck for once and he could actually get home in time to change and not be very late.
"Doesn't feel like it to me." He put his hand over the microphone on his headset. "Order Jessie out."
"Um, what?" Sam asked, surprised.
"I don't trust this and I want her out of--"
The building shook with the force of an explosion from the floor below them. Sam's heart hitched and his ears rung. His butt hit the floor. Shards of glass filled the hall-like open space they'd been working in as all the windows on their floor shattered.
Jimmy brought the microphone closer to his mouth. "Jessie!"
"I'm okay," she answered at once, her voice strained. "I just think we should get out of--"
Another explosion covered her next words and the floor tilted dangerously. Sam slid back a couple of feet right before the floor cracked between him and Jimmy. Chairs and cubicles came flying at him together with computers and office supplies. He scrambled to his feet. A chair knocked him over and he continued to slide towards the broken windows.
His mid raced at full speed, trying to outrun the falling furniture. His fingers dug into the floor, but there was nothing to hold on to. As he glanced around madly for something to stop his fall, he saw another bomb strapped to a pole on his right. On their floor.
He turned on his side and reach out, but it was impossible to get to it. Damn it! And then there was the matter of not falling out the window with the furniture. He took out his magnet, strapped it to a small gun and shot towards the back of the room. It stuck to the ceiling just as his feet dangled over open space.
YOU ARE READING
Lose Control (The Jewel Project #5)
Adventure"It's never going to end, is it? The rivalry, the hatred, the madness. Not even now. Not even after so many years." It has been three years since the last jewel was recovered, and the Agency seems to have put the project to rest. They have a new tar...
