She fumbled in Franklin’s pocket for his phone. The screen was cracked, with inky black blobs stretching across it, but the keypad worked.
She dialed and, halfway through the first ring, Alec’s voice filtered through the crackly speaker. «Franklin? What the fuck is going on? McNeely just called.»
At least someone had alerted him. «It’s Carmen. I’m here at the clinic. Franklin’s injured, and we’re still looking for Lily.»
«Carmen? Christ, you’re breaking up. Where are you?»
«At the clinic,» she repeated. «I’m with Franklin, and Julio’s searching for Lily.»
«Already on my way. There’s…» The speaker crackled, distorting his voice. «…going to take Franklin somewhere safe.»
Relief steadied her hands as she tucked the phone against her shoulder and began to dress the still-bleeding wound on Franklin’s side. «I called 911.»
A horn blared on the other end. Alec swore. «I’m five minutes away. Madden might get there first. You can» Another crackle, longer this time, and when Alec’s voice came back it was fuzzier. «Carmen?»
«I’m here. We’re» A crash from the back of the building cut off her words, and fear flared anew. «We have to get out of here.»
«You’re in the clinic? Get the fuck out, Carmen, right now—»
The phone beeped as it dropped the call, but another crash drew her attention. There was no way Franklin could walk, even if he could stand, and a wheelchair would never make it through the busted block, fallen light fixtures and sheetrock that littered the hall.
A clatter and a shout echoed around the corner, and Julio came into view, Lily cradled in his arms. «She’s unconscious. Go outside with me and check on her, and I’ll come back in for Franklin.»
«I can’t leave him.»
Franklin’s hand shot out and curled around Carmen’s wrist, hard enough to bruise. «Go. Call Sera,» he rasped, a command in no way tempered by the weakness of his voice. «Tell her I need her. Go.»
Not a command at all. A plea. «Okay.»
Carmen followed close behind Julio, moving as quickly as she could. The sooner they got out, the sooner he could bring Franklin, and then they’d be safe, and nothing else would matter.
Sirens wailed in the distance, and Julio hurried across the street with Lily. «Stay over here,» he instructed. «No matter what happens, don’t come any closer.»
Carmen dropped and reached to help him lay Lily out on the sidewalk. «I’ll stay put.» Help was coming and, even if something went wrong, going back inside would do no good.
He nodded and took off again, running across the street with more speed than he should have possessed.
Lily stirred, her eyes fluttering open only to close again, and a quick check revealed a nasty bump on her head and a gash on her cheek.
An ambulance arrived first, a tall, bulky man hopping out of the back as it coasted to a stop. His gaze fell on her, then dropped to Lily. «You Mendoza? Alec Jacobson said you were here.»
Alec had said something— «Madden?»
A short nod. «One of the dispatchers recognized the address and pulled some strings, but we don’t have a lot of time. Need to get anyone who’s supernatural and injured out of here. The first cops on the scene will probably be ours, but we can’t control something this big.»
She looked down at Lily. «She’s human, but Franklin Sinclaire is inside. My brother went back in to get him.»
Madden crouched next to Lily. «If she’s his girlfriend, we need to bring her with us. Won’t be able to settle him if we don’t.»
Carmen squeezed her eyes shut. «Of course. I don’t know what I was thinking.» Except that she wasn’t thinking, not with her brain pulling her in three different directions. «I’ll help you.»
The driver’s door of the ambulance clicked open, and boots hit the ground lightly before a vaguely familiar feminine voice cut through the night. «I got this, Madden. Go get Franklin.»
A strong hand landed on Carmen’s shoulder for just a moment. «There’s a secondary location waiting. Franklin had it set up a few weeks ago. Maybe he’s got a little precog in him, huh?»
Or Wesley Dade had instructed him to do so. «Someone does.»
Madden squeezed her shoulder, then rose and bolted across the street, moving so fast his form was a blur. The woman who’d spoken before appeared at Lily’s side, a sturdy blonde Carmen had seen at the clinic from time to time. «Hey, Doc. Help me get her loaded up, would ya? Madden’ll get the others out.»
Together, they eased Lily onto the backboard, and Carmen stabilized her neck while the blonde — Diane, maybe — made room in the back of the ambulance. They lifted her into the vehicle, and Diane climbed in after her.
Tires screeched behind them. Brakes squealed. The stench of burning rubber preceded a slamming door, then Alec appeared at the back of the ambulance, eyes as wild as the dizzying press of his emotions.
Relief sent Carmen tumbling into his arms, relief and a need she hadn’t known existed until just then. «They’re still inside. Julio and Franklin and—»
«Shh, it’s okay.» Warm hands smoothed over her hair. «What happened? Tell me what happened.»
«I don’t know. An explosion. Julio told me to get down, and it just — it blew up.»
«Franklin?»
«He’s hurt. They’re going to take him to another clinic.»
Alec frowned and glanced at Diane, who shrugged one shoulder without looking up. «Don’t ask me. I didn’t know Franklin had a backup facility until Madden told me.»
«Madden’s inside?»
Tension and fear spiked inside Diane, strong emotions that went wild at the mention of her partner’s name. «It’s only been a few minutes. Maybe—»
A loud noise that sounded like a pop shot through the night, and the building groaned as part of it folded, collapsing in on itself with a shudder. Carmen lunged, a scream caught in her throat, and Alec’s arms locked around her body, unyielding as steel. «Carmen, no.»
Either Julio had lied about the threat of fire or something else had happened, because orange fingers of flame began to lick out of the clinic’s ruined facade. «Alec.»
«Stay here.» He released her, only to strip off his jacket and shove his keys and phone into her hands. «I can try to find a way in.»
Fear melted into terror, but she didn’t have time to voice her protest before Diane stepped in front of them both. «There they are.»
The EMT led the way out of the smoke with Julio just behind him, Franklin balanced on his shoulder. Madden carried an IV bag, and Diane rushed to meet them with a collapsible gurney as more sirens pierced the night.
Julio’s shirt was ripped, and the blood soaking the fabric didn’t all belong to Franklin. «What happened?» Carmen asked.
«The ceiling fell.» He winced as she pulled his shirt away to reveal a gash across his back. «A beam almost caught us.»
Alec eyed the ambulance, then his truck. «We need to get the fuck out of here. Where’s this second clinic?»
«Outskirts of town, near the airport.» Madden spoke from where he sat, hunched over Franklin. «You three follow behind us.»
Alec was already urging Carmen toward his truck. Normally, she would have fought to ride along — she was board-certified in emergency medicine, for Christ’s sake — but this wasn’t a normal situation. Her boss and her best friend lay in the back of the ambulance, and she couldn’t treat them with the same necessary detachment as the EMTs. «Okay, we’ll follow.»
She ended up in the front of the truck, wedged between Alec and Julio. Pain, fear and tension made the front of the cab nearly unlivable as he gunned the engine and followed Diane. One cop car careened around the corner toward them, but Alec’s stream of curses cut off abruptly when a dark arm thrust out of the window and waved them on. «McNeely. He’ll cover as long as he can.»