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Burbank, California, had been, by all definitions, a city brirown in recent years; so many media companies already had studios or headquarters there, and many of the others in nearby cities had ers or deals to share equip the city streets so silent and empty, I wondered if Gray had already swept in to shut the place down
Where the hell is everyone? It was like driving through the worst of the econoed towns back east I half expected to see an old newspaper dramatically catch the breeze and fly across the street like a tumbleweed I felt my pulse kick up; the sarowling in my head like thunder
"I don’t like this," Cole said, as if sensing ht--"
If I hadn’t looked back into the rearview nal to Liam, I wouldn’t have seen it at all The SUV was there one one the next--the sound the military Humvee made as it crashed into the Ford Explorer felt like someone took a bat to the back of lass and rubber exploding in every direction as it righted itself again, rocking hard against the sidewalk
I sla the truck into a skid Clancy choked as his seat belt snapped tight over his chest He tried to brace hiainst the dashboard
"What?" he demanded "What the hell was that?"
But it was Cole I should have been worried about
I was still fighting with id with shock, transfored, too strangled to be a scream It didn’t sound human at all
He threw his door open, but didn’t run toward thethe tan SUV with their weapons drawn Cole took one step forward as I ju than his right hand tightening into a fist at his side, the Humvee burst into a ball of fire
The wave of pressure that caainst the truck It blew out the s of nearby buildings and the back windshield of our pickup The two soldiers were thrown onto the street, tackled froly calm His pistol was drawn out of the holster at his side, aimed with his usual precision One shot, delivered to the face of the young soldier closest to the SUV The other found himself hauled up, his helain into his face
I couldn’t watch, wouldn’t--e as I ran for the SUV Shards of tinted glass from the s crunched underfoot The driver’s-side doors had taken the brunt of the impact, but there was h as left of the windshield
"Are you okay?" I called, wincing at the sound of one last gunshot piercing the air