Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

her to the ground too hard? Maybe she’d hit her head.

“Are you okay?” Her voice sounded weak.

“I’m fine, but you were out for a few seconds.”

“No, I wasn’t.”

“What? Don’t you know that you blacked out?”

“Ryan, I was fully aware. I just took my time responding, okay? I feel pommeled by someone’s determination to kill me.”

Hmm. He wasn’t sure he bought that, but then again, Jackson had said Ryan had been moving slowly.

“Okay. Well, good. I’m glad you don’t have a concussion. Regardless, an ambulance is on the way.” Ryan glanced at the ceiling. “I don’t want to move you, but I’m not sure of the house’s structural integrity.”

She sat up, then pressed her hand against her forehead as if her head hurt. Ryan and Deputy Jackson reached down to assist her to her feet, but she refused their help.

Ryan took that as a good sign.

Sirens rang out in the distance. But Ryan knew emergency services could sometimes take much too long to arrive. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.

He, Tori and Deputy Jackson quickly exited Sarah’s bungalow. He gripped Tori’s arm as he ushered her toward his vehicle.

“I’m okay, you can let me go now.” She twisted out of his grip.

“You don’t look okay.”

At the look of sorrow on her face, Ryan wanted to pull her to him.

She pressed her fingers over her eyes. “Sarah’s home is destroyed now.”

“Maybe only her bedroom—it’s too early to say. But it can be repaired, Tori. The house is just a thing. It’s not a life.”

“Her bedroom is the most important room. There were photo albums. Things I still needed to go through. And what about my things?”

He frowned. “We don’t know about the damage yet. We’ll have to wait and see. At least you left your laptop on the coffee table.” But he knew her suffering had less to do with the material things than with the emotional weight of losing another piece of her sister.

“Come here.” He wrapped his arms around her. He should be more concerned about her and less about protecting his own heart and keeping his distance.

He held her a few moments, then urged her to sit in his vehicle until the ambulance arrived. Ryan turned to his deputy, who stood waiting with him. “Have our techs check the house for cameras and bugs of any kind.”

When he focused back on Tori, her eyes were wide and clear.

Good. Maybe she really hadn’t blacked out. “Next time, we might not be this fortunate.”

“Someone knew I was in my room and threw the bomb through the window. They knew I was there.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. It could have been a coincidence that you were in the room when the bomb came through, but you know I don’t believe in those.”

“That means either they were watching me through the window—” she glanced across the street “—or the initial break-in could have included someone installing a camera or listening devices. The creeps.” She shuddered.

“They could be searching for the information Sarah had, and hoped you would find it. That would be a reason to watch you.”

She scrunched up her face. “That makes no sense. If they want me to find something for them, why try to kill me?”

“It could be both. They want you dead, but they also want to know if and when you learn something. In this case, they might have heard our discussion of moving you and decided to try to take you out before it was too late.”

A chill crawled over Ryan and he hovered near her to protect her. “You should wear a vest at all times now.”

“What makes you think I don’t?” She lifted her sleeve enough for him to see a light body armor.

Any other time and he would have chuckled. He’d hugged her, so he knew that she had one on now. The body armor served as a reminder that if he had gotten her out of the house and somewhere safe sooner, Sarah’s house would likely still be intact, and Tori wouldn’t have almost lost her life again.

If he hadn’t lingered in the hallway, he wouldn’t have been there to yank her out. Would she have reacted differently and died in the explosion?

A fire truck finally arrived, as well as an ambulance for Tori. Ryan allowed a paramedic to check him out but refused the full exam at the hospital. He insisted that Tori go, and then from there, they would head to the safe house. His biggest fear at the moment was her safety on the way to the hospital and while she remained there. Whoever was behind these attacks was determined, and they had stayed ten steps ahead of his investigation.

A familiar vehicle steered up to the curb. Oh, no. Tori’s parents. They couldn’t have come at a worse time. Had they heard the sirens or maybe been on their way home and followed emergency vehicles here? Or maybe they just wanted to check on their only living daughter.

David Peterson jogged around his vehicle as Sheryl got out, and together they crossed the street. Both their faces were pale and somber. David kept a protective arm around Sheryl.

The ambulance drove away with Tori.

“Ryan?” David asked. “What’s happened here? Where’s Tori?”

“She’s in the ambulance, but she’s fine.”

Tori’s mother started sobbing. “She’s not fine if she’s in an ambulance. What’s going on?”

“I assure you, she’s okay. She got knocked to the ground, so a doctor should take a look at her, but mostly I wanted her out of here. I’m going to meet the ambulance at the hospital.” He wanted to reassure them, but he wouldn’t lie or pretend that Tori wasn’t in significant danger.

“You didn’t answer my question. What happened?” David asked.

“An explosion of some kind. Listen, you two, we have everything under control, but you should know I’m moving Tori to a safe house.”

David’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

“You wanted me to keep her safe, remember?”

“And now that you’ve failed again, you’re finally doing something?” Anger had replaced Sheryl’s whimpers.

He wanted