Page 82 of Frozen Heart

He passed me the keys and hurried back inside the house. I unlocked the car and swung myself into the driver’s seat so I could start the engine. My butt sank into the soft leather seat and?—

There was aclick.

The door thumped shut: I’d hauled on the handle as I swung myself into the seat because I’d wanted to stop the wind. The noise of the outside world disappeared. My finger was resting on theStartbutton, but I didn’t push it. My whole body was taut, frozen.

Thatclick…

I’d been in Radimir’s car a million times by now and it had never made that sound when one of us sat down.

The car had been sitting here in the driveway the whole time we’d been in New York. What if someone had...

I’m being paranoid.

What if I’m not?Cold began to creep down my spine, soaking outwards as sweat.

I looked down into the footwell: nothing but expensive carpet and the Mercedes logo. I couldn’t lean forward to look under the seat because that would mean lifting my weight off it.

I sat there thinking furiously for a moment. Then I took out my phone, turned on the selfie camera, and dangled it by my fingertips until the camera was pointing under my seat. Dark metal. The mechanism that adjusted the seat.See, there’s nothing?—

A boxy shape wrapped in duct tape. And a circuit board with a glowing red LED.

I was sitting on a car bomb.

58

BRONWYN

I dropped my phone.It fell into the footwell and lay there with the selfie cam still on and my own terrified face staring back at me. I couldn’t reach down to get it, to take another look under my seat. But I knew what I’d seen. I sat there with my breath coming faster and faster, trying to figure out what to do.

At that moment, Radimir emerged from the mansion and jogged towards the car. He headed straight for the driver’s side because he always insisted on driving. He was going to open the door and—“Don’t open the door!”I screamed frantically. Who knew what the bomb was hooked up to, and now I’d armed it by sitting down... “Don’t open the door!”

My voice was muffled by the thick glass and at first he thought I was joking, not wanting him to open the door and let the cold air in. He reached the car, put his hand on the door handle?—

Then he saw the fear in my eyes and stopped, his face falling.

“There’s a bomb! There’s a bomb under my seat!”I took another panic breath, and my stomach suddenly heaved: I was actually going to throw up from fear. “It’s under my seat I don’t know what to do,” I sobbed.

Radimir fell to his knees, his eyes darting around the car, frantic. Then he planted his palm firmly against the glass. I reached up and pressed my hand to his.

“Help me,” I choked. Tears were running down my face.

He nodded hard. “I won’t leave you.” Then he turned and bellowed for Gennadiy.

First, the police showed up, four officers in two cruisers who had no idea what to do except cordon off the area and tell everyone to get back. When they approached Radimir, he turned from me just long enough to snap, “I’m not moving!”and they backed away.

Next the FBI showed up, alerted by the police. They tried to question everybody, including Radimir, but Mikhail took charge, batting their questions away with the skill of a politician.

Meanwhile, I sat alone in the cold, quiet car, slowly going insane. It’s amazing how hard it is to justsit still. First, my legs started to cramp, and I didn’t dare stretch them because that meant shifting my ass on the seat. Next, my ass started to go numb. And then the fear sent my mind spiraling down intowhat ifs,like when you’re standing on a cliff edge and you worry you might just involuntarily jump. What if I justgot up?It would only take one rogue command from my brain, one quick push with my feet and?—

Radimir pressed closer to the glass. “Miss Hanford!”he said firmly.

I looked up, panting. He hadn’t called me that in weeks.

“Listen to me,” he ordered. “I will get you out of this. I promise.”

I jerkily nodded. But my breathing had gone so tight, it felt like there was a metal band wrapped around my chest.

With a wail of sirens, the bomb squad arrived: two cars and a huge black truck. More cordons were set up, arguments broke out between the bomb squad and the FBI and Radimir was told to move again.