Free No Reason to Run by Michelle Howard

her
first comment to him directly. “Did you leave a toy on the bus?” Remembering
the destruction inside and the possibility of the toy escaping unscathed, had him
cringing.
    Her head shook back
and forth. “No.”
    A small line of
blood ran down her temple. “Brody, they both need medical attention.” Olivia
protested but never lifted her head up. Brody attempted to gently pry Olivia’s
arms loose. Shane winced as her nails clenched and bit through the fabric of
his shirt to pierce his chest.
    Brody tugged again
and received a solid kick for his efforts. As odd as the situation was, Shane
found himself grinning. “Easy, he’s a public servant doing his job.”
    Brody gave Shane a
glare for his laughter.
    “I’m fine.” Olivia’s
statement was muffled in his chest.
    Picking up on her
mother’s emotions, Chloe’s tears turned into a wail which cut off abruptly from
a hacking cough.
    “Chloe needs to be
seen, Olivia.”
    Her head flew up
fast as she pushed back to see Chloe. Shane moved his jaw out of the way just
in time. A tremor ran through her body. He took the opportunity to reach for
Chloe in her slackened hold and transferred the little girl to Brody’s waiting
arms catching mother and daughter both off guard.
    Chloe screamed and
Olivia struggled to move away.
    “Mommy.”
    Her little arms
reached over McKenna’s yellow clad shoulders but he was quick and hustled over
to a parked ambulance. Shane let go and Olivia chased after the pair. An EMT
caught up with her. Olivia dodged the emergency worker, her attention on
getting to her daughter. When the man grasped her arm above the elbow, she
shoved him hard. He must have increased the pressure because the two looked
like they were grappling in a wrestling match. Olivia’s arms slapped around,
fighting the attempt to get her settled.
    Brody had an easier
time of it. He won Chloe over by making funny faces and had her calmly sitting
on the edge of the truck while he swabbed the cut on her forehead.
    Shane came behind
Olivia and waved off the frustrated attendant. “As soon as Brody’s done he’ll
take care of her, too.” The man nodded after cutting Olivia an evil stare.
    Firefighters exited
the building with men and women huddled under their arms. The flames spread
over the roof of the building but more firefighters had hose aimed over the
blaze.
    Brody placed a small
butterfly bandage on Chloe’s cut. Shane ran a soothing hand down Olivia’s back.
“Chloe’s going to be alright.”
    She looked at him
with blank eyes and Shane cursed under his breath. “Sit.” He gently applied
pressure to her shoulders causing her body to follow the motion.
    Brody seated her
next to Chloe and Olivia immediately wrapped an arm around her daughter. They
both looked terrified. Shane squatted in front of them ignoring his friend
while he attempted to figure out what the hell happened and if it connected to
the threatening text she received.
    “Olivia, I want to
ask you a couple of questions.”
    She coughed and put
her hand on her throat. Brody wrapped a blood pressure cough around her arm.
“He had a bomb,” she blurted.
    “Okay.” Shane pulled
her hand away from her throat and rubbed her fingers. “Did you see which bus?”
Was it the bastard she was running from?
    Her head moved in
the negative. “No. Maybe, I don’t know.”
    “It’s okay. Did you
notice anything about the person with the bomb?”
    “He…he was just some
guy in a suit. And then he left his briefcase and the poor coffee guy.” She
broke off as tears ran down her cheeks.
    Shane tightened his
hold on her hand and scooted closer until he practically rested between her
denim clad thighs. He used his free hand to rub her leg. “It’s okay. Take a
deep breath.” Her chest rose and fell but her eyes still darted around watching
the emergency personnel rushing to help other people. Some injured more than
she and Chloe. A lot more. “Oh, God, Shane. He…” Unable to finish, she