Chapter 13

The dust slowly settled as the room quit shaking from the blast, revealing two still forms huddled together on the floor. A low moan escaped from one of them as he pushed himself up stiffly.

"Kelsey? Kelsey…are you okay?" Bobby questioned urgently, throwing off his headgear before carefully turning over the smaller shape.

"Yeah," Kelsey coughed, shrugging him off as she struggled to sit up by herself. Shaking her head, she realized the radio was squawking in her ear. "Command, Unit One, Ten-Four. Secondary bomb has detonated, though damage minimal," she responded, looking around them as Bobby helped her to her feet.

"Roger that, Unit One," the Command Center technician replied with obvious relief. "Thought we'd lost you, Malone."

"So did we, Baker," Kelsey called, her tone almost hushed as she looked up at the tall man beside her. While she might have doubted his bomb squad abilities at first, she knew the only reason they were still standing there was because of the Aussie's quick reaction. "Send in Rescue to see to the victims, Command," she barked, nervously looking away when Bobby caught her watching him.

"Roger."

"Now we're talking, shelia," Bobby slapped his hands together eagerly, before grabbing his helmet as he turned to continue the way they'd been heading when they'd found the bomb.

"Whoa, there, buddy," Kelsey hurried forward to grab his arm before he could go too far. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked, when he turned around to glare down at her.

"To find my friends," Bobby stated firmly, carefully pulling his arm out of her grip.

"You can't do that," Kelsey insisted, dashing around him to block his path.

"Why not?" Bobby questioned exasperated. "I'm here, and I'm not leaving without my friends," he maintained as he moved her out of the way, heading down the stairs that the second blast had cleared of the debris.

"Manning, Search and Rescue will…" Kelsey started, only to be cut off when Bobby abruptly stopped in front of her.

"Shhh," Bobby hushed her as he caught her arm, preventing her from falling backwards.

"What is it?" Kelsey asked seeing the strained look on the man's face.

"Shhh, I thought I heard something, shelia" he snapped quietly as he cocked his head to one side listening. "Hello!" he called.

"I don't hear anything," Kelsey scoffed as she pushed to go around him.

"Wait! Listen!" Bobby ordered, putting his hand out to stop her. Whatever noise he'd heard before, both of them heard now as Kelsey's eyes widened when she looked up at him.

"What is that?" she questioned in a hushed whisper. Bobby only shook his head as they both tried to figure out the strange whooshing sound coming from down the stairs.

"Hello?" Bobby called again louder as he started down the steps again cautiously, Kelsey following close behind him. "Is anyone down there?" he hollered as they went.

"Help us!" a strangled voice shouted. "Water's coming in so fast!"

The urgency and desperation caused Bobby to sprint the rest of the way down the stairs, jumping across the remaining debris at the bottom. He barely heard Kelsey call in their location when he slid to a stop, the scene before him sending his heart into a panic.

Water pooling around her, Hannah was on her knees, apparently leaning over something in front of her. As he got closer, he realized her hair was wet from dipping her head into the water.

"Hannah, what are you doing?" Bobby questioned as he moved around her, watching her bend forward again. When she sat back up and looked at him, he almost gasped in shock.

"Help me. Myles is trapped," Hannah cried frantically, lowering her head back into the water.

The tall Aussie's eyes widened as he took in what she had said, glancing up at Kelsey who was already calling Command for help. Falling to his knees beside his friend, Bobby grabbed at the pile of rocks and debris, throwing them off.

Soon Kelsey joined them, adding her praise of Hannah's efforts to Bobby's as they urged her not to give up. There was no telling how long it would take help to get there. The injured brunette was tiring quickly, so he knew they didn't have much time if they had any hope of saving the tall Bostonian.