The blocks of C4 that were taped around her waist had been getting heavier with each minute that had passed. Or had it been hours? She had no way of knowing. The muscles in her shoulders were screaming and her hands were going numb from the handcuffs. Her body was trembling so badly, her legs were threatening to collapse. Kenyon’s grip on her elbow was all that was keeping her upright. Gunfire sounded from somewhere beyond the conference room walls. It had been going on all afternoon, but it wasn’t something Emily could get used to. She cringed reflexively. “Hang in there,” Tyler murmured. “You’re doing great.” She glanced over her shoulder. He was too far away for her to touch or to smell, so she clung to the comfort of his voice. The split on his lip had stopped bleeding, though his left eye was purpling and beginning to swell shut from a blow he’d received the last time he’d attempted to move toward her.
