Timesurfers
as black spots
exploded behind her eyelids. Her fingers raked at Jonah’s hand and
her boot made a resounding thud against his shin.
    “Feisty.” He tightened his grip.
    Cate thrashed, her eyes pleading with Rose
for help. Rose’s eyes remained fixed on Jonah. Cate could have
sworn she actually smiled.
    Austin came into view from under the bus
looking perplexed. Cate gurgled an indecipherable “Help me.”
    His eyes widened as he surveyed the scene. He
bolted towards Cate. “Let her go!”
    Jonah released her seconds before Austin
reached them. She staggered as her legs crumpled. The rough surface
of the road stung her knees like a shower of tiny, hot needles. She
coughed and rasped some quick breaths.
    “ You...you...dick!” Cate sputtered. It was lame, but
all she could come up with.
    “Ouch, that cuts me up.” A predatory smile
tilted the corners of Jonah’s mouth.
    “What’s your deal?” Austin glared at Rose and
hoisted Cate to her feet. His grip stopped her from collapsing
again.
    “Settle. She’s fine,” Rose said.
    “No thanks to you.” He pointed to Jonah.
“Does taking an innocent’s life mean so little to you now?”
    “Watch yourself.” Jonah moved toward
Austin.
    Rose stepped between the two boys and
separated them with her arms. “Put your hackles down, or I’ll knock
you both on your butts. Austin’s disarmed the bomb, and we have
secured your intended target, so let’s all return to our separate
corners. This round is ours, Jonah.”
    “Actually, I didn’t have to disarm the bomb,”
Austin said. “ Someone disarmed it remotely
before I cut the wire. My money’s on you, Jonah. There’s no doubt
you put it there. Now you turn up and hey presto, it’s disarmed.
The timing’s too coincidental.”
    Cate realised that when she saw Jonah earlier, he must
have been planting the bomb.
    Jonah shrugged and turned to Rose. They spoke
too quietly for Cate to make out their conversation. Rafe leaned
against the bonnet of the bus and glowered at Jonah. No one was
interested in her anymore. If they weren’t here for her, what had
she stumbled into?
    Austin’s eyes swept back and forth across the
sea of frozen faces like a giant searchlight. They narrowed as he
contemplated someone for a moment before recommencing his scrutiny.
The thick red scars down the side of his face and neck glistened as
he moved.
    “You know it’s rude to stare?” Austin smiled
a superior little smile.
    “Don’t flatter yourself.” She met his eyes
for a few seconds with the most defiant stare she could muster and
then looked everywhere but at him.
    “Okay. Killer punch by the way, Cate, was
it?” Austin’s eyes continued to rove the sea of frozen faces.
    “What?” Cate asked.
    “With Rafe before, that was an impressive
punch. Someone’s teaching you well.”
    “Umm...thanks.” What else could she say?
    The air shimmered, and some of the frozen
people twitched and became still again. “There’s your two-minute
warning.” Jonah stepped back and leaned against the Maserati . He shouted something, and
he and the car both melted from view.
    “Where’d he go?” Cate asked, mouth
gaping.
    “To get his butt kicked. Jonah would only
disarm his bomb to protect something or someone extremely
important.” Austin contemplated her. “Do you know him?”
    “No. I did see him here before everyone
except me froze and you guys appeared out of thin air.”
    Rafe grinned. “I bet that’s not a sentence
you ever expected to hear yourself say.”
    “I knew he came back to disarm that bomb.”
Austin pointed at Cate. “How do you fit into the puzzle?”
    “Everyone’s coming round,” Rose said. “The
target’s safe, so let’s get back.”
    Austin scratched his head and assessed Cate
from head to toe. “What shall we do with you?”

Chapter 2
    Aftershocks
    H is careless tone made Cate lift her chin a little.
“I’m excellent at keeping secrets. I’m also fabulous at denial. We
could pretend this

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