She kissed one of Cammie’s hands and then cupped her small face in her hands. “Stay here and don’t move,” she ordered. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
Stumbling back, she edged her way out of the culvert, relieved that the water level had remained unchanged. Her entire body was heavy as she slogged her way up the ditch. The wind beat mercilessly at her. She was pelted by rocks, small limbs and other debris. Something slammed into her side, eliciting a cry of pain. She went down hard, getting a face full of mud.
It took a moment for her to realize that what had hit her was the door to the trailer. She glanced up in the direction of the trailer and to her horror saw that it simply wasn’t there any longer. No part of it was there. It had simply vanished, blown away by the tornado.
A warm metallic taste filled her mouth. Blood. She wiped at her lips with the back of her hand, removing some of the mud and blood.
“Travis!” she yelled.
A firm hand gripped her wrist, pulling her to her feet.
“I’m here, Evie. Now come on. We have to get into the culvert with Cammie.”
She was so relieved she nearly passed out on the spot. Grimacing as she put weight on her twisted ankle, she leaned against Travis and turned back toward the culvert.
The wind whipped viciously around them, turning the most ordinary things into deadly weapons. Her hair snapped violently against her face, cutting into her skin. It was as if the sky had caved in and rained down on them in every conceivable direction. And then to her astonishment, her entire body lifted in the air before being slammed back down, separating her and Travis.
“Evie!” Travis cried.
“Get to Cammie,” she bit out. “You have to shield her, Travis. Don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not leaving you!” he roared.
“Damn it, Trav! You made me leave you. Now do it! I’ll make it. You’re stronger than I am. You have to get to Cammie and make sure she isn’t swept away by the wind or the water. Get in there and do not come out until I come for you. Are we clear?”
With a frustrated growl, Travis crawled toward the culvert and Eve pushed herself up again, fighting the force of the wind and the weight of the debris raining down on her. Just as she got to her feet once more, the wind swept her away, lifting her several feet into the air. It tossed her aside like discarded trash. She landed yards away from the culvert, pain splintering through her body. She was barely conscious, but the one thought that hammered through her every bit as strong as the wind was that she had no hope of making it to the culvert.
The winds were too strong, the force too great. Her strength was gone. She lay there like a broken doll, each breath more painful than the last. She could sense the winds growing weaker. The roar had faded to a dull throb. The tornado had ripped through in a matter of seconds and was even now moving on and spreading its destructive path.
Her last conscious thought was that she had to get to Travis and Cammie. Everything they had was gone. Taken by the storm. Tears of frustration and pain crowded her eyes. She wouldn’t give up. Nothing on earth would make her cry defeat.
Her eyelids fluttered sluggishly. She tried to shake off the veil of unconsciousness. She had to get to Cammie and Travis. But blackness overtook her, pulling her into its snug embrace.
CHAPTER 12
DONOVAN stood in the war room on the KGI compound, palms down on the planning surface as he meticulously did a check of all the systems. His first priority had been in making sure his family was safe, but close on the heels of that was ensuring that the generators did what they were supposed to do in case of a power failure.
The sophisticated system had been designed so that when power failed, within a tenth of a second, the generators would kick in and no compromise in security would occur. They’d tested it many times but had never faced a real-time situation. Until now.
The tornado had blown through Dover, knocking down power lines and destroying homes and everything else in its path. His brothers and their wives and children had all taken shelter in their basements, something every single house inside the compound had.
They’d taken great pains in designing a compound that was safe not only from human attack but from the elements as well. They were too far inland to ever worry about hurricanes, but tornadoes were very real threats.
Just a few years earlier, tornadoes had devastated Jackson and Clarksville, and then on the heels of Clarksville’s recovery, they’d been struck by yet another one. Even Nashville hadn’t proved impervious to the killer storms.
Donovan’s main concern had been that a storm would compromise their security measures and make it possible for there to be a breach when they were at their most vulnerable. He was satisfied to see that the costly technology on which he’d spared no expense appeared to be doing its job.
“Everything checking out okay?” Joe asked.
Donovan glanced up at his brother, who stood by Swanny. His first call had been to Joe, since he lived outside the compound. Then he’d called his parents, frantic with worry over whether they’d withstood the tornado. Other than a tree down on their property and a few missing shingles, they were okay. Donovan’s brothers would go out as soon as it got light so they could assess any damage his father hadn’t been able to see.
One by one, other members of the extended Kelly family had checked in, and all were accounted for. Thank God.
“Yeah, it’s all looking good. My babies did their job,” he said with a grin.
Joe rolled his eyes. “You need to get out more, man. You’re developing far too close a relationship with your technology.”