Deadly Storm by Lily Harper Hart

want to leave Sophie, but if his brother needed him, he would do what had to be done. Sophie was safe. Mandy was still out there.
    “Stay with her,” James ordered. “I’ll call you when I find Mandy.”
    “She’s at the college,” Sophie said. “I saw her when I was leaving. She was talking to some woman, and your ex-girlfriend – she’s a real pill, by the way.”
    “What ex-girlfriend?” Grady asked, confused.
    “Ann Nelson,” James said. “She’s in Mandy’s cooking class.”
    “How did I miss that? That’s the biggest news story to hit our family in weeks.”
    “Later,” James said. “I need to get to my wife.”
    “She’s probably still in the classroom,” Sophie said. “The class was over, but she was chatting with Marian.”
    James stilled. “What do you mean the class was over? It’s not supposed to be over until … I don’t know … right about now.”
    Sophie worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I … um … .”
    “Tell me,” James growled.
    “She told you the class ended an hour after it did because she didn’t want you to worry,” Sophie said. “She thought she would be home before you could work yourself up.”
    “That went well,” Grady said dryly.
    “I’m going to kill her,” James seethed, turning back toward his Explorer.
    “Sir, you shouldn’t be on the roads,” the fireman said. “You should stay here.”
    “My wife needs me to save her,” James said. “That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to save her … and then I’m going to kill her.”

Eleven
    “What do you think?” Marian asked, her fingers digging into Mandy’s wrist. “Do you think the building is going to fall down on top of us?”
    Mandy was glad the power was out. If the lights were still on there was no way Marian would miss the vigorous eye rolling. “I think we need to try and go out to the lobby.”
    The classroom was mostly empty when the tornado hit. The building was untouched, but the ground shook as it passed – taking the electricity with it. Since no one was brave enough to look out the bay windows in the front vestibule of the building, everyone hunkered down in the classroom and waited. And waited. And waited. Mandy couldn’t take much more waiting.
    “You’re going to go out there?” Marian’s voice trembled.
    “We can’t stay in here,” Mandy said. “We have to know what’s going on outside.”
    “I think that’s a terrible idea,” Ann said. She was a few feet away, but Mandy’s skin crawled at the proximity. If she had to spend five more minutes with the woman she was going to find her in the dark and kill her. No one would ever be able to prove anything.
    “I think she’s right,” Professor Barnes said. He was sitting next to Ann, although Mandy had a feeling it wasn’t by choice. “We could be sitting here for days if we don’t do something.”
    “The rescuers will find us,” Ann argued.
    “We don’t need to be rescued,” Mandy said, getting to her feet. “Stop being … you.”
    “There are no windows in this room,” Ann said. “How do you suggest finding the door without lights?”
    Mandy dug in her pocket until she found her cell phone and fiddled with it until she found the flashlight app. It drained the battery like crazy, but they didn’t have a lot of options. Mandy just hoped the phone could hold on long enough for James to call. She’d tried calling him five different times, but she kept getting his voicemail. She was hopeful that meant the lines were just down. The alternative was something she couldn’t bear to think about.
    “Anyone who is coming, we’re leaving now,” Mandy said.
    After a few bruised shins thanks to errant furniture, the foursome emerged in the hallway. Thankfully, the emergency lights had kicked on so Mandy turned the flashlight off and pocketed the phone. “See, it’s already better.”
    “You just have to be right, don’t you?” Ann wrinkled her nose.
    “Shut up, Ann.” Mandy led the way