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made several more trips up the ladder with more cinder blocks to hold down the rest, and all the while Ashley crawled along the roof on her hands and knees, her glorious rear end in the air.
    Joe ignored her as best he could as he carried the last of the blocks up the ladder and joined her midway across the roof. He helped her fan out the heavy-duty blue plastic until it met the base of a windowless wall. While she held it in place, he anchored the tarp.
    â€œWill it hold?”
    â€œYes—now go!”
    Rain streamed down and pelted them with sharp needles of water as the wind kicked up yet another notch. Thunder rumbled directly overhead. They’d pressed their luck too far as it was, and Joe knew it. This wasn’t a normal storm. Someone somewhere had a tornado on their hands. He just hoped it wasn’t about to descend on them.
    Balance was precarious for both of them as theymade their way down the rain-slickened plastic toward the ladder. Joe held on to Ashley’s arm to steady her, but found the help went both ways when his boots lost traction.
    Lightning snapped, the flash illuminating the purple-darkened sky and giving their position on the roof an otherworldly quality.
    â€œLet me go first so I can help you if you—” His boot slipped again and Joe lunged into a crouch, instantly letting go of Ashley so he wouldn’t take her with him. He slid down the roof, grappled for something to stop him, then managed to grab on to a block and find a foothold almost simultaneously.
    If Ashley had planned on arguing, his slide silenced her. He looked up to see her on her butt trying to edge down toward him, concern apparent in her wide-eyed stare. Joe gripped the ladder and carefully swung himself around. He descended a few rungs, then waved to her to get on. Ashley glanced up at the sky, squared her shoulders.
    The woman had guts, he’d give her that.
    Thunder crashed again, loud and angry and directly over their heads. The very air around them shook. The ground, the house. The ladder.
    His instincts went haywire, the hairs on the back of his neck lifted and stood on end. If he’d learned nothing else during his ten-year lockup, it was to pay attention when his gut spoke to him.
    He took in his position, a little over halfway down, with Ashley above him and moving much too slow.
    Without time to second-guess himself, Joe reached up and grabbed her ankle, yanked her foot off the rung and pulled her toward him as hard as he could. Her scream echoed against the house. Ashley’s body collided with his, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as he kicked them both away from the metal ladder.

CHAPTER FIVE
    S OMEWHERE ABOVE THEM a deafening crack erupted. Sparks flew and lighting zigzagged across the sky, everywhere at once. A streak hit the metal ladder and spread out in another jagged formation, striking at least one of the large willow trees directly behind them.
    Joe landed on the rain-softened earth with a grunt, Ashley on top of him, and the ground beneath them rocked from the force of the blast. Dazed, near blinded, he saw stars thanks to the flash and sudden darkness.
    â€œOh, my—did you see that?” Ashley scrambled on top of him and squeezed out what little breath he still had in his lungs. Without a doubt tomorrow he’d feel every muscle and bone, but at least there would be a tomorrow.
    He didn’t answer her. Couldn’t answer. Tried instead to catch his breath.
    Finally, painfully, he managed to inhale and the smell of burnt wood and hot metal filled his lungs. He coughed weakly.
    â€œAre you all right?”
    Ashley’s hands flew to his face, angling it toward her. He registered the feel of her trembling fingers, ice cold and soft against his stubbled cheeks. Squinting he made out the fear marking her expression.
    â€œJoe—Joe, say something.”
    â€œMissy? You okay? Both of you get on in here before you get yourself