“Agreed.”
“No shit.”
That both men immediately agreed with him soothed his anger. If they didn’t think she was responsible, then they’d help him fix it for her. “She doesn’t deserve this.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Tex agreed. “We’ll make it right for her, somehow.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
19
Rose jerked awake at the obnoxious blaring noise that blasted through Caleb’s house. “Shit, fire.” She scrambled to get off the bed, twisting her legs in the covers, and fell in a heap next to it instead. “Caleb?”
He didn’t answer, and the noise paused, but somewhere else in the house, the reflection of a swirling red light hit the open bedroom door. She got to her feet and almost tripped again. “Get off.” She tugged at the blankets. “Fire, Caleb!” she yelled.
Where the heck is he?
Sniffing, trying to catch any smell of smoke, she realized she was naked when the coolness of the door hit her left boob on her way into the hall. “Shit.” Did she have time to get dressed? Would stopping to put on clothes mean the difference between surviving and dying?
She took one step into the hallway and then whirled around, racing back into the bedroom to grab something to wear because she already knew there was no way she could avoid nightmares if everyone in the place saw her naked. Her fingers made contact with what felt like a t-shirt, and she pulled it on over her head. The label rubbing against her throat told her she had it on backward, but that didn’t matter. Speed did.
“Caleb?” She raced down the hallway to the front door. He must have gone out. He wouldn’t have left her here alone with the fire alarm going off—she was sure of it. She tugged on the door handle, but it didn’t open.
The fancy lock.
She flipped up the plastic cover that protected the lock and slapped her palm against it, pushing buttons with her other hand. The little light stayed red. It had flashed to green yesterday when he’d opened it. She tried again.
I don’t know what I’m doing.
Please open.
Open, damn it.
“Caleb! Help me!”
Oh my God, did he lock me in here and leave me to die alone?
Rose closed her fists and hammered on the door. Someone had to hear her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, frantically looking around for the flames and smoke, brushing angrily at the snot running from her nose with the back of her arm. This could not be how she died. She shot across the room to the window, but all of them were now shuttered. Wedging the tips of her fingers in under the rum, she pulled with all her strength. They moved, but not enough. “Pull up, damn it.” Pain sliced through her fingers as she broke two fingernails down to the quick. “Ouch. Please open. God. Let me out.”
She searched for something that might help her escape, but she couldn’t find anything. He was a soldier; he was meant to have guns and knives in the house. She’d even take a sword or a hammer. Balling up her fists, she hammered and kicked at the door, ignoring the pain, and screamed as loud as she could.
Just as suddenly as the chaos started, it stopped, as if someone had cut the power and the lights went off. Her breathing hitched, and she sucked in a painful breath as the shutters opened and a mechanism on the door clicked.
Did it open?
Please be open.
This time, when she twisted the handle, the door opened, and she ran into the hallway. Pausing for a second, unsure where to go, she looked both ways.
“Ma’am? Miss Rose, are you okay?”
“Oh my God, there’s a fire.” She grabbed the child by the wrist. “How do we get out? Tell me.”
The boy dug his heels in, trying to pull his hand free. “Miss Rose, there’s no fire. It was someone being stupid at my daddy’s work.”
In her confusion, she froze, dropped his hand, and blinked stupidly at him. “What do you mean? The fire alarm was going off.”
He shook his head and backed away from her. “I’m gonna go get my mom.” RJ spun on his heels and took off running. He disappeared through a door further down the hall.
