Fire reaches out through the open bar doorway, and the sheer heat of it steals my breath.
My exit is blocked.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I turn back toward Sterling’s office. If I can get inside and close the door I can call for help. It must be a fire door. It’ll buy me time.
It’s impossible to see more than a few feet in front of me, and even harder to breathe. I drop to my hands and knees and crawl like you’re supposed to. Keep low, away from the smoke.
I make it back through the inner hallway door and reach out, feeling along the wall. What takes seconds on foot feels like long, excruciating minutes on all fours. The throbbing in my hand is overtaken by a scratching in my lungs, and I fight not to breathe in the smoke. But no matter how hard I try; some claws its way into my lungs making them burn.
The wheezing in my ears is almost as loud as the roaring coming from the fire behind me.
I hit blank space and wave my arm around, knocking it against the doorframe. I struggle to focus, my head’s heavy and my eyes feel like acid’s dissolving them. I drag myself through the opening, pushing the door closed behind me.
Sterling’s warm blue gaze rushes into my head as I stagger to my feet and toward his desk, scrabbling to get to the phone.
“Get it together,” I scold myself with a sob, struggling to see the buttons on the handset.
It’s fine. I’m behind a fire door. It’ll keep the flames back. It has to.
I fall into Sterling’s desk chair and punch in one number after the other.
9-1-1
Another bang from inside the building makes me almost jump out of my skin.
My hand shakes as I hold the receiver to my ear.
Sterling’s face is all I see.
And as the room spins, one voice filters through the haze, calling to me.
I answer it. And I beg.
Help me, Jenny.
37
STERLING
Denver stridesin the second I open the door, his face set in his usual taut seriousness.
“Good morning,” I say as Jenson, and Killian storm inside behind him.
“You need to see this, Boss,” he clips.
All pleasantries leave me as I look between the three men’s tight expressions and then lead them into the living area. We were scheduled to have a meeting later this morning after my breakfast with Hallie. Whatever it is obviously couldn’t wait.
“Show me.”
Denver places his laptop on the coffee table and opens it up.
I take a seat beside him. Killian and Jenson stand to one side in silence.
“We found something on the CCTV from the marina.” Denver clicks into a folder and selects a file to play.
I look at the shot on the screen. It’s from a distance but…
