“Captain, I think they need help. I should go in after them.”
“Absolutely not.” His tone was sharp, the edge in his voice slicing through the air. “You will not enter the premise until you hear my order to do so—do you copy, Hill?”
I looked at the radio in my hand, heart racing, wondering what kind of trouble I’d get into for directly disobeying Hansen’s orders. Going in would risk getting kicked off the squad—all for a man who hated me.
“Copy, sir,” I said finally. Across the lot, Tanner was standing near the truck. He stared at me with his eyes narrowed and his lips curled in a smirk, one hand resting comfortably on the hose. I had the overwhelming urge to flip him the bird.
“Since when do you obey orders, Hill?” he called. “Hansen would have already been upstairs.”
“Ignore him,” Finn whispered to me. “He’s not worth it.”
Trying to take Jake’s advice, I turned my back on Tanner, unable to stop thinking of Korbin and Nick in that building, consumed by smoke and fire. There was no sound on the radio, no confirmation that they were okay in there…that they werealive. We were all rookies here. None of us were trained for this situation, which is why Hansen had told me to wait.
“None of you newbies should even be here without your captain,” said the redheaded paramedic, glaring at me as if I had personally sent them into their deaths. I glanced in her direction, then over at Finn.
“I can’t just stand here,” I said.
“Don’t.” He shook his head fiercely. “It’s not a game in there, Paisley. You’re not trained to go in solo.”
“They need my help.”
“We can’t lose all three of you,” Finn insisted. “Nick is already in there with him. You won’t be of help.”
I turned away from Finn and back towards the burning building. In the distance, I heard the sirens, but they were still too far out. The radio was still crackling with an unrelenting and daunting silence. Time was of the essence; we all knew it.
“Tell Hansen I’m sorry.”
Before Finn could stop me, I slammed on my helmet and secured the SCBA, running towards the building. My heart raced, thudding painfully against my chest as I entered the building into all-consuming darkness and flames. I couldn’t hear anything but the roar of my heartbeat and frantic panting in my own ears.
Chapter18
Hansen
“Where are they?” I shoved the door open and jumped out of the driver’s seat of the rig, fear gripping every part of my body until I felt nauseous enough to puke. My two rookies, Jake Finn and Tanner Rey were standing together near the truck. Julia and her partner were in the back of their bus, waiting to see if anyone had victims ready for transport. Tanner was holding the hose on the building, but the flames didn’t look like they were diminishing. I knew two of my men were still trapped inside, and Paisley was nowhere to be seen.
“Captain—” Jake started, then he fell silent, which confirmed all I needed to know.
“You let her go in there?” I said. Before Jake could answer, I grabbed my gear from the truck and pulled it on my body, adrenaline pulsating through me.
“Cap!” someone shouted behind me. It was Nick. He was coming around the side of the building, covered in ash and soot, grappling to take his mask off for a breath of fresh air. He stumbled up to me, exhausted, wheezing.
“Get another ambo here right away,” I shouted to Finn, who rushed forward alongside Julia to help Nick. “Get him checked out,now.”
“Korbin’s hurt,” Nick said as we removed his mask. “He fell through the fourth floor. I don’t know if anyone can get in there for him, Cap.”
“Shit.” I turned back to the building, hesitating. I couldn’t send any more men in after them, not if the structure was so fragile, but I couldn’t leave them there to die, either.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Julia said, grabbing my shoulder from behind. “Don’t go in there, Erik.”
“I have to do what I have to do,” I said, unable to face Julia. She shook her head, eyes wide as the flames before us grew even more significant, consuming the building in a blanket of black smoke and orange flames. “I can’t let them die in there.”
Chapter19
Paisley
Darkness loomed from every turn. A black hole that enveloped me and dragged me in. Smoke hung everywhere, a dank, murky smoke that blended with the dark walls and consumed the space around me. Orange flames flickered above and below, licking the ashy surface of what once was a hardwood floor.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, allowing the oxygen vent to reassure me. Every step had to count because any step could be the last one I took.
