“What?” is all I can think to reply, glancing back at the building in hopes that I’ll see Noah and Hale emerging from it any second now, perfectly intact and safe.
“I’m Ashley Crone, but that doesn’t matter,” the woman says to me. “I was going to email you tonight, but then I saw your crew here—and I realized you needed to hear this before you let your camera record anything else.”
“What is it?” My tone is impatient and a little rude, but can’t she see that now is not the time for chitchat?
“I just wanted you to know that I’m Barry Pelavin’s ex-girlfriend.”
I whip my head around, lips parting in shock. “Huh?”
Ashley rolls her eyes, shaking her head in a self-deprecating sort of way. “Long story. Happened a long time ago. My point is, I noticed he’s been giving you a hard time.”
“Long story,” I echo. “I’m convinced he just finds more fulfillment in life being the thorn in my side.”
“Yeah, well, I’d be careful. That’s your camera guy, right? The one in the red shirt?”
“Yeah?”
“That’s Jake. And he’s Barry Pelavin’s cousin.”My attention has drifted back to the burning building, but it snaps back to her in a heartbeat, then ricochets toward Jake, who looks like he has paused filming to check the settings on the camera. He’s several feet away, and Sam has stuck close to his side.
“You can’t be serious,” I murmur.
Ashley shrugs. “It’s true. They’re pretty close, too.”
“But…” I trail off.
How did we end up hiring Jake? From what I can recall, Lou said that the guys we’ve used on some smaller projects before were booked until after Christmas, but we had another response on the site we use to connect with freelancers. He and his assistant worked for cheaper than we could ever hope, and they seemed incredibly enthusiastic about the campaign.
“Maybe they suck,” I remember Lou suggesting. “Because they’re way too cheap and way too eager to work with us.”
“Or maybe they’re just like us and still trying to get their feet on stable ground,” I’d argued.
I’d refused to believe it was too good to be true. Too cheap and too excited didn’t seem like bad qualities to me at the time.
But now… it seems my eternal optimism has led a mole directly into my inner sanctum. Who knows what he’s been filming whenI haven’t been paying attention? Who knows what footage, what information, he’s been feeding to Barry this entire time?
A surge of fury flares in my chest, and I take a step toward Jake. But the media crowd is dense, and I don’t make it far before a snarly journalist nudges me back with their elbow.
And then, as I’m turning back toward Ashley, my eyes flit across the fiery scene and snag on something that makes everything else inside my head go quiet.
Through the smoke comes two hulking shapes.
No… three.
A tall figure, with a natural broadness that is obvious even through his heavy gear, emerges from what now looks like the gates of hell. Someone slightly taller and leaner is draped across his shoulders like a sack of flour, all dead weight and motionless bulk.
The third figure is the smallest, a thin young woman dressed in a tattered, ash-coated catering uniform. She clings to the first figure with her arms around his waist, using him as support as she drags herself out of the smoke.
The world goes silent save for a high-pitched ringing in my ears and the dull thud of my heartbeat. My vision narrows to that trio. To the paramedic with golden skin and a47badge on his arm that sprints toward them. A second EMT, closer to them,grabs the woman the moment her grip loosens on her savior, but I barely register her being hauled away.
Then the smoke parts, and my blood turns to ice.
Noah staggers out first, Hale draped over his shoulders.
Hale isn’t moving.
Noah gets three more steps, then drops to his knees like his body finally gives up.Evan is still running toward them, uncomfortably close to the fire for someone not wearing any gear.
And I start running, too.
