"What? No, the fire's at P.S. 112. Jackson Heights. I just heard it on the scanner."
"This is a different one. P.S. 147." My foot pressed harder on the gas. "Millie called me. She can see smoke from Zoe's window. You can't see Jackson Heights from their apartment, Brian. This is Maya's school. She stayed late. She's not answering her phone."
Two fires. Same night.
Tommy had planned this.
Silence on the other end. Then: "I'm on my way." His voice tightened. "Shane. Don't do anything stupid before we get there."
I hung up without answering.
My stomach dropped as P.S. 147 came into view.
The first floor was fully involved. Flames licked from the windows, orange and hungry. Smoke poured from the roof in thick black columns, blotting out the night sky. The patrol car that should have been here was nowhere in sight.
Two fires. P.S. 112 to pull the responders away. P.S. 147 for Maya.
This was always the target.
She had always been it.
I slammed the truck into park just as Engine 295 came screaming around the corner. B-shift. Thank God.
I was out of my truck before they'd even stopped, running toward the rig. My gear was stored in the same compartment it always was—bunker coat, pants, helmet, gloves, SCBA. I yanked it out and started pulling it on.
"Briggs?" Captain Okonkwo jumped down from the cab, confusion on his face. "What are you?—"
"Someone's inside. Second floor."
"We haven't done a sweep yet. You need to wait for?—"
"I'm not waiting."
I shoved my arms through the SCBA harness, clicked the straps into place, and pulled my mask on. The familiar hiss of air filled my ears.
"Briggs!" Okonkwo grabbed my arm. "You're not on shift. You can't just?—"
I shook him off. "Write me up later."
I ran toward the building.
The heat hit me like a punch.
I pushed through the front doors, and visibility dropped to nothing within seconds. Black smoke rolled through the hallways, thick and choking. The orange glow of flames pulsedsomewhere to my left. The first floor was gone. The fire had likely started in the basement and climbed fast.
The SCBA mask pressed against my face. Clean air. Twenty minutes, maybe less if I pushed too hard.
"Maya!" My voice was muffled behind the mask. "MAYA!"
I moved fast, staying low, checking classrooms as I went. Empty. Empty. The stairs to the second floor were at the end of the hall. I had to get there before the first floor collapsed entirely.
The main stairwell was impassable. Flames roared up from below.
The basement fire fed into the first floor, growing fast. I doubled back and found the secondary stairs near the gymnasium.
The smoke was thinner here. The fire hadn't reached this part of the building yet, but I could feel it coming. The walls were hot to the touch. The structure groaned around me.
I took the stairs two at a time. The steps shuddered under my weight, the supports weakening as the fire ate through the building below.
