My stomach dropped.
"Every time he tried to go through with it, he couldn't. So he'd hit another school instead. Burn something else. Tell himself next time." Diaz shook her head. "The fire at P.S. 112 tonight—that was his diversion. He called it in himself, knew it would pull every unit in the district. He wanted her alone."
Nine years of rage, and he still couldn’t face her.
Not until tonight.
"He could have killed her," I said.
"Yeah. But he didn't." Diaz met my eyes. "From what the responding officers said, she talked him down. Held his hand while the building burned around them. Kid was sobbing when they brought him out." A pause. "That's not nothing."
She left to get a statement from Maya when she was ready.
I sat back in the chair and let that sink in. Tommy had spent months circling Maya like a moth around a flame. Too afraid to confront her. Too angry to stop. And when he finally stood in front of the woman he blamed for everything, she'd reached out her hand.
That was Maya.
Even when someone wanted to destroy her, she saw the broken kid underneath
"She's tough," Brian said finally. "She'll be okay."
I didn't answer.
The ER doors swung open, and Dr. Ava Rothwell walked through. Auburn hair pulled back in a messy bun, no makeup, wearing scrubs that had seen a long shift. The kind of face that didn’t smile easily—or often.
Brian straightened in his chair.
"Briggs." Ava's voice was clipped. Professional. "You're not on the approved visitor list."
"I know."
She studied me for a moment. Something shifted in her expression. Not warmth, exactly, but something close to understanding.
"She's stable. Oxygen levels are back to normal. We're keeping her overnight for observation." A pause. "She's lucky you got there when you did."
"Is she awake?"
“She’s awake.”
Ava glanced at the closed door, then back at me.
“She’s also asked that you don’t come in.”
The words landed like a punch to the chest.
Brian's hand found my shoulder. Squeezed once.
Ava was already turning away when Brian said, "Thanks, Rothwell."
She paused.
Didn't look back.
"Torres." Just his name, flat and dismissive, but I caught the way her shoulders tensed before she pushed through the doors.
An hour later, Millie emerged. She spotted me in the corner, hesitated, then walked over. Her eyes were red.
"Shane."
