I stopped walking. Stopped breathing.
"Torres—" Rodriguez started.
I was already running. Already crossing the street toward the sedan, toward the figure I could now see slumped on the ground beside it.
Larsen. Ava's bodyguard. Ex-military, tough as nails, the kind of man who didn't go down easy.
He was down now. Blood pooling beneath him, spreading across the pavement in a dark slick. Shot in the shoulder. Another in the leg. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow.
Still breathing.
"MEDIC!" I shouted over my shoulder. "GSW victim over here!"
I dropped to my knees beside him, pressing my hands to the shoulder wound. "Larsen. Larsen, can you hear me?"
His eyes fluttered. Focused on my face with obvious effort.
"Torres." His voice was barely a whisper, wet with pain. "She's inside."
The world went silent.
"Kevin Lang." Larsen coughed, blood flecking his lips. "Couldn't stop him. I tried?—"
"I know. I know you did." I looked over my shoulder, saw Garrett sprinting toward us with the med kit.
I ran toward the burning building. I couldn't think. I could only move.
"Torres, STOP!" Rodriguez's voice was sharp with command. "That's an order!"
I grabbed a halligan bar from the truck as I passed. Pulled my mask down over my face and felt the rush of clean air from my tank.
"Brian!" Shane's voice was desperate. "Wait for backup?—"
"She's in there!" The words tore out of me. "Ava's in there!"
I didn't wait.
I went in after her.
The restaurant was an inferno.
Flames crawled across the ceiling, eating through old wood and plaster with brutal speed. Smoke so thick my mask was the only thing between me and suffocation. Heat that pressed against my gear from all directions, testing the limits of what the equipment could handle.
I stayed low and moved fast. Swept my flashlight through the chaos, searching for any sign of?—
"AVA!"
The fire roared back at me, drowning my voice. I pushed deeper.
Tables overturned. Chairs were scattered like someone had fled in panic. The kitchen doorway was engulfed in flames, impassable. I circled around, checking every corner, every shadow, every space where a body might have fallen.
Nothing. Nothing.
Where are you? Where are you?
My radio crackled. Rodriguez's voice, barely audible. "Torres, report your position. Torres!"
I didn't answer. Couldn't spare the breath.
