Alex and Kyle pulled on their hoods and helmets. Not because the fire was so big, but because he didn’t want Kenneth to recognize him.
After the longest minute and a half of his life, the door cracked open. When Kenneth peeked his head out, Alex grabbed him by the hair, yanked him into the hall, and tackled him, pinning him to the ground. Julia and Calvin came out coughing. Julia screamed as Kyle threw her and Calvin over his shoulders and disappeared into the stairwell.
Kenneth was stronger and fought harder than Alex imagined possible. It took all his strength to keep him pinned, but he had to hold him until the police arrived. It was tough to be agile in forty-five pounds of gear, and Kenneth wiggled around enough to point the gun at Alex—A gun Alex didn’t know he had until that moment. Alex grabbed his wrist and pounded it on the floor until he dropped the weapon.
The fire was growing out of hand now. The door frame had caught fire, and smoke was filling the hallway. Kyle had left the extinguisher, but Alex couldn’t let go yet.
Kenneth coughed and sputtered. And then, in an instant, Alex felt all the fight drain out of him. The violent, irrational piece of him must have given up and fled, leaving regular, docile Kenneth weeping in Alex’s arms.
“You don’t understand,” Kenneth said, tears streaming down his face. “She loves me. We’re meant to be together.”
“Sorry, pal,” Alex said. “Look, I’m gonna put this fire out. Don’t move.”
When Alex tentatively lessened his grip, Kenneth didn’t fight or attempt to escape—just continued blubbering about lost love and wanting to burn if he couldn’t have Julia.
Alex kept one eye on him as he prepped the extinguisher and blasted white foam at the pile of flaming blanket. Pulling the fire alarm was bad enough, but there would be hell to pay at work for this stunt. He’d deal with the consequences later. As long as Julia and Calvin were safe, he didn’t really care.
In the time it took Alex to extinguish the fire, Kenneth had pulled himself to a sitting position with his back against the wall. He held his knees and rocked back and forth. “Oh, what have I done? What have I done? She’ll never want us now,” he said, still sobbing.
Two policemen came bursting out of the stairwell, guns drawn. Alex raised his hands and took off his helmet and hood. “It’s okay,” he said to the officers. “His gun’s over there.” Alex pointed a couple of feet from them. “He’s unarmed.”
Kenneth was hunched over, head on his knees, crying and coughing. The officers holstered their guns. “What the hell happened?” one asked Alex.
The fire was out, but smoke still lingered, making it hard to breathe. “He kidnapped my friends. I’ll tell you the rest downstairs. Let’s get out of here.”
One of the policemen approached, holding handcuffs in his hand. “Stand up. You’re under arrest.”
Alex thought Kenneth had given up and was unarmed, but he was wrong. In a burst of energy, Kenneth jumped up, pulled a second, smaller gun from his boot, and pointed it at the officer with the handcuffs. The second officer drew his weapon, but Alex was quicker. He blindsided Kenneth with a sharp jab to the side of the head. Kenneth stumbled, and the gun went off. Alex felt a searing pain in his upper arm. He punched again, hitting the sweet spot, and Kenneth fell hard. The officers cuffed him and dragged him out.
“Dude, you should have let us handle it,” one said.
“I know, but I didn’t want you to have to shoot him. He’s sick.”
“Well, sick or not, he could have killed you. Or us.”
“I’m sorry.”
They made their way downstairs. Kenneth had come to and was crying again. Alex held the unburnt blanket to his shoulder, to avoid leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Julia and Calvin ran to him. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“You’re bleedin’,” Calvin said, eyes wide.
“It’s nothing,” Alex said. “Kyle will have me patched up in a jiffy. Right, Kyle?”
His buddy chuckled. “This will be the least of your worries once the brass finds out about this.”
Alex slipped out of his turnout coat, and Kyle cut the sleeve off his hoodie. Blood ran down his arm and spilled onto the pavement.
“Went right through. Just a flesh wound,” one of the other firefighters said. “You’ll barely get any time off for that.”
They were joking, but Calvin was crying, and Alex’s heart broke for him. This five-year-old had been through more trauma in the last year than most people had in a lifetime.
“Hey, I’m fine, buddy,” Alex said, keeping his voice light. “And you’re safe now. No one’s gonna hurt you or your mom.”
Calvin nodded but clung tight to Julia.
“I was so worried,” Julia said, a tear escaping. Alex would have hugged them if Kyle hadn’t been bandaging his arm.
