At the bottomof the stairs, Joshua wheeled to face him, his face lit by flame, the wet cloth falling to the floor. “Kitchen—” Joshua croaked, pulling away, eyes watering, lungs burning. “Extinguisher?—”
Each word seemed to lag behind his lips, like a film out of sync, but his intention was unmistakable. “NO!” Colin shouted, clutching him. “JOSH, NO!” He caught him by both shoulders, shaking him. “Stay with me. We have to get out!”
He dragged Joshua toward the shattered front door, but Joshua wrenched away and surged forward, limping toward the kitchen with grim resolve. He caught the wall for balance, refusing to stand by while their home burned.
Colin started to follow him, then saw flames curling up the curtains around their octagon window, just catching on the trim—fast and hungry.
Joshua’s curtains! The sheer curtains he’d bought the day they moved into this house. Transparent—so they could see the river while they ate. They were burning up!
And something inside him suddenly shattered. He screamed and lunged forward, raging, desperate, unthinking, beating atthe flames with his bare hands, a throw pillow, a tablecloth—anything within reach.
Pain didn’t register. Only the instinct to protect, to fight, to save the home they both loved. Suddenly, Joshua was at his side, gripping the extinguisher, turning it toward the flames, spewing white foam.
The front door burst open, splintered wood flying inward. A dark figure charged through the smoke, powerful and determined. Daniel Lopez.
“Campbell!”The sound was fractured, but it got through.
“Getback!” Daniel barked, snatching the extinguisher from Joshua’s trembling hands. He squeezed the trigger in one smooth motion, dousing the flames while shoving Colin and Joshua toward the door with his free arm.
“Out! Both of you!” Daniel forced them toward the front door. “Get outside!” Then he turned back, disappearing into the smoke-filled room, extinguisher still spraying.
Colin and Joshua tumbled through a front door hanging broken on its hinges. An open mouth trying to scream. The whole porch was splintered. Smoking. Wind chimes gone. Flowerpots shattered. Just wreckage now. They stumbled to the far corner, choking on smoke, clutching each other to keep from collapsing, gasping for breath between wracking coughs.
Red and blue lights pulsed through the smoke-filled darkness, bathing the yard in harsh, flickering color. Several cruisers skidded to a stop. Doors flew open. Officers poured out—some with weapons drawn, all shouting over each other. Flashlights sliced the shadows. Voices filled with panic called out Colin’s name.
He turned toward the chaos, eyes stinging, smoke clinging to his skin. And then he saw them.
A group of officers—huddled, unmoving—gathered on the lawn. Flashlights pooled around a single figure. One officer kneltbeside it, head bowed. Another backed away, then dropped to his knees. No one spoke.
Colin took a step forward before he realized he had. The world was too bright. Too loud. And yet, impossibly silent.
She lay on her side in the grass, one arm outstretched toward the porch. Her face was turned toward the house, eyes open and unseeing. Her vest was scorched. One boot missing. A thin ribbon of smoke curled from her sleeve.
“Josh—” Colin choked out. “Oh God, Josh, I think?—”
Joshua followed his gaze—then staggered backward with a grief-stricken cry.
“She was trying to reach us,” Colin said, barely audible, his voice hollow and stunned.
The image seared itself into him. Not the brokenness. Not the silence. Justher—on the grass, one hand still reaching, her body forever turned toward the people she died protecting.
Neither man spoke. They couldn’t. The silence from that corner of the yard said everything.
And behind them, their home—the life they’d built—burned on.
Colin slowly sank to his knees, hands lifting to cover his face.
Please,he thought.Just one second. Just make it stop—so I can think. So I can hear. Please.
But there was no stillness. Only the pounding in his chest and the harsh, broken sound of his own sobbing.
I don’t cry, he thought, dazed.That’s not me. Not my style. But the sobs kept coming, and he couldn’t make them stop.
Then Joshua was there—kneeling, holding him, rocking him. And from somewhere far away, another voice called his name.
“Colin!” He could barely make out the word over the high-pitched whine clawing at his eardrums. He lifted his head, blinking through smoke and tears.
“Lenny?”
