PRESENT DAY
WYATT
The memory drifted away as Wyatt forced his focus to her eyes. “You’re the only thing I don’t regret.” His voice was barely above a hoarse whisper.
Letty’s breath hitched as if he’d punched her. “Don’t say things like that.” She trembled. “Not like a goodbye.”
“It’s not.”
She kissed him again, harder this time until she pulled back, eyes blazing. “Okay,” she said. “We’re leaving.”
Wyatt tried to stand straighter.
Letty’s gaze scanned the warehouse. She spotted the drums again; they just didn’t look like they belonged. Her eyes shifted to the thin line of glistening liquid snaking along the concrete toward the interior. “Oh, God, he didn’t lock us in to abandon us.”
Wyatt’s blood ran cold. “He locked us in to burn us.”
Letty’s jaw set as her eyes moved fast. “There.” She pointed toward a narrow corridor at the back with an old office section. A faded EXIT sign hung above a steel door.
Wyatt’s vision blurred. “That door was shut earlier.”
“He sealed the bay doors,” she said quickly. “But there might be a secondary egress. Fire code. Even in an old warehouse.”
“You’re betting on the fire code?”
“I’m betting on builders who didn’t want lawsuits.” She slowed as Wyatt’s strength gave out. “Maybe Cal already figured it out, and he’ll have the exit open for us.”
Wyatt winced. “Love that optimism.”
She tightened her grip on his arm, hauling him forward. He stumbled once and caught himself. They moved as fast as they could with a low whoomph sound behind them.
“Shit.”That’s fire coming at us.Flames raced along the floor in a sudden, hungry line as heat chased Letty’s back. She dragged harder. “Move, Roper!”
He moved as the corridor narrowed, smoke rising fast. The steel door at the end had a panic bar.
Letty shoved it, and it didn’t budge. Her face went tight. “No!”
Wyatt stumbled on his feet as Letty jerked her flashlight up, scanning the doorframe.
“There… hinge pins.” She pulled her multi-tool from her fanny pack and wedged it under the hinge pin to drive it up. It took three hits until she released the first pin.
Wyatt braced his shoulder against the wall, breathing through pain, forcing himself upright. “Letty…”
“Hold on,” she snapped, then added softer, “Hold on, please.”
The second pin shifted while the smoke thickened. The heat behind them roared closer as Letty drove the tool again, and the third hinge pin popped free.
Wyatt grabbed the door edge and yanked. The door sagged, then gave. Cold night air punched into the corridor as Letty dragged him through.
The warehouse behind them exploded. A concussive blast threw heat and debris outward like a wave. Letty hit the ground hard with Wyatt’s weight, the world spinning. Yelling voices and boots approached as radios crackled.
Salt & Steel was there. Cal barking directions as Jackson grabbed Wyatt. Rhea’s voice screamed coordinates into comms.
Wyatt tried to fight them off until he heard Cal’s voice, telling him to calm down. “Easy, Roper. We’ve got you.”
Wyatt’s hand found Letty’s wrist even as they pulled him away. He gripped hard as Letty moved next to him. “Wyatt… Wyatt, look at me.”
His eyes found hers. “You’re safe.” They moved him away as he yelled to Cal. “Protect her!”
