“Are you sure there’s someone here?” Sam joins me, probably after handing the victims off to someone else.
“Yeah,” I nod, continuing to look.
Hedoesn’t question me, just joins the search.
Static from Sam’s radio fills the apartment. “Sam, everyone is here. All the residents accounted for. Where the fuck are you and Matt?” Cap shouts.
Sam looks at me from over an open cupboard door. “Are yousuresure?”
“Yes, man! Just check below the beds and in all the cupboards,” I shout.
Sam nods and clicks on his radio. “Cap, there’s someone in 3F. We’re trying to locate them.”
“We were informed 3F has been empty for a week or so. Residents are away.”
A thud. Loud and clear, even to human ears.
“Fuck, where did that come from?” Sam asks.
We move towards the master bedroom together.
“LAFD, we’re evacuating the building!” Sam shouts.
Still empty.
“What the fuck!” I groan, frustrated.
I concentrate, trying to hear heartbeats over the noises. There…behind the wall?
I walk to the wall opposite the king-size bed. Multiple heartbeats.
Is it the next apartment? No, this is the last one on this side of the building.
I feel around the wall for the opening. One of those stupid, modern secret doors, maybe?
I feel a split in the wall in the corner and push it gently. It doesn’t budge. “Sam, there’s a hidden door here,” I shout over my shoulder, still pushing.
I add a little more pressure, and the lock breaks. The door slams open, leading us into a dark room.
“LAFD, we’re here to help,” Sam says while I’m frozen in horror.
Five humans. Dirty. Thin. Lying on their backs. Barely alive. No, three are already dead.
Sam turns his flashlight on and gasps. “Fuck.”
That brings me back to action, and I turn my radio on. “We need five stretchers at 3F. Looks like an abduction, Cap.”
“The fire is contained. We’ll be right there.”
Within an hour, the apartment is swarming with people. Stretchers, firefighters, paramedics. The police will be here soon.
I walk to an empty corner and text Bree and Nick updates. I ask Nick to come check the scene out. Something is niggling in the back of my brain.
Nick doesn’t question me.
“Good job there, Matt,” Captain Rivera says. “The LAPD will be here soon. You should go home and rest.”
He’s not wrong. I have a shift in ten hours, but I want to be here when Nick comes.
