Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75240 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 376(@200wpm)___ 301(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I knew Elise would be okay with Ariel. What I didn’t know was if Angie was safe.
“Flash bangs,” I walked up to the command tent set up on the other side of our truck, and froze when I heard Booth’s words. “That was what those sounds were.”
“That last one wasn’t a flash bang, though,” I pointed out, gesturing to the back of the auditorium.
“You’re not going in there yet,” Chief Shepherd ordered.
I looked over at the man I respected above all others, and let him know exactly what I thought about his orders.
I shoved my feet into the bottoms of my bunker gear, then followed it up by shrugging on my jacket.
“You can try to stop me, of course, but you won’t be able to.” I reached for my SCBA—self-contained breathing apparatus—and tucked it under one arm.
The chief only watched me as I continued to dress.
And without another word, the rest of my crew got theirs on, too.
My heart started to pound.
I knew I couldn’t ask them to do this.
I shouldn’t.
But after a cursory count, we were missing more than a hundred people.
If a hundred people were in that building with a freakin’ psycho, I would’ve thought about it first.
But they weren’t just in there with a psycho. They were in there with a fire bug who also happened to be a psycho. If we waited too long, there would be no building left to go into, and the chief knew that.
“Every one of you that go in there will be written up,” Chief Shepherd reached for his turn out gear as well.
My heart jumped.
He was coming with us.
A second engine pulled into the busy lot, and people started to scatter to allow the rig room to move.
They stopped directly beside us, and Chief Shepherd pointed in the direction where they should park.
“There’s a hookup on the south side of the building,” he shrugged into his coat.
The other engine pulled around the lot to the fire hydrant, and I grabbed my things.
“Keep someone with you at least,” Chief Shepherd growled.
I looked at Booth who was already at my side.
“Sure thing, Cap.” And we were off.
I was happy to find that the building, although filled with smoke, wasn’t fully involved yet. The only fire I could see as I made my way inside was where the explosion must’ve originated.
Which was right at the entrance.
There was a lot of smoke and dust that filled the air, but nothing to the extent that I worried for the integrity of the building.
Unfortunately, the smoke was thick enough that it would and did kill people every single day.
Smoke was sometimes more deadly than the actual fire itself.
“We’ll take left,” PD said from beside me.
I gave him a thumb up and moved right, scanning the aisles and rows of seats for anyone left behind.
After finding no one, I gestured to the side hallway.
“They must’ve taken the side exits,” I guessed. “It’s clear in here.”
Booth nodded and gestured that he would go first into the hallway.
Before we could get all the way in, though, someone came out, coughing and sputtering.
“Whoa,” I caught him before he could fall completely. “Careful.”
That’s when I realized it was Angie’s father.
He look distressed, and my heart started to race.
“My daughter, Jade.” He gasped in huge pulls of air. “My daughter Jade is in there with her husband. He’s hurting her. Has her tied up.”
My breath stalled in my chest.
“Go out and tell that to the big blonde man under the command tent,” I pushed him away. “Tell him Bowe and Booth are going in.”
The moment he limped/ran away, Booth turned to me.
“I thought all graduates were accounted for,” Booth said with confusion.
“Me, too.”
That’d been the only reason I wasn’t freaking out right now.
Knowing Angie was safe and outside had left me feeling well enough to go inside. I might not have seen her, but with a few of the teachers saying all students and personnel were accounted for, I’d definitely felt a lot better about not actually laying eyes on her.
Now, though, questions started running through my brain.
If they missed one, then they could’ve surely missed two.
One look at Booth had me realizing he knew what I was thinking.
“Let’s not borrow trouble,” he switched on the light. “Watch your six.”
I looked over my shoulder one more time before I disappeared into the smoke that was filling the hallway.
We cleared the rooms, one at a time, until we came to the final one at the end of the hallway.
And after clearing that one, too, we both looked at each other in confusion.
There were no more rooms in the hallway.
Was the man just confused on what he saw? Did the smoke addle his brain?
“Try backstage?” he offered, pointing at the door that led backstage.
I shrugged.
“Fine.”
It was the only other door left to enter, but there were no rooms in the back according to our building plans.