way she wanted—on the edge and without holding back for a tomorrow that might never come. It made her kick harder.
She didn’t want to die like this.
“Sam’s inside.” Ray Garza struggled against two firemen who held him back. “You gotta let me go.”
He and a CPD tactical team had arrived on the scene about the same time as the fire crew. Both teams wanted to take over and do their jobs, but that couldn’t happen. The potential hostage situation with an armed gunman trumped the urgency of the fire—at least for now. That left highly trained firemen frustrated and sitting on the sidelines.
And Ray knew exactly how they felt.
“No one’s going inside.” A third man stepped in front of him, someone in authority dressed in a fire- department uniform. “You won’t be doin’ your friend any good if you die tryin’ to save him.”
Ray glared at the man, letting his words sink in.
“Sam’s a woman. A cop,” he clarified. “She called it in.”
“I’m sorry.” The fireman gripped his shoulder. “Real sorry.”
Ray quit fighting the two men who braced his arms, and they released him. For Sam’s sake, he couldn’t afford to lose it. Normally, the fire department had control of a fire, but under a dangerous hostage situation, tactical would have command. Yet knowing cops had the authority hadn’t made the waiting easier. He had to let the men do their jobs and accept that he wouldn’t be a part of the rescue operation.
He took a deep breath and slumped against the hood of his unmarked police vehicle. Dressed in black BDUs, the tactical team had set up a perimeter to work the scene, but the blaze would dictate everything. A line of firefighters stood to his right. They could only watch as flames ravaged the old Millstone mansion. Each face had a grim expression colored by regret. He understood the anger of being forced to accept defeat before the fight had even begun.
Dense black smoke tainted the air, and an intense red glow painted the night sky. Police and fire crews continued to arrive Code Three, with bystanders and news crews gathering at a distance. The scene looked and sounded chaotic, but nothing distracted him from imagining the horror Sam faced inside. He knew the minute he arrived and didn’t find her that she had gone into the burning building in search of her friend.
Now she might pay the price for going in alone, and he could do nothing to save her. Ray shut his eyes and prayed. He only hoped God would hear him.
A splintering crash brought Sam back, and spiraling heat swept past her. In a stupor, she wasn’t sure if she had imagined it. But when her eyes opened, billowing red sparks hung suspended above her head in clouds of swirling black smoke.
The man who’d nearly killed her had let go. And her body had slumped back. A rush of air sucked into her spent lungs, and the effort shocked her already fragile system. Urgent need outweighed the distress of breathing the fiery air. But the act of taking that first breath almost finished the job her assailant had started.
In a coughing jag, she gulped breaths in small measures, her eyes watering. She rolled onto her belly and peered down a murky hallway. The ceiling had collapsed behind her. And the man who had nearly taken her life had made a run for it, but not before he gaped over his shoulder, fixing his gaze on her.
A face blurred in and out of focus, but wasn’t clear enough for her to link it with a name, not in her condition.
The man grimaced as she stared back, but he didn’t stop. Dodging fallen debris, he disappeared into a wall of flames, leaving Sam alone. She pushed off the floor and sat back until her head cleared enough to stand. Her body had begun to fight her, but she ignored the pain and got to her feet.
Her confrontation had stolen precious time. Sam turned to run deeper into the fire shouting for Jessie between fits of coughing that had her doubled over. She heard another thunderous crash that roared through the old mansion and knew her chances of making it upstairs had run out. The place would soon come crashing down on her.
She’d stayed too long.
CHAPTER 27
“Jessie!” Sam cried. “Where are…you?”
One open door remained ahead, and she made a run for it, her last-ditch effort to find her friend. When she looked inside the room, she noticed a strange door. With a makeshift closure, it had a metal pipe lying across steel brackets and was bolted shut. Gaping holes of splintered wood were punched through the closed door. The source of the gunfire. And the blaze had enveloped the walls around the doorjamb.
“Jessie!” she yelled.
Sam raced for the bolted door, careful not to stand in front of it. If someone inside still had a gun, she’d make an easy target. She stood to one side and called out again.
“Jessie…you in there?”
“Sam, is that you?”
She heard the muffled voice, and answered, “I’m here. I’m gonna get you out.”
Sam wrapped her jacket around her hands and inspected the metal bolt that had them locked inside. It looked hot, but she had no choice. She positioned her hands on one end and shoved. Even through the wrapping on her hands, she felt the trauma of her skin burning, and it sent a jolt through her—searing heat fused with the stark chill of shock. But the metal pipe crashed to the floor at her feet. And the door swept open.
In a blur she felt Jessie rush to her. Barely able to stand, Sam pulled her friend close and drew from her strength.
“Oh Sammie. You did it.”
Jess felt Sam collapse in her arms as the others gathered around them. But as her gaze shifted into the larger room and beyond, Jess’s mouth opened in shock. Fire had engulfed the house and consumed any hope they had of walking out the way they’d come.
And Sam had risked everything to save her. She clutched her lifelong friend tight, and whispered in her ear, “You saved my life, little sister.”
Despite the futility of their predicament, Jess had to return the favor—or die trying. When Alexa joined them, she grabbed Sam by the shoulders to make sure her friend was strong enough.
“Can you walk?” she asked. When Sam nodded, she glanced at Alexa. “It doesn’t look like the front door is an option out.”
“No way,” Sam agreed. “The ceiling caved in. And I’d guess anything upstairs is out, too.”
“This shit hole is comin’ down,” Jake shouted, “…and we’re gonna die. I can’t—”
“Shut up, Jake. You’re not helping.” Jess turned toward Alexa. “Max and Seth will need a hand. I’ve got an idea, but you’ll have to trust me. We gotta go now.”
What she had in mind would be a crapshoot at best, but she didn’t have the heart to tell them the truth.
Some people can sit on a sideline content to watch the drama of a game played out, but Ray Garza had never been like that. He had to get involved and make a difference—his way. That was why he’d joined the police force.
He knew that he should have let the tactical team do their thing. And the fire department would have their hands full once they got the go-ahead to move in. But leaving Sam to deal with a full-blown fire and a killer with hostages was too much to ask of a guy—especially a cop.
Ray waited until heads were turned and opened the trunk of his vehicle. A crowbar was the kind of passkey he needed to gain access fast. He headed down the block, away from the action, then doubled back toward the rear of the burning mansion through an adjoining property.
“Hang on, Coop,” he whispered. “Please.”
All he could think about was Sam’s sweet face—her crooked smile, the way her brow furrowed when she was deep in thought, and the underlying compassion in her eyes that was never far from the surface. And the woman was gutsy, too. Real gutsy.
Even though he had taken issue with her close friendship with Jessica Beckett, he knew that was something he would never change or want to. She cared deeply for those she loved. And her loyalty was steadfast, another
