“Trap this mother fucker.”
Chapter 51
Wyatt
Acagedanimalpacesback and forth within me, waiting to be let off its leash to take this asshole down and rip him from limb to limb. The rage is white hot, ready to strike like a cornered rattlesnake. I could let it take over. I could let it consume me and beat this guy into a bloody pulp that they won’t recognize.
Iwantto do that for what he put Bryn through.
But the anger is so intense it’s pulled everything into sharp focus, and I recognize that being smart about this will trump the short-lived victory of hurting the guy who has been stalking all of us for months. It’s that side I’m letting win.
For now.
Brody walks at my side, under the guise that we’re headed towards the firetruck near the front of the ambulance. Tyson and Luke are headed in our direction, and I nod at my friends, then elbow Brody as we close in.
“Follow my lead, yeah?”
He grunts his acquiescence.
“The heat was insane,” I say loudly, once we’re close enough. “That flashover was intense.”
That’s all the bait the guy needs. Though I’m looking at Brody, I see the arsonist push off the ambulance, straightening. Taking interest.
We make eye contact. Adrenaline spikes in my blood, but Ibreathe through it, letting my training kick in, telling my body that this is just another fire I’m about to put out.
“Hey, you’re the stairwell guy,” I say as Brody and I walk past him. Pausing, I double back my last couple of steps, nodding at him. “Nice save.”
His eyes flicker, then narrow a fraction, surprised at first but then gauging my honesty. Or whether I know something. I hold as relaxed of an expression as I can and watch as his face smooths out.
“Thanks. Did you say there was a flashover?”
Tilting my chin up in a nod, I knock Brody in the arm. “Yeah, he and I were caught in it. Just about killed this girl we were rescuing.”
The guy, who isn’t huge but isn’t scrawny either, looks at the building, then back to me. “Huh. Good for her. ‘Spose it’s a good thing you two were there when you were.”
“Yeah,” I agree, casually looking over my shoulder at the structure. There’s still a mountain of smoke coming off it, but the flames have been knocked down. “Whoever started it didn’t know what the hell he was doing, though.”
His eyes snap to me, flashing wide before he seems to gain control of his reaction. “Why do you say that?”
Shrugging nonchalantly, though I feel anything but, I gesture behind me. “Well, he tied a girl up, so his intent was harm. A secondary fire in the room she was in could have done so much more,” I explain, glancing at Brody who nods his agreement. “The heat from both fires would have had that flashover happening a lot sooner.”
The man’s nostrils flare, eyes narrowing. At his sides, his fingers twitch, but doesn’t say anything.
“Or if he closed the door on the room she was in,” I continue, hitting Brody’s arm with a laugh that says the arsonist isn’t smart. “Then when I opened the door, the potential for a backdraft was there. That whole side of the building could have exploded out. Would have done way more damage.”
I’m controlling my breathing even though my heart is racing out of control. The asshole in front of me, though, hasn’t mastered that skill. His chest rises and falls quickly, the anger inside of him building like the anger inside me. Too bad I know my caged animal is bigger, badder, and stronger than his.
“Maybe he didn’t want to cause that much damage,” he grounds out between clenched teeth, taking a step closer to me.
Brody shifts at my side, marking the advance, but I shrug, taking my own step, my eyes never leaving the man in front of me.
“Then he’s an absolute moron because now he’s just left witnesses.”
“You fuckin’ firefighters think you know everything,” he snarls, eyebrows pulling together over narrowed eyes.
He lunges at me, but I’m ready for him, letting the animal out of the cage. Leaning into it, my arms are around him as he bulldozes into me, and I’m using his momentum to swing the two of us around so he lands on his back instead of me. It doesn’t stun him like I hoped it would, and we roll around on the pavement of the parking lot, each looking for the upper hand. Shouts erupt all around us.
I hardly hear them, the deafening boom of my pulse beating ferociously in my ears. One well-placed elbow to the nose that was accidentally on purpose, and I’m on top of the guy, pinning him down with one arm beneath my leg, the other to the ground with my hands. Brody has jumped into the mix, and I realize he’s behind me, holding the guy’s legs down as he bucks around, trying to get free.
