Damn it.
I would rather take another burn than watch that expression settle on her.
Then I remember the weight in my coat pocket.
“I got something.”
Her eyes lift to mine.
I shift her carefully, keeping one arm under her while I pull the black sketchbook from the pocket.
The cover is warm, and one corner is singed.
Kaia goes completely still.
Even her coughing stops.
Her eyes widen. “You…”
I hold it out.
Her fingers close around the book, and she looks at me before dropping her gaze back to it.
Something like horror flashes across her face.
I file that away.
Before I can ask, the first engine tears onto the street.
Red lights sweep across the trees and houses. Air brakes hiss. Doors fly open.
The world snaps back into order.
My order.
I lower Kaia carefully onto the grass, making sure she is steady before I let go. Every instinct in me rejects the distance immediately.
I ignore it.
Jordan Crush is first off the engine, six foot four and already moving before the door finishes swinging open. Calm when it counts and stubborn enough to keep going long after smarter men would quit, he is exactly who I want on a bad scene.
“Chief.”
“Heavy smoke through the first floor with extension upstairs. One known occupant, now out. No one else reported inside.”
Jordan’s eyes flick to Kaia, then back to me.
“Got it.”
“Jordan, you’re with Jesse on interior. Confirm the first floor is clear, then push upstairs if conditions hold. Check for extension toward the rear as you move.”
Jesse Harrington is already gearing up beside him. The man smiles through most of life, but never when lives are on the line.
“On it.”
“Lance.”
Lance Renner needs one look at the house before his expression hardens. I trust his instincts around fire, especially when a structure starts looking unstable.
