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Then a number lit up on the screen that I recognized. One of the numbers I'd flagged in the silent-call pattern I'd been logging since September. The last time this number came through, I'd heard a television and a raised voice before the line went dead.

I picked up. Maybe this time it was an actual emergency.

"911, what's your emergency?"

"Please help me!" Her voice shook. "My house is on fire and my husband is inside and he won't come out!"

"Ma'am, are you outside the house?"

"Yes. I'm in the yard. I got out but he won't come! I told him to come and he won't come!"

"I'm dispatching fire to your location right now. Can you give me your address?"

She gave it. I pulled up the address and dispatched Engine 19 and EMS.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Linda." A sob broke through. "Linda Abbott."

"Linda, how did the fire start?"

"We were fighting. I came back to talk to him about the divorce, and he was high again. He was high, and I told him I was done, and he threw something, and it hit the stove, and it just—it caught. The curtains. It went so fast."

"Are you hurt?"

"No. I got out through the back. But he's still inside. Soren won't come out. I screamed at him to come and he just sat there!"

Soren. Linda Abbott. Divorce. High. The man inside the burning house was Captain Soren Abbott.

"Engine 19 is en route, Linda. They're going to get him out. I need you to stay where you are and stay away from the house."

"He's been getting high for months. I took the kids and went to my mother's house. I told him if he didn't stop, I was filing for divorce. I left so he could think. I came back today to talk and he was worse. He was worse than I'd ever seen him."

"Engine 19 on scene. Single-family residential, smoke showing from the first floor. Making entry."

Alex's voice came through the radio.

"Copy, Engine 19."

"I've been trying to call for months." Linda's voice was small. "I kept picking up the phone and hanging up. I didn't want to ruin his career. He's a fire captain. If anyone found out he was using, it would all be over."

"Linda, you did the right thing getting yourself out. The crew is there. They're going to get him out."

I switched back to the radio. "Engine 19, be advised, one occupant still inside, first floor. Caller reports he is conscious but refusing to evacuate."

Alex came back. "Copy, dispatch. We have visual. He's on the kitchen floor, non-responsive to verbal commands. We're physically removing him from the structure."

"Copy, Engine 19."

I heard the struggle through the radio. Voices talking to him, talking to each other. Then Sawyer's voice.

"I've got him. Coming out."

"Engine 19 to dispatch. Occupant removed from the structure. EMS is taking over."

"Copy, Engine 19."

On the phone, Linda's crying changed. "They have him. Oh God. They have him."