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Gabriel grunted and dragged. Sweat was streaking down his face, and he was terrified the back door wouldn’t be there when they hit the wall. The flames were too thick to see anything.
“How about less talking and more pushing.”
The fireman gave a solid shove, and Gabriel had to adjust his grip. He almost dropped him, and the guy cried out.
Gabriel thought of Nick breaking his leg last weekend. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m ”
“Just go! ”
Gabriel pulled.
And then he had help. He didn’t know where they’d come from, but two firefighters were beside him, dragging them through the door that must have been right there, pulling them out of the smoke and flames, getting them into the fresh air.
Someone had a blanket around his shoulders, smacking at the flames on his coat and his legs. Someone else was in his face yelling something about a medic making Gabriel remember that he had only a helmet and a coat. No pants, no oxygen mask, no tanks.
He probably had about fifteen seconds before all these guys realized he wasn’t who he was pretending to be.
“Yeah,” he coughed. “Medic.”
And when the guy turned his head to speak into a radio, Gabriel ran.
CHAPTER 17
Gabriel sat beside Hunter in the front of his Jeep, eating a Big Mac and wondering how he was going to go home looking like this. He couldn’t even walk into a store. If the cops and firemen were looking for an arsonist, a kid walking around with burned clothes might draw a little attention.
“So we need to bring a change of clothes,” said Hunter.
Gabriel gave him a look. “You think?”
“You said they got a good look at you?”
Gabriel shrugged. “I don’t know. I had the helmet on. There was a lot of smoke.”
But he’d bet good money they’d figure it out.
“Did you delete the text I sent you?”
Gabriel nodded. “I’m not an idiot.”
He wondered if Hannah would put it together that he’d run out of the house on the same night a stranger showed up at a fire. She hadn’t come to their house suspecting him of arson she’d just been looking for information.
Right?
He set half the burger on the wrapper. “I need to tell you something.”
Hunter was eating a grilled chicken sandwich. He didn’t even look over. “This is so sudden.”
“Shut up. They think someone is starting these fires.”
Hunter shrugged. “An arsonist. I know.”
opped his pizza onto the plate and cleared his throat.
“So you think someone is starting the fires just to save people?”
“No.” She paused for a long moment, and her voice dropped.
“Yesterday one of the other firehouses lost a fireman. We’re just trying to stop this guy before he kills anyone else.”
