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"Well, I was thinking of going to Jack's apartment and talking to his neighbors," she said. "You can come along if you want."

"Why would you do that?" he challenged.

"Because he was my patient, and I'm worried. I'm sure you can get his address, but I already have it, so I'm going."

He could see the determination in her eyes, a glint of fierce will that he'd seen a long time ago. When Rachel had a strong opinion on something, she didn't back down. And she was done waiting for him to decide what he wanted to do. She turned and headed to the elevator.

"Wait," he said, catching up to her. "I'll go with you. Or you can give me his address, and I'll meet you there."

"I'll drive. My car is in the employee lot."

He wasn't completely surprised at her decision. Rachel was definitely a woman who liked to be in control. Since he was a man who also liked to be in control, they were probably always going to clash. "All right," he conceded. "You can drive. I don't have a problem with that."

For the first time, a faint smile lifted her lips. "Of course you do. You just don't want to admit it."

He wished he could say she was wrong, but she wasn't.

Rachel should have let Tyler go on his own, but she hadn't wanted to just give him Jack's address. Not that it mattered, since she was going to take him there, but she also wanted to stay in charge of this whole situation, at least for a while. She suspected Tyler would cut her out as soon as he had the chance, and she didn't want that to happen until she had a better handle on what they were actually dealing with.

If they found Jack at home and he didn't want to talk to her, then she'd take herself out of the situation, but she needed to see him. She needed to know he was in better shape than he had been the night before. And she really wanted to know why he didn't trust her.

They didn't speak as she maneuvered her car out of the lot and drove to the East Village. It was a dense, working-class neighborhood with three- and four-story apartment buildings above retail businesses, restaurants, and bars. Jack lived on the second floor of a building over a used bookstore, with a bar on one side and a ramen café on the other.

It took a few minutes to find parking about a block away, and she was relieved to get out of the car, as the silence between them had grown more and more uncomfortable.

As they walked toward Jack's building, Tyler's steps seemed to slow. She paused, glancing back at him. "What's wrong?"

Conflicting emotions moved through his gaze. "This feels wrong."

"The street?"

"Everything," he muttered. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing here."

"If you don't want to go up, I can do this on my own."

His lips tightened. "No. Let's get this over with."

Now he was the one striding ahead, and she had to move quickly to keep up with him. When they got to Jack's building, she pressed the buzzer for Jack's apartment, but no one answered. It didn't matter, because the front door was ajar, and Tyler pushed it open.

"Second floor?" he asked.

She nodded and headed up the stairs in front of him. When she got to Jack's apartment, she was about to knock, then saw that his door was also slightly open. As she put her hand on the knob, she heard a click and Tyler grabbed her arm.

"What's wrong?" she asked, startled by his sudden movement.

He pulled her away from the door and yelled, "Run!"

Chapter Four

As Rachel stumbled down the hallway with Tyler, a blast knocked them both off their feet. She landed hard on her knees, her ears ringing as a shower of debris rained down on them.

Tyler was the first to get up, pulling her back to her feet and urging her farther down the hallway. An older white-haired man came out of a door by the stairs. He was coughing, his face shocked and confused.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Go downstairs," Tyler told him. He then turned to her. "Call 911 and get out of here."

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" she yelled as he ran down the hall and through the flames jumping out of Jack's apartment.