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“Everybody get back now!”
Cassano and I ran toward the front door.
“You know we’re gonna find marshmallows,” he said before he heaved the axe through the door.
I bristled as I shouldered past him through the open door. “You’re a sick bastard.”
He laughed and followed me into the smoke.
I turned on my light, straining to see through the thick black around us.
“Anybody here?” I shouted.
No response.
We continued on the first level.
“I’ll go upstairs,” Cassano said as the fire crackled.
“No. We stay together.”
“If we don’t split up, wewillfind marshmallows.”
“We stay together.”
I’d been with the department ten years longer than Cassano and what I said went. Besides, it was the smart thing to do in smoke this thick.
Mercifully, he didn’t argue as we cleared the living room and a study.
We pressed deeper into the house. Sweat dripped from my forehead into my eye. I blinked a few times to clear the sting.
Heat.
Flames.
The intensity grew with every step we took. I’d seen enough fires to know they were all unpredictable, but my guess was we were close to the source.
“Hollingsworth, what’s your status?”
“Two rooms clear downstairs,” I responded in the radio.
“We’d have more done if I’d gone up—”
Snap. Crack.
The ceiling above us collapsed. I ducked and shielded my head with my arms but landed on my back. My light was knocked out of my hands.
God, this is heavy.
Weight on my chest and stomach made it hard to breathe. I couldn’t see through the dust and smoke.
I shoved, and there was little give in whatever was on top of me.
Not today. Not. Today.
With all my strength, I pushed and somehow got the object off of me. I sat up, ignoring the soreness down my middle.
“Cassano!”
