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Chapter Thirty-One
Abby
He’s been gone a long time.
Every fireman looks the same, and there’s no way of telling which one is Levi. That thought scares me. I watch, helplessly, as they run into the building that’s on fire, and do everything they can to keep it from spreading to my sister’s business.
My entire family is here.
Dean’s mom arrived shortly after they got to the scene to take Brielle back to their house. Jaime and Ryan brought coffee from the gas station, and AJ and Meghan have both been doing everything they can to keep Payton calm. Dad, Grandpa, and Grandma showed up just in time to see the windows blow out of the building to the east, which used to be a shoe store. Used to be. Until it was engulfed by a raging inferno.
The only good thing about that is that the fire seems to be moving away from Payton’s building. Now, three hours later, and after calling in mutual aid from two neighboring departments, they seem to have the blaze contained. We can see that Payton’s place will have damage, smoke and water mostly, but that’s better than the alternative.
“Do you see him?” Lexi asks, her hand wrapped firmly in mine.
“No.”
“I’ve been trying to read the names on the backs of the coats, but they’re too blurry,” AJ says, standing on the other side of me.
“He went into the building about twenty minutes ago,” Grandma says, causing us all to stop and look at her. “What? I have excellent eyesight. Not only could I read his name on the coat, but I’d know that ass from a mile away. He went into the shoe store with three other guys and a hose.”
I glance from my grandma, not at all surprised that she’d notice Levi’s ass (it is an amazing one), but more surprised that she didn’t make a joke about hoses. Glancing back at the shoe store, I wait with baited breath for any sign of movement. Isn’t it time for them to come back out? How long can they go on a tank of oxygen?
My mind races, my heart hammers in my chest, my worry escalates.
“Lexi, what do you think-” I start, but am cut off. She couldn’t hear me anyway over the startling noise.
Shock races through my body as I gaze at the shoe store where the collapsing building rips off part of the façade. My world starts to crumble along with the building as, piece by piece, brick by brick, I watch it start to fall. My entire universe is in that store, the building caving in around him.
“Levi!” I scream before taking off towards the rubble.
Strong arms wrap around me, but I fight it, and fight hard. “Shhhhhh, Abby, you can’t go in there. You have to stay here,” Ryan says, pulling me while I kick and scream to get away.
More arms wrap around me, but I don’t have a clue who they belong to. My eyes are glued to what’s left of the front of that building. The one he went into. The one he hasn’t come out of.
The one that’s falling down.
