Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) (21 page)

“Will this come back to you?” I looked up as she rose.

“The only way this comes back to me is through you. Take the information to Cheryl. When everything blows up, I’ll make my move.”

Jia was the only one who was really going to win. I cared more about justice than vengeance. And if everything she said was true, there was a lot of justice to be served to David Reilly.

She was about to leave but stopped mid-turn.

“How’s Maya doing anyway? Someone told me she got married.”

“She did. They’re expecting a baby boy in the fall.”

Her expression softened. “I’m happy for her.”

“Me too.”

“Do me a favor, and send her my best.”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Good luck.”

“You too.”

* * *

I
replayed
my conversation with Jia in my head at least a hundred times. I was still in shock. All of this information had fallen heavy on my shoulders. If what she said was true, and if I could find that smoking gun, I’d be responsible for exposing something bigger than I could really fathom. I was a personal assistant. I was not cut out for this.

Reilly strolled into the reception area, breaking my focus from the computer screen and my tumbling thoughts. The sky outside had grown dark and the office was empty. I was only doing time until he left.

He slowed at my desk. “I’m heading out. Do you have any plans tonight?”

I shrugged. “Probably not.”

“How are things going with Darren?”

I could tell him the truth, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that we weren’t together. No doubt, he’d had a hand in Darren’s decision to push me away so suddenly.

“It’s complicated,” I said finally.

Satisfaction glittered in his eyes. “We had an interesting chat.”

“So I heard.”

He canted his head. I hoped he couldn’t see how broken I was inside.

“We’d make a great team, Vanessa. I hope you’ve thought about that.”

I looked down, doodling circles on my notepad. “I’ll be here a bit longer. Call if you need anything.”
Please leave.

“I’ll be across the street grabbing a quick drink before I head home. Come down if you need a break.”

I nodded, trying my best to ignore him and end this conversation. But he didn’t leave. He circled the desk slowly and leaned in behind me. I cringed when he rested his hand on my shoulder, squeezing me.

“David…” I tensed, shifting away from him as much as my desk would allow.

“I pushed you too fast, I know. After waiting for you this long, I can accept a slower pace. But we need a place to start.”

I swallowed hard, searching for a way out of this situation that could easily spiral out of control. Adriana and Bill were long gone already. Reilly wasn’t drunk this time, but that circumstance didn’t make me feel any safer being alone with him.

“Vanessa… When you ask me what I need, the answer is always you.”

I closed my eyes. “I’m going through a lot right now. Let me think about it, okay?” I hoped he couldn’t hear the tremor in my voice.

He kissed my neck, and bile rose in my throat.

“Good,” he whispered. He straightened and walked out of the office.

Once alone, I willed myself not to cry. Not to break down.

I couldn’t make excuses for him anymore. This had to end.

I
’d been nursing
my hangover for hours, and my head was still throbbing. But no amount of shots last night could have gotten me to go home with another woman. Catching a glimpse of Vanessa with that guy had been an unlucky circumstance that had only made me drink harder and longer, well into the night. I couldn’t stop thinking about who he was and if they’d left together.

She couldn’t have moved on that quickly.

I sure as hell wasn’t able to.

I was ready to call her again, because not knowing was killing me. Then the tones went off. The other guys on Ladder 9 went for their truck. I followed suit and went through the motions. A routine I’d done a thousand times, thank God, because my mind was all over the place. Pining over a woman I’d pushed away like a goddamn fool.

The dispatcher’s voice scratched through the radio at my hip. “Four-alarm fire at East Ninety-Second and Clarkson. Reports of flames from the windows and occupants inside.”

I grabbed my gear and started to dress quickly, forcing my aching brain to think about the task at hand. We loaded up, hit the sirens, and pulled out toward our destination. Ian was at the wheel, dominating the road and cussing the whole way as we maneuvered around traffic.

Hundreds of calls and dozens of fires had trained my body to stay calm in the worst situations, but already I could anticipate the adrenaline rush coming. Someone with nerves of steel couldn’t stay unaffected when he was running into a building that everyone else was running out of. All my life, I’d wanted nothing more than to do that very thing.

In the distance, a string of black smoke billowed up into the sky, dissipating high above the tops of the buildings.

The radio continued. “Engines 2 and 7 are en route. Occupants on the first and third floors.”

Ian’s eyes were dead on the road. In the back, one of the new guys was looking a bit green as we pulled up in front of the three-story building. The engine trucks pulled up quickly behind, and their crew started working the hydrant.

“All right guys. Let’s roll,” Ian said.

On the sidewalk, a woman was crying hysterically. I went to her. “What’s wrong? Who’s still inside?”

The woman started speaking Spanish quickly, too quickly for my weak command of the language. I kept making out a name though. Leo.

Ian came up beside me and listened for a moment.

“Who’s Leo?” I asked him.

“Her little boy. He was playing hide-and-seek, and they couldn’t find him. He’s inside on the third floor. Let’s go.”

“Move!” I shouted at the crew, moving away from the woman who had every right to be hysterical.

Two cop cars pulled up, and an officer immediately went to her, pulling her away to a safe distance.

Usually Ian and I partnered up, but since we were looking for someone, we decided to split into two teams. I took Travis, the new guy, whose complexion wasn’t looking any better. Ian went with Ray, a veteran firefighter who felt breathing masks should be optional and had been known to smoke cigars inside an active fire.

He was old school, funny as hell, and more times than not, a dangerous person to have by my side at a time like this. Between the two, I felt better having Travis with me. At least he wasn’t going to go rogue once we got in there.

We neared the building, and I turned to Travis. “We’re taking the third floor. Follow the right-hand wall. Stay with me. And when I say go, we get the fuck out of there, no matter what. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good. Use your head.”

He was probably shitting himself already, but there wasn’t time for any of that. Sink or swim. Keep your wits about you, or put yourself and possibly others in danger.

We made it through the moderate haze to the third floor before the smoke got too thick. I put on my mask and hit the air, gesturing for Travis to do the same. The steady whoosh of my breath—in and out, in and out—triggered an almost meditative calm. Whenever I heard that sound, my life was on the line. So were others’. When others succumbed to panic and anxiety, I found resolve. Clarity, even in the pitch black of the fire we were at war with.

I led the way. Travis trailed a few feet behind me. My hand followed the wall as we turned several corners. Carefully we checked each room and found no signs of the child. Then we reached a closet. Inside on the floor was a small body. The boy couldn’t have been more than two or three years old. I turned behind me and yelled to Travis.

“I have him!”

We’d have to move quickly now, retracing our steps back, all the way down until the boy was safe. I scooped him up into my arms and moved back toward Travis. The boy coughed and twisted in my arms. Relief flooded me. He’d be okay. We just needed to get him out. Fast.

Travis led the way quickly.

As we neared the entrance, I yelled to him, “I’m going to find Ian and Ray. You take the boy out! Go!” I urged him ahead of me.

He hesitated only a moment before rushing out, the boy’s body tight against his gear.

Someone might still be trapped in the first floor unit, but I had no idea who it might be. The fire licking up the back of building had spread quickly, and smoke was thick all around.

I moved down the empty hallway. My air alarm started going off. I still had time. I’d find Ian, and we could move out. I felt around and found a door. I pushed at it and then shoved against it.

When it gave, I stepped into nothing. A free fall, broken by something hard and uneven.

The next few seconds were a blur, a black blur.

I cursed and thrashed around. I tried to get my bearings, but I was tangled up in something. Boxes and a bunch of crap.

My heart was beating loud in my ears. The reassuring whoosh of my air had been replaced by the alarm. I reached for calm, but panic was winning. And I was sucking down too much air.

I swallowed through the pain radiating down my side. After a moment, I realized I was in a basement. A basement with no goddamn stairs into it. Black water dripped down the stone walls around me and seeped through the wood floors that glowed with heat above.

I twisted to bring myself upright, and pain lanced through my side. My ribs felt like they were cutting into my lungs, making it even harder to breathe. All the while, my bell kept dinging, reminding me that I was running low.

Short panicked breaths. Slicing pain.

I tried to push up from my side. A different kind of throbbing shot down my right arm, which was almost of no use to me now. I’d really fucked myself up good. I had to get out of here. Only problem was there was no way out of this godforsaken hole in the earth. No wonder the goddamn door didn’t want to budge. This place was a death trap.

“Mayday. Mayday. Mayday. This is Bridge,” I rasped into my mask. “I’m in the basement. No fucking steps.”

No response.

My alarm got louder, dinging faster. A reminder that time was running out.

The orange glow on the other side of the basement was the only indicator of an alternate exit route. Fire.

I went toward it, hoping to find stairs that would take me back to the main floor, but there was nothing. Nothing but thick black smoke. The immense heat pushed me to the ground. I could feel it through my gear.

I heard a voice that sounded like Ian’s yell down. “Bridge! There’s a stepladder propped against the wall. Can you get back to it?”

I traced the wall back, trying to pull myself back up to standing as I got farther away from the heat of the fire. I tripped over something, landing myself right back on my side. I groaned in pain. My whole right side was fucking useless.

On my hands and knees, I felt my way through the garbage on the floor. I needed to get back to where I’d started. Fast. If they didn’t get the fire under control, the building could compromise. And I was stuck under it all.

Then, in an instant, I ran out of air.

The mask suctioned to my face.

Fuck.

I ripped it off. I inhaled my first gulp of choking smoke and crumbled back down onto the floor to find the cleanest air I could. I had to get out of here.

I thought of Vanessa, my family. Everyone who needed me…people I refused to live without.

“We need to get him out of here. Now!” Ian’s voice was loud with panic.

I tried to crawl toward his voice, but all the adrenaline couldn’t take me there fast enough. I coughed, toxic smoke filling my lungs. I had to be close. I struggled over more unknown obstacles as I crawled as quickly as my body would go.

I couldn’t die here. Not like this.

With very little effort, I’d been able to track down the account that Jia had mentioned. Working late in the office and being so intricately involved in all of Reilly’s affairs, I had access to nearly everything he touched. He trusted me, and I was a few clicks away from breaking that trust and every confidentiality agreement I’d signed over the past two years.

The account resided in Grand Cayman. Ironically, the place where he’d hidden money from his wife was the same place I’d fallen hopelessly in love with another man.

I’d made digital duplicates of all the files anyone could ever need to expose what Reilly and his cronies had been doing. Statements, wire transfers, incorporation documents, and a few cryptic e-mails between him and Dermott that came up with a search for the account number.

They’d both go down, without a doubt.

I had my finger on the trigger. All I had to do was pull.

But who was I? An unimportant cog in an operation that Reilly had been running smoothly for years. Despite everything that Jia had confessed to me, I still doubted whether I was capable of bringing it all to an end. The prospect terrified me. What if somehow it all came crashing down on me?

Even if it didn’t, I’d still lose my job. The pressure of working under Reilly day after day would be replaced with the very real pressure of finding gainful employment elsewhere. I didn’t have Darren’s security blanket, and I couldn’t survive in the city without an income.

Anxious and edgy, I stared outside the conference room window as Bill and Reilly rattled on about prospects. Outside, the city I’d grown to love sprawled as far as I could see. Building after glassy building, dim and gray under an overcast sky. I was about to be out of a job, and I’d just lost the only relationship that had made me really feel alive. Life was nothing more than a dull gray without the promise of Darren lighting it up, even if he’d broken me beyond hope.

I had no business trying to reform a man like Darren, but I still wanted to.

“Vanessa. Did you get that?”

I jolted back to reality, but I’d completely missed whatever Reilly had said that was so important.

“I’m sorry. What was that?”

“I’ve got it. No worries.” Adriana shot me a tight smile.

My phone vibrated on silent, providing a fresh distraction. Seeing Maya’s number, I sent the call to voice mail and forced my attention to the meeting agenda. She called twice more, and I finally texted her.

I
’m in a meeting
.

D
arren was in a fire
. We’re headed to the hospital.

I
reread the text
. Terrible possibilities flashed through my mind and heat rushed to palms. I typed out a reply, my heart racing in my chest.

I
s he okay
?

W
e don’t know very much
yet. Call me when you can. New York Methodist. Room 204.

I
held
the phone with trembling hands. “Oh my God.”

“Is everything okay?” Adriana’s eyes filled with concern.

“I have to go.”

Reilly shot me an annoyed look. “We’re in the middle of something here.”

“I’m sorry. It’s an emergency. I have to go. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I gathered up my things and left the room.

“Vanessa!” Reilly followed me out.

I didn’t care. I had to see Darren.

I stopped at my desk and grabbed my purse. “Darren’s hurt. He was in a fire last night. He’s at the hospital. I have to go see him.”

“I thought you were finished with that loser?”

I glared at him, so ready to unleash my hatred onto this horrible man. “You have
no
right to judge him.”

Little did he know how he was about to be judged. His whole world was about to come crumbling down. All his self-importance and wealth and pomp.

I slung my purse over my shoulder and moved around Reilly. He caught my arm, holding me tightly. I had a flashback to the airport when he’d done the same thing in front of Darren. The results had been disastrous.

I stared into his cold gray eyes. “Let. Me. Go.”

His jaw was set tight. “Leave, and you can forget you ever had this job.”

I was already done with it. I wrenched my arm out of his grasp.

“You’re a bad person, David. You’re hateful and cold and disillusioned. You hate what you can’t have. And you will
never
have me.”

I stopped at the door when he called after me.

“You’re making a mistake, Vanessa”

I turned. One last look.

“Wasting another minute of my life here with you would be a mistake. Good-bye, David.”

My whole goddamn body hurt, but the cold air burning in my lungs was a welcome reminder that I was alive. Hurt, but alive. Pieces of the previous night came back in flashes. The black of the fire. The bright white of the hospital. The terrifying prospect of dying in that hole and then Ian hauling me out on his shoulder. I’d gotten closer to the door I’d fallen through than I realized. Close enough for him to get me out before it was too late. He’d cussed at me every step of the way as I choked on the toxic air all around us.

I’d put my life and my brothers’ in danger. And I owed Ian my life.

I shouldn’t have gone back in alone. Whatever pain I was feeling now was nothing compared to the agony of knowing that someone else could be hurt because of me.