“I know—hold on!” He opened the office door. Behind him he heard Eddie and Sam yelling into their radios for lines of water to come through the office windows and the roof. They were going to get their asses kicked for breaking protocol, but Zach had never been so happy to see them in his life. “Claire!” he yelled as flames roared out the door, right at them, attracted by the new source of oxygen.

From outside, the hoses beat the flames back enough for them to move in; they found Claire crumpled on the floor beneath a desk. Zach dropped down and pulled her toward him. With Eddie flanking one side and Sam the other, he carried her into the hallway, where they were shoved back by flames coming from both directions now.

“Go back the way you came!” came the chief’s voice via radio. “Out the way you came!”

They wouldn’t make it. They needed a faster way—the office windows. But they couldn’t get to them without hoses.

“Do it,” Blake shouted into their radio. “I’m on the roof, I’ll cover you.”

Shocked, they all looked up, and through the burning ceiling, they could see an arc of water coming through.

Blake.

“Hurry!” he yelled down to them. “Move it!”

Eddie went out the window first, straddling the ledge, reaching back for Claire. Sam went next. Waiting until the ladder cleared, Zach took one last look over his shoulder at the flames rushing them, but Blake still had his back.

“Go,” Blake shouted as the ceiling started to cave.

“Jesus, Blake!” Zach’s heart stopped. “Get back!”

“I will when you’re out—”

But a thundering shudder silenced them both. Zach made to leap for the ladder, but the ceiling crashed down. As he yelled Blake’s name, everything went black.

“TWO FIREFIGHTERS are down,” Dustin said grimly, setting down the radio.

Brooke’s heart stopped. “Oh my God. Who?”

Dustin didn’t meet her eyes.

She grabbed his sleeve. “Who?”

“Blake and Zach.” He grimaced, but tried to sound reassuring. “Don’t worry, they’ll get them out.”

“Ohmigod, they’re trapped?”

The male victim Aidan had carried out was sitting on the curb holding an ice pack to his head, and at this news, he moaned. “It’s my fault. I freaked out. And now Claire’s trapped in there, too.”

“She’s out,” Dustin told him. “She’s in the ambulance, where you should be.”

“Oh, thank God.” The man surged to his feet, grabbing Brooke’s hand, his eyes wet. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry—”

She shook her head. “You need to sit down—”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just so damn sorry—”

Dustin brought him to Claire, while Brooke stared up at the building, which was a virtual inferno.

Zach was in there.

She took a step toward it but Dustin was back, blocking her path. “What are you doing?”