Page 57 of Kingpin
I felt the world spinning around me as a foreign voice called out to me.
“Ma’am, can you hear me?”
I blinked slowly. “Yeah.”
“Can you focus on my finger?”
I saw the blurry object in front of my face and sighed.
“Once I get some water, yeah.”
“Need a bottle of water over here!”
I winced. “Can you stop yelling? It hurts.”
“Why does it hurt? What’s hurting?”
I glared at him. “Everything.”
He chuckled. “Well, that’s what happens when you rush into a burning building and take in lungful’s of smoke. Sir? She’s all yours.”
I felt something cold fall into my lap, and I looked down. It was a water bottle, and I couldn't scramble quickly enough to pick it up. I cracked it open and let it drain down my throat. I swallowed mouthful after mouthful, relishing the sweet taste of a liquid I didn’t usually care for.
More water from now on. Lots of it.
“Ma’am?”
I sighed. “Call me Bonnie.”
He nodded. “All right, Mrs. Bonnie. Can you tell me what happened here?”
I looked up at the police officer, and my years of living in our lifestyle kicked into gear.
“Well, I pulled up and saw that my husband’s warehouse was on fire. And I was worried he was in it.”
The officer nodded. “So you ran in.”
“I did, yes.”
“Your husband said there was a two-by-four in front of the door. Blocked it from being opened. Know anything about that?”
I shot a look around the officer and saw Israel staring at me. Hard.
“Well, since I was inside the room, I wouldn't know much about it, no.”
“What room were you in, specifically?”
I took another pull from my water. “My husband’s office.”
“Did you get locked in there?”
I shrugged. “A lot of things were already collapsing. I assumed the door had gotten jammed closed or something. It didn’t matter. Because once I ran in and saw my husband wasn’t in there, the smoke started to overwhelm me.”
The officer scribbled down some things before he stole another look at me.
“You take your husband’s last name? I’ll need it for my records,” he said.
I nodded. “I did, yes.”
