Page 81 of Our Last Resort
“Holy shit.”
The fire was alive. Untamable. It had spread not just to Émile’s entire office, but to that whole side of the building. A large plume of smoke rose in the air. The flames engulfed another portion of wall, reaching the roof.
It was sick, in every sense of the word.
I turned to Gabriel, expecting to meet his gaze. I thought he’d need it, too, this wordless congress, his feelings bouncing off mine.
But from our corner of the night, Gabriel had eyes only for the fire. He stared at the flames, transfixed. Hypnotized.
I nudged him.
“Come on.”
He blinked. We started running.
Right before the last turn, we stopped to look again.
The entire building was in flames. The walls, the roof. They were on the verge of collapsing.
I gasped. Gabriel pulled his coat tighter around his chest.
I’d known setting fire to a building would cause great damage. Obviously. But there was a difference between a fire in your head and a fire in real life. This was so out of control. Soviolent.
Even from a distance, I could see them: three silhouettes in long nightdresses.
Running toward danger. Hoisting something out of the building.
Someone.
The only person there was to evacuate.
Émile wasn’t moving. A mother held him by the shoulders, and two women supported his legs. They walked him away from the structure and laid him down on the ground.
I waited for him to lift his head. A hand. A foot. Nothing.
From a distance, Émile didn’t look injured. He didn’t look betrayed. He didn’t look outraged, or sad, or hurt.
He only looked dead.
28Escalante, Utah
The Sixth Day
I return the hair clip to Gabriel’s backpack.
Is this even the right pocket?
Who knows?
Who cares?
I don’t realize that I’m going to the lobby until I’m already there. Better this way: I forget to worry about Gabriel. I forget to worry about William Brenner. That’s how stunned I am: For a few minutes, I forget to worry about men.
“Could you call me a car, please?”
Behind the front desk, Catalina frowns, but she picks up the phone.
“Of course,” she says. “Where are you looking to go?”
