He leaned forward as if he could somehow get physically closer to her. “I know, but I’m right here with you. I won’t go away until you’re safe.”
“Thanks. I know this is silly, but—” She sucked in a breath. “Oh, God, I can smell smoke. It’s coming under the door. Something’s burning. The odor is funny. I have to get out of here.”
Fear tightened his throat. Fear for her and frustration that there was nothing he could do. “Listen to me, Cathy. You told the dispatch person where you were, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then they know to come get you.”
“Maybe I should go out in the hall. Oh, Stone, there’s more smoke. It’s filling the room!”
“Stay calm. Put me on hold and call the fire department again. Tell them you’re trapped. Put me on hold. I’ll wait.”
“Okay.”
He listened to the silence for what felt like a lifetime. When she returned to the line, she was crying.
“They’re nearly here,” she said. “But the fire is all over the building. It’s going to t-take them a while to get to me. I’m so scared, Stone.”
“I know, honey. But I’m still right here.”
“They said—” She choked, then recovered. “They said to wet a towel and wrap it around my face.”
“You go do that. I’ll wait for you.”
“All right.”
He heard the headset clatter against the desk. He’d never felt so helpless in his life. Stone shook his head. That wasn’t true. He’d felt exactly this helpless about three years ago. There’d been nothing he could do then, either, and because of that—and him—Evelyn had died.
He shook off those thoughts and concentrated on Cathy, willing her to be all right. He listened intently and finally heard her rapid footsteps as she returned to pick up the headset.
“There’s fire,” she screamed. “I can see it. Oh, Stone, what now? I don’t—”
A loud explosion cut her off. Involuntarily Stone held the receiver away from his ear. Then he pressed it back in place. “Cathy? Cathy, can you hear me?”
He heard a shriek and a crash, then silence.
“Cathy? Cathy!”
Nothing. There was a click followed by a low, steady dial tone.
Chapter Two
It took Stone several seconds to realize what was going on. He’d been disconnected and had no way of finding out what had happened to Cathy.
The knot in his gut tightened, as did his feeling of panic. Dammit all to hell, he thought grimly as he hit the buttons that would connect him with her office again. Even as he listened to the ringing, he told himself he was wasting time. Something had happened to Cathy. He could feel it as surely as he could feel the rapid pounding of his heart. Even if she was still all right, she wasn’t going to waste time or breath answering the phone.
He dropped the receiver into the cradle, then headed out of his office. There was only one thing for him to do, and that was to check on her personally. He would drive to the answering service and make sure that she was all right.
He left his office at the rear of the second story and headed toward the stairs. From there he made his way to the kitchen. Ula, his fifty-something housekeeper, glanced up as he entered. Although it was late, she looked as fresh and relaxed as she had early that morning.
“Mr. Ward, this is a surprise.” Her small dark eyes crinkled at the comers, but she didn’t smile. “Don’t tell me you’re actually hungry. It’s only been a couple of days since I bullied you into eating something. Usually you make me wait longer before I can force you to look at another meal.”
Normally her teasing brightened his spirits, and he would point out that while he didn’t eat much food, she rarely slept. But tonight their banter was beyond him.
“I’m going out,” he said.
“Now? By yourself?”
