Si and Gideon exchanged looks and Gideon ran a hand over hisface.
“How sure are you,Jules?”
I swallowed. “Fifty fifty? We might know more if we can find Rae Martin. They might have helped her get upstairs through a rearentrance.”
“Fuck. I can’t send my guys in there, Si. It’s too fucking hot, the sprinklers aren’t fucking working, and I’m concerned about the structural integrity of the fuckingplace.”
I was hardly one to fault a guy for swearing, but Gideon was a little much even forme.
“I’ll go,” Daniel said. “Give me a coat or whatever. I’ll runin.”
“Cute,” Gideon said. “So heroic.No.”
“But—”
“Let me rephrase,” Gideon said, more loudly. “Not just no, but no fucking way! It’s not a question of willingness, it’s a question of safety. The building is nearlyconsumed.”
From nearby, Parker gave an agonizedgasp.
“The stairs to the apartments are in the back,” Silas told Gideon. “And if the upstairs is well-insulated, there’s a chance she hasn’t beenoverwhelmed.”
“Assuming she’s even up there,” Gideon remindedus.
“Who’s up there?” Bob Henderson demanded. I wasn’t sure when he’d arrived or how much he’d heard, but frantic didn’t even begin to describe his appearance. Unkempt was pretty much his default appearance, but right now he looked haunted. “Are you talking about Sam? Is she stillinside?”
“We don’t know, sir,” Gideon said, taking control of the situation. “We need to ascertain whether sheeven—”
“Nothing to ascertain!” he said. “Theo Ross talked to Rae. Sam wasupstairs.”
“Fuck,” Gideon said, and under other circumstances it would almost have been amusing. Did the man know any otherwords?
He stepped away to confer with the other firefighters and Si and Con went withhim.
“Are they gonna help her?” Bob said, looking at Daniel and me in panic. “Who’s rescuingher?”
I looked at Daniel and he shook his head. The fire was climbing the side of the building faster now, greedy flames licking at the wood shingleexterior.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Bob cried, jamming a hand through his hair. “I’ll get hermyself.”
He pushed his way through the barricade before I even understood what was happening. Daniel tried to grab at his coat to hold him back, but Bob was moving toofast.
I yelled for Con again, but he didn’t hearme.
Bob ran past the firefighters, nearly slipping on the icy ground, but he was able to get to the far side of the building unchallenged. One of the firefighters manning a hose yelled for him to stop, but Bob had already disappeared into the roilingsmoke.
“Jesus fucking Christ,” Gideon said, responding to the other firefighter’s alarm. “What’s that idiot doing? Chris, Michael, Patrick, go after him. And when you get him out,sit on himif you haveto!”
The remaining crew members scrambled to followorders.
“Holyshit,” I breathed, staring at the building numbly. “Holyshit.”
I felt Daniel’s arms come around me from behind and I let myself relax into his embrace for asecond.
“She didn’t think he loved her,” Daniel whispered in myear.
I turned my head to look at him. “What?”
“They were fighting. He told her if she left his house, she shouldn’t come back.” One side of his mouth tipped up in a grim smile. “But he lovesher.”
