Page 116 of The Gift


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“Parker? Parks!” Jamie Burke pushed through the crowd, making his way to Parker. “Jesus Christ. Are you alright?” He grabbed Parker’s face with two hands. “Are you okay,baby?”

Parker’s face crumpled and he tipped forward toward Jamie’s chest. Jamie’s arms swallowed him up, and I could hear Jamie whispering something in Parker’s ear as they stood and watched the buildingburn.

Someone in the crowd behind the barricade on the far side of the street let out a cheer. “They’re bringing someoneout!

A siren sounded a short alarm as an ambulance arrived on the scene, and the officers moved the barricade so it could get through. Paramedics rushed toward the far side of the building with astretcher.

It was a long while before we could see anything on our side of the building, and I held on to Daniel’s forearm with both hands as I waited to seewhichsomeone had been brought out. It was a shitty, shitty thought, but I couldn’t help being grateful that Daniel was standing with me, and that the people I loved best were safely away from thebuilding.

Eventually, the paramedics rolled the gurney back and we could see Bob Henderson laying there, his forehead grimy and bleeding, his face covered with an oxygenmask.

“Shit,” I breathed. “Sam.”

Daniel’s armstightened.

Tears stung my eyes. Theo was going to lose hismind.

But a second later, another giant lump emerged from the smoke, and as it came closer, I could see it was Gideon… with Sam cradled in his arms. She was coughing in rough, chest-wracking barks, and her arm was clenched tightly to her chest, but she was conscious. She wasalive.

“Thank God,” Daniel whispered. “Jesus.”

Constantine walked around the building with a group of firefighters, assessing the burning building stoically. I waved him over, and after finishing his conversation he walked over tous.

“Two more minutes,” he said, his voice rough from the smoke in the air. “She would’ve been gone,Jules.”

“Whathappened?”

“You saw her dad run in after her. He got about two feet in the door, as far as the stairs, before debris fell and knocked him on the head. Fortunately, it’s a damnhardhead.” Con shook his head. “They needed to drag him out before they could go after her. And this is why you don’t run into burningbuildings.”

“AndSam?”

“She managed to get herself out as far as the landing on the second floor and they brought her down. Looks like she banged up her arm, and she’s suffering from smoke inhalation, but she should be okay.” He shook his head. “God, she was lucky. Gideon says the fire went fast—toofast.”

“Too fast? What’s that mean?” Idemanded.

“Arson?” Daniel stared at Con. “They think it wasdeliberate?”

Con shrugged. “Nobody’s saying anything official until the investigation is done. But I will say, there were supposed to be sprinklers in the building and they’re clearly not working. That, plus possible use of an accelerant? If it were me, I’d start making a list of people who might have a grudge againstme.”

Parker made a noise like a wounded animal and took a step away from Jamie, toward us. “Someone set the building on fire? Someone… someone destroyed mybusiness?”

Con looked instantly contrite. “Shit. I didn’t see you there, Parks. Don’t mind me. I’m just running my mouth. You know how I am. The fire marshal will do a whole investigation of everything. Speculating doesn’t doany—”

But Parker already rounded on Jamie. “Do you really hate me this much,Jamie?”

Jamie’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Because I knew you were pissed that I came back.” Parker’s voice was wrecked with smoke and tight with tears. “I knew you didn’t want me in O’Leary. You made that perfectly clear. But I thought you’d come around eventually. I thought if I stuck around long enough, you’d remember you used to love me before you hated me.” His nostrils flared and his throat worked. “Guess I lost that bet,huh?”

He pushed his way through the crowd anddisappeared.