37. Sterling
37
STERLING
Denver strides in the second I open the door, his face set in his usual taut seriousness.
“Good morning,” I say as Jenson, and Killian storm inside behind him.
“You need to see this, Boss,” he clips.
All pleasantries leave me as I look between the three men’s tight expressions and then lead them into the living area. We were scheduled to have a meeting later this morning after my breakfast with Hallie. Whatever it is obviously couldn’t wait.
“Show me.”
Denver places his laptop on the coffee table and opens it up.
I take a seat beside him. Killian and Jenson stand to one side in silence.
“We found something on the CCTV from the marina.” Denver clicks into a folder and selects a file to play.
I look at the shot on the screen. It’s from a distance but…
“Son of a bitch,” I hiss.
“You recognize him?” Denver asks.
“I do.” I run a hand around my tense jaw, my teeth clenching so hard they could crack.
Denver nods. “He had history with Elaina?”
I roll my lips. “That’s one way of putting it.”
I’ve never told Denver outright that Elaina had an affair. He didn’t need to know that in order to do his job. But he’s an intelligent guy who has worked for my family for years and misses nothing.
I look at the image of Neil on the screen. “When was this taken?”
“Half an hour before the fire broke out,” Denver says.
“Jesus Christ. You think he had something to do with it?”
The thought tightens my chest and makes taking another breath a challenge.
Two years.
That’s how long I’ve relived that day over and over in my mind, wondering what happened. If I could have done something differently.
If I could have saved them.
“No. The timing’s off. Plus, we’ve tracked him over the cameras. He didn’t step onboard the yacht once.”
I nod, my eyes fixed on the image of the man Elaina loved. The one she was willing to risk everything for.
“But I don’t believe in coincidences. We’ll keep digging,” Denver grunts. “Whatever this guy has been up to since… wherever he’s been… we’ll know every movement he’s made soon. He won’t be able to take a dump without us knowing about it.”
“Do it. You have unlimited resources. Whatever you need. I want to know why that asshole was there that day,” I snarl.
“Already on it, Boss.” Denver nods.
A combined chime cuts into the air as all four of our phones ring and vibrate at the same time.
Killian’s fastest, pulling his from his pants pocket.
“It’s Seasons, Boss. The fire alarm’s been activated.”
“Not LA again?” I clip, as I stand. The re-furb the judge paid for has only just been finished.
“No. Here,” Denver states, his eyes on his own phone.
Dread fills my veins.
Hallie.
“Damn it!” I slam my fist against the dashboard as her cell rings out. I immediately dial the landline for my office, but it won’t connect.
“Drive faster!” I bark at Denver.
He screeches round a corner and straight through a red light earning us a blast of several horns.
“Boss, NYFD are on scene,” Killian says, his phone up to his ear, listening to one of our other guys who got there ready to start work shortly after the alarm was activated.
“Do they have her?” I snap, turning in my seat to glare at him.
One swift shake of his head has me balling one hand into a fist and pressing it to my lips with a choked groan.
“Jesus Christ, she’s inside.”
I suck in a breath through my nose, my head about to explode with the amount of pressure inside it.
“Maybe she didn’t get there yet,” Jenson says.
“She’s in there. The security alarm was deactivated,” Killian says to him.
I stare out of the window as we cut through the traffic leaving blaring horns in our wake.
She can’t die in there.
I can’t lose her.
We turn another corner and Denver hits the brakes. The entire street is gridlocked with flashing lights up ahead.
Seasons.
I throw my door open and race through the unmoving traffic. There are two fire trucks, an ambulance, and three cop cars outside. A cordon is being set up to keep everyone except emergency personnel away.
“Did anyone come out?” I shout as I run straight up to a guy in an NYFD uniform. “I’m the owner. My fiancée is in there.”
His eyes meet mine. “My team’s preparing for full entry. The fire is out in the entrance, but?—”
I don’t wait to hear whatever he’s about to say.
She’s still in there.
I knock past another NYFD uniform as I run into the building, keeping to one side of the massive water hose that’s snaked along the ground. The smoke is thick, flooding the hallway in big noxious clouds. I lift my arm, burying the lower half of my face in the crook of my elbow.
Two firefighters in full protective gear are inside the hallway, tackling a blaze that’s spilling from the main bar.
I pin myself against the wall. A billion tiny needles all pierce my skin at once. The left side of my torso. My arm. Memories brought to the surface by the sheer heat being forced from that room like the inside of a volcano.
She wouldn’t be in the main bar area. Please God, don’t let her be in there. It’s a raging inferno.
I cough, forcing myself to keep moving. The door at the end of the hallway is open and I speed up as I turn into it. The smoke is still thick here, but there aren’t any flames.
I move as fast as I can, straining to see properly. I place one hand to the wall, running the back of it along, feeling for the door.
Even the wall is blistering, hotter than the sidewalk during a freak heatwave.
The second I reach my office adrenaline storms my veins. I pull my sleeve over my hand and try the handle, but the door doesn’t budge. It’s warped with the heat.
“Damn it!”
I roar and use every ounce of strength I have to ram my shoulder against it.
It flies open, taking me with it, and I stagger a couple of steps to balance myself, my chest heaving.
There’s smoke in the room, making it hazy and out of focus.
But then I see her.
Slumped over my desk.
“Hallie!”
I run over and push her hair back from her face.
Her eyes are shut. She doesn’t respond.
Something rolls out of her left hand as I pull her body up from the desk.
The pink heart stares at me from where it comes to rest on the wood.
“Jesus Christ.”
I wheel back the chair and lift her into my arms. She’s heavier than she’s ever felt. A dead weight, falling limp against my body. Her head lolls back.
“Hold on. I’ve got you. Just hold on. Please, Hallie .”
I stride from the room and back down the hallway, ignoring the stinging in my eyes from the smoke. I incline my body, using it as a shield over her as I pass the main bar doorway where heat is still radiating out like a furnace. More firefighters are inside, and one comes to aid me, clearing a path to the main entrance.
Flashing lights and sounds punch into my senses as I step outside. Arms slide around my back, supporting me, guiding me.
Someone calls for help.
Then hands are trying to take Hallie from me.
“Don’t touch her!” I cry.
A stretcher is wheeled in front of me.
“Put her down. Let us help,” someone says.
A strong hand lands on my arm, and I turn.
Denver nods at me, a graveness tightening his eyes. “Let them do their job.”
I place Hallie on the stretcher and she’s immediately swarmed. Lights shining on her. Hands reaching for her. Voices talking to her. Asking her questions she can’t answer.
“Sir, let’s get you looked at.”
I shake my head roughly at the medic. “I stay with her.”
Denver’s hand lands between my shoulder blades and he says something to the medic, then follows me as I stay as close to Hallie as I can.
She’s still not waking up. They’re shining a torch into her eyes, and she’s got an oxygen mask over her face.
But she’s not moving.
“Pulse is getting weaker,” someone shouts.
I drag in air to keep standing, but my lungs immediately crumple, sending me into retching coughs that feel like someone is slicing open my chest with a blade.
A medic comes at me again, but all I can see is Hallie being worked on.
“Sir—”
“She comes first!” I yell.
“My colleagues have her. Let’s get you checked so you can be with her, okay?”
A garbled sob bubbles in my throat.
Denver grabs my upper arms and forces me to meet his eyes.
“Listen to them. You’re no good to her when you can hardly stand.”
I stare into his green eyes and nod once.
He tips his chin at the medic.
An oxygen mask is placed over my face and Denver steps back and says, “I’ll handle things here, Boss. Stay with her. She needs you.”
My eyes track back to Hallie. To her limp body. And her unresponsive eyes.
Please, goddamn it. Please don’t let her die.