Chapter 13 #2
Lena scanned the windows through her binoculars. "No movement visible, curtains drawn, and no indication of occupancy."
"What about the target structure?"
Erin was already moving toward the building, the equipment pack secure on her back. "Approaching for assessment now. The smoke is definitely accelerant-based. I can smell the chemical signatures from here."
Lena's pulse quickened. Accelerants meant Ashford was either destroying evidence or preparing for something worse. She activated her radio. "Julia, he knew we were coming. This isn't random timing."
"Agreed. Treat this as an active threat situation. The suspect is considered armed and extremely dangerous."
Erin had reached the office building and was circling it slowly, instruments detecting whatever her trained senses couldn't pick up from distance. Lena watched her work, every muscle in her body wanting to follow and provide backup.
Trust her expertise. Let her do her job.
"Fire Marshal to command," Erin's voice came through the radio. "Chemical accelerants confirmed. The building structure appears stable, but I'm reading elevated temperature readings from the interior. Someone's been busy inside."
"Any visual on Ashford?" Julia asked.
"Negative. But the accelerant pattern suggests recent activity. Very recent."
Lena scanned the property again, her eyes flitting from the basement entrance to the main house, storage shed behind trees, anywhere someone could hide or escape.
Her radio crackled. "Command, we have movement."
Lena's binoculars snapped toward the target building just in time to see a shadow passing by one of the windows. Brief, but definitely human.
"Confirmed movement inside the structure," she reported. "He's in there."
Erin's voice came through immediately: "I need to get inside for a full assessment, but if he's in there with accelerants..."
"It’s too dangerous," Julia responded. "Pull back and let tactical handle approach."
"No." Erin's reply was firm. "If he triggers those accelerants, we could lose the entire structure and any evidence inside. Plus the fire could spread to the main house or surrounding vegetation. I only need ten minutes to do a proper evaluation."
Lena watched Erin position herself near the building's main entrance, crouching as her instruments scanned for heat signatures and chemical concentrations.
This was exactly what they'd planned for—Erin's expertise determining the scene safety before anyone else entered—but the rising smoke suggested they were walking into something more than a simple arrest.
Lena keyed her radio. "What do you need from us?"
"Perimeter security while I work. If I give the evacuation signal, everyone pulls back immediately, no questions asked."
"Copy that."
Lena moved to her assigned position, maintaining visual contact with Erin while scanning for any sign Ashford might try to flee. Around the property, other team members took their positions.
The smoke from the building was getting thicker.
"Erin," she said into her radio, using her first name without thinking about protocol. "How much time do we have?"
"Unknown. Could be minutes, could be hours, depending on what he's doing in there." Erin's voice was steady. "But I need to get inside soon to make that determination."
"And if he's waiting for us?"
"Then we’ll learn something new and adapt."
The words sent a chill down Lena's spine. Not because she didn't trust Erin's expertise, but because they had no idea what they'd find inside that building. Or what Ashford was desperate enough to do when they found him.
Erin disappeared around the side of the building, her voice coming through the radio in steady intervals. "I’m reading multiple accelerant deposits along the east wall. Recently placed. Chemical composition suggests a planned ignition sequence."
Lena forced herself to breathe normally while tracking Erin's progress through the tactical radio chatter. Around the property perimeter, team members held their positions, weapons ready, waiting for the all-clear signal that would begin the arrest phase.
"Fire Marshal, can you determine if the accelerants are actively heating?" Hallie's voice cut through the morning air.
"Negative on active heating, but temperature readings are climbing. He’s doing something in there." A pause, then: "I'm going in for an interior assessment. Stand by."
Lena's grip tightened on her radio. "Erin, wait—"
But Erin was already at the building's entrance, her equipment pack swinging as she moved with the confident stride of someone who'd done this a hundred times before. The door opened under her touch, and she vanished inside the structure.
Radio silence.
Seconds stretched into eternity. Lena counted heartbeats, watching the windows for any sign of movement, any indication of what Erin was encountering inside.
"Fire Marshal, report status." Julia's voice carried a hint of tension now.
Nothing.
"Erin." Lena keyed her radio, protocol forgotten. "Status report."
Static answered her.
The radio crackled to life with Erin's voice, strained but controlled: "Command, I've got a visual on Ashford. He's barricaded in the back office with what appears to be a significant accelerant setup. Advise immediate—"
The transmission cut off.
Then came the sound that made Lena's world tilt sideways—a muffled explosion from inside the building, followed by the roar of flames suddenly given life.
"All units, we have ignition!" someone shouted over the radio. "Structure is compromised!"
Thick black smoke began pouring from the windows, darker and more aggressive than the gray wisps they'd observed before. Whatever Ashford had triggered, it wasn't just evidence destruction anymore.
"Fire Marshal, respond!" Hallie’s voice cracked with urgency. "Vance, do you copy?"
Silence.
Lena was moving before conscious thought took over, her body responding to pure instinct. She sprinted toward the building, ignoring the shouts behind her, ignoring protocol, ignoring everything except the fact that Erin was trapped inside that inferno.
"Detective Soto, stand down!" Julia's voice pursued her. "We need to establish—"
"She's in there!" Lena shouted back, not slowing, not stopping.
The heat hit her twenty yards from the building, a wall of scorching air that made her skin prickle and her lungs rebel. Through the smoke, she could see flames dancing behind the windows, growing stronger by the second.
Captain Hallie materialized beside her, grabbing her arm. "Lena, you can't go in there! The structure's compromised!"
"Let go of me!" Lena twisted away, screaming and trying to break free, but Hallie's grip was firm.
"Look at it!" Hallie pointed to the building, where flames were now visible through multiple windows. "The whole building is on fire, and she’s been in there since it ignited. Nobody survives that."
Air left her lungs and her knees buckled. Nobody survives that. She watched helplessly as the fire consumed everything in its path, knowing that somewhere inside that hell, Erin was fighting for her life.
Or was already dead.
"We need foam suppression," Hallie was saying into her radio, her voice level despite the chaos. "Full hazmat response. Treat this as a chemical fire. Standard water won't work."
Lena barely heard her. All she could see were those flames, growing higher and more violent with each passing second. All she could think about was Erin's voice cutting off mid-transmission, the silence that followed, the explosion that had turned a controlled assessment into a death trap.
The building's roof began to sag inward.
"Everyone back!" Hallie shouted. "Structure collapse is imminent!"
Tactical teams retreated to safe distances while fire crews moved into position with specialized equipment. Lena found herself being pulled back by firm hands, her feet stumbling over uneven ground as she fought to keep the building in sight.
"We have to wait." Julia appeared at her side, her face grim.
"How long?" Lena's voice sounded foreign to her own ears.
"Five minutes for setup. Maybe another five before we can attempt to enter."
Ten minutes. Lena stared at the flames engulfing the structure, calculating survival odds, air quality, and heat exposure. In a fire this intense, ten minutes might as well be ten hours.
"Captain" One of the tactical team members approached Julia. "Thermal imaging shows no movement inside. The heat signature is too intense to distinguish individual bodies."
Bodies. Not people. Bodies.
Lena's legs gave out, and the ground rushed up to her.
She found herself sitting on the rough gravel, watching the building burn while chaos swirled around her. Radio chatter filled the air—foam trucks arriving, perimeter expansion, structural engineers being called in. Professional voices dealing with a professional crisis.
But all Lena could hear was the roar of flames eating everything in their path.
All she could think about was Erin's last transmission: "He's barricaded in the back office with what appears to be a significant accelerant setup."
Ashford had been waiting for anyone who came looking. He'd turned his office into a trap, and Erin had walked right into it.
Because Lena had let her.
Because Lena had trusted her expertise instead of her own instincts to protect.
Because Lena had finally learned to let go of control, and it had probably killed the woman she loved.
The foam trucks arrived with mechanical precision, crews deploying suppression equipment with practiced, efficient movements. But even as the white foam began covering the structure, even as the flames started to diminish, Lena knew it was too late.
Nobody came back from hell.