The Best of Us (17 page)

“
Stone,” Wright called out, “We have a problem.”

“
What’s that?” Stones eyes felt like they had sand in them. They had been working all day, trying to tie Trent to Jenna’s murder. The only thing they had on him for Jenna’s murder was his temper, that wouldn’t hold up in court. Yes, he would do time for the other charges, but they needed to get him solid on the murder.

“
Trent was at a hotel the night of Jenna’s murder. I finally tracked down the woman he was with. She wasn’t very forthcoming at first, since she’s married. But she did confirm they met at six and were there all night. He left about seven the next morning. Since the ME puts the death the night before, he is in the clear.”

Stone swore; nothing unusual in a police station. “Now what?”

“
Well, what do we know? Trevor and Stefanie committed the break in at the apartment. They were looking for the ring, which still hasn’t turned up. We know the MO doesn’t fit the murder or store break in. Those were done in rage. They were trashing the place, not looking for anything. That’s why it fit Trent. He fits the profile on who would do something like that. But now…”

Stone picked up the phone to call Daniel.

Daniel was with Harm at the hospital in the waiting room. Their dad had suffered a heart attack. He was in stable but guarded condition. Their mom and Carter were in there with him right now. They wanted to keep his stress level down and were only allowing two in at a time to see him. Harm had gone in with their mom first, then Carter. Daniel wanted to get in there and see him, but he couldn’t help but think about Carly too.

His cell phone had been turned off when he entered the emergency room, and he’d forgotten to turn it back on when they’d admitted his dad. He took it out of his pocket to turn it back on. A text from Carly came through almost immediately.

‘
Done w/adjuster. Taking shower, then will come to hosp.’

It was time stamped just twenty minutes ago. He figured he’d just wait for her to get there rather than call and slow her down. He’d be able to see her gorgeous face within an hour, he could wait.

Just then Carter came out and Daniel stood up to head into the room. He turned his phone back off like the sign outside his dad’s room told him to do. He stood in the doorway, looking at his dad lying in the hospital bed. He was asleep, but he didn’t look peaceful. He also looked frail; something he never thought he’d think in association with his dad.

“
Mom,” Daniel whispered, “how is he doing?”

His mom turned; her eyes red from crying but were now dry. “Stable.” He could barely hear her, but he didn’t ask any more questions. He went to stand behind her chair, resting his hands on her shoulders. She reached up with her hand and patted her middle child’s hand, and then her hand resumed its position on her husband’s arm. They stayed like that for a long time, just listening to the beeping of the monitor and watching emotions flicker across his face. He was dreaming and it didn’t seem like they were good dreams.

Chapter Six

Carly turned off the hair dryer when she smelled an odd odor. She looked at the blow dryer, wondering if it was over heating. It was old and she wouldn’t put it past it to be giving up on her. But it was the wrong kind of smell, it wasn’t an electrical smell, it was like something was burning.

Carly tried to open the bathroom door, but it wouldn’t budge. She grabbed the door handle with both hands and pulled with all of her might. Nothing. She started banging on the door and yelling for help. The smell of smoke was getting stronger. There was no smoke coming in under the door, but Carly was afraid it wouldn’t be long. She was sure there was a fire in the apartment. And she was stuck. Her phone was on the bed in her room. She was trapped, in a burning building with no way to call for help.

Panic overtook her. She resumed beating on the door and screaming for help.

Stone couldn’t reach Daniel or Carly. He was starting to become very concerned. One of them should be answering their phone. He headed to the Wayne home to find Daniel.

Daniel came out of the hospital room and stood in the doorway of the waiting room. He looked over at his brother’s and knew they looked as bad as he felt. He needed Carly. Realizing she wasn’t there, he asked, “Where’s Carly? Did she go for coffee?”

“
Haven’t seen her.”

“
Me either.”

Daniel looked at his watch. He’d been in with his dad for almost an hour, Carly should be there by now. He turned his phone back on to see if she’d called or texted him. Nothing. But he had missed three calls from a number he didn’t recognize.

Daniel called the number on his caller id.

“
Stone.”

Daniel’s panic set in. “This is Daniel Wayne. You called me?”

“
Yes, where are you? I haven’t been able to reach you or Carly.”

“
I’m at the hospital with my dad, he had a heart attack. My phone’s been off.” Daniel was grabbing his jacket as he was talking and headed for the elevators. Harm and Carter were right behind him.

“
Trent has been cleared of the murder. He has an alibi. We were on our way to your house since we couldn’t reach you by phone.”

Daniel felt dread settle in his stomach. Carly was alone and not answering her phone. She was in danger and he wasn’t there for her. He told Stone that she was supposed to be at the hospital but hadn’t made it yet. He was heading to her place. Stone agreed to meet him there.

“
Get in, let’s go. You can fill us in on the way.” Harm said to Daniel. Daniel had forgotten he hadn’t driven. It’s a good thing his brothers were watching out for him. On the drive to the apartment, Daniel filled them in.

Carly had managed to get the towel bar off the wall and was beating the door handle with it. It was almost completely broken off, but she knew it wasn’t locked, so she wasn’t sure if that was going to help. The door opened inward, and could be unlocked and locked only from the inside. The door knob finally came apart and the door was now ajar. Smoke was billowing into the bathroom, but there was no fire to be seen. Carly dropped to the ground, grabbed her wet towel from her shower and put it over her mouth and nose. The rest of the door knob lay in the hallway, a rope was tied to it and the other end was tied to the door knob on the closet directly across the hall. Effectively holding the door shut.

Carly started toward the stairs, but couldn’t see anything. The smoke was everywhere. She had expected to be able to see the bottom of the stairs, since smoke went up, but the stairwell was full of smoke.

“
The fire is in the store, not in here.” Carly finally realized.

It was getting harder and harder to breath. Carly lay down on the floor, exhausted from a coughing fit. Tears streamed down her face, her eyes burning.

Carly couldn’t move. She’d been breathing in smoke in small amounts while she had still been locked in the bathroom. Now, she felt her lungs about to burst with need. They needed oxygen. She didn’t have anything left to fight with. She lay down, accepting she was about to die.

“
Call nine one one!” Daniel shouted as they pulled up to the store. Flames illuminated the windows of the store and, even though the windows hadn’t shattered yet, the heat on the sidewalk had them backing away.

Normally Daniel would be able to rush into the fire, but he didn’t have any protective gear with him. He took off running around the corner, headed to the alley and the fire escape.

Just then, Stone and Wright arrived. Stone saw where they were headed and pulled his truck into the alley. He parked directly under the fire escape. Daniel didn’t miss a beat. He jumped into the back of the truck. He still couldn’t quite reach the bottom rung of the ladder. Stone, who was getting out of the truck, saw the problem. He got back in and backed up slightly. Daniel jumped onto the cab of the truck and could easily reach the last rung. Pulling himself up, he raced up the ladder and onto the balcony.

Stone was right behind him. The door was locked and wasn’t budging. The men looked at each other, Daniel with panic in his eyes and Stone with urgency. An unspoken agreement was made; they both turned sideways and put everything they had into ramming their shoulders into the door. It shook, but didn’t budge. Pain shot through both men’s shoulders but didn’t even slow them down. They both turned, placing their upper thighs against the railing, supporting their weight with their hands on the railing and kicked in unison. The door splintered. They kicked again, and again, and again.

Smoke was now billowing out of the door. Thankfully the smoke went straight up and they only got a small dose, which was enough to have them coughing. Daniel put everything he had into shoving his shoulder into the door again, splintered wood digging into his shoulder. He pulled back and slammed into it again. This time he fell on through the door.

The smoke was so thick, he couldn’t see anything. Stone, who couldn’t get in yet due to Daniel being half in and half out of the busted door, started calling Carly’s name. Daniel heard a slight moan. He blindly crawled toward it. He stopped when he came upon a warm body. He started dragging her toward the balcony. Stone was suddenly there, helping pull her toward the only light source, the busted door. When they got to the opening, hands reached in and pulled Carly into the somewhat fresh air. Harm and Wright were there, knowing that Daniel and Stone would be overcome with smoke inhalation and would need help. Harm got on the ladder and Wright helped him put Carly on his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. Harm started slowly down the ladder and carefully lowered Carly down to Carter, who was standing on the cab of the truck. He was able to safely lay her on the cab on the truck, then jumped down into the bed of the truck and picked Carly up and laid her in the bed.

Harm joined him in the bed and started checking for a pulse. It was there, but faint. The rest of the men joined them, Daniel coming down by Carly’s face, calling her name.

She didn’t respond. Stone and Daniel both were coughing uncontrollably and they’d only been subjected to the smoke for a short time. Daniel couldn’t lose Carly. Between coughs, he kept calling her name.

The fire department arrived, along with an ambulance and more police officers. Daniel didn’t care what was going on around him; he never left Carly’s side. He rode in the ambulance, with a still unconscious Carly to the hospital his dad was at. The EM insisted Daniel hold an oxygen mask to his face during the ride. Daniel did so without thought. All of his concentration was on Carly.

Stone came by the hospital the next morning to check on Carly. She was in bad shape. The smoke had done serious damage, but they felt she’d pull through, although her voice might never be the same.

Daniel reeked of smoke and still had a black face. It looked like at some point someone brought him a washcloth. The once white cloth was now black from where Daniel absently, halfheartedly swiped at his face. The light tan blanket that covered Carly also had a black spot on it from Daniel resting his head while he slept beside her. He’d refused to leave her side so he’d pulled a chair up to the edge of the bed, held her hand, laid his head on the bed beside her sleeping body and spent the night like that. No one tried, after the second attempt, to get him to take a shower and stretch out on the cot they brought in.