Page 60 of No Take Backs

Nothing is going to get in my way.

I’m not going to lose my family.

To quote my little heathen of a niece, I’ll go scorched earth if anything happens to her. The thought of Lyla, so young and full of life, trapped in that house, fills me with a white-hot fury that I channel into driving faster, my eyes locked on the road ahead. I weave through traffic, horns blaring around us, but I don’t care. The only thing that matters is getting to Ella’s house. Getting to Lyla.

The conversation I had with Josh last night keeps replaying in my mind, adding another layer of fear. After everything he told me about the arsons that have been plaguing Birch County over the last two years, I can’t help but worry that this fire isn’t an accident. That someone deliberately set it, knowing full well what they were doing. That someone could be targeting my family.

Not that I can tell Gem any of that. Josh wasn’t even supposed to tell me, I’m sure. But he did, and now that knowledge feels like a heavy weight pressing down on my chest. He rushed off first thing in the morning to meet with all of the bosses and head officers in the county, trying to come up with a game plan. Trying to convince them that there is even an issue. And now, this happens. The timing couldn’t be worse.

My mind races as I navigate the familiar streets. I could take them blindfolded, but today they seem unfamiliar, distorted by the haze of panic clouding my thoughts. Every second feels like an hour, every turn bringing me closer to what I’m terrified of finding.

As soon as I see the fire truck parking out front, I know it is about to be a shit show.

Rich and Ella are already standing there, and the scene that greets me makes my heart drop into my stomach. Time stands still, and every moment drags out for an impossible eternity.

Rich is in a frenzy, his face twisted in desperation as he tries to break free from Ryder’s grasp. He’s screaming something, his voice raw with panic, but the roar of the fire drowns out most of his words. It’s a terrifying sight. One that sends a surge of fear straight through me.

“Where’s Lyla?” I ask Gem, even though there’s no way she has the answer. My voice is barely more than a whisper, choked with the terror that I’m trying so hard to keep under control. But Gem doesn’t respond. She’s just as focused on the chaos unfolding in front of us.

My eyes dart around, searching frantically for any sign of my niece, but she’s nowhere to be seen. The crowd of neighbors has gathered, their faces pale and stricken with horror as they watch the flames devour the house. But it’s like I’m looking through a tunnel, my vision narrowing until all I can see is the burning house and the people in front of it.

And then I see Ella collapse to the ground.

Where the hell is Lyla?

It’s like everything slows down in that moment, the sound of the fire fading into the background as I watch her crumple. Rich is still struggling against Ryder, but his eyes are locked on his wife, a look of pure agony on his face. He’s screaming her name, but she’s unresponsive, her body limp and lifeless on the ground.

A scream builds in my throat, but I can’t let it out. I can’t move. I’m rooted to the spot, my mind struggling to process what I’m seeing. It’s like a nightmare. One that I can’t wake up from, no matter how hard I try.

“…her friend are in the backyard,” Rich is shouting to no one in particular.

Josh is there, at his side immediately, his last name emblazoned on the back of his turnout coat. “I’m going.” He grabs Rich by the shoulders. “But you and Ella have to stay here.”

When it is clear Rich isn’t paying attention to what he is saying, Josh shakes him. “Rich. It’s me. It’s Josh. I’m here. I’m going to go get Lyla and her friend. Where were they in the backyard? Were they in the tree house?”

Rich nods, his eyes red. “They were planning their summer and some sort of sleepover.” He shakes his head and seems to come back to himself. “It’s Richard. The kid with her, Josh. It’s that little boy. He might not be able to move. You gotta get to him. The fire. You need to save them. She won’t leave him.”

I grab Ella by the shoulders. “Look at me,” I order my big sister.

Her eyes, wild with disbelief, find mine. “Lyla,” she whispers brokenly. “She knows to come to the front yard if there’s a fire. We’ve talked about it. A lot. After the fire that…” She trails off. “She knows to come to the front yard. They won’t let us get her. But if Richard won’t leave, she won’t leave him.”

“Josh is going to get them,” I tell her with confidence. “He’s going to get them.” Because if he wasn’t, I would have run right through the firefighters into the backyard myself.

But Josh is moving around the lines that the other men are starting to lay, with the hoses directed at the house I helped Ella decorate before Lyla was born.

As flames lick through the windows and glass shatters when the high-pressured streams of water hit them, I watch the memories we built go up in smoke. Literally.

“Lyla wanted to show him her new phone.” Ella keeps crying, her body trembling in my arms as I hold her close. “They were just in the stupid tree house, having fun.”

“How did the fire start?” Rich questions his wife. “I don’t even remember us being in the kitchen. Did you have something lit?”

Ella shakes her head. “No. Not with Richard coming over. Trish told me he doesn’t like fire at all. I wasn’t even going to turn on the stove with him here because we have a gas stove.” The tears falling down her cheeks slow.

I watch as Josh makes it around the side of the house, taking his time to check for Lyla and Richard as he goes. And even though I know he is only following protocol, doing everything he can to make sure that he doesn’t miss them if they are heading out and away from the fire, I want him to hurry.

Need him to hurry.

Time drags while Captain Harvey and the firefighters shout to each other over the roaring of the flames they slowly beat back. Every second passing feels like a minute as we wait to see or hear Josh come around the side of the house with the kids. But the seconds turn to minutes and still nothing.

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