I grabbed the fire extinguisher and began putting out the flames. Smoke filled my lungs as sirens sounded in the distance. At least one of us had the good sense to call for help.
The lights flickered and came on just as I extinguished the last of the fire. The door would be too hot to even attempt opening. I dropped the extinguisher, hurried back to the window, and felt for a pulse. It was weak, but Max was still alive. Drops of blood mixed with rain ran down his face and dripped onto the ground. The windowsill didn’t have room for both of us, and my lungs were filled with burning pain. I slid down the wall to the floor. “Hang on, partner. Help’s on the way.”
35
“She should go to the hospital and be checked out.” The paramedic reset the oxygen mask over my mouth and nose. “She needs a chest x-ray and blood work at the very least. Her doctor may want to start a round of antibiotics to prevent infection and place her on a bronchodilator.”
“We’ll bring her in.” Gabriel nodded at where Max was being loaded into an ambulance. “How is he?”
“He’s alive thanks to her.” The paramedic finished packing his bag. “You two should be checked out too. Smoke inhalation isn’t anything to fool around with.”
“I’m fine.” Gabriel surveyed the area surrounding the house. “I need to board the windows here and check out a few things.”
“I’ll ride in with Max.” Karen squeezed my hand and grinned at Gabriel. “Hate to say I told you so, but I’m going to anyway. I knew she was going to be okay.”
Removing the oxygen mask, I stood. “I can call someone to fix the windows. Karen said something about a noise upstairs. Have you checked that out?”
“Not yet. Where did you see Salyer?”
“He was near the apple orchard. I couldn’t see his face, but he laughed when I ran to the house.”
“Why didn’t you go after him?”
“Somehow, I knew Max was in danger. As much as I want to catch Salyer and find my daughter, I couldn’t let my partner down.”
Gabriel followed me into the house and up the stairs. “Maybe we should let the police check this out.”
I glanced over my shoulder and smiled. “We are the police. Or at least you are.”
“I’m a little out of my jurisdiction.”
A door slammed near the end of the hall. My gun was out before he could unhook his holster. “You take right, I’ll take left?”
He nodded, sliding along the hallway until we reached the door.
“Count of three?” I asked.
“Screw it, I’m tired.” Gabriel turned the doorknob. “Locked.”
“Unlock it.” I stood in front of the door, gun ready.
Gabriel drew back as far as he could and rushed the door, slamming his shoulder into the frame. It splintered but didn’t open. “Nice doors you’ve got here.” He raised a leg and kicked until the door sprang open.
The light from the hallway illuminated the interior. Curtains were blowing in the wind, and a huge rock lay in the center of the room. A note was wrapped around it. Gabriel removed it and passed it to me. “We don’t need fingerprints to know who it’s from.”
I opened the sheet. Would you die for her? I’ll trade Emma for you.
My hands trembled. “He wants to trade Emma for me.”
Gabriel closed his eyes, his hands clenched by his sides. “There has to be another way.”
“We both know there isn’t. I’ve known all along, since my first memories of her, that it would come to this. I’m going to need your help.”
“You know I’ll do anything you want, but I don’t think I have a lot of time left.”
I lifted a hand and touched his face. “What’s your dying wish?”
“Free Emma and kill Salyer.”
“Mine too. Let’s check on Max and make sure he’s safe, then we’ll put our heads together and figure out a way to do that.”
Gabriel hoped Max looked worse than he felt. His face was unnaturally pale, and the head wound had required four stitches. “They’re keeping you overnight for observation. Between the smoke inhalation and the concussion, it’s the perfect place for you.”
“Did Dakota drag me out of there, or was that a dream?”
“She dragged you to the window and lifted you up and over the sill away from the smoke. She saved your life.” Gabriel walked to the window and stared out. “Did you get a look at the guy who hit you?”
“No. The lights went out, and that’s the last thing I remember.” Max’s voice was getting weaker.
Gabriel closed the blinds. “You need to rest. We can talk about everything when you get better.”
“Is she okay?” He wasn’t asking about injuries from the fire.
“She’s better than okay.”
“Dakota asked me to raise Emma for her. She’s afraid the darkness inside her will come back, and she’ll hurt her or someone else.”
Gabriel knew that fear. It had kept him staring into the darkness many nights when the nightmares woke him. “You’ll make a great Uncle Max.”
The door to the room opened, and Karen stuck her head inside. “They’re kicking us out now, but I’m not leaving.”
Max’s eyes were closed. The even rise and fall of his chest told Gabriel he’d fallen asleep.
“Where’s Dakota?”
“She stopped off at the ladies’ room. She’ll be here in a minute.”
“Did you talk to Wagner about putting guards on Max’s door?”
“I did, but he says he can’t spare anyone at the moment. You don’t think Salyer would come here, do you?”
His gaze slid over the prone figure in the bed. Without guards, Max was vulnerable. He’s vulnerable here even with guards. “I think we need to move him.”
“Is it safe to move him?” Karen asked.
Gabriel unhooked the IV. “Safer than leaving him here. See if you can find his file, and we’ll take it with us.”
“I don’t think they’re going to just give that to me.”
He unclipped his holster. “Stay with Max. They’ll give it to me.”
36
“Wagner ordered me out of town.” I climbed into the passenger seat and looked in the back, where Karen was attending to Max. “How is he?”
“He has a hellacious headache,” Max said, groaning.
Karen squealed and kissed him.
“Maybe I should get knocked out more often.” Max grinned then groaned again.
“Hopefully, it knocked some sense into that hard head of yours.” Karen beamed.
I turned back to the front. “Let’s take Karen and Max back to the bed-and-breakfast. I think you and I need to pay a visit to Wagner. After that, I want to search my grandmother’s house for paperwork. My father would have made sure there was nothing I could find at the house.”
“Salyer may have destroyed everything.” Gabriel started the van and pulled away from the hospital.
“I don’t think so. He probably thinks I would never go back there. If there’s paperwork showing where my mother has been for the past twenty-five years, we’ll find it there.”
I listened to Karen and Max whispering in the back. They laughed a lot. Gabriel had said she grew on you, and he was right. I’d depended on the Dicksons to take care of Max when I was gone, but I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. Karen would make sure he had everything he needed and fill his days with laughter. I couldn’t have found better parents for Emma.