Page 54 of Layne Closure Ahead

She removed the restraints quickly and dropped them to the floor. She wasn’t going to be burning in hell today as luck would have it.

The panic tugged at her chest as the overwhelming surroundings became more urgent. The burning smell. The smoke alarms. The heat. Pushing through the fear she ran over to her bedroom window. Sliding the window pane up, she popped the screen out and watched it gracefully flutter to the ground two stories below.

No part of her was willing to burn to death in her own home. She put one leg through the open window and straddled the frame as she peered outside looking at the best options to get down in one piece.

Strategically, she lowered herself out of the window. Her hands grasped the ledge as her muscles strained under her weight to control her descent. Her legs dangled beneath her as her feet stretched to touch the motorized sun awning casing just below.

Layne was now thanking her lucky stars that Rebecca had talked her into getting one installed to stretch out over a portion of the back patio for the hot summer days when there was no shade to be found elsewhere in her backyard.

It wasn’t a graceful descent after that point, but the rolled-up awning cover helped buffer her fall. She rolled against the ground, scraping her arms up in the process against the cement. It was better than going down in a fiery blaze.

She backed up to take a look at her house, seeing the extent of how much the fire had already spread. The luck of the Irish had been on her side. Layne had been fortunate to get out when she did.

While she stood in her backyard staring, the flames reflected in her eyes as her home and everything inside began to be burned into ash.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

All that she had worked for had been in that house. She sat there across the street on the edge of the sidewalk and stared at the burning ruins. The FDNY had arrived and was slowly working the house fire under control with hoses from several trucks.

The smell of the fire hung heavily on the air, her clothes, and even her hair as a reminder of the events that had just transpired.

That bastard had robbed her of everything that those walls held. Layne shut her eyes. It wasn’t just the material belongings that were lost to the blaze, it was all the intangible memories that went with it.

“I’m not a good guy, and you’re not a good girl.”

Joey’s voice echoed in her mind from the day he first set foot inside that house.

“No, watch! This is the part where he drops the entire plate of food on his date!”

Trashy television girl nights with Rebecca alongside tacos and margaritas.

“It’s yours, Layne. You’ve earned it.”

The way her father dropped the keys into the palm of her hand the day he bought the house for all the hard work she had done for the family business.

All of it was on its way to being nothing but charred wood and ash now.

“Layne?” Liam’s voice prompted her to open her eyes. He half jogged over to her. “What the hell happened?”

Her fingertips quickly swept away a rogue tear from underneath her eye. “What are you doing here?”

“The company handling the fire alarm system had my number on file.” He looked over at the extent of the ongoing damage to the property. “Fuck.”

“Yeah.” She had the same damn sentiment.

He stood there silently staring at the destruction with Layne while she sat there doing the same. There was nothing but the sound of the fire roaring and the water pouring from the hoses trying to contain it. Emergency lights from all the firetrucks continued to reflect off the windows of all the surrounding houses and parked cars on the street. Nearby nosey neighbors peeked out from their houses to watch.

The sound of tires squealing against the pavement could be heard at the end of the street. It was followed by a set of headlights as a car rounded the corner and sped up to the other end of the street where all the emergency vehicles were parked.

The black car quickly pulled off to the side as close to the fire engines as it could get. The lights went dark and a car door was shut as a voice yelled out. “Layne! LAYNE!”

Immediately, she pushed away from the ground to get up onto her feet after hearing Joey’s emotionally charged voice. When her eyes caught sight of him, he was trying to push past three firefighters toward the blaze that had been lit with the intention to consume her.

“Joey!” She took off running towards him. “Joey!”

Hearing her call his name, he shoved off the hands of the first responders trying to keep him from charging into her house. Joey stopped struggling with the men standing between him and her house when he heard the sweetest voice call his name again from the other direction. When he caught sight of her, he immediately sprinted toward her.

When they met in the middle of the street, she threw herself up against him. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her face burrowed into his shoulder.

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