Page 74 of Scorched

“Okay. If something changes, let me know. You should probably go to the hospital anyway and let them check you and the twins out.”

“How about I sit in an ambulance and let them monitor me for a bit?”

“And go if they think you should based on what they see.”

“Deal. Now, go check on my sister. She’s coughing harder than anyone.”

He glanced up, finding Maggie in the crowd. Tara was right. She was trying hard to control it, but it looked like she was fighting a losing battle.

Declan pushed to his feet and walked her way. “Maggie, you should sit.” He helped her down into the grass. She continued to cough. “Where’s your inhaler?”

“At home.”

“Where?”

“In my purse.” She coughed hard. “On the counter.”

“She okay?” Macy walked up, concern on her face.

“She needs her inhaler. Can you sit with her while I go get it?”

“Of course.” Macy dropped to the ground.

“I’ll be right back.” He took off at a run, ignoring the twinges in his chest as he hurried down the lane to the houses. Ribs on fire from breathing hard and coughing, he entered the code to get in the garage and let himself inside. He dumped the contents of her purse on the counter, plucking the inhaler from the mess, then dashed back out, closing the garage door.

As he cleared the house, movement to his left caught his attention. He paused and stared into the growing darkness. The silhouette of a man moved behind Thomas’s house further down the lane.

“Hey!”

The figure paused, then broke into a run, going deeper onto Broken Bow land. Declan started after him, but realized he couldn’t chase the man and get Maggie her inhaler.

“Dammit!” Concern for Maggie won, and he turned around, heading back to the burning barn. He took out his phone as he ran, calling Seb.

“There’s someone headed into the hills from the houses,” he said, not bothering with a greeting when Seb answered. “I saw him behind Thomas’s house when I went to get Maggie’s inhaler.”

“Copy. We’ll head that way. Thanks.” He hung up.

Declan heard the first sirens as he reached the others. He said a prayer of thanks, glad for the backup. Maybe they could find the person he saw.

He came to a halt in front of Maggie and handed her the inhaler. She took two puffs, and her breathing calmed.

“Feeling better?”

She nodded, taking several slow, deep breaths. “Yes. Thank you.”

“I need to go help coordinate the fire response. Stay here?”

Again, she nodded.

He squeezed her hand and hurried off toward the fire engines.

“We have to stop meeting like this,” Crichton said as Declan ran up.

“No shit. Ignition points are front and back doors and under every window. Sonofabitch tried to trap us.”

Crichton barked orders at his men on where to attack the flames, then turned to Declan. “How did you get out?”

“Hacked our way through the wall.”

---