Page 78 of Attraction & Repulsion

The hearing was adjourned, and Judge Halliday retired to her chambers.

“Do you think it went well?” Jacob whispered as Carson shoved the binder and file into her briefcase.

“I think it went as well as it could have,” she said. “We’ll have to wait for the judge’s ruling now.”

Internally, Carson believed it went very well. Especially for her first family law case. What she wanted to say was that the trial went almost perfectly in their favor. She couldn’t wait to tell Garrett at the office. Junior partner seemed like it was getting closer and closer.

“Right.” Her client stood, then jerked his chin toward the window where the sirens were still droning. “I wonder what happened.”

“Probably a car accident,” Carson guessed, slipping the briefcase strap on her shoulder.

A fresh blanket of snow greeted them outside. Large snowflakes floated from the gray sky like little feathers. The sirens were far away now, but a commotion was coming from the north. Horns blaring. Shouting. Glass breaking.

Carson quickly descended the courthouse steps, only slipping once in her heels and catching herself on the railing. Her client was following close behind. She saw the smoke before she saw the fire. Thick and gruesome it billowed from the atrium mall, The Village, across the street. The blazing flames licked at the windows. One, two, three fire trucks were there, lights spinning. Their hoses looked like snakes slithering all over the ground.

Police were holding the crowds back, attempting to secure the street. The shouts, the gushing of fire hoses, the roaring of the fire was chaotic and overwhelming. It was impossible to process what was happening before her.

Through a break in the mass of people, Carson caught a glimpse of one of the fire trucks: Engine 71. She recognized the huge, golden numbers, and worry began swirling within her.

“I’ve got to go,” she shouted at Jacob before pushing her way toward the blockade. Her hands gripped the icy wood as she strained to see Jax. The heat from the blaze warmed her cold face.

A familiar face appeared from around one of the trucks.

“Hunter!” Carson yelled, waving her hand. “Hunter!”

It took a moment for him to notice her, his eyes looking out over the crowd. Once he recognized who was calling out to him, he glanced at the burning building, then hustled over to the barricade. Sweat was trickling from his helmet and down his freckled face. She wondered if Raegan knew what was happening.

“How bad?” she asked.

“Bad,” he said, his tone serious. Fun-loving Hunter was gone, replaced with on-duty Hunter. “We believe it was a gas leak.”

Gasping, Carson thought about all of the people in the building, wondering if there were any casualties. She examined the flames that had completely taken over the roof. “Gas leak. Doesn’t that mean there could be an explosion?”

When Hunter nodded, the flames reflected off his helmet’s clear visor. “That’s exactly why we’re trying to keep the crowd back as far as possible. Which means you need to clear the area too.”

“Wait, what about Jax? Is he here too?”

Hunter was looking up at the building. When he met her stare, he hesitated for a moment too long, causing her stomach to seize.

“What’s wrong? Where’s Jax?”

“The roof collapsed. Everyone got out, but—”

“He’s still in there,” Carson finished for him, feeling the blood drain from her face and fear encase her heart. Ducking under the barricade she stepped toward the building, wringing the strap of her briefcase between her hands.

“Carson.” Hunter grabbed her shoulder and spun her around to face him. Then he gripped her other shoulder, determined to keep her put. The fire now heated her back. “The collapse just happened. He’s only been in there for a couple of minutes. The team is ready to go back in. We’re just waiting for the final command from the chief. Which should be any second now. They’re going to find him, and he’s going to be alright. We have to trust the process.”

It seemed Hunter was saying the last part more to himself than to her.

Something caught his attention, and he peered over her head. “I need to go. They’ll find him and get him.” His voice didn’t sound reassuring. “Now get out of here. I need you safe.”

He must have trusted that Carson would leave on her own, because he stepped past her and joined some of the crew huddled together, deep in discussion.

The inferno continued to snarl above her. Jax was just beyond those walls, stuck or worse. A tremor rolled through her body at the thought.

Taking a step forward toward the circle of fire personnel, Carson assumed they had the power to send in the rescue team for Jax. Straining to listen, she could only catch occasional words and phrases. It seemed the general consensus was to send rescuers in immediately. She breathed a sigh of relief.

A deafening eruption came from the adjoining building. Exploding glass showered the bystanders and first responders as shrieks and cries rang out. Terrified, Carson stood from her reactive crouch and shook pieces of glass from her hair, frantically focusing back on the rescue crew who were drawing further and further from the entrance, retreating to safety.

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