Page 104 of Back in Black

But she knew, any rejection from Brett was going to feel a million times worse.

Cowardice urged her to wait until the morning to seek him out, but she couldn’t abide that decision. She’d made the mistakes; she had to own up to them. She was within minutes of finding much-needed solitude in her own apartment when she decided to turn around.

If Brett weren’t at his apartment, then she’d give up for the night.

But she would at least try to give him the sincere apology and explanation that he deserved.

At this time of year the sun set early. By the time Audrey reached Brett’s apartment building, thick gray clouds darkened the night even more. It had only been a half hour since she’d left the meeting room, and she still felt frazzled, her hands shaking and her stomach in knots.

The thought of an ugly confrontation with Brett wasn’t helping.

She pulled up to the curb in front of his building, drew several deep breaths, and opened her door. That was when she realized that people were clustered on the street, but she didn’t know why.

Until she saw the smoke.

Her chest tightened and her heart pounded. Brett’s building was on fire! And she didn’t see Brett anywhere.

Audrey ran for the two-story, run-down building, but was stopped by hard hands. After Millie’s manhandling, she was edgy enough to strike out. Luckily her automatic blow was blocked.

“Brett ain’t in there,” a young man told her as he released her and held up his hands. “He left a few hours ago for some bar.”

Her knees nearly gave out with relief. She recognized the youth as one of the residents who had greeted Brett before they’d gone into his apartment. “What happened?”

“Some asshole did a drive-by on us,” he said in disgust. “But instead of gunfire, he lobbed a gasoline-filled bottle right in through the big front window.”

Good God, someone could have been seriously hurt or even killed. “You all got out okay?”

“Yeah.” His expression darkened. “But we didn’t see who did it. We were all inside, playing the new SBC fighting game. By the time we got out here, he was long gone.”

Why would anyone do that? Audrey looked around and remembered what Brett had said about the area being rough and dangerous. This was likely a private dispute that had gone public in a big way.

But . . . she remembered that awful look on Millie’s face, what she’d said about Brett.

“When . . . when did it happen?”

“Few minutes before you pulled up. The gas spread over the porch and the front rooms so fast that it singed my damn eyebrows.”

Relieved that Brett wasn’t inside, Audrey asked, “Someone called the police or the fire department?”

He looked like she was nuts. “Uh . . . probably.”

Audrey started to relax—and then it hit her. “Spice,” she gasped. She looked back at the building. The fire wasn’t that bad yet; it was mostly on the front of the first floor. But choking smoke could kill as easily as flames could. “Oh, my God,Spice!”

The young man gave her another funny look. “My name is Huckman. Friends call me Huck.”

Panicked, she turned on poor Huckman. “Is there a way into Brett’s rooms?”

His brows crunched down. “You serious, lady? You want to break in?”

“No . . .yes. Brett has a cat. Oh, please, Huckman. He loves that cat! We have to do something or she’ll die.”

Eyes widening, Huckman said, “Come on. I know how I can get you in.”

As they ran around to the back of the building, distant sirens shattered the quiet of the night. Thank God, the fire department was on the way. But Audrey wasn’t willing to wait. Would firefighters put the life of one cat above their own safety? How could they?

Huckman took her through a back alley for the building. One street lamp provided enough light for her to see dumped refuse and scattered garbage.

“The fire escape goes up to his kitchen. But you’ll have to break the window yourself. I ain’t getting in no trouble for a cat.”

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