Page 283 of Keeping 13

“I have them, Joey,” I snapped at him, desperate to get him tohearme. “I got them out.”

“Youhavethem—” His voice cracked. “You got themout?”

I nodded, shaking. “Ollie, Tadhg, Sean, and Shannon.”

“Shit… Darren.” Panic filled his eyes and he bolted toward the house once more. “My brother’s still in there—”

“No, he’s at my house, too,” I choked out, dragging him back to me. “They’re all there. I swear to god, lad, all of your brothers and Shannon are at my place right now.” Wrapping my arms around him, I held him back as I whispered, “They’re safe.”

A ragged breath tore from his throat and he sagged against me.

“You both need to get out of here,” a fireman barked. “It’s not safe.”

“We’re going,” I choked out, backing away with Joey in my arms. “Come on, lad—” My breath caught in my throat when my gaze landed on the body bags being wheeled to the back of an ambulance. I spun us both around, desperately trying to block the image out of my head and his. “You don’t need to watch this.”

“This is my fault,” he whispered.

“No.” Shaking my head, I hauled him back under the tape and moved straight for my father’s car. “It’s not.” Flicking my gaze up to meet Dad’s, I gestured for him to climb in. “This is his fault, Joey. Not yours.”

“I was high,” he choked out. “I lost my head and walked out on them.”

“And if you stayed, you’d have been passed out in your bed,” I barked. “Darren wouldn’t have been out trying to find you, Shannon wouldn’t have been awake to call me, and you all would have burned to death in your sleep!”

“Jesus Christ,” he hissed, stiffening in my arms. “My mother—”

“This isnoton you,” I practically snarled in his ear as I hauled him into the back seat of my father’s car and climbed in beside him. “So don’t you dare let that bastard get in your head!”

Sinking down on the seat, Joey tipped his head back and closed his eyes, still as a statue and silent as a ghost.

“You didn’t do this,” I repeated, leaning over to fasten his seat belt. “He did this.”

“Joey,” Dad said from the driver’s seat as he started the engine and pulled away from the house. “You’re going to come home with us now, okay?”

He started to shake violently, but didn’t respond. Keeping his eyes clenched shut, Joey placed his hands on his knees to steady himself.

“We’re going to take care of you,” Dad continued, keeping his voice calm and steady. “And that’s not me asking you, son. That’s me telling you.”

“I should have been here,” he whispered, trembling. “It’s my job to keep them safe.”

“Theyaresafe.” Reaching over, I slung an arm around his shoulders. “And so are you.”

“No.” He shook his head and I watched as a tear trickled down his cheek. “It was my job to keephersafe.”

* * *

“They’re going to hate me,” Joey hissed, backing away from the sitting room door when we finally managed to coax him from the car into the house. “I can’t do it. They’re going to blame me—”

He spun around to leave, but my father clamped his hands down on his shoulders, forcing him to keep eye contact with him. “Nobody could hate you,” Dad coaxed, keeping ahold of Joey for fear he would run. It was a very big possibility with this guy. He was a flight risk. “And no one is blaming you for anything.”

“Get off—” Breaking free from my father’s hold, he heaved violently. “I don’t want you to touch me.”

“It’s okay,” Dad replied calmly. “You’re safe.”

“I fucked it all,” he choked out, gripping his hair with his hands. “I fucked it all.”

“Then we’ll fix it,” Dad replied. “I can help you, Joey, but you need to let me.”

“I don’t need your help,” he choked out. “I just need—” He glanced around wildly, looking cornered and frightened. Backing up a couple of steps, he ran a hand through his sooty hair and asked, “Where’s Shan?” Shaking, he looked around once more, clearly agitated and frightened. “Where’s my sister?”

---