Page 11 of Inferno

Romeo stood by the crowd, talking to a couple, and another man. As she approached, she heard him say, “…let the first responders do their jobs.”

She stood beside him. “It’s pretty chaotic over there. If we steer clear, they’ll be able to focus.”

Romeo nodded.

The couple turned away. Down the street, a news van pulled up.

“Great,” she muttered.

Romeo hissed a breath. “Of course, it’s my ex.”

Samantha looked at him. “Maxine Careu is your ex?”

“Not my finest moment.” Even in the darker evening light, his cheeks flushed. “I broke it off a few months ago, and she doesn’t seem to have got the message.”

As far as Samantha was concerned, that was even more reason not to give him her sister’s number. Bristol didn’t need to get to know a guy who went through women the way most people went through a loaf of bread. They probably wouldn’t even be able to have a basic conversation.

“Romeo!” Maxine waved, trotting over on ridiculous heels.

One of the people beside Samantha snorted.

Behind Maxine, a burly guy carried a camera over his shoulder. Maxine stopped in front of them and smoothed down her hair. She batted her eyelashes at Romeo, probably determined to let him know exactly what he was missing. “Can you tell us what’s happening here?”

Romeo motioned to the building on fire. “Pretty sure it’s exactly what it looks like.” There was a definite undercurrent ofunlike yougoing on in his tone. “Stay back and let the firefighters do their jobs.”

Maxine blinked, evidently surprised to be rejected so cleanly. She glanced at Samantha, and her eyes lit. “Start rolling.” She waved her cameraman over.

He lifted the camera, a white light on the front.

“Aren’t you the officer who just this morning foiled an armed robbery and saved a man from having a heart attack?”

It’s my job.

She could hear the Intelligence sergeant reading her the riot act for saying that already, and she hadn’t even spoken aloud. “Please remain behind the barricade, ma’am.”

More fire trucks pulled in, and a chief’s SUV. She’d met Greyson briefly, enough to know he was a good guy.

Her stomach knotted with worry for Julio. Strong enough she didn’t realize she’d gone up to their huddle until she stoodright beside the pocket of firefighters. The ones who’d just arrived and three others, covered in soot and ash, and sweat.

One said, “It’s primed for a secondary collapse, and there won’t be anything we can do about it.”

“I want a head count.” Greyson, the fire chief at Julio’s house, ran a hand down his face. “I want to know who is unaccounted for.” He looked around, spotted her but didn’t get distracted by the fact she was listening. “Where is the captain?”

“Coda went inside,” the firefighter reported. “Right after the collapse. He pulled us out and then went back in. We haven’t heard from him.”

“Get to work.”

They all disbursed, and Greyson fished out his radio. “This is Chief Frayer. I am in command of this scene. If you are within reach of a radio and able to use it, call out. We will find you.” Then he turned to Samantha. “Wanna help?”

“What do you want me to do?”

FIVE

Julio inhaled, the air a mix of dust and ash. He coughed it out, feeling the burn in his throat and lungs. They weren’t going to last much longer down here.

“We aren’t going to last much longer down here.”

He grinned at the kid who’d said that, a rookie firefighter. Martin. The same guy who’d told him Greyson wanted to see him earlier. Now the guy had blood running down his face and a likely-broken ankle. Julio had found him struggling to help out the other guy, currently across from them, toward the front door.

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