Page 51 of Rescued Duty

He was more determined than ever to get to the truth now. Before someone else got killed.

Zack set the extinguisher down, and glass crunched under his feet. Giant shards from a bottle littered the ground. He could still make out the partial logo on one piece. Someone had concocted a Molotov cocktail.

His chest burned. Zack wanted answers. He would do what he could to honor his parents’ memory and not let the truth die with them. He wouldn’t let it be in vain.

He turned from the debris where Powells stood by the doorway. “Where’s Naya?”

Zack spun around, but she wasn’t in the dining room.

“I thought she followed me to get a bucket of water from the bathroom.” Powells turned to the hall.

Zack raced by him, opening each door. “Naya?” Had she passed out somewhere?

Each room was void of anyone. Smoke laced the air, and he couldn’t yet hear sirens outside. Where was help?

“We need to get outside now.” Zack found Powells staring at his living room, everything covered in black soot.

“Let’s go.” Zack yanked the man’s arm.

Powells laced his fingers through his hair and coughed.

Once he got the chief outside, he’d go back in for Naya. Zack clenched his jaw, the muscles in his neck and shoulders already taut. He wanted to shake the man. Tell him to think harder. Where was she?

He opened the back door and ran onto the deck, Powells next to him. The fresh air burned his throat yet helped him breathe easier. “I’m going back in. You scan the front and back.” Zack pointed to the edge of the property.

Through the clearing, a figure moved off in the distance near the dilapidated gas station. It was too far away to make out who, though. Naya?

Zack tore through the grass to close the distance. It was her. “Naya!”

Tires squealed and dust kicked up from the parking lot.

She limped toward the car, but the vehicle sped out of sight.

When Zack caught up to her, Naya was standing on the pavement with her hand on her hip. “I almost had the license plate.” She groaned. “If it wasn’t for my sore ankle…” Naya bent forward, breathing hard.

“What were you doing?” His question came out in short gasps. Zack kept his focus on the road in case the car decided to circle back around. He couldn’t afford to be caught off guard if they came for another try.

Where were the police?

Naya straightened. “Trying to catch the guy who did this. But I wasn’t fast enough.”

“It’s a good thing you weren’t. You could have gotten yourself killed.” Zack swallowed.

The weight of those words lodged in his throat. Not only would he have lost the girl who’d once been his best friend, but he would have lost his chance to pursue her. The thought of not having Naya in his life sucked the oxygen out from around him.

He wanted Naya to be more than his friend.

“How could I let them get away when we’re so close to exposing the truth?” Naya folded her good arm overtop of her injured one.

“Is it worth it if people get hurt?” Zack rubbed the nape of his neck, then let his hands drop to his side.

Naya lowered her voice. “The truth always costs something.”

And that’s what Zack was afraid of. Her tenacity might be admirable in one regard, but if he let her help, her life would be at risk.

For Naya’s safety, he needed her to step aside.

“I don’t want you investigating my parents’ case anymore. It was a mistake for me to even let you help.”

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