Page 90 of Keep Me Safe

“Let me put you on speaker real quick,” Maddie says.

“There’s a massive fire at your dorm building downtown. It’s horrifying. I wanted to make sure you were safe. They’re taking people out in ambulances. Even a firefighter had to get put on a stretcher,” Lucy explains.

Those words rob my body of oxygen. It wouldn’t be Noah. His station doesn’t service Traverse City. My heart races as I search for my phone, tapping Noah’s contact as fast as possible.

It rings.

And rings.

“Hello, this is Noah. Leave a message.”

Shit.

He’s probably just busy. There’s no reason to think he went downtown to that fire. Maddie recognizes the panic in my eyes and stands.

“We’ve got to go. Thank you for calling,” she says before tapping the red hangup button.

“Let’s go.”

“Go where? We don’t even know if he’s down there,” I tell her.

“We can see if he’s at the station.”

Maddie drives, and I call Noah again on the way. He’s probably completely fine and going to think I’m a maniac for calling him seven times in a row, but I don’t care. I focus on my breathing, telling myself that everything is fine.

When we pull into the station, my eyes scan the parking lot and land on the garage. One of the trucks is missing. My jaw tightens as I throw open the car door and make a beeline for the entrance. I push the glass door harder than intended, scaring the old man behind the desk.

“Sorry,” I mutter. “I’m looking for Noah Keller. Have you seenhim?”

“He’s not here right now. He’s on a call. There’s a fire at the dorms downtown. Everyone got called in to help. Is there something I can help you with?” His voice is calm, a complete contrast to my emotions.

He’s down there. A firefighter is hurt.

“No, thank you, though,” I say as I whip around and sprint to the car.

“They’re down there. At the fire,” I rush out, my breaths coming in short bursts. I need to get downtown. Now.

“Kira, it’s okay. I’m sure he’s fine. Take some deep breaths. I’ll get us there.”

“They’re not going to let us get anywhere near that scene,” I say, my voice shaky.

“They’re not going to have a choice,” she says as she throws the car in reverse and speeds out of the parking lot.

I need to tell Jared. I don’t want him to panic, but he needs to know. Pulling out my phone, I press ‘call’ under his name. Come on, Jared, I know you’re mad at me, but please pick up. To my surprise, on the third ring, I hear his voice.

“Kira,” he starts. “Listen, I don’t want to talk to you or my dad right now. Please stop calling me.”

On any other day, those words would have broken me, but I can’t focus on them right now.

“Jared, wait,” I say before he can hang up. “It’s your dad. I mean, It’s probably nothing, but his crew is at that fire downtown right now, and apparently, it’s really bad.” I ramble, trying to get my point across. “Maddie’s gir—ex-girlfriend called and told us that she saw a fireman hauled out on a stretcher.”

There’s no response on the other end, and I’m convinced he hung up until he mutters a whispered curse.

“Where?” he asks, his tone hard.

“The dorms at Northwestern,” I answer. “I just thought you should know about it.”

“Thanks,” he grumbles, and a tone indicates the call has ended.

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