Page 68 of Cautious

“I can’t breathe,” I choke out, a band tightening around my chest, squeezing my lungs so tight I can’t suck in enough air.

Why can’t I breathe? Black spots cloud my vision as I slide down the wall to the floor, the phone tumbling to the ground beside me.

I try to call out to Blake, but my lips won’t move. Numbness settles over my limbs before the darkness I had been fighting off so valiantly finally swallows me whole.

Blake

I pull up at my apartment and see my worst nightmare come to life and play out before my eyes. A cop car and ambulance pull up at the same time, just as Wade arrives.

“Fuck, we need a fire crew here now!” he yells, but I ignore him and head straight toward the building, flames be damned.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Blake, wait for the fire department,” Wade snaps, snagging my shoulder, but I shrug him off violently.

“Callie and Marcus are inside. She called the police ages ago. Where the fuck were they?” I shout at him.

“There was a massive pileup on the interstate,” he answers with remorse.

I know I’m being unfair, but I don’t have time for this shit right now. I pull away, but he grabs my arm again.

“You need to wait,” he orders, but I yank my arm free.

“And if it were Olivia in there?” I ask, watching as his face shuts down.

“Fuck!” He looks at the building, then back to me, knowing I’m going in with or without him, even if I have to knock the fucker out to do it.

“You do exactly what I fucking tell you to do. I don’t need you trying to be a hero and getting yourself killed in the process. Do you know where they are?”

“In the back of the closet, in the panic room. They won’t burn, but they will suffocate from the smoke as the vent is connected to the main apartment.” I lead the way, taking the stairs two at a time with my gun drawn.

The door to the living area is ajar, thick black smoke pouring through the crack as I kick it the rest of the way open with my booted foot. The roar of fire drowns out any other sound coming from inside. My eyes water from the noxious smoke, the heat licking over my skin. I pull my T-shirt up over my nose and press my body against the far wall. The fire seems concentrated on the right-hand side for now, but it won’t take long for this whole place to be engulfed.

I make my way toward the bedroom with Wade just behind me. Movement in front of me has me halting and my gun aiming at none other than Christian.

“I knew you’d come for her,” he says smugly before a cough racks his body. “She watched me kill her mother, you know. Stood there as I slit the bitch’s throat right in front of her eyes. And she did nothing to save her.” He indicates to the floor to his left.

I glance over quickly, not moving my gun from its target. My stomach drops at the sight of Brenda’s lifeless eyes staring back at me. I feel sick thinking about the added mental scars Callie will be burdened with. As if she hasn’t already endured enough.

“The building is on fire, you stupid fuck. We will all die here if you don’t get out of my way,” I tell him, needing to get to my girl.

“Oh, I know, I’m banking on it. Callie and I would have been perfect together, but she wouldn’t come out. Something tells me she’ll come out for you though.” His face twists in disgust before smoothing out as he looks at the phone in his hand.

Lifting his eyes to mine once more I see his face is now perfectly blank. The saying “the lights are on but no one’s home” springs to mind.

“If I can’t have her though, no one can. Nobody gets to take what’s mine.” His meaning becomes clear as he looks at the phone in his hand again.

“Fuck, it’s another bomb,” I hear Wade shout from beside me, clearly understanding what Christian’s implying.

We don’t waste time. Both of us open fire, our aim true as bullets tear through Christian’s body, making him dance like a marionette before his strings are cut. He collapses to the ground, the phone dropping to the floor beside him.

Wade makes a run for it, picking up the phone and checking the screen. “It’s not on a timer. He needed to hit a button to arm the bomb, assuming we’re correct and didn’t just shoot an unarmed man,” he snarks at me, yelling for an assist through his radio.

I don’t wait around. Running to the back of the room and into the bedroom, I move straight to the closet, where the air seems thankfully clearer. I hear sirens outside over the roar of the flames and pray it’s the fire department.

“Callie, Marcus,” I yell, banging on the door even though I know neither of them can hear me. I wave to the monitor with big, sweeping arm gestures, but the door remains locked.

I pull out Wade’s phone, which is still in my pocket, and dial Callie’s phone, but it rings and rings. I call again and again until finally, it picks up.

“Callie? Callie, it’s Blake, baby. I need you to open the door.”

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