Page 126 of Trapper Road

She shakes her head, eyes wide, clearly terrified. “I don’t know.”

I don’t know whether to believe her, but I don’t have time to care. I need to find my son. I need to make sure Vee is safe.

I glance at her, trying to figure out what to do with her. I can’t trust her. I need her out of the way. I need to not have to worry about her. I shove her toward the car. “Get in,” I tell her. “It’ll be safer.”

Once she’s inside I press my thumb against the handle, locking it. At least then I’ll hear the alarm if she tries to bolt. Then I take off running across the clearing, circling the house, looking for any sign of my kids. Every window is ablaze, the front door an empty black maw surrounded by flames.

I refuse to believe my kids are in there. I can’t. If I allow that thought to take hold, even the slightest purchase, I’ll rip apart from the pain of it. I scream their names, not caring that my throat is raw or that heat of the fire burns my face and arms.

I need my kids. I need to feel them and hold them and breathe in their smell and know they’re okay.

There’s a sound behind me, something pitched and human. I spin. In the light of the fire I see Vee kneeling at the edge of the woods. Her shirt hangs wet, plastered against her abdomen where she holds herself with both hands. Her hair is plastered to her head, her cheek glistening wet.

I scream her name and scramble toward her. I drop to my knees in front of her, my hands automatically reaching to assess her wounds. She winces, pulling away from my touch. “I’m okay,” she says.

She’s not. There’s so much blood. A terrifying amount. But I try to keep that fact from showing on my face because I don’t want her to panic. I’m panicked enough for both of us. I start ripping the hem from my shirt, needing something to help stanch her blood.

She stops me. “Connor’s inside,” she chokes. “He went back in to save her.”

Horror cascades through me. My baby boy. Inside that house. I slam the door on the thought. I can’t fall apart. Not yet.

Vee clutches at my arm with blood-soaked fingers. “I tried to stop him.”

I place my hand over hers. “I know you did, baby. Where is he?”

Her chin trembles, her eyes glazed with pain. “Top floor.” It’s almost impossible to hear her over the roar of the fire. “Please be careful. Please come back.”

I leap to my feet and sprint toward the house. I don’t think about the risk or the danger. My body’s too flooded with adrenaline to feel the searing heat, to care about the smoke choking my lungs. There’s still time, I tell myself. I can find him. I can save him. I have to.

Fire devours the corner of the front porch, quickly igniting the old rotten timbers. The roof is made of metal, and it gives a horrible screech as it twists and buckles in the extreme heat. It’s going to collapse at any moment. I have to get inside first.

I’m almost to the steps when I see movement in the doorway. Smoke roils through the opening, embers twining through it. It shifts and separates as a figure appears. There are two of them, leaning on each other as they stagger out of the firestorm.

Connor. Willa.

I let out a broken cry, unable to hold back the terror that’s been unspooling inside me. I leap onto the porch. Connor stumbles. He clutches at Willa, trying to keep his balance but she slips out of reach, letting him fall.

She starts to limp toward the clearing, gripping at her side. She nearly pummels into me and draws up short. Her eyes go wide with panic at the sight of me.

She should be afraid of me. She should be fucking terrified. Rage surges through me. She just abandoned my child to an inferno. I want to punch her. I want to grab her and physically throw her out of my way.

Instead I shove my way past her. The corner of the porch caves, sending a wave of heat over us. I throw up my arms against it, hardly feeling the bite of embers landing on my skin and clothes.

Connor’s on his hands and knees, trembling, trying to push himself up. I sweep my arms under his, hauling him up against my chest like the toddler he used to be. I press my hand to the back of his head, holding it against my shoulder, protecting him the best I can as I race from the flaming hell.

We make it to the bottom step when there’s an awful thundering concussion behind us. The entire world shudders as half of the house collapses in on itself. I keep my back to it, my body wrapped around Connor as flaming debris falls around us.

I make it far enough to be out of immediate danger and drop, cradling Connor in my lap like a child. I run my hands over him quickly, ensuring none of the embers caught. Then I press my palm against his cheek, bending over him. “Connor, look at me,” I urge.

His eyes flutter, opening for a brief moment before falling shut. He lets out a breath, his lips twitching in the barest hint of a smile before forming the word, “Mom.”

“I’m here,” I tell him. My heart screams, the edges of my thoughts fraying as I take in the damage to his body. The blood soaking his shirt, coating his arm. The skin along the back of his hands raw and blistered. “Stay with me. Fire and rescue are on the way. Just hang on.”

I look to where I left Vee. She’s propped against one of the trunks. She gives me a nod, letting me know she’s okay. I turn my focus back to Connor, on his ragged breathing. I hold him tight, hating that I can’t fix this. That he hurts and there’s nothing I can do.

The sound of the sirens draws closer, several of them competing against and overlapping one another. Flashes of blue and red lights begin to cut through the trees.

Another sound joins the fray, the revving of an engine. My car, it has to be. I twist, looking to where I abandoned it at the edge of the clearing. It takes me a moment to notice that it’s moving, the headlights reflecting off the swirling smoke, sending it in eddies.

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