Page 82 of The Night Belongs To Fireman

On the TV, Rachel was still talking to Melissa, selling herself out for his sake. Goddamn it. Why couldn’t she have waited even a few more minutes? He uttered a few more curses. He’d been kidnapped by someone named Kale. His brothers would laugh their asses off at him.

He headed for the door of the empty little apartment. On his way out, he grabbed the gun and the knife, just in case someone else popped out of nowhere and tried to stop him. The mysterious Tree, for instance.

“You’re such an ass,” he muttered to the guy as he manhandled him down the stairs. “You’re going to make your stupid animal organization look bad. No one’s going to support an idiot who holds a firefighter hostage. Not only that, you made me look bad. My brothers are going to eat this up.”

As the only nonmilitary Breen, Fred was already their favorite punch line. But now, he felt even more ridiculous, like a mockery of a “hero.”

The stairwell was empty. The door at the bottom opened onto a dark garage, which was also empty. Maybe the guys in the Escalade had been smart enough to ditch this operation before it got too stupid. Maybe Kale was acting on his own and had simply hired the thugs who’d attacked them outside Firefly. Maybe there was no Tree, no group called BEAST. The whole thing was unbelievably irritating, and to top it all off, his precious two weeks outside the media spotlight were definitely over.

As he pushed open the side door of the garage, the glare of camera lights flooded his vision. When his eyes adjusted, he caught sight of several police cars, a throng of cameras, and some girls crowded behind a barrier. A couple of them screamed, “It’s him! It’s Fred!”

He held up his free hand, dropping the knife to the ground to demonstrate he wasn’t a threat. Nothing like having a bunch of guns trained on you to make you move very carefully. He caught Chief Rollins’s eye and indicated the man slumped over his shoulder. “This is the idiot. What do you want me to do with him?”

Chapter 24

Telling her story to Melissa McGuire wasn’t quite as horrible as Rachel had feared. For one thing, Melissa was a sympathetic and patient interviewer. She didn’t make Rachel feel uncomfortable at all, and didn’t push her into areas she wasn’t ready to talk about. But as much as she’d already revealed, she knew the kidnapper wasn’t going to be satisfied until she mentioned the name of his wacko organization. She was getting to that. Really she was. But she really, really hated being forced into a public declaration that she didn’t believe. Not that she didn’t believe in animal rights. That was a given. But a quick check on BEAST had revealed that it advocated all sorts of extreme positions that she couldn’t agree with. More funding for shelters? Yes. Ban on all consumption of meat products? Um … really?

Once she announced her support for BEAST, she would be linked to that crazy group. Even if she took it back later and said she’d been acting under duress, her statement would live on, on video, online, in people’s memories. It would be impossible to erase.

So she was taking her time getting to that part of the interview. She was just explaining the reason for her love of dogs when she heard raised voices at the other side of the studio.

“He’s coming out!” someone called. “We gotta switch over, now.”

And all of a sudden the little red light on the camera went off.

Melissa jumped to her feet. “What’s going on?”

“Hostage situation’s over,” answered the cameraman, who was now watching the on-air monitor. “Fireman got out on his own. Best story of the week.”

“Way to go, Fred!” Melissa sank back into her seat. “I was really worried,” she told Rachel. “But I probably shouldn’t have been. Never underestimate a firefighter. We can continue the interview anyway, it will air later.”

Continue? Hell, no. Rachel stood, trailing microphone wires. “Is Fred okay?”

“They’re taking him to get checked out just in case, but it looks like he’s mostly fine,” answered the cameraman.

Melissa heaved a sigh. “I’m guessing my big exclusive interview just ended?”

“Sorry,” said Rachel, tugging at the little mic keeping her tethered to the set. “I have to get to the hospital.”

“That’s all right.” Melissa helped disentangle her. “Go find your guy. Some things are more important than the news media, as my husband is always telling me.”

“He’s not exactly my guy.”

“Are you so sure of that?” Melissa winked one forest-green eye at her. “These firemen have a way of sneaking into your heart before you realize it.”

Rachel wanted to stay and explain the exact nature of her and Fred’s relationship, except that she wasn’t entirely sure she could. Besides, the most important thing was to get to Fred. She ran out of the news studio and dashed to her car. Marsden sat in the driver’s seat, already turning the key in the ignition.

“Hospital?” he said, barely making a question out of it.

“Have they said anything more?”

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