Torch (Unbreakable Bonds 3)

He drew a breath to speak when a crash echoed from the other end of the hall. Noah’s gaze jerked away from his target for a second to look down the hall where Rowe had disappeared, and when he looked back, his heart skipped a beat. The figure had turned, but he wasn’t staring into the face of the angry young man they’d encountered at You Are Toast.

A young woman stared back at him with dark, hate-filled eyes. He hesitated, rocking back a half-step in shock. The other arsonist was a woman? The pause was enough for her to finish swinging around. Lifting her arm, she flung the contents of one of the jars onto Noah. He barely managed to get his free hand up to shield his eyes as the cold, almost gel-like liquid splashed across his chest, face and hair. A sharp chemical smell assaulted his nose and his heart rate picked up. He was covered in a highly flammable substance in a house they had been setting up to burn.

Gunfire echoed through the house, but Noah couldn’t be sure if it was Rowe’s gun or the other arsonist. The woman must have had the same thought because she cried out before slamming into Noah as he lowered his arm again. She knocked him into the opposite wall before running toward the gunfire. They both knew Noah couldn’t use his gun without risking setting himself on fire. Dropping his gun, Noah lunged after her. His heavier body knocked her over, but instead of falling forward, she stumbled to her right. Her head struck the railing to the stairs hard before she tumbled down the stairs to the first floor.

Noah stood at the head of the stairs, unsure of whether to check her unmoving body or go after Rowe. Fuck, he hoped she wasn’t dead.

More gunfire had Noah starting for the other end of the second floor, but he didn’t get far. The punk they encountered at the Internet café ran out of the room and dove into the one directly across, while Rowe leaped into the hallway toward him, knocking Noah to the floor. An angry roar bellowed through the house as flames shot from the doorway Rowe had been in just a second earlier.

Rowe started to push to his feet and paused, his nose wrinkling as he looked at Noah. He leaned close again and took a sniff before his eyes widened huge. “Oh fuck,” he breathed before he was jumping to his feet and pulling at Noah. “You gotta get the fuck out of here!”

“The kid—” Noah started to say, pointing to the other room that was visible now that the wall of flames had receded slightly. Smoke was fast filling the hall and the temperature had spiked so that they were both starting to sweat.

“Fuck the kid! You’re not getting killed in here!” Rowe snarled, shoving Noah toward the stairs as soon as he gained his feet.

Noah wanted to argue. They were so fucking close to having both of them, but he knew Rowe. The man wouldn’t leave Noah’s side until he was safely out of the burning building and no longer at risk of bursting into flames himself. Growling in frustration, Noah charged down the stairs, Rowe at his heels, pausing only to kneel at the woman’s side. Two fingers pressed to her neck revealed that she was still alive, just knocked out.

“We’ll put her in the truck,” Rowe said.

Above them, the sound of shattering glass echoed above the crackle of the flames.

“He’s trying to get out through a window at the back of the house,” Noah said. “Go!”

“But—”

“I’ve got her. Go!”

With a grunt, Rowe turned and ran back toward the door he’d used in the kitchen while Noah scooped up the woman’s limp frame and tossed her over his shoulder. He quickly carried her to the truck. The street was empty for a cold Sunday afternoon, but he worried that neighbors were looking out their windows, watching him. He tossed the woman across the back bench and located some zip-ties in a small tool box. He quickly bound her hands and ankles then tossed a blanket over her to hide her from view even though the tinted windows helped to conceal her.

Slamming the door shut, he snagged his phone out of his back pocket and quickly dialed 9-1-1, giving the dispatcher the address for the fire as he started back across the lawn. He had just ended the call when the other side of the second floor exploded in flames, sending shards of glass and wood shooting across the yard. Noah ducked, shielding his face and body as best he could. Kneeling on the ground, he tried to breathe but his lungs refused to work. Where the fuck was Rowe?###

Rowe flinched against the wave of heat that washed over him as he cut around the side of the house. The other fucker was already gone. By the time, he’d gotten out the back door and spotted him, the pyro was climbing the fence at the rear of his property and into the next yard. From their earlier experience in Peaselburg, he knew there was no point in following. The bastard was too damn fast. Didn’t matter. They already had his accomplice. They’d lean on her until she finally gave up where they could find Eric and her partner.