“You just watched me shoot my own brother. Take one step towards me and you’re next.” Janine’s voice twisted into one I didn’t recognize—she sounded downright evil.
“He needs help. Let me call an ambulance.” Kincaid held up his hands and tried to reason with her.
That isn’t going to work. There’s no way she’s going to back down.
“He made his choice.” Janine grunted angrily. “I may not be able to do this on live television like I planned, but this bitch is still going to burn.”
Janine flipped the top on the lighter and ignited it. There was no way that Kincaid could get to Janine in time. She was going to burn Veronica Stone in front of us. Even if Kincaid tried, he would get shot like I did. He needed to run. Once the fire started, the factory was going to turn into an inferno. There were so many cans of combustibles near Janine that she would be lucky if the fire didn’t engulf her before she got away. She wasn’t even focused on her own safety. The insanity had a grip on my sister that couldn’t be reasoned with. My head started to spin as I watched her move the lighter towards Veronica Stone while the gun stayed leveled on Kincaid. Suddenly, there was a flash in the corner of my vision—we weren’t alone. Someone else was in the factory with us. My vision was blurring, but I would recognize that beautiful face anywhere—except it was the last place she needed to be.
“Marissa?” I felt my eyes completely losing focus.
Oh god—no!
Marissa
I made me way through the warehouse and picked up my pace when I heard an argument. Then a gunshot nearly made my heart drop into my stomach. I feared the worst when I got to the main room, and the worst was exactly what I saw. Donovan was on the floor and he was bleeding. Kincaid was staring down Fireball? Fireball was a woman? I didn’t even have time to process that because the danger was making every hair on my body stand up. Seeing Ms. Stone tied to a chair in front of me was a lot more vivid than seeing her on television. It was very clear that Fireball was going to set her on fire. She walked towards my boss with a lighter, holding a gun on Kincaid. There was no way Kincaid could do anything—but I could. I could get to her before she saw me. Her attention was focused entirely on Kincaid.
This is either going to be bravest thing I’ve ever done, or the stupidest.
I rushed towards Fireball with a clear focus in mind—I need to hit her hard enough to make her turn the gun away from Kincaid and stop her from tossing the lighter at Ms. Stone. I had never been in a fight. I wasn’t the kind of girl that charged into danger. Something woke that bravery inside me—I had to do something. Donovan needed medical attention. He wasn’t going to get that if Kincaid got shot. My bravery might cost me everything, but it was the only option in front of me. I caught Fireball off guard. She didn’t see me coming until I was almost on top of her. I wasn’t thinking about my own safety, or what would happen when I collided with her. I just accelerated as I ran and hit her with everything I had. The gun crashed onto the floor and skidded out of sight. The lighter went into the air. Fireball went down, but I hit her harder than I expected. She flew into the shelf and her skull cracked against one of the steel bars. I had so much momentum that I couldn’t stop myself and landed on my knees.
“Oh shit!” I looked at Fireball’s limp body, and a second later I saw a flash as the lighter landed in the gasoline and fire shot up in front of me.
“Marissa, oh my god.” Kincaid ran up and grabbed my arm.
“I’m okay!” I held onto him as he helped me get to my feet, and then pointed over at Donovan. “Get him out of here! I’ll get Ms. Stone.”
I ran to my boss and ripped the gag out of her mouth before I started working on the ropes that were wrapped around her wrists. She started screaming obscenities, but they were music to my ears. I never thought I would hear her angry words again. As soon as she was untied, she stood up from the chair and couldn’t resist kicking Fireball one good time before we started heading towards the exit. The fire was spreading fast, and we were in immediate danger. I ran over to help Kincaid with Donovan and Ms. Stone followed behind us. Donovan was too weak to stand on his own feet, and I wasn’t much help, so Kincaid just picked him up and carried him. That slowed Kincaid down a little bit, but once we were out of the main part of the factory where the fire was, we were able to move a little slower. We got to the exit and I practically drank in the night air. I wasn’t sure I would see it again when I ran towards Fireball. Kincaid put Donovan on the hood of his car and immediately started calling for help.
“Wait…” Donovan opened his eyes and grabbed my arm. “Please don’t leave my sister in there.”
“Your—sister?” I blinked in surprise. “Oh my god. Fireball is your sister!?”
“She…needs help.” Donovan’s words were weak, and I saw blood on his lips.
“I’ll get her.” Kincaid stuffed his phone into his pocket and ran back towards the factory.
Things suddenly made more sense than they had all night. That was why Donovan was so secretive—it must have been how he found Fireball to begin with. But she was his sister? That news didn’t even register as reality. It took me a minute to fully process it, and by the time I did, Kincaid was back inside the factory. Ms. Stone didn’t react. She looked like a soldier that had just survived a war and hadn’t been able to fully come to terms with everything she endured. It had to be scary for her. She thought she was going to be burned alive. Things began to drop into place in my head. Donovan mentioned that his sister used to work for Ms. Stone. He said that things ended badly—that she went through hell. Ms. Stone wasn’t just one of Fireball’s victims, she was the one who created the monster in the first place. It didn’t make it right, but I could easily see how someone could snap after being exposed to her brand of cruelty.
“Please hurry up.” I swallowed hard as I waited for Kincaid to return—panic swept through my veins when I heard an explosion inside the factory. “Oh no!”
“He should have let that bitch burn.” Ms. Stone’s jaw tightened, but her eyes were still void of emotion.
I heard sirens in the distance and turned back to Donovan. He was weak and had lost a lot of blood, but he was still breathing. He was in rough shape, but I was more worried about Kincaid at the moment. I understood why Donovan didn’t want his sister to die, but Kincaid was taking a huge risk going back into the factory. The fire didn’t start near the gasoline and combustibles once the lighter was knocked out of Fireball’s hand, but it was still spreading fast. Another explosion sounded, and it felt like the ground shook. My fear amplified, and I started to tremble. Ms. Stone even seemed to be worried after the second explosion. The sirens got closer and I started to hope that they didn’t take long. Kincaid could need help. I was considering rushing into the factory myself, even if I knew it would put me in danger, just to try and help Kincaid. A second before that consideration became reality, Kincaid appeared at the door with Donovan’s sister in his arms. He took a couple of steps and collapsed.
“Kincaid!” I ran towards him as he fell to the ground.
“Help me get her away from the factory—this is about to get worse!” Kincaid used his fists to push himself up.
I grabbed Fireball with one hand and Kincaid with the other. He had inhaled a lot of smoke and was coughing so bad it was almost violent. Ms. Stone ran over and despite the trauma she suffered at Fireball’s hands, she still helped
me pull her away from the factory. A line of blue and red lights appeared on the horizon and then another explosion sounded behind us. The force nearly knocked me to the ground and I felt heat on my back. I had to keep going. We made it to Kincaid’s car as the parking lot of the factory filled with emergency personnel. I dropped to the ground next to Fireball and checked her for injuries as the paramedics rushed to Donovan’s side. We were all alive. That was something at least. Donovan and Fireball were loaded into separate ambulances. Kincaid refused to let them take him to the hospital once he was able to put on an oxygen mask and catch his breath.
“I can’t believe Fireball was—Janine.” Ms. Stone looked over at me and shook her head.
The police came and talked for Ms. Stone for a couple of minutes before taking her away, so they could get an official statement. They wanted me to go as well, but Kincaid shut them down and told them I was leaving with him. My statement could wait. My thoughts were still spinning, but I kept telling myself that it was over. Fireball’s reign of terror had come to an end, and although Kincaid didn’t get to see them put handcuffs on her, he was instrumental in bringing her down. I hoped that gave him closure. The immediate concern for both of us was Donovan, so we headed to the hospital once the ambulance pulled away from the factory. Once we got to the emergency room, we learned that he was going to need surgery to remove the bullet, and while they didn’t think it was serious, there was definitely concern. The bullet had missed all of his major organs, but it was lodged in his stomach.
“It’s going to be a long night.” I walked over and put my arms around Kincaid.