Chapter 19

Trevor heardthe alarm and stiffened.

“Is that what I think it is?” Sadie stood from her desk and rushed toward her office door.

“The fire alarm.” Concern stretched across Frank’s face as he hurried into the hallway. “We need to go. Everyone out!”

Employees stood from their cubicles, heads bobbing as they glanced around.

A thin layer of smoke already hovered near the ceiling.

“There!” Trevor pointed to a room at the back of the building. Smoke poured from it. “What’s in there?”

“That’s our supply closet,” Frank said.

“You need to get everyone out of here!”

“Of course.” Frank began ushering everyone toward an exit.

Trevor wanted to tell Sadie to go with them. But he didn’t dare let her out of his sight. He didn’t know who he could trust, and he wasn’t taking any chances.

Instead, he rushed to the closet, her in tow.

He opened the door to make sure no one was inside.

It was clear.

But a small blaze crackled there.

He grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall, pulled the pin, and sprayed the flames.

The fire shrank. Then, in the blink of an eye, it reignited—even stronger this time.

Someone had used an accelerant. He could smell gasoline.

He continued to spray the flames . . . until the extinguisher had nothing left inside.

He tossed it on the floor.

With a roar, the fire tripled in size.

Trevor rushed from the room, noting that everyone else had evacuated.

Good.

Then he glanced out a window toward the back of the property.

A lone figure ran toward the woods in the distance. Based on the man’s all-black attire, it wasn’t an employee fleeing.

Most likely, it was the person who’d done this.

Had someone snuck inside through the back of the building and gone inside that closet to set a fire?

Was this related to what had happened to Sadie?

That was the only thing that made sense.

Someone had either wanted to distract them with that fire or they’d wanted to send another message.

Trevor wasn’t sure which one.

But he didn’t like either possibility.

“Trevor . . .”

He glanced back at Sadie and saw the fear in her gaze.

He grabbed her arm as the flames continued to spread. “We’ve got to get out of here!”

But Sadie froze. Didn’t move at all.

Almost as if she’d gone into a trance.

* * *

Memories pummeled Sadie.

The scent of smoke. Of burning.

Of feeling helpless.

Her lungs tightened until she couldn’t breathe.

She was trapped.

Couldn’t get out.

She knew with certainty this place would be her grave.

“Sadie!” someone yelled.

Was that part of her memory? Or the present?

She had no idea.

But it didn’t matter.

Either way, she could barely hear the voice over the flames.

She glanced around.

She stood in a room. A bedroom, she thought. Fire consumed all four walls and blocked the window.

“Help me!” she yelled.

But she knew no one could hear her.

The flames licked her skin, burning it. Smoke filled her lungs.

She was going to die!

Then, at once, someone lifted her.

Carried her.

The smell of smoke faded. The crackling softened.

Then she breathed fresh air.

Her feet touched the ground.

She heard her name again.

“Sadie?” a deep voice asked. “Can you hear me?”

Her eyes fluttered open.

She blinked.

Then she remembered where she was. What had happened.

Her office had been set on fire.

She and Trevor had raced out.

Then where was the room she’d been inside from her memories?

She blinked as Trevor’s face came into view.

“Are you okay?” he rushed, concern etched around his eyes.

She blinked again, unsure. Was she okay?

“I . . . I don’t know,” she finally muttered.

“You’re outside now. The fire isn’t going to get you.”

Her shoulders softened, and she tried to force her heart to slow.

“Did you have a memory?” Trevor still peered at her as sirens sounded in the background.

“I guess . . . may—maybe. I don’t know.” The throb in her head grew more intense.

“What happened?”

“I was a little girl, I think. Stuck in a house as it burned down. And . . .” She shrugged. “I felt helpless, like I knew I was going to die.”

“You’re not going to die.” Trevor squeezed her arm. “You’re okay.”

If that was true, why did Sadie feel like nothing was okay? And like nothing would ever be okay again?