Chapter 15
Liam
The blaring alarm wakesme up out of dead sleep, and I rush to the truck. Every minute matters. Damon takes off, and when he pulls onto the street, my heart drops. This is Harper’s street. That’s her house. My stomach drops when we get farther on the street, and I see it. The smoke rising from the house, flames out of control, and the structure falling. Please don’t let her be hurt. Approaching the house in the fire truck, I gaze around to the bystanders lurking on the crosswalk across from the house to see if Harper is there. Nope. Where is she?
“That’s...” I can’t even finish the sentence, before the truck stops.
“What the hell are you doing?” Damon yells, grabbing me by the arm of the protective suit.
“It’s her house!” I jerk out of his grasp, and take off, not worried about anyone else but her. She must still be inside.
The black smoke has taken over the sky, and the creaking of the structure is just waiting to give out more.
My feet carry me fast, up the street and steps, and to her front door. “Harper!” I yell, opening it, and rushing into the living room, covering my face because I forgot my headgear. “Harper! Are you here?”
The far side of the living room is in bad shape, and the roof could collapse at any moment, but Harper might be in here somewhere, and I’m not leaving until she’s safe. When I pass through the hallway and into the bedroom, I find her.
“Oh my god, Harper. Are you okay?” I ask, untying the rope holding her to the chair. There is blood everywhere, and bruises cover her entire face. She’s almost unrecognizable. Who the hell did this to her? The same person who broke in last night?
“Can you hear me? Baby, please. Answer me.” Tears are leaving a streak on my face through the black soot accumulating, and my index finger lands on her neck to check for a pulse. It’s faint, but it’s there. Please don’t leave me.
Her limp body encases into mine, and the flames have reached her bedroom. How the hell are we going to get out of here? My eyes search for a way out, and that’s when I notice the window. I wrap one of her shirts around my elbow and slam it into the glass, shattering it everywhere. I clutch her body to mine, maneuvering out the window with an extra hundred and forty pounds isn’t easy, but I do it.
After escaping through the window, I double back to the front of the house and hand Harper over to the paramedic. “She’s not responding. Pulse faint. She needs a hospital now.”
The EMT observes the amount of damage to her body and straps her into the gurney to take off. “Liam!” Damon yells. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know. Found her like that. Tied to fucking chair. Whoever did this didn’t expect her to make it out alive.”
I begin to get into the ambulance, and Damon stops me. “You can’t go with her. You know that. Let’s put out the fire, and then I’ll drive you to the hospital myself.”
We exchange some foul language and the ambulance takes off. “What the hell is wrong with you? If that was Tessa, you wouldn’t think twice.”
“Fine, go,” Damon says, understanding my reasoning, and not wanting to argue with me right now.
My mind keeps going through the motions, like I could have prevented this if we both would have stayed home today. She would have never ended up like this. My hands run through my hair, tears streaming down my face, hoping that she’s okay.
Please, be okay. I just found you. I can’t lose you already.
My feet begin to take off, and everything else is background noise to them hitting the pavement. I can’t wait any longer, and Damon understands even if the Chief didn’t. I’ll take disciplinary action over not being there for her any day.
I approach the hospital, and then the front desk, taking a second to catch my breath. “I’m here for Harper Davis. She was brought by ambulance from a house fire.”
The nurse comes around, and puts her hand on my shoulder. “Sir, I can’t give out any information just yet. Are you a relative?”
“She doesn’t have any relatives. I’m her boyfriend.”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
I canvas the hospital, knowing the police have to be here somewhere. With the way she is found, they would’ve received a call.
The elevator takes me up until I reach the fourth floor. This has to be where she is. I peek inside every little window, and nothing. That’s when I noticed Officer Scott from yesterday.
“Have you guys figured anything out?” I ask. “This had to be the same person.”
“No. The fingerprints didn’t come up with any hits. We need to know what they are after.”
Harper seems pretty diligent that she doesn’t have a clue who would do something like this. “Listen, I know I’m not family, but I really just need to know how she’s doing.”