Page 171 of Capturing You

It was wedged into the concrete corner, its weight held down by more stuff from above.

“You’re going to have to slide out.”

“There’s nowhere to go.” She was yelling over the flames, but to her credit, her panic had passed. She seemed perfectly in control.

“If I lift it enough, can you stand?”

Her eyes widened. “I-I don’t know. Maybe.”

It was their only option. “Try. You ready?”

She nodded, and he gripped the board tightly. He took a breath. “Now.” He lifted with all his might.

She tried. He could see how hard she tried. But she couldn’t get enough room to move.

Another rafter fell from above, filling the space with sparks and smoke.

He dropped the board to cover her. This wasn’t going to work.

“You need to go.” Brooklynn’s words were strong, resigned. “Forbes, you need to get out.”

“Don’t do that.”

“I don’t want you to die here. Go. Go!”

“Stop talking.” His voice was rough and low. Everything was growing darker. He needed air. He needed oxygen.

Once again, he’d failed to protect his loved one.

But this time…this time he wouldn’t save himself. This time, if someone he loved was going to die, he’d die with her.

He climbed over the board.

“What are you doing?” Her eyes were wide. Tears tracked down her soot-covered cheeks. “Go! Please, go!” Her voice broke. “You have to, Forbes. You have to leave.”

He settled beside her. He couldn’t stretch out in the tiny space, so he lowered to a crouch, his knees against the hot wood. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Please.” She tilted into him. “I can’t…I can’t let you die here. I can’t stand it.”

“I know.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close. “I know.”

“If the situation were reversed?—”

“Then you’d leave, and that would be right. But I can’t.”

They would die here. They would die together.

Lord…

He didn’t know what to ask.

Take us home.

That was it. That was all there was left. He wished, oh how he wished he’d left Brooklynn in the cave. Maybe she could’ve waited it out. Stayed hidden until help arrived.

Better yet, he should never have brought her back here in the first place. His quest for vengeance came down to this. All the evidence would be destroyed. Nobody would pay for his family’s murders. Nobody would pay for Brooklynn’s.

Everything he’d lived for, and he’d failed.