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Guilliam and Janelle headed to his car, walking past the remnants of her mother’s house. Janelle stopped and stared, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Yet resolutely she turned and walked away. She caught sight of the gun-toting arsonist, stooping to get into the back of a cruiser. Something about the angle of his face, the expression on his face, got her attention. She froze, not exactly sure why it seemed familiar.

Beside her, Guilliam nudged her and said, “Come on. It’s over. We can buy you a change of clothing, then go home, get a shower, clean up, and maybe grab a few more hours of sleep.” As they neared his vehicle, the other team members were gathered there—Masters, Gideon, Evan, and Jasper.

Janelle shook her head. “I won’t sleep now.”

Evan snorted. “Yeah, neither will I.” He faced Guilliam and said, “I think I’ll just head out, if you guys are okay with that, unless you think you need me still.” He turned to look at each man, then at Guilliam again. All the men shook their heads.

“Wait,” she called out, then frowned. “I know this will sound horribly strange, but—”

“But what?” Jasper asked.

“Evan, would you do me a favor?”

“Sure. What is it?”

“Go to the hospital. Something doesn’t feel right…” She stumbled over the words.

All the men stopped to face her. “Why?” asked Jasper.

“I don’t know. I’m hoping it’ll come to me, but just something is there.”

Evan nodded. “I wanted to check in with Tesla anyway. I’ll grab a change of clothes and head over to the hospital. Will that work?”

She nodded and smiled. “Thank you.”

“That’s okay. You just owe me another meal.” And, with that, he took off, chortling to himself.

She looked over at Guilliam, as he helped her to his car. “I like your friends,” she shared, with a big smile.

He smiled back at her. “Good, but they’re also your friends. You’ve known both Evan and Tesla for a long time. You’ve met some more good people here, and they will love you just as much as I do.”

She shook her head. “Even knowing what I did?”

“Of course. Nobody judges you for looking after your mother.”

“Just me,” she whispered.

“And you shouldn’t either,” he stated. “Now come on. Let’s get you home. We will have a boatload of hassles to deal with, considering we just lost our wallets and anything else you might have had in your purse that just went up in flames. Luckily I do have some cash at home.”

She winced at that. “God, my ID, credit cards, everything,” she muttered, reality dawning.

“Yep, I know, but it’s not the end of the world.”

“No, it isn’t,” she agreed, as she got into the vehicle. She reached for his hand and added, “Not exactly the night I thought we were having.”

“No,” he said, with a big grin. “Still, we survived yet again, and now it’s over.”

She nodded, took a deep breath, and whispered, “Is it?”

He asked, “Will you be okay with your house—”

As they drove past her house, she sighed and then nodded. “I think so.”

“You only think so?”

“It’ll probably take a little bit for it to settle in.”

They drove to his home first, so each could get changed out of their smelly smoke-infused clothes. He gave her one of his T-shirts and a pair of shorts, plus flip-flops, way too big, but she had nothing on her feet otherwise. This would do until they got to the store.

As she headed back out to the car, so they could do some shopping for necessities for her, she turned and added, “There’s still one thing bugging me.”

“Okay. What is that?”

“I don’t know,” she cried out, “and that’s why it’s just driving me nuts.”

He hesitated. “And you’re sure it’s important?”

“Yeah, it’s very important, but I don’t know why, and I don’t know what.”

“Okay, just think about it while we drive.”

She sat back, closed her eyes, and tried to relax. Her life had been a shitshow for hours now, and, as they drove, she thought about the ups and downs of her day. And then it hit her. “Oh my God.” Her eyes flew wide open. “It’s not over. It’s not. Turn this car around. We have to get to the hospital right now.”

He stared at her in shock but hit the brakes, already navigating a U-turn. “What do you mean?”

“There will be another attack on Mason and Tesla. I’m sure of it. We need to go. Go, go, go.”

And, with that, he went silent and focused on speeding toward the hospital. Once they were headed in the right direction, he asked, “Do you want to explain what this is all about?”

She could barely talk. “Call them. Call them now.”

He snatched his phone as they drove to the hospital at hell-bent speeds, punched the last number called, and put the phone on Speaker.

When Evan answered, he asked, “What’s going on?”

“Are you at the hospital?” Janelle yelled into the phone.

“Not yet. Why?”

Guilliam replied, “Janelle’s in a full-on panic, and we’re heading there now.”

“Okay,” Evan said in a slow tone. “I don’t have a problem heading up there right now. I told her that I was going to.”

“Yeah, apparently she recognized something.”

“Yes,” she yelled again. “His face,… her face,… the nurse who didn’t like me making tea. They have similar features… Get there, Evan, please! Now!”