Chapter 25

BRYCE

The explosion shook the building and sent vibrations through the streets. My car rumbled like it was struck by lightning but that wasn’t enough to stop me from doing what I knew I had to do.

“Come on…”

Palms sweaty. Hands tight on the steering wheel. I raced through the streets toward the address where I knew everything was going down. I couldn’t sit back any longer. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to the people who cared most about me.

When I got to the scene, the police cruisers crowded around the warehouse. The wails of fire trucks in the distance were accompanied by all of the flashing lights. Fireworks had gone off in the West Bay like it was a celebration. In the center of it all, a warehouse burned with smoke rising through the windows.

I got out of my car and pushed my way past all of the cops.

“Hey! What are you doing? You can’t go in there!”

I ignored all of the people trying to get at me and saw Uriah near the exit to the building.

“Uriah!”

He turned toward me as I rushed up to him. His face was bloodied but he was breathing. He was alive. Everything was all right.

“Bryce! What are you doing here?”

“Are you all right? What happened?”

“I’m fine. I…”

He looked toward the entrance of the building. I could feel some of the heat coming from inside. The look Uriah gave me was enough to make my heart sink all the way down to my stomach.

“A-Cade?” I stuttered.

“I don’t know,” Uriah said. “Nobody saw him make it out.”

“Wait… Are you telling me he’s still in there?”

“He was shot. I’m sorry, Bryce. He told me to go after Rivera. He told me that he would be all right.”

“If he’s still in there—”

“Don’t worry. I’m going in after him.”

Uriah had the tank and oxygen mask ready to brave the fires of the warehouse.

No…

He’d already been through too much. I couldn’t let him do this.

Something came over me. Some stupid instinct that would’ve gotten anybody killed. Tonight, it was my turn.

I grabbed the tank and mask from Uriah and rushed into the building.

“Bryce! Wait!”

Uriah shouted out to me but his voice disappeared. The sound of the warehouse burning all around me. You never realized how loud flames were until you were right next to them.

“Cade!” I shouted. “Where are you?”

There was still space for me to walk but the walls of the warehouse were engulfed. Everything around me was burning.

“Cade!”

I cried out desperately until I saw someone moving on the ground in the distance. Through all of the smoke, someone slowly raised their hand. I rushed up as fast as I could and fell to my knees. Cade’s face came into view. His face was covered in soot. But more frightening than that was the blood gushing from the wound on his shoulder and the puddle on the ground.

“Come on, Cade… Everything is gonna be all right… Just breathe…”

I put the oxygen mask to his face and gave him a chance to recover. He smiled at me and I knew that he was all right enough to make it out.

“Can you move?” I asked.

“Yeah… I think I can do it… I feel… I feel a little tired though…”

“You can do it. Let’s go.”

I used all my strength to help Cade back up to his feet. I put his arm around my shoulder and handed him the mask.

“Here. Breathe.”

“I can breathe fine. You use it. The baby…”

I sighed another deep breath into the mask. I ignored all of the smoke and heat around me as best I could.

“Come on.”

I dragged Cade along a few steps. His entire weight was on me but carrying the oxygen tank the same made it hard for me to move as quickly as I wanted to.

Cade suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“What?” I said. “What’s wrong?”

“The money.”

“What?”

“The money.”

He looked over to the side. I saw the duffel bag among some of the burned rubble that had fallen from the ceiling.

“Get the money.”

I looked over at it and knew that it would be a wasted effort.

“Cade—”

A sudden explosion of the equipment boomed in the air. I put my head down and watched as the warehouse walls were engulfed in flames. A towering inferno was all around us.

“Get the money,” he repeated. “Please, Bryce.”

“I can’t carry you and the money out.”

“Just leave me behind. It’s yours. You can do more with it than you could ever do with me.”

I stared into Cade’s eyes. He meant it. He actually meant it.

I gritted my teeth and shook my head.

“Come on,” I said. “There’s no more time.”

I used all of my strength to pick up Cade’s massive frame. I moved through all of the burning debris. I ignored all of the smoke. I ignored all of the heat that made my skin drip with sweat. I ignored the fire that was only inches away from me.

I couldn’t see the exit though. There was so much smoke that I lost where I was heading.

Dammit…

“Bryce!”

I heard a voice coming from the other side of the black smoke. I moved forward and saw movement behind it.

“Uriah!”

I shouted out and he suddenly appeared from the smoke.

“I got him,” he said.

He wrapped Cade’s arm around his shoulder and we worked together to help my brother out of the warehouse.

“Keep going! Get away from the building! It’s going up!”

The firefighters were doing their best with all of the hoses pointed at the building but the flames continued to burn up into the night sky.

Uriah and I moved Cade until we were finally far enough to get him away. We set Cade down on the ground. I took my mask off and let the oxygen tank clank against the pavement.

“Get me some help!” Uriah shouted. “I need help! Now!”

Uriah pressed his hands down on Cade’s wound just as the paramedics arrived. Everybody worked together to put Cade on the stretcher and haul him off. Just as Cade disappeared into the back of the ambulance, he looked back at me and smiled.

My brother…

I held back everything inside of me and smiled softly back at him.

“Do you think he’ll be all right?” I said.

“I’m sure he’ll be just fine. Cade is a tough man… Just like his brother…”

I slowly turned toward Uriah and he eyeballed me like a parent about to scold me.

“That was stupid,” he said.

“I couldn’t just let Cade stay in that building. I had to do something.”

“I was already going in there to save him. You’re in no condition—”

“No. You’ve already done too much for me. It wouldn’t be right for you to put your life on the line for me again. I had to do it. Knowing my brother, I don’t think he would’ve left that building if he was with you. He would’ve refused.”

“Why would he have refused? I would have carried him out kicking and screaming if it came down to that.”

“I know. But my brother…”

I looked back toward the burning warehouse. The firefighters’ efforts were futile. A great ball of fire burned bright in the middle of the West Bay for everybody to see.

“…He did it for the money,” I said. “It was always about the money. All of that effort… for nothing.”

“I’m sure Cade is fine knowing that you’re safe. You’re all that matters to him.”

“Yeah… I know that now.”

“Come on. Let’s get to the hospital. Your brother needs us.”