The air outside was fresher, telling Marilyn the smoke had started to sneak into the living quarters. She took a deep breath and was about to turn to see if there were any flames.
The sense of being watched stopped her. She couldn’t seem to move. Could feel eyes on her.
Jared’s.
You’ll always belong to me.
Her heart was pounding in that sickening way, thudding against her ribs. A cold sweat broke out at her temples. Her vision started to gray out.
Damn it. Not now. This was not the time for a panic attack. Her babies were waiting for her.
Focus on the immediate threat in front of you.
Noah’s voice chased out Jared’s in her head. Yes, she needed to keep her attention to the present moment, to what she could see and feel and touch. To what was real.
Jared wasn’t the immediate threat. He was still in jail. What was real was a fire threatening their home. She could smell the smoke, could feel solid ground under her feet. The night air, refreshing after running through the smoky halls.
And no wonder she felt eyes on her. Half the town had found their way outside the building, along with multiple emergency vehicles. Nobody was watching her specifically; everyone was watching everything.
Shaking off the rest of her fear, she darted through the crowd to find the kids, relieved that they were away from the worst of the madness. Bree was standing with them, having situated them off to the side where they wouldn’t be in the way or danger.
“Mommy!” Both children squealed when they saw her. Tromsø ran around in circles until he peed himself.
Marilyn sank to her knees and pulled them close. “See? I’m fine. Everything’s going to be just fine.” There were tear tracks on Sam’s cheeks which she kissed away.
Eva clung to her. “When can we go back to bed? Tromsø’s tired.”
“He is, huh?”
No one was going to be allowed back inside tonight for sure. She looked around. Tanner was taking Bree to get checked out by a paramedic. Jessica was talking to Barb and Francis, two of the other residents, with baby Christina clutched to her chest.
There were over a dozen people who needed to be settled someplace for the night, beyond just the exhausted, upset children in Marilyn’s arms. She couldn’t go hide in a corner somewhere. It was literally her job to handle this.
Maybe the kids could lie down in the car and go back to sleep while she worked to get the rest of the residents taken care of. The kids wouldn’t like it—she didn’t like it—but it would have to do.
There were people everywhere. The police were scooting gawking town members out of the way so the firefighters could get in and do their job on the opposite side of the building. Marilyn needed to get the kids settled and find someone in charge so she could get some answers.
She hoisted Eva up on her hip. “Okay, I’m going to have you guys lay down in the car with Tromsø while I help everyone get settled.”
“I wanna stay with you, Mommy,” Eva whispered in her ear as Marilyn grabbed Sam’s hand and began walking toward the car with Eva still in her arms. Sam’s lip was trembling again.
“Hey, listen. It’s all going to be okay. Mommy just needs to help the other people from the building. Like Miss Jessica and baby Christina. I need to make sure they have somewhere to go. Okay?”
They both nodded silently. God, she didn’t want to leave them here, especially after what she was feeling a few minutes ago. Every instinct told her not to.
She glanced at the chaos over the roof of her car. Leaving them here had to be safer than dragging them all around a fire scene, right?
“Anything I can do to help?”
The voice behind her didn’t startle her. It was a godsend.
Noah.
He looked as disheveled as she did—obviously having thrown on whatever was nearest in his rush to get here. To get to them.
His shirt was on inside out.
She wanted to throw herself in his arms but knew this wasn’t the time or place. Instead, she smiled and reached out a hand for him. He grabbed it, squeezing her fingers, and gave her a tiny nod. It was enough.
Eva, not a shy bone in her body, leaned out of Marilyn’s arms toward Noah. He plucked her up without any effort whatsoever. “Is everybody okay? What can I do to help?”