Richard Thomas hurried into the hospital building, his chest tight and his mind a tangled mess. His heart ached with every step he took. Just a few hours ago, he had received a call from the apartment manager, the kind of call no one should ever have to answer. There had been a fire. A fire in his home. A deadly, consuming fire.
The building had been evacuated, the tenants dragged out in panic and rushed into safety. Everyone had been taken away. Everyone-except those inside his house. His family. They had been trapped.
His fists clenched as he stumbled forward, his breath coming in sharp bursts. It had to be Marianne's doing. He could not think of anyone else. Because according to the first reports he had heard, there was only one person who had survived the flames. Marianne. Only her. She had been outside. Why had she been outside when everyone else was trapped and unable to come out?
If it had been in the past, he would have believed it was fate but now. Now he knew better/
