Chapter 11 - SMOKE IN THE SHED
The training shed caught fire after sunset. An alarm sent recruits racing across the yard as gray smoke crawled from beneath a metal door. Mercer stopped them at the safety line and called the fire crew.
Then someone shouted, "Ward's inside!"
Ethan had stayed behind to return equipment. A falling shelf blocked the side exit. Olivia heard him pounding before she saw the smoke. She started forward, but Mercer caught her arm.
"Nobody runs into that," he snapped. "Show me another way."
She pointed to the window beside the storage ramp. "He can reach that if he crawls."
Mercer used the exterior emergency speaker. Olivia called through the glass: "Ethan! Get low! Follow my voice!"
Something crashed inside. Ethan shouted that he couldn't move the shelf.
"Then don't move it," she called. "Crawl under the back corner! The floor drops there."
He appeared coughing at the window just as firefighters reached it. They forced it open and pulled him out. Olivia took a step back to give the crew room, then steadied him when his legs buckled.
His eyes were red. "After what I did to you... why?"
"Because leaving somebody in there wouldn't make me better than you."
Firefighters controlled the blaze quickly. No one died. The investigation found a damaged electrical fixture, but there were also signs that stored boxes had been moved in a way that blocked an exit. The cause remained open.
In the medical room Ethan finally told Chen what he'd been afraid to admit. His father had offered to clear a large debt if Ethan drove Olivia out of training. He had sent her roster information to Walter, who warned him that Olivia was dangerous.
"I wanted the money," Ethan said. "And I liked making someone else look small. I can't pretend I didn't."
He handed over messages he'd preserved despite his father's demand to delete them.
May you like
Among them was a text sent two hours before the shed alarm.
MAKE SURE REYES IS THE ONE WHO GETS BLAMED.
