"Fire department! Evacuate the building!" I shouted down the hall. "Help your neighbors get to the first floor and clear the area!"
I got a few confused looks, but after I repeated my message a few times, people began filing down the stairs and out of the building. It was the same on the second floor, but when I got to the third floor and saw the door to 3A standing open, I knew there was going to be trouble.
"VICTOR!" I shouted as I marched down the hallway to the apartment. "Be a man, and come talk to me before you burn the place down!"
"Fuck you, Connor!" he shouted. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be, you loser!"
I stepped through the doorway and saw Victor holding a Glock pistol to Liz's head as she lay face down on the sofa. The smell of gasoline was overwhelming, and I immediately began to feel lightheaded.
"Victor, you don't have to do this," I said as I calmly walked toward the balcony. I thought about rushing him and tackling him, but with him holding a gun at Liz’s temple I didn't want to take the risk.
"Don't you fucking touch that door," he growled as he quickly shifted the gun and pointed at my chest. "You're a menace, Connor, and you deserve everything you're going to get."
"Did it ever occur to you that you deserved everything you got, Vangel?" I asked, stalling for time. I could hear the fire department sirens in the background and the sound of the fire alarm made for an annoying background noise. "That maybe you're the one that's fucked up and doing this is evidence of your complete loss of your grip on reality?"
"Nice try." He grinned as he waved the gun and gestured around the apartment. "But it's not going to work. I know what I'm angry about, and it's your fault. You took something that mattered to me, so now I'm going to take things that matter to you."
"You know, you really could have done a better job of that," I said in a bored tone. "You should have burned my house down. Or killed my dog, maybe. That would have definitely taught me a lesson. That house was the one I built for Quinn, you know. Burning that down would have really devastated me. Killing these two girls is just, well, it's just irresponsible of you, Victor."
I saw the confusion briefly flash across his face, and I knew I was hitting my mark. Behind Victor, I saw the back bedroom door crack open and Alex stick her head out. I shook my head as I spoke letting her know she should stay put.
"If you kill these two girls, it'll be sad, that's for certain," I said as I stared at Victor. "But it's not going to devastate me. I mean, they're two nursing students. What do they mean to me? This one is a drug addict and the other one is good lay. That's it."
"But you brought the other one to the station," Victor said. "That had to mean something."
"Yeah, it meant I was going to get laid." I laughed. "Do you have any idea how hot chicks get for firemen? Oh, no, you don't, do you? You're a rules guy, aren't you?"
"What the hell does that mean?" Victor said as his hand dropped slightly. I could see I was getting to him.
"It means you follow the rules, until you don't." I shrugged. "I know you tried to frame me for that warehouse fire accident. Everyone knows."
"You fucked up, Connor! I didn't have to do anything!" he shouted angrily. "You lead this charmed life. Everyone takes pity on you and excuses your mistakes because they feel sorry for you, but you're a fuck-up and they just don't see it!"
"I live a charmed life?" I shot back. "What fucking charmed life is it when the woman I loved died in a fire that I couldn't stop? I'm not seeing the charm in that, Vangel!"
Victor's hand wavered for a moment and I saw a brief window of opportunity, so I took it and dove for the gun. His hand snapped back and then everything went black.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Alex
I could hear Cam and Victor arguing in the front room, but when I cracked the door and looked out, Cam shook his head letting me know that it wasn't safe to come out. I shut the door and waited for the fire department to arrive and stop this madness.
As the argument got more heated, I heard the rise and fall of angry voices and then silence. That worried me, so I cracked the door and saw Cam lying face down on the gasoline-soaked carpet as Victor pulled Liz off the sofa and positioned her next to Cam.
"I know you're in here, Alex!" Victor called as he worked in the front room. I quietly closed the door and replaced the chair under the handle, trying to figure out what to do next. Victor kept talking as he prepped the apartment for whatever he was going to do next. "I'm going to start this fire on the first floor because I want it to spread upward and engulf this entire building. Do you know why, Alex?"
When I failed to respond, he continued talking.
"I want to burn this fucking building to the ground with all of you in it," he shouted. "I want you to suffer the way I've suffered, and the only way to do that is to prolong the agony."
"Your logic is completely flawed, Victor!" I yelled through the closed door. "You're not going to make us suffer, you're going to make the innocent people who live in this building suffer!"
"So what?" he yelled. "I'll get my revenge!"
"You're stupid," I muttered as I looked around the room for a possible weapon before yelling, "Why is revenge so important to you?"
"It's the only thing that sets things right," he said, startling me as he threw himself against the door and shoved it open enough to get the hand holding the gun inside. "I don't have anything to lose anymore, Alex. Now I just want revenge."