Precinct 11 - 01 - The Brotherhood Read Online Free PDF Page B

She was about to run in her house and call 911 when Nikki finally came staggering out of there with Josh in her arms.”
    Boone covered his mouth and the sobs began anew.
    “That enough for now?”
    Boone shook his head and took his hand away. “Go on.”
    “Mrs. Gustavson says Nikki and Josh were completely engulfed in flames. Nikki dropped and rolled on the grass, but it was doing no good. The woman hooked up her garden hose. She feels so bad, Boone. She says it took her way longer than it should have because she was shaking and crying and trying so hard to hurry. She dragged that hose through her hedges and into your yard and sprayed water on them until the fire went out. But she says Nikki had stopped rolling and was unconscious before she even got to them. Other neighbors came running and CFD was there in minutes. The EMTs determined that Josh was gone, but they didn’t dare try to separate him from Nikki till they got to the hospital. It was all they could do to keep her alive.”
    Boone buried his face in his hands. “Tell me I’m going to wake up soon.”

4
    The Good-bye
    Pastor Sosa draped an arm around Boone. “Father,” he said, his own voice thick and shaky, “we hate this. We don’t understand it. We wish we could go back to before it happened. But we also believe you’re sovereign. All we can do is trust you and beg you to help us endure.”
    Beyond horror and grief, rage began to roil in Boone. What had he ever done to deserve this? He so desperately wanted to see Nikki and try to communicate something to her, anything. But he was also still thoroughly confused.
    “CFD still investigating?” he said.
    Keller nodded. “Yeah. From what they can piece together, Josh must have gotten to the gas can in the garage and tipped it over, and the gas ran under the water heater closet door. The fumes would have been ignited by the pilot light.”
    Boone sat shaking his head.
    “But wasn’t the baby down for his nap?” Keller said. “Isn’t he still in a crib?”
    “He’d been getting out on his own lately. I should have done something about that.”
    “Don’t do that, Boone,” Pastor Sosa said. “We can’t control everything in this life.”
    For much of the next hour, Boone sat in the conference room, lips pressed together, slowly shaking his head. This couldn’t be happening, mustn’t be happening. How was he to accept such horror? He had so many questions for Pastor Sosa, but he didn’t dare start because he knew his venom would spew. Everything he would demand to know would come out as a challenge. How could God do this? And if he didn’t do it, as he knew the pastor would say, how could he allow it? It made no sense.
    So many people deserved to die, some even to be tortured to death by fire. But why Joshie? And why Nikki?
    His knees were bouncing, so eager was he to see her before she slipped away. Would he pray that she died rather than suffer from such ghastly injuries, as Dr. Sarangan had suggested? He’d seen the results when people survived massive burns. Their faces looked rubberized, their extremities stubs if they existed at all. From what he gathered, Nikki would be worse than anything he had ever even imagined. No limbs, no eyes, some rebuilt face and scalp harvested from the little expanse of skin protected by Josh’s body.
    If her brain was intact and she was able to speak, would that be enough? Was he willing to care for her around the clock for as long as she lived? He had made that vow, and he was one for keeping promises. But would she want to live that way? Would anyone? Boone sure wouldn’t.
    Part of him wanted to pray, to plead, to beg, to promise. He would pledge to be as devout and passionate about his faith as Pastor Sosa wanted him to be, if only . . . if only what? Nikki survived? It would be selfish, mean even, to expect her to endure such agony just for him. No, he would make such an earnest supplication and promise only if God would restore her. Couldn’t