26
“Jack!” I yelled, scanning the area. “Jack!”
Thick black smoke plumed. The gas station wasn’t much more than a skeleton now. The fire had eaten much of the structure.
Brett pulled his car up alongside me. “Get in.”
“I have to find Jack.”
“Get in before this place explodes.”
He had a point. I hopped in, and he gunned it down the street just as fire crews arrived.
“We have to find Jack,” I said.
“Jack will be fine on his own,” Brett said.
“Fine? He just set a gas station on fire.”
“Leave him alone. You don’t want to corner him.”
“But he set a gas station on fire,” I repeated as though Brett had cotton in his ears.
“Leave him alone.”
“I’ll call him,” I said, dialing his number. When he didn’t answer, I left a message telling him to either call me or get to a hospital or both,
