Chapter 8 - The Thaw
Within ninety seconds, three firefighters in heavy turn-out gear carrying Halligan bars and axes burst through the kitchen side doors, accompanied by two uniformed police officers.
"In here! Help!" Toby cried out, pointing his frying pan toward the locked walk-in freezer door. "My mom and dad are locked inside!"
The lead firefighter took one look at the heavy padlock jammed into the latch handle and the frost seeping from the door frame. He immediately wedged the prying tip of his Halligan bar into the lock shackle.
"Hit it!" the firefighter barked to his partner.
CRACK!
With a single blow from a flat-head axe, the padlock snapped. The firefighter threw open the heavy steel door.
A massive wall of white vapor poured out into the hallway. Inside, lying motionless near the back aluminum shelves, Mark and Lucy were curled together, their skin white, their breath shallow and slow.
"We got two victims! Severe hypothermia! Get the med kits in here now!" the captain shouted into his radio as two firefighters rushed into the room, lifting Mark and Lucy out onto the warmer kitchen floor.
In the main dining room, Victoria tried to slip out through the rear office exit, carrying a small leather briefcase containing her passport and bearer bonds.
"Hold it right there!" Officer Miller ordered, drawing his sidearm as he stepped through the hallway doors, blocking her path.
Victoria froze, her hand hovering near the door handle. "Officer... this is a misunderstanding. The boy went crazy... he started a fire—"
"Save it, Victoria," Officer Miller said cold, clicking heavy iron handcuffs around her wrists. "The automated security system in this building records video and audio in all commercial hallways. The chief is already reviewing the footage from ten minutes ago."
May you like
Victoria’s jaw dropped. She looked down the hallway to see Toby kneeling beside his mother on a stretcher, holding her warm hand as paramedics wrapped them both in reflective thermal blankets.
As the police led Victoria out through the front doors past a gathering crowd of news reporters, she looked back one last time. Toby met her gaze—his face pale, his cheek bruised, but his eyes burning with an unbroken, triumphant resolve.
