On the screen, orange flames tore through the building, lighting up windows and filling the night air with smoke.
"I'm here at the Waterstone apartment building and I understand that there are still people trapped inside," the announcer spoke earnestly into the microphone. She wore a smart blue coat with a matching scarf around her neck, and her hair looked as neat as if she'd just left the salon. "Apparently the fire started in one of the downstairs rooms but as you can see, it's spreading quickly to the upper floors."
Uniformed officers moved purposely about in the background, keeping back the crowd of on-lookers. Fire-engine lights flashed continuously, highlighting streams of water showering up at the flames. Then someone shouted.
"Look! Up there! On the roof!"
Deserting the announcer, the camera panned quickly to the top of the building which was still untouched by fire.
"There are people up there!"
The camera zoomed in, showing the shapes of two adults, standing at the edge peering over, apparently seeking a way down. One of the adults held a child wrapped in a blanket.
"Get a ladder up there! Quickly!" The shouts came thick and fast but it was evident to all but the most optimistic that the eight storey building was too tall for a ladder to reach the top, even one of the brigade's extension ladders.
Mariah Travers watched the unfolding drama in horrified dismay. Fire crews had begun to inflate a huge airbag as an emergency option but it was a long way to jump, especially for someone carrying a child. Almost as if he'd heard her, the man with the child turned and the camera caught a shot of his face. Mariah gasped. Wasn't that—?
"Guy!" she called
Guy came in from the kitchen drying his hands on a tea towel.
"What's up?" he asked, slinging the cloth over one shoulder.
Mariah pointed at the screen. "Up there, on the roof. Isn't that your nemesis? The detective who's been following you? Guy?"
Silence.
Annoyed, Mariah turned around but the room was empty. Guy had gone.
