Chapter 18

The next morning, Beth woke up and after taking a bath and brushing her teeth, she turned on her phone. Fielding all the messages from the others, she went straight to her mom's. Sarah's third voicemail left her heart pounding and her entire body tightening with fear. Retrieving nothing, she immediately bolted out of the room and out of the hotel.

Brandon pushed past the crowd in front of Beth's house like a mad man. His eyes were stuck on the building ablaze in front of him. Thick smoke darkened the clouds. He felt the hands of the Police officers and Brian around him, but he kept fighting. He had to. Beth's house was on fire.

'Elizabeth, I'm choking. I-I think I left the stove turned on earlier. I'm going to ch-eck. Where are you? C--call me as soon as you get this.'

Sarah's strangled voice kept ringing in Beth's head. The voicemail was sent a little over an hour ago. She had called over and over again, but it had gone straight to voicemail.

"Please, go faster," she hassled the