Center Stage
Page 45

Sweat began to bead on her neck as she lifted her leg and kicked in the old, wooden door.
Clara climbed over the pile of debris and into her aunt’s arms.
Arianna reached for Regan. “Don’t you breathe in this air. You have two boys to get home to.”
She grabbed her arm, and the three of them ran down the far side of the stage and up through the theater.
When they got to the doors, Arianna turned as she heard the entire curtain crash to the stage. The flames began to roll over the ceiling. She knew they only had a few minutes before they were all dead.
She pushed through the door and shoved Clara into the lobby. Arianna turned to reach for Regan, but she wasn’t there.
As she took a step to look for her, she was grabbed and an arm came around her throat.
“She’s dead. Now it’s your turn.” The voice whispered in her ear.
“I’ve done nothing to you.”
“You’re whole family will die tonight.”
Arianna saw Clara on the floor. “What did you do to her?”
“Tell me what they did to my baby.”
“What they did? They gave her to a family who would love her. You tried to kill her.”
“And I still will. No one gets away with this.”
Arianna felt the cold sting of metal push up against her throat. This wasn’t how she wanted to die. She wasn’t going to die.
She reached down to her side. Her purse was still draped over her. She felt for her gun, but it was gone.
“Let her go!”
It was Regan’s voice, but she couldn’t see her in the smoke. Alexander Hamilton’s hold around her neck was tighter. If she didn’t get out of his grasp, she was going to suffocate.
She could hear Clara behind her. She was alive.
“I said let her go!” Regan shouted again.
“When you’re dead, I’ll let her go and she can die right here with you.”
“Arianna!”
She tried to focus on her sister’s voice.
“Dad taught us about fire.”
Arianna sucked in a breath, and it burned her lungs. She wanted to cough, but his grip was too tight.
“Do you remember what you were supposed to do in a fire?”
Arianna tried to think. Her world was growing dark, but she struggled to be coherent.
“Do you remember?” Regan shouted again.
Arianna cleared her mind. He used to teach them to stop, drop, and roll. She knew if she let her body go loose, she’d slide from his grip and fall to the floor. Then she could roll away.
But what was Regan going to do? What could…her gun! Regan had her gun!
“One.” She heard Regan’s voice grow closer. “Two.” She’d taken another step. “Three.”
Arianna let her body become fluid, and she dropped out of Alexander’s arms. The knife scraped against her cheek as she fell to the floor and rolled away. At that moment an explosion ripped through the smoky air, and the man who had held her captive fell down to the ground next to her—lifeless.
Regan hurried to her and grabbed her arm as the flames around them began to move in.
Arianna struggled to her knees and over to Clara.
He’d hit her on the head, but her eyes were open. Blood dripped from above her eyebrow.
“Can you walk?” Arianna shouted against the sound of cracking wood.
Clara stood up and Arianna followed. Just as they pushed open the doors to the theater, they could hear the sounds of sirens coming around the corner.
The three of them made it to the street before the entire roof of the theater caved in.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Arianna woke up in a hospital bed. She hadn’t remembered getting there.
“Honey, are you okay?”
It was John’s voice.
Arianna turned her head. He was next to her in a chair, holding her hand.
She tried to sit up, but she couldn’t. Her eyes burned. She took a breath, and her chest ached. It was then she realized she had an oxygen mask on her face.
She lifted her arm to remove it, but she couldn’t find the strength. John stood and sat down on the edge of her bed.
Arianna was comforted by that. She’d been afraid something worse had happened to him.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” he said softly.
She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could hear the tears.
As well as she could, she motioned for him to take the mask off of her.
“You’re okay?” Her voice was raspy, only a whisper.
“I’m fine. I have a few staples in the back of my head.”
“Curtis?”
She felt another set of hands on her leg. “I’m right here. The son-of-a-bitch stole my truck and wrecked it while I was in surgery. Simone and Avery are okay, too.”
Arianna nodded.
“Regan?”
John brushed her hair from her forehead. “She’s in the other room. Zach is in there with her. Your mom is in the waiting room with the boys.”
“Clara?” The tears came when she asked.
John brushed them away. “She’s fine. They have her sucking back some oxygen, and she has a big bandage on her forehead. Nothing more than a scrape. Madeline, Carlos, and the boys are with her.”
John placed the oxygen back on her face, and Curtis moved closer to her.
“You have stitches in your cheek. You got cut pretty bad,” he told her.
She nodded.
“They confirmed that Hamilton is dead.”
She knew that, but it didn’t bring her any peace.
Curtis looked at John. “I’m going to go tell Mom and Dad she’s awake.” He left the room and she noticed John’s head fall and tears roll from his cheeks.
“The theater is a complete loss. I knew I’d lost you.” He wiped his eyes. “I’ve never felt pain like that before.”
Arianna finally moved her arm and pulled the mask from her face. “I’m here. Everything is okay.”
He nodded. “They gave me this.” He pulled her ring from his pocket. “I’ll give it back to you when you’re not all bandaged up.”
She looked down at her hands. There were cuts and bandages over her hands and arms.
John bit down on his lip and took a deep breath. “I guess we rebuild?”
She nodded. “Bigger and better.”
He laughed through his tears. “That’s my girl.”