Mark: Mary! Look at me! Hold on, do you hear me?!
Mary: Tell Alex... I tried to come back... I tried...
Mark: I'm taking you out myself! Lean on my shoulder!
Mark hooked his arms under Mary's shoulders, hauling her upright as fire licked at the ceiling above them.
He carried her through the suffocating haze, kicking open the heavy emergency exit doors into the bright daylight.
Paramedics immediately rushed forward with a gurney, surrounding the pregnant woman as Mark collapsed onto his knees.
Paramedic John: Captain! Are you injured?! You're hyperventilating!
Mark: Save her... Just save her and the baby!
Paramedic John: We're loading her into the rig right now! Pulse is weak!
Mark unclasped his gloved hand, staring intensely at the diamond ring held tightly in his palm.
His phone vibrated violently inside his turnout gear pocket, displaying his younger brother's name on the screen.
Mark: Alex! Where are you right now?!
Alex: I'm at the office, Mark. Why do you sound like that? Did something happen at the call site?
Mark: Alex... I found her. I found Mary.
The line went completely silent for five long seconds before Alex spoke again, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Alex: Mark... don't play games with me. Mary disappeared two years ago. The police closed the missing person file.
Mark: She's alive, Alex! I just pulled her out of an apartment fire on Elm Street! She's pregnant!
Alex: What?! Pregnant?! Is she okay?!
Mark: She's being rushed to Dallas General Hospital! But Alex... she gave me your ring.
Alex: My ring? The one I bought at the jewelry store before she vanished?
Mark: Yes! And she told me to tell you that she and the baby won't be waiting anymore!
Alex: I'm driving to the hospital right now! Mark, who owned that apartment building?!
Mark: I'm looking at the tax property registry on my rig's tablet right now...
Mark walked briskly over to the fire engine, wiping sweat from his forehead as he tapped the digital screen.
Mark: The deed is held by a shell corporation... Vance Real Estate Holdings.
Alex: Vance Holdings?! That's our stepfather's company!
Mark: What would Richard Vance be doing with a secret residential property downtown?
Alex: He was the last person who saw Mary before she vanished two years ago, Mark!
Mark: You don't think... Richard locked her away in that building?
Alex: I don't think, Mark—I know. Meet me at the hospital right now!