Tommy lunged at the stretcher being loaded into the ambulance. In a flash, Lou and the chief both had their arms around him, but Tommy threw them aside and continued towards his daughter's lifeless form, battered and bloody on the stretcher. He let out an animalistic howl of anguish.
Six of his team members surrounded him, each one pushing against Tommy with all their weight. Rage and adrenaline overtook his body as he tore against these enemies trying to hurt his daughter.
After an eternity of struggling, Tommy's little girl was loaded out of sight in the ambulance and the six firefighters had finally forced him to the shrapnel-littered ground and lay on top of him. He didn't feel the tears of agony that burned his flushed cheeks, but they blurred his vision nonetheless, drowning him in blindness.
Tommy cried out and punched the wall, fracturing three knuckles and leaving a gratifying smear of bright red on the stark paint. In a new flash of physical pain, his mental torment faded.
Down stairs, the back door opened and three men's voices drifted upstairs.
The movers.
"Shit," Tommy breathed, hurrying to the window in his son's room that overlooked the roof above the dining room. He kicked out the screen and dropped onto the roof, then lowered himself to the ground below and made his way around Janet's house to the backdoor.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" he asked the movers.
One of the movers did a double take. "Is this… you aren't the homeowner, are you?"
"Huh? Oh no, I'm Janet's neighbor. She didn't tell me she was moving. I'd have helped her out."
The mover eased up a little, and proffered a hand. "Name's Jack." Jack's Jersey accent became apparent with his introduction.
Tommy shock Jack's hand. "Tommy." He sighed and looked around. "So, where's Janet moving anyhow?"
Jack scratched the back of his head. "I don't know, exactly. We're supposed to get the truck out to Cleveland, and then another crew is going to take over, but I don't know where they're going from there."
Tommy nodded and smiled. "Thanks. Well, see ya'." With that, he turned and headed across the street to his house.
Cleveland. Where the hell could she possibly be going?
He peeked through the kitchen curtains at the movers. "Guess I'll have to follow them, like I said I would."
He took of swig of Jack Daniels straight from the bottle, and spoke into the neck. "I'm comin' to get you, bitch."