Up in Flames (Carlisle Fire)

Chapter 1

TO SAY that Chase van Casten was nervous was the understatement of the century. Okay, maybe nervous excitement was a better description. He felt as though he was going to jump out of his skin at any moment, even though all he was doing was wiping down the fire engine for what seemed like the eighth time. Waiting around sucked. Everyone was all coiled energy, just waiting to be called into action.

“You need to stop looking like you’ll bolt out of here any second,” Hayden said as he inspected Chase’s work. “Why do you think we take such good care of our equipment?”

“So it’s ready when we need it,” Chase answered, feeling like he was regurgitating from a textbook.

“That’s part of it. But keeping our equipment in working order doesn’t mean we need to wash and polish it every day. Hell, sometimes it’s a wonder the truck isn’t totally waterlogged. Its real purpose is to keep us busy and give us something to do that isn’t sitting around looking at the clock, waiting for the next call. It will come. They always do.”

“Yeah. I went on one yesterday out to the highway because there was an accident. But all I did was sit around waiting in case something happened.” He had hoped there would be some action, something he needed to do, but in the end they’d returned to the station once it became clear the cars weren’t going to burst into flames. “It was kind of boring,” he whispered.

Hayden looked upward for a second and then laughed. “Being a firefighter is long hours with nothing to do followed by a few minutes of heart-pounding excitement where we need to be calm and collected.” He patted Chase on the shoulder, standing tall before stretching, his shirt riding up.

Chase turned away and tried not to react to the strip of warm flesh. Scuttlebutt traveled pretty quickly through the station, and Chase already knew that the other gay firefighter at the station was well and truly taken. Not that he was interested in any sort of relationship. His last one had ended about as badly as possible, and Chase had determined that mindless sex with no commitment or emotional entanglement was the way to go. After all, he was young, strong, and he liked to think good-looking. He was starting to make friends in town, and there were places he could go to meet guys for a good time. That was all he needed.

“Where did you go?” Hayden asked.

Chase pulled his attention back to what he was doing. “Nowhere. Just thinking about shit.”

“That can be dangerous, you know.” Hayden’s tone was teasing.

Chase finished what he was doing and was putting away the cleaning supplies when the alarm went off. Instantly the quiet was shattered, not just by sound, but activity. Chase jumped into his fire suit and joined the others on the engine before it pulled out of the garage and raced through the streets.

This was what a bat out of hell felt like. The truck rocked with each turn, and the air swirled around the open section of the cab as he watched where they’d been. “Two-alarm house fire,” Hayden said. “This is not going to be pretty. You know your job, so do it right away.”

Chase nodded. He had to get the hoses out and hooked up. They had practiced the routine many times. As soon as the truck stopped in front of the house with black smoke pouring out of every front window and the roof, his feet hit the ground. He sprang into action, pulling out hoses and hooking them into a line. Then Hayden attached it to the hydrant, and Chase began spraying water through the upper windows, sending up a cloud of steam.

“It’s burning really hot,” Chase said to himself. They had communication through their helmets. Guys scurried behind him, the captain gathering information while Chase concentrated on his job. He moved the stream of water to the second window, sending up more steam.

One of the guys bumped his shoulder, and Chase let him take over the hose, wondering if he had done something wrong.

“Take that hose around to the back of the house,” the captain told him.

Without hesitating, Chase dragged the hose through the side yard and around the back. That part of the house was quiet. The fire seemed confined to the front for now. Still, he wetted down the walls and got water up and over the roof.

Looking upward, watching where his water was going, he nearly missed it: movement in the upper floor window. “I need some help back here, now,” Chase said, relieved when Hayden raced back. Without thinking, Chase handed him the hose. “There’s someone up there.”

Chase ran around to the side, grabbed a ladder, and hurried back. He extended it far enough to reach the window before climbing with practiced ease. By the time he reached the window, he had his tool in hand and broke the glass. Smoke poured out of the opening as he cleared away the shards, then entered a back children’s bedroom with a small bed, stuffed toys, and a dresser with open drawers. He looked around for a second before slamming the door closed to block out the flow of smoke.

A squeak caught his attention. Then he bent down and looked under the bed into a pair of huge blue eyes filled with panic.

“It’s okay. I’m a firefighter, and I’m going to help you.” He extended his hand, and the child took it. Chase gently tugged him out and lifted him into his arms. “It’s going to be okay,” he said as a crash sounded in the rest of the house. Either the floor or roof must have fallen in. Chase didn’t have the time to think about it. “Put your arms around my neck and hold tight, okay?” With one hand he held to the boy, and using the other, he got them out onto the ladder. The young boy clung to him tightly, and Chase slowly stepped toward the ground, where a group of the guys waited.

As soon as his feet touched the ground, he hugged the boy, who shook like a leaf against him.

A man raced up to them. “Oh God.” He took the boy, holding him and rocking him against his chest.

Chase guided them away from the building and took off his helmet, glad to breathe fresh air.

“Peter, are you okay?” the man said through sobs as he continued holding the boy. He must have been five or a little older.

“Take him out front and let the paramedics look him over,” Chase said.

The man looked up at him with huge, piercing blue eyes. “Thank you for saving him.” The words were barely understandable. “I left him with the sitter, and when the fire broke out, she got out, but Peter….” He tried to take a step, but his knees buckled.

Chase caught them both. “Come with me. Let’s get him looked at.” Chase held the man’s arm and took him through the large side yard. They picked their way over hoses and around the firefighters to a waiting ambulance.

“Way to go, kid,” one of the older guys called when they saw him. Chase kept his mind on the task at hand, getting the father and son to the ambulance, where they sat Peter down and the EMTs got to work.

“Thank you,” the man said again, and Chase nodded before reporting to the captain.

“Damn, kid, that was some initiation,” the captain said.

Chase nodded. “Why didn’t we know about the child?” They could have gotten to him earlier if they had.

“The sitter was overcome, and they had already transported her to the hospital. The father just showed up and told us that his son was inside and then ran around to the back as you were climbing the ladder. What I want to know is how you knew.”

“I saw movement inside,” Chase said. “I knew it could have been a phantom, a trick of light and smoke, but I couldn’t take the chance.”

The captain nodded, and Chase stepped away and let him get back to directing the others.

The voracity of the fire was abating. One of the firefighters stood in the open front doorway, spraying water inside.

Hayden came up next to Chase. “You did amazing. I swear you were inside less than two minutes and you got the kid. Well done. I guess you get to come back to work tomorrow.” He grinned evilly.

“Asshole,” Chase retorted.

Hayden clapped him on the shoulder. “Did you get checked out?”

Chase shrugged. “I didn’t get any smoke. I’m good.” Hell, he was on cloud nine. His first real fire call and he’d rescued someone. That was why he had become a firefighter in the first place. Chase didn’t have a hero complex, or at least he didn’t see himself as a hero, but he saw the profession as one that had heroes, and maybe today he had shown that he might have what it took to join their ranks.

The team continued putting water on the building until, after about half an hour, they pulled some of the hoses back and teams of firefighters went inside. When they returned outside, they declared the fire extinguished. Chase joined the rest of the team as they gathered up the hoses, rolled them, and put the equipment away.

Peter and his dad sat on the back of the ambulance, Peter holding his dad’s arm while the parent talked on the phone. “I know…,” he was saying as Chase drew closer. “Yes, it seems like the building is a total loss. There’s only the outside shell standing at the moment, and it’s not likely to be structurally sound. Okay. … Okay. … We’ll do that. Thank you.” He hung up, his eyes a little wild.

“How are you both doing?” Chase asked, kneeling in front of Peter. “Are you breathing okay?”

“Yes. The ambulance man said I’m okay.” He leaned closer to his dad before burying his head against his side.

“That’s good. And you were brave, staying in your room like that where we could get you out.” Chase smiled a little, but Peter didn’t say anything more.

“Peter is okay. They said he breathed in some smoke and that I should keep an eye on him for a few days, but he seems to be doing okay and isn’t coughing a lot.” The man’s hand shook a little.

“How are you doing?” Chase asked. “Are you able to find a place to stay?” There was no way this small family was going to be going back into the house anytime soon… or likely ever. Only the back section of the home was still roofed.

“I guess we’ll put up at the hotel downtown. That’s what the insurance company said to do, anyway.” He seemed unsure of himself. “But I want to thank you for what you did. If you hadn’t seen Peter….” His voice cracked. “I can get a new house, but….” He shook, and Peter held him tighter.

“It’s okay, Daddy. The fireman saved me.”

The man lifted Peter into his lap and held him tightly. “I know. You’re all that matters.” He seemed like he was trying to keep it together. He buried his face against his son, and Chase turned away and left them alone so he didn’t intrude.

“How are they doing?” Hayden asked when Chase returned to help with the cleanup.

Chase realized he didn’t have an answer. “As well as could be expected, I guess.” He couldn’t help turning to look at the two of them. “Is it always like this? I mean, there’s the excitement and all, but they never tell you about the aftermath.”

“You’re getting a trial by fire this time, that’s for sure,” Hayden said. “You good to ride back with the crew?”

“What are you doing?”

“I need to narrow down the cause of the fire. You can help if you like.” Everyone said that Hayden was really good that way, and he liked to work with the new team members. “Finish putting the gear away, and we’ll take a look inside.”

Chase got to work on that, and the captain told him to stay with Hayden and help him out, so while most everyone else packed up and left, including Peter and his dad, Chase pulled on his gear and followed Hayden inside through the back door.

“We’re looking for the places where it’s burned the most. That will lead us to where the fire started.”

Slowly they made their way forward. The floors were charred, and Chase stayed back and let Hayden pick his way through first. It was best to keep their weight spread out.

“Look there,” Chase said, pointing to a hole in the floor of the living room. “That didn’t just cave in—it was burned away from below.”

“Good eye,” Hayden praised. “Back up and we’ll go down the back stairs. I think we’ll probably find what we need down there.”

They retraced their steps, water dripping from above as they found the stairs leading down. Chase turned on his light and followed Hayden. Thankfully the stairwell was in the unburned section of the house.

Hayden shone a light through the old basement, their boots sloshing through an inch of water.

“The power has been turned off, I hope.” Chase looked around nervously.

“We wouldn’t be down here otherwise.” Hayden shone his light at the electrical box on the wall. It looked like it had been through a war. “Looks like we found our culprit. Something in the box must have really shorted out for it to look like this.”

Chase looked the box over, then wandered to the hole in the floor above before returning to where Hayden was trying to get a closer look at the melted insides. What Hayden was saying made sense, and the electrical box was definitely a melted mess, but he kept returning to the hole in the floor and the debris beneath it. Chase kicked through it a little to see what was under there and located a few melted bits of plastic. The pile was soggy, and it was hard to distinguish what most things had once been. “Check this out,” Chase said, kneeling to get a closer look.

Hayden came over. “All that probably dropped through the hole in the floor. You can see it’s open all the way through the roof. It’s likely this was the weakest spot, and as soon as the fire broke through, it worked its way up, making its own chimney.” He returned to what was left of the electrical box to take some pictures and a few samples.

“Did you ever have electrical training?” Chase asked.

“Not really, which is why I’m taking pictures so I can look into it further. But I’m pretty sure this is where it started.” He took the photos, and then the two of them left the basement and the house. Hayden made a phone call requesting that the police cordon off the house in case they needed to look into anything more. Then they rode back to the station, and Chase went inside and took off his gear before joining the rest of the team in cleaning off the trucks and restowing the supplies.

AT THE end of his shift, Chase left the station and walked through town to his apartment above Miss Ruthie’s Timebomb, a vintage clothing store in downtown Carlisle. He entered the door at the side of the storefront, then climbed the stairs to the second floor, where he showered and decided he didn’t want to cook. His mom was great in the kitchen, but that talent had skipped right over him. He could heat things up, but that was about the extent of his skill in that particular area.

Once he no longer smelled of smoke, Chase dressed and wandered down Hanover Street toward one of the restaurants. He was hungry, and the Whiskey Rebellion, part of the hotel downtown, had some of the world’s best onion rings. Chase had no idea how they made them, but the batter came out light and crispy. They also had an amazing shepherd’s pie, and he loved the stuff. It was almost as good as his mother’s, though he would never tell her that. He’d first had those incredible onion rings when he came to town to interview for the job, and now that he’d started, he wanted to treat himself. After all, he’d done well.

The restaurant was busy. Chase checked in the bar to see if there was an empty stool, but everything was taken. He was about to leave when the man from the house fire hurried up to him. “You can join us for dinner if you want.” He turned back to where little Peter sat at the table.

“I don’t want to interrupt your dinner.” Chase could go down to the diner or eat at one of the brew pubs.

“Are you kidding? If it weren’t for you, there wouldn’t be a dinner at all.” He motioned, and Chase followed him to the table.

“I’m Chase.”

“You already know Peter. And I’m Jerrod Whipkey.” They shook hands, and Chase took an empty chair. “Have they found out what started the fire?” he asked softly.

“We’re still working on it.” Chase didn’t think it was appropriate for him to discuss what he and Hayden had found. “These things can take some time.”

“I suppose.” Jerrod sighed. “I wish I had been home.” He smiled at Peter, who drank from his glass of milk. Chase had nothing to add to that. “The sitter had gotten herself out of the house and left Peter alone upstairs.”

“Are you the fireman who rescued me?” Peter asked.

“Yup. I guess I look a lot different now,” Chase said as Peter slipped out of his chair and came up to Chase to give him a hug.

“You were brave.”

“So were you,” Chase said. “You were really brave too.” He returned the hug, and then Peter went back to his seat, smiling at his daddy. Chase felt like a hero for about two seconds, but more because of his profession. Any of his coworkers would have done the same thing if they had been in his position. He decided to change the subject. “What do you do for work?” he asked Jerrod.

“I’m an independent electrician. I work on a number of the developments going up around town.”

At first Chase was excited because maybe Jerrod could help with the cause of the fire, but then realization kicked in, and he knew that if Hayden was right and the cause was an electrical issue, then one way or another, Jerrod was going to be in a world of hurt.