Chapter 26
“Wildfires teach you that one spark can change everything.”
—It’s science
Hector
The flames kept getting brighter as I approached my house.
When I pulled up, I saw two extra vehicles next to Iris’s—the first was one of our standard-issue SUVs, but I had no idea who the other vehicle belonged to.
It could be Diden’s or Jennings’s or anyone else’s.
Nothing was off the table at this point.
I opted to leave my car at the end of the drive and walk up to the house instead.
Yes, that would be slower, but it would also allow me to be quieter if I needed to launch a surprise attack.
I could see flames off in the distance to the northwest of my house, but they were still far enough away that I had time to go in and see if anyone was still in the house.
My heart was beating faster than it ever had before. I’d fought overseas with the Army and gone undercover on several operations with the LVPD—some of which had involved incredibly close calls—but none had terrified me like this. The thought of Iris being hurt or scared boiled my blood.
Just as I left my vehicle, I heard a soft voice call out. “Ranger Madeira. Ranger Madeira. Over here.”
I turned, putting my hand at my hip where my service weapon was.
A shadow appeared from behind the shrubs along the ridge. It was Steve.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I hissed at him.
“I’m trying to help,” he said frantically, holding his hands up. “Jennings is in there with Iris and Ann. He shot Ann and hit Iris over the head.”
“Why didn’t he hurt you?” I questioned him, noting he looked perfectly fine to me.
“I…uhh…was watching through a side window,” he sputtered and looked down. “I was going to call for help, but I dropped my phone on the way out here, and now it doesn’t work.”
He held out his phone with a cracked screen as proof.
“Give me the basics of what happened as fast as you can,” I demanded.
“Ann and I showed up because we were coming to get Iris and take her to some special agent lady that Ann knew because we suspected Jennings,” he started to rattle off.
“Jennings must have been not far behind because he showed up. He shot Ann when she tried to go after him, and then turned and went for Iris. He hit her over the head with his gun, and she went down. He was so caught up with all the others, I slipped out the door. I was going to get in the car and drive to get help, but he’d slashed all the tires of the vehicles.
I came down here hoping someone would come by and call for help. ”
Shit. I needed to get up there and check the situation.
“Is he still in there?”
“I…I don’t know,” he responded. “I heard another shot fired, but then I noticed the fire and wasn’t sure what to do.”
“Here’s what’s going to happen,” I directed. “If both women are injured, I can’t carry them both, so I need you to come with me. But you are going to stay by my side the entire time. Do you understand?”
I didn’t fully trust him yet, so there was no way I was having him at my back.
He quickly held up his hands in surrender with a panicked look on his face. “Yes, got it.”
“I’ve already called in for backup and help, so it should be on the way, but we need to get those women and my dog out of there before the fire gets to the house.”
He nodded, and we began walking up to the house.
“No talking, and no noises. Understood?” I instructed.
He nodded again, and we quietly walked up my dirt path just to the side of my gravel driveway.
We passed all three vehicles and noticed that they did in fact have all their tires slashed. As we crept closer to the house, I could see that the front door was open.
A moment later, something bolted out, and I heard a low bark. Sarge came rushing toward me, barking again and doing circles. This was his alert bark—his recall signal—to let me know he’d found something important and I needed to follow him.
I gave Steve the universal signal to be quiet with my finger over my lips, and he nodded.
I pulled out my gun as I approached the doorway…
and then I saw blood. Not a lot, but drips and streaks scattered along my living room and hallway.
That’s when I saw her—Iris—sitting half upright and holding her head.
“Jesus Christ,” I muttered, bolting into the house and crouching down beside her.
“Are you okay?” I asked, running my hands over her body to check for blood.
“I’m okay,” she said, her voice very raspy.
Sarge came to sit right next to her.
“Is there anyone else here?” I asked as I scanned the house quickly.
“I…I don’t think so,” she said. “Jennings shot Ann, but then he hit me over the head and I blacked out. I…I don’t know where they are.”
That explained the blood. My guess was he dragged Ann somewhere, but he wouldn’t just leave Iris here for good. He would come back.
“Steve,” I called out to him but in a quieter tone.
He popped his head through the doorway immediately as I waved for him to come over to where Iris and I were. To his credit, he came over immediately.
“He’s one of the good guys, Hector,” Iris said to me, likely sensing my hesitation around him.
“Can you walk, or do I need to carry you?” I asked her, knowing we needed to leave now.
“I just need to sit here for a moment and let my head stop spinning.”
“We can’t do that, Iris,” I told her. “We need to leave now. I’ll carry you.”
I started to scoop her up when she turned to me, holding her hands up. “Just give me a few minutes.”
“We don’t have a few minutes, Iris,” I said gravely. “The area around the house is on fire, and the wind is causing it to spread quickly. We need to go now.”
I lifted her up and set her on the edge of my living room chair.
“You have sixty seconds to determine whether I carry you or you walk,” I told her. “I’m going to go scan the rest of the house for Ann, and then we are leaving.”
I turned to Steve. “You watch her while I check the house. If something feels off or Sarge starts to growl, you yell out as loud as you can. Got it?”
He nodded feverishly and stayed right where he was.
Less than sixty seconds later, I had passed through two other rooms and then finally made it to my master bedroom, where several drops of blood had led.
My gun was up as I entered. I found Ann slumped on the floor next to my bed.
I quickly scanned the rest of the room and noticed my bedroom window on the far wall was wide open.
I never opened those—ever. My guess was Jennings either left on his own, thinking neither woman would wake up, or he heard Sarge bark and took off, thinking backup was arriving.
Out that same window, I could see the flames edging closer to the house. I walked in and bent at Ann’s side.
“Ann, are you okay?” I whispered to her as I checked for a pulse and scanned her body for injuries.
“Not really.” Her voice was pained as she spoke.
She had blood coming from what looked like a bullet wound in her side, but as I looked closer, it appeared to be just a superficial wound. It seemed like a lot of blood loss for her injury, but maybe Jennings was also injured.
“I’m going to carry you out, okay? But this might hurt because we need to move quickly,” I told her, scooping her up while scanning the room once more before we slid out into the hallway.
When I returned to the living room, Iris was now standing, though she looked like she could keel over at any moment.
“I can carry her,” Steve offered when he saw Ann in my arms.
I doubted that, given he was roughly five foot eleven and maybe one hundred eighty pounds, but I’d let him try.
Plus, I’d rather have my focus on Iris and have a hand ready to use my gun if needed.
I handed her off to Steve, wrapping her over his back like you would carry a child—piggyback style. To his credit, he supported her and seemed to have a good grip.
“Let’s go,” I said, needing to get everyone out ASAP.
Iris was being really strong now, even though she was obviously in pain.
Just as I reached out for her to take my hand, a massive boom shook the house. I heard a few windows break, but the house itself was fine.
“What was that?” Steve asked, clearly panicked.
“I’m guessing it was my shed,” I said, scanning the room since we had all flinched, ducked down, or at least shifted during the noise.
“Your shed?” Iris asked.
“I have propane tanks in there, which are highly flammable,” I told them. “Which means either the fire has now made it to my property, or someone lit the shed on fire so that it would explode.
“Steve, you still good with Ann?” I asked him, and he nodded.
“Sarge, hier,” I called, telling him I wanted him to come near me. Mostly because I wanted him near Iris in case something bad happened.
“Sarge, schutz,” I told him, pointing at Iris.
“What did you tell him?” Iris asked beside me as we walked as quickly as she could, given her head injury.
“I told him to protect and guard you. I have a gun and you don’t, so I want him to make you his focus,” I said as we walked down my front steps.
I kept my grip on her hand and wanted to get to my vehicle quickly, but I knew Iris needed to walk slower. I used that to my advantage and scanned the area around us, which was getting harder now that sunset had passed.
Behind me, flames were shooting high in the sky—both from the roof of my house and what was left of my shed.
“I parked at the end of the driveway because I had no idea who was here. Are you okay to walk?” I asked Iris. “It’s about another sixty yards.”
“I’ve got it,” she said, her tenacious attitude—and some stubbornness—powering her through the rest of the walk down the driveway.
Rounding the car to the passenger side so I could help her in, I glanced down and saw the wheels of my SUV bulging out along the gravel, deflated with the rubber gaping open.
Slashed, and recently if the quiet hiss of air leaking out was any indication.
Jennings was still here—nearby—but where?