26. Noah
Chapter 26
Noah
N ellie’s giggles make my smile grow wider.
She’s sitting in the front seat of the truck, her little legs bouncing up and down. Her hands are wrapped around the steering wheel as she pretends to drive. I don’t think she could be any cuter.
“Come here, Little Bug.” Dad holds his hand out to Nellie. “Let’s check out the back.”
Nellie jumps out of the front seat with very little grace, and Dad catches her without hesitation. He helps her into the back seat. “Is this where you used to sit, Pop?”
“That’s right. And now your dad sits here.”
Nellie wiggles her butt in the seat as if she can dig herself deeper into the cushion. “Where do you sit now?”
“I drive a separate SUV.”
“Why?”
“I need to be able to go to meetings and out to calls at any time.”
“But it doesn’t help fight fires.”
Dad’s grin is indulgent. “No, it doesn’t, but it has lights and sirens so I can get to an emergency as quickly as possible.”
“Can I light up the sirens?” Nellie’s eyes widen.
“If you want. It’s pretty loud when the doors are open.”
Nellie purses her lips in thought. “Maybe you press the button, and I can cover my ears.”
“You got it, kiddo.” Dad jumps into the front seat while I warn everyone standing around the lot.
Nellie holds her palms over her ears while her body rocks forward and backward. Her grin is wider than I’ve ever seen it.
“Okay, here we go. In three, two, one.” Dad flips on the siren.
Nellie scrunches her body while she giggles. A few seconds later, Dad shuts it off. The ear-ringing silence is disrupted by the fire alarm going off. The call goes out for a house fire, and the guys jump into action.
I lean in and press a quick kiss to Nellie’s forehead. “I gotta go, baby. I love you. Have a fun day with Mom.”
“Love you, Dad.”
Lilly comes up next to me. Worry lines her face as she gets Nellie out of the seat. “Be safe.”
I give her lips a quick peck before racing into the apparatus bay. Our team suits up, and within minutes, we’re tearing out of the station without a backward glance.
The fire truck comes to a halt outside of a two-story house. From the outside, you wouldn’t be able to tell that anything was wrong.
The team jumps out of the truck as Dad rounds the corner to direct us. “Noah, Porter, and Willie, I need you inside to get the scope of what we’re dealing with. Once we’ve got an idea of the intensity, we’ll get a plan together.”
“Anyone inside?” I ask.
“Unclear. The call came from the security company.”
I nod and turn to Porter and Willie. We pull our masks on and don our air tanks before we walk to the front door. Using the irons, we blast the door open. Smoke has become a white haze in the air, but it isn’t stifling yet.
“Fire department, call out!” I shout into the house. No one answers, so Porter, Willie, and I keep moving forward. We work as a team to clear each room downstairs.
“First floor is clear. Fire is isolated to the second floor,” Porter says into our radio.
“Ten-four,” Dad responds. “Security company has informed dispatch that the owners of the house still have not responded to their calls. They may be inside.”
“Starting on the second floor,” Porter checks in once we get upstairs.
The heat up here is intense. Smoke hangs heavy in the air, making visibility a nightmare. The three of us link up to keep from losing our way. When you don’t know the layout of a house, it can be very easy to get lost in the smoke.
I keep calling out as we check the rooms. A small noise makes me hesitate. “Did you hear that?” I ask the guys.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Willie says.
My gut is twisting. Someone is here. It’s as if I can feel them the closer we get to the back of the house.
We get to another room with the door closed. I try to open it with the door knob, but it doesn’t budge. “The door is locked,” I tell the guys. In a louder voice, I call out, “Fire department. Stand back from the door.” I grab the irons from Porter and jam it into the frame. With a flex of muscles, I break the locking mechanism and the door swings open.
A small, raspy voice moans from the floor.
I race toward the teen girl. “We’re going to get you out of here.” Carefully, I pull her into my arms while the guys report to the paramedics. We get the girl outside as quickly as possible and onto the gurney. She’s completely out of it, so we head back into the house to clear the rest of the second floor.
We find the source of the fire in one of the upstairs bathrooms. It’s spread to several other rooms in the short time it took to get the girl outside. Thankfully, no one else is in the house, and the guys and I are able to get a handle on the flames. We’re making our way outside when one of the top stairs gives under my feet, and I crash down to the bottom of the staircase.
“Oh, fuck,” I groan.
“Noah!” Porter shouts.
“Noah?” Dad’s voice comes through the radio.
“I’m okay. One of the steps gave out and I fell down the stairs.”
“Anything broken?” Dad asks.
“I think my shoulder is dislocated.” Given that it’s practically in my ear and hurts like a bitch, it’s a pretty good guess.
“I’ve got you, big guy.” Porter’s grinning face fills my vision. He helps me onto my feet as my body screams at me. Fuck, that hurt. I’m going to have some nasty bruises.
I walk outside with Porter’s help, and Dad rushes up to me.
“Are you sure you’re okay? Did you hit your head or anything?”
“Nah, my helmet stayed on my head through the fall, so I think I’m okay. I’ll be bruised to shit, though.” I chuckle, even though it’s not funny.
“Let’s get you into my SUV, and I’ll take you to the ER.” Dad helps me into his vehicle while the guys wish me good luck. He gives them orders for cleanup before jumping into the driver’s seat. Hopefully, I just have to deal with a dislocation. I’ll still be out of work for a bit, but it won’t be too bad. Anything more and I’ll be stuck on desk duty or something for the foreseeable future.
I curse as a thought hits me. “I need to tell Lilly what happened, but my phone is in the truck.”
“I can call her,” Dad offers.
“It should probably come from me. I don’t want to scare her too badly.”
“Smart.” He pulls his cell from his front pocket and hands it to me.
I dial Lilly’s number, grateful it’s been the same since we were teens.
“Hello?” The question in her voice reminds me that she doesn’t have Dad’s number.
“Hey, Bumblebee. It’s Noah. Um, listen… Don’t freak out.”