Chapter Eleven
I look down from the ladder on the supermarket roof to the guys assembled below. Time to start the landing drill. “This is a good example of a situation where you’ve got to bring two ladders on the initial climb,” I explain.
I jump the last few feet to the ground. My hamstring stings with the impact.
“You’ll need one long and one short. There’s no way to know from the ground if you can trust the parapet wall.
Then there’s the possibility of elevation changes.
” I survey my guys. “Can anyone tell me which ladder we’ll end up using and where we’ll place it? ”
Jesse gives a decent explanation of the ladders. We go through the drill, and it's successful to my satisfaction. I dismiss the group and thank the manager for letting us use his supermarket.
“Got plans tonight?” Jesse asks as we walk toward the firehouse. “With your girl, Sammy?”
“Not my girl. Just a friend.” A friend I think about every second of the day. A friend whose dark blue eyes I can’t imagine living without.
“Fine, Crusher.” Jesse says, “your friend, Sammy?”
“Yeah, we’ve got plans. Her daughter comes back tomorrow.”
“Last night of freedom?”
“Something like that.” Mark is bringing Lara back.
He’ll stay for a night and probably make a decent pitch for them to come back to California.
I think Sammy’s going to go back even if she doesn’t like his pitch.
I don’t blame her. An arsonist set two fires to her property, and the town thinks she’s doing it herself.
They’re calling her a criminal. Fucking unreal.
I wouldn’t want my daughter exposed to it.
My phone vibrates in the staccato beat that means the dispatcher has something for us.
Jesse's already answering his phone. “Okay,” he says after a beat.
We break into a jog. My hamstring clenches. This fire better not ask too much of me.
“We’re on our way,” Jesse says and picks up the pace.
“What’s going on?”
“Brace yourself. There’s a fire at Sammy's house.”
Terror shoots through me. I break into a sprint. “At her house in Whispering Pines?”
“Yeah. Early stage. Unknown if there are people at the scene. Call came in from Rina Patel.”
We race toward the station. I don't let myself feel the sharp pain in my hip and the raw stretch of my lungs. I can’t let Sammy down. I pull out my phone and press dial on her number.
We bust through the station’s front door, and my phone is still ringing. Where is she?
“There,” I shout as we barrel up Sammy’s driveway. I point to the side of the house where the bedrooms are situated. “On the second floor. An occupant’s waving from the back window.”
It's Sammy. Fuck.
Flames lick the bushes under the window where she’s waving. Smoke has filled the interior of the great room on the first floor.
“Open window,” Jesse says. “She’s letting in too much air.”
Oxygen feeds the flames. Sammy won’t last long in there. “I'm going in,” I say to Chief as the truck comes to a stop.
“Go on,” Chief says. “Gabriel is coming in behind you. We’ll work on the exterior around the window and set up the ladder if possible. If not, make sure whoever’s in there is prepared to jump.”
I enter the smoke-filled great room. No breathable air from top to bottom. It’s only a matter of time before the fire compromises the structure.
I take two stairs at a time, my breath filling my helmet.
Sammy waved from the bedroom on the far end. I push through a barricade of towels lining the door frame and shut the door behind me.
“Brady,” she cries. She’s halfway out the window. But alive and breathing.
“I’m here.” I pull her against me and lean out the window to check the situation below.
“We’re going to need a few more minutes on the bush fire,” Chief says into the radio. “That’s not going to leave enough time for a ladder. Occupant’s going to have to do a hang and drop.”
I meet her eyes. “Sammy, you need to prepare yourself. The only way we’re getting you out is through the window. I’m going to hold you while you dangle and the guys are going to help you make a safe landing, okay?”
She stares at me, horrified.
“Fire’s caught the wiring,” Gabriel says. “It’s time to bail, Brady. Get the occupant out immediately.”
Jordan and Jesse finish putting out the fire directly below the window and move another section of the fire.
“Get her out the window, Brady,” Chief says. He’s got three guys with him in a safety square.
“Fine.” Sammy meets my gaze. “Just tell me what to do.”
Brave, tender, strong, passionate, and beautiful. I love her. “I’m going to hold you out the window and you’re going to drop. The guys are down there to help you. The landing’s going to be easier than you think.”
She nods.
“Then I’m coming down after you.” I help her out the window and hold her under the arms above the ground. “She’s coming down, Chief.”
“Send her down.”
I lock eyes with Sammy. “Keep your arms crossed at your chest and your legs lightly bent. Try not to kick out. I’m going to let you go on the count of three.”
“Go ahead. I’m ready.”
“And, Sammy. I love you.”
She nods.
“One, two, three.” I release her arms and watch her keep the posture like I asked. The guys absorb the brunt of her weight as she lands on the ground.
“You need to get out of there, Brady,” Gabriel says over the radio. “The fire’s taking the walls. I’m going out the front.”
“Get down, Brady,” Chief echoes.
Movement from the line of trees at the back of the property catches my eye. “Is one of our guys in the woods?” I ask into the helmet mike.
“We’re all on the fire. Get your ass down here,” Jesse says.
“Someone’s in the woods. Check the woods. This is a probable arson.”
“I’ll send someone. Now, get your ass down,” Chief yells. “The house has about fifty seconds.”
I watch Jesse lead Sammy away. She’s safe. A loud creak from the house fills the air. Fuck. I’ve got to go. I step through the window and hang on the sill. Releasing my left hand, I dangle for a moment. This is the shortest distance between me and the ground. Chief is the only one left below.
Land lightly and roll.
I let go. On impact I move to roll, but it’s impossible. Bruising pain sears the left side of my body.
My hamstring. It’s gone.
I can’t breathe through the pain. There’s no way I can move. I’m a dead man. The fire is taking over the house.
Chief drags me away. Dark spots blot my vision. I need to get off the helmet, but I can't take off the helmet without breathing in smoke.
“I can’t….” I say into my helmet. “Sammy….” I want to tell her I meant what I said. I love her.
But the pain is too much. My heart races.
I’m gone.