CHAPTER THREE
Lee
This shit had to stop. Four-foot flames shot out from the third of three nearby barns as they tried to clear the second barn and ensure all the horses got out. They didn’t worry about haltering them. They opened their stalls and chased them toward the entrance. Better to have to round them up after the fire was out than having to dig their graves.
Between dodging the hooves of frightened horses, falling timbers, and the rising flames, Lee and the rest of the crew had to move two tractors full of fuel far enough away so they didn’t explode and send missiles of torn metal out into the surrounding area.
Thankfully, one of the two had keys in the ignition, but the second had to be towed away by chains attached to one of the pumpers, which took valuable time and manpower.
Of course, the farmer and his family were helping, and more and more people from Brighton were showing up to help, but now that the third barn had caught fire, they were running out of time and had to shift their thinking to securing and protecting the rest of the farm from the growing flames.
Frightened and screaming, horses barreled down the aisle between stalls straight toward them.
“Watch out,” Lee yelled. “Incoming.”
The two other firefighters with him quickly dove into empty stalls, allowing the animals to run by, and out the open doors.
“That’s all of them,” Ben hollered as he pulled the hose into the barn.
Lee quickly joined him, grabbed the hose, and let the water flow. It typically took a few of them to hold a hose in place as the amount and speed of water flowing out of it could knock them on their asses. Their forces were split between the three barns and the rest of the property, but with the help of the townsfolk and the Sentinels, they were putting up one hell of a fight.
The smoke made it almost impossible to see more than a foot in front of them, and if it weren’t for their masks, they’d be unable to breathe.
The sky was dark, but it was the middle of the day. The fire roared its anger as it ate through the timbers and flowed across the ceiling in waves. The water hissed and sputtered as it came into contact with the flames, but after hours of fighting, Lee could finally see a tangible difference as the area still in flames grew smaller.
Their bodies were exhausted, but they’d never stop fighting. This wasn’t simply a job. It was a calling. A mission to protect people and their property, and none took that duty lightly. No one in their right mind willingly ran into a burning building unless something deep inside of them compelled them forward. The need and drive to make a difference, to save a life, to save a structure someone had spent their entire lives creating. The reason didn’t matter. All that mattered was the drive to do it.
“First building’s fire is out,” Gabe announced over the coms.
Finally, all they needed to do was douse this second barn. The third had already been brought under control thanks to the teams’ ability to get on the fire early and quickly.
“Moving forward,” Lee announced, and began walking the hose deeper into the barn as the flames sizzled and fought back, but eventually, they were extinguished.
They couldn’t stop now, or the fire would erupt anew. Pushing harder while they had the upper hand would bring this fire down sooner. Another crew was working on the other end of the building, leaving the flames with nowhere to go. In a highly coordinated operation, the teams converged on the last of the flames and ended the destruction.
Night had fallen when Lee emerged from the shell of the horse barn, and the moon was high in the sky. So much for seeing Jacob after school. He’d already be in bed. Lee would call Frank as soon as he could so he wouldn’t continue to worry.
Lee looked around at the damage. The first barn was burned to the ground, the second was a shell of burnt timbers, and the third had only minor damage to the east end.
Horses were corralled in temporary pens in the distance while in the foreground, hoses snaked from a myriad of fire trucks, and water haulers had come to help. The flashing lights from emergency vehicles reflected off the puddles of muddy water dotted across the area. It resembled a war zone, especially when the Sentinels Spider, Vincent, Shadow, Coop, Shannon, and Dante marched through the mud in their tactical gear, covered in soot, heading toward Gabe and his father, the fire marshal.
Lee went to join them, hoping one of them might have a lead on the source of this fire and the three prior fires. On his way over, Lee noticed a horse lying on the ground beyond the temporary ring that had been constructed. It wasn’t moving and was covered by a blanket. Shit. Their streak of no casualties had sadly ended.
“Do you think you’ll be able to track them?” Gabe asked Dante as Lee stepped up beside him.
“Yeah. Whether it leads to the person responsible is yet to be seen,” Dante said. “Either way, we’ll keep you updated.”
“Thank you to you and your team for your help today,” Gabe said. “We needed all hands on deck with this one.”
“Always here to help. We’ll catch this bastard and bury him in a cell so deep he’ll never see sunlight again,” Spider growled.
“Amen, brother,” Lee agreed, soliciting a nod from everyone present.
There wasn’t a soul in Brighton who didn’t want to catch this crazy lunatic and shut him down for good.
***
Frank
“Trick or treat,” Jacob said as Ellen Mason opened her front door.
Gabe’s mother smiled wide and asked, “Are you a zombie doctor?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jacob said while eagerly holding out his bag.
Frank couldn’t help but laugh. “He couldn’t decide whether to be a doctor or a zombie. So Lee suggested he combine the two.”
“It was the perfect solution,” Lee said from where he stood on the sidewalk.
“You look great, Jacob,” Ellen stated before dropping some miniature chocolate bars into his bag.
“Thank you, Mrs. Mason,” Jacob said with a big smile.
“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”
Jacob ran back to the sidewalk to Lee while Frank thanked Ellen once more and joined his family waiting for him.
“Can I go to the next house on my own? I’m old enough and promise to thank them,” Jacob asked.
Lee looked over at Frank. “I’m good with that if you are.”
“Okay, but remember to use your manners, and we’ll be right here on the sidewalk waiting for you.”
“Really? Thanks,” Jacob cheered and ran to the next house, joining the masses of children who were laughing and running up and down the sidewalks of Brighton.
“Look at him go,” Lee said.
“All grown up,” Frank said. “At least he thinks so.”
“Kids want to be adults, and adults want to be carefree kids. Ah, the circle of life,” Lee joked.
“So true. Oh, there’s Rick, Bear, and Joshua.”
The big biker, Clem “Bear” Mitchell, and his husband, Rick, had adopted Joshua after his sister had passed away, leaving her precious son behind. The little guy was two at the time and was now Jacob’s age and were in the third grade together.
The moment Joshua saw Jacob, he ran to his friend and began showing him all the candy he’d collected in his plastic pumpkin. As the two compared their candy hauls, Rick and Bear visited with Frank and Lee.
“Happy Halloween, guys,” Rick said.
“Happy Halloween,” Lee responded. “How’s your night going so far?”
“Good.” Bear nodded. “Even if we’re the third wheel.”
“Third wheel?” Frank asked.
“Yeah. Josh thinks he’s old enough to go trick or treating on his own,” Rick said, shaking his head. “They grow up so fast.”
“That seems to be a theme this year,” Lee remarked.
“Frank said you guys were going to be home this year for the holidays,” Rick said.
“Yep. For the first time in eight years, we’ve decided to slow things down and stay home.”
“That’s great. Since you’ll be around, the three of you gotta come to our annual Christmas party. Typically, we have it the weekend before Christmas,” Bear explained.
“That sounds great,” Lee said while looking at Frank, who nodded in agreement. “We’ll be there.”
Frank allowed himself to enjoy the feeling of planning to attend holiday parties without letting the guilt of not traveling to his parents get in the way.
Things might work out after all.