Page 56 of Operation: Chosen

“Way too early.” He backed off the porch and saw a thin ribbon of gray smoke catch on the wind. Wyoming was known for wind, and if there were a fire, the gusts would turn it into something terrifying very soon.

“I’ve got to find it and put it out. We aren’t finished talking.” He kissed her cheek and backed away from the row of cabins. The only other place that smoke could’ve come from was the barn in that direction.

As soon as he was about five steps back, the line of smoke drew his eye down to a cabin in the back row, far too close to Junior and Gabby’s home. Suddenly all the fatigue from being awake all night melted away, and he raced for his friends’ door.

“Junior, Gabby! Get up, there’s a fire!”

* * *

Eric poundedon Junior’s door, then raced toward the empty cabin. While there might not be anyone inside, he had to get the fire out before it could spread. In his periphery, he saw Ali run for the lodge, hopefully to wake up Connor and Lacy. The fire department would take at least twenty minutes to get there, and by then, all the cabins could be destroyed.

Junior rushed toward him, still in flannel sleep pants and shirtless. Eric tested the door, but it was locked. “Break it?”

“Or check the back door.” Junior pushed him toward the steps to go around the other side of the house. Barefoot, Junior kicked the door right above the knob. “Go!”

Eric didn’t waste any more time since he couldn’t help with the front. There wasn’t any electrical service to the houses when they weren’t in use, so how could a fire have started in an empty cabin? He checked the windows as he went around, but nothing moved inside, and he couldn’t see the glow of a blaze.

At the back door, he jiggled the lock on the sliding door, and it gave. Someone had been inside and he wasn’t sure how. Only Connor had the keys to all of the houses. He slowly opened the door, hoping to avoid feeding the fire with a draft. Smoke billowed out, thick and black like something had been smoldering for a long time.

He tugged his tee over his nose and went inside. Just like his own house, the kitchen was directly to the right of the back porch door. He would have to go all the way to the living room in the front of the small cabin to get to the short hall that led to the two bedrooms.

A loud crack came from the front and light spilled into the room as the front door broke open. “The fire isn’t in the main areas. It has to be in one of the bedrooms,” Eric said as he headed toward Junior. They met at the entrance to the hall, then saw black smoke pouring from under the master bedroom door.

“We need water. I’m going to guess this is too big to smother with a blanket,” Junior said and headed to the kitchen. Eric grabbed a thick wool blanket out of a basket near the woodstove and ran it under the water after Junior filled the largest pitcher he could find in the kitchen. Junior tugged a potholder from the drawer, then headed for the master bedroom.

Eric held the blanket, aware that he wasn’t sure what his cast was made of, but if it melted, he’d be in a heap of trouble. Junior wrapped the potholder around the bedroom doorknob as Connor rushed in the front door with a pair of fire extinguishers.

Junior opened the door, and heat blasted them back. Connor pushed forward and handed one extinguisher to Junior. Eric followed Connor inside. Both the bed and the reading chair had been pushed to the middle of the room and were smoldering with small flames licking over the edge of the bed.

The room smelled musty and smoky at the same time. Eric tossed the wet blanket over the chair, which hadn’t caught as much as the bed, leaving Connor and Junior to take care of that with the extinguishers.

“Is everyone okay in there?” Gabby called from outside the front door.

Connor and Junior turned to her voice. Eric waved away the smoke off the bed and noticed three clumps in the center of what had been a patchwork quilt. Although each clump was blackened with char, he could tell each was a small device with hard plastic around it and a thick melted nylon strap with a clasp.

“The ankle bracelets.” Eric pointed to the lumps. “They decided to burn their ankle bracelets in a bed inside one of our cabins.” He wanted to let his anger boil just as hot as the fire, and he would have words with Terrell, but this wasn’t the time for yelling. That would solve nothing.

“Has anyone seen the boys?” Eric asked.

“Terrell was staying with us,” Gabby said as she leaned into the room, then gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh no.”

“What’s wrong?” Connor asked.

“Lacy told me that quilt was made by her mother. She’s going to be so sad.”

Gabby was tenderhearted that way, always knowing just what people would need. But the quilt was, unfortunately, the least of their worries. “Did you see him before you ran over here?”

Gabby slowly shook her head. “His door was closed, and I didn’t want to look in on a teen boy who is not my child before I ran out of the house dressed like this.” She grimaced and glanced down at her pajamas.

“I’ll go check on him.” Eric headed out the door. There was little he could do in there now.

A fire truck slowly pulled down the driveway with its lights on, but no sirens to wake anyone. Eric waved but kept right on going, straight to Junior’s front door. He didn’t bother knocking because Junior wouldn’t care if he went right inside.

“Terrell!” The time for consoling words had long past. He felt cheated. How could Terrell help him and tell him he wanted a future and tell him he wanted Eric’s help, then turn around and light a house on fire? He’d told all the boys, one more chance. Now, their chances were up.

Terrell opened the door to his room, his eyes bleary. “What? What’s going on?”

Eric almost believed the act, but it was an act. “The fire. Did you think we wouldn’t notice? Did you think a fire like that would stay contained to one cabin? Who is going to pay for that and for the ankle bracelets which happen to be the property of the State of California?”

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