Page 68 of Stuart Woods' Smolder

But Teddy had no time to even think about that, because approximately thirty feet on the other side of the van, at least three trees and several bushes were on fire.

He dialed 911 as he hopped out of his car and ran up to the van’s cab. Two men were inside, both either unconscious or dead.

“Nine-one-one, what is your emergency?”

“There’s a brushfire,” he said. “Hollywood Hills, not far off Mulholland.” He relayed his exact location.

“And your name?”

“Billy Barnett. There are also two men unconscious in a van nearby. I need to get them away before the flames reach them. I’ll take them to my house.”

“You live nearby?”

“Yes.” He gave her his address. “Please hurry. There are a lot of homes up here.”

He hung up without giving her a chance to ask another question.

His first thought was to take the van, as his Porsche did not have a back seat, but he couldn’t find the key. While it would be a squeeze, the roadster would have to do.

He manhandled the driver out of his seat and was relieved to find that the guy was still breathing. He placed him as carefully as possible in the Porsche’s front passenger seat.

He retrieved the second man—who was thankfully also stillalive—and laid him half on top of his partner, and half leaning on the door.

Teddy jumped behind the wheel, made a U-turn, and sped away from the fire. He was halfway home when several fire engines raced past him in the other direction. Given that the fire was relatively small, he thought their chances of containing it were good.

He hit the remote for his gate as he neared it, drove through as soon as it was wide enough, then tapped a second button on the remote that would keep the gate open.

As soon as he parked, he laid both men on his driveway, then checked them for injuries. Neither had anything obvious.

His phone vibrated.

“Mr. Barnett, it’s June Marnell. Were you able to locate the van?”

He gave her a quick explanation of what he’d found.

“Is the delivery team okay?” she asked.

“I’ll leave that determination to the doctors. But they seem to be breathing normally and are not in distress.”

“Oh, thank God.”

What she said next was drowned out by three rapid trills coming from the phone. A message appeared on the screen:

Brushfire in your vicinity.

You are urged to evacuate the area.

“Sorry,” Teddy said. “I need to go.”

“I’ll contact you again later.”

A news helicopter flew over his house toward the fire. As thesound of the rotors faded, a wail of sirens took its place. The whooping grew louder and louder until two ambulances turned into his driveway, with a police car following them.

While EMTs assessed the unconscious men, Teddy gave his account of what he’d found to a pair of police officers.

The officers’ radios crackled to life. “Be advised, evacuation order lifted. Fire has been contained.”

Teddy felt the tension he’d been holding on to ebb. If he hadn’t discovered the fire and reported it when he had, it would have been a completely different story.

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