Page 95 of Billionaire Protector

Cole dove forward, grabbed the sizzling torch. His face contorted with pain as he stopped it from igniting the brush. He stomped both brush and torch out, pivoted to the raging inferno. Flames danced on the once white walls, higher and higher with each slipping second.

The scream came once more.

Sarah sprang forward, but Cole caught her by the arm. Captured by his iron grip, she couldn’t move. “Let me go! I have to help.”

“I’ll do it. I’ve had training for this in the military.” He infused pure power into his voice, an answer to every challenge. For a moment, she hesitated, then gave a curt nod. He turned to Donovan, who stood frozen in place, staring at the flames with haunted eyes. “Our phones don’t get service out here. Take Scott to his house and call the fire department.”

For a moment Donovan remined still, but then he gave a forceful nod and grabbed Scott, who was now muttering incoherent apologies. They ran toward Scott’s home.

“The scream came from the top floor, so I might be able to reach whoever’s in there before the flames destroy it.” Cole pointed to the building’s edge. “There’s an outside staircase in back. I remember it from when we were kids.”

They ran forward, giving just enough berth to escape the blistering heat as they circled the fiery building. The back fared better than the front, with fewer flames, yet every second the fire grew higher, wider. A series of steps stood that once upon a time could’ve been called a staircase rose to a second floor that was not yet engulfed. Crafted of ignitable wood, it was crippled by missing steps and splintered bits of wood.

“Will it hold us?” Sarah shouted.

“You mean will it hold me,” Cole challenged. “You’re not going in there. I thought you understood.”

“That was before I saw this.” Sarah winced as the crackling flames gobbled the house like a Thanksgiving meal. “Someone’s life is in danger, and two of us are better than one.”

Flames reflected emerald ice in Cole’s eyes. “That structure probably can’t hold one of us, much less two. You stay here.” Obviously assuming she would obey, he turned from her, charged to the stairs.

Stay still while someone else risked their life? That wasn’t why she became sheriff.

She waited a minute to avoid further protests, then followed as Cole scaled the stairs far quicker than he should. The air sizzled as she approached the home, the heat surrounding her like a sauna from hell. She reached the staircase yet stopped. What if he was right? What if her added weight caused it to collapse?

As Cole disappeared through an open window, Sarah paced the uneven ground. He had exactly one minute before she chased after him. The seconds ticked by in agonizing slowness, each one a lifetime of horror. Fifty-nine seconds to that limit, a tiny boy appeared at the top window, coughing and wailing and somehowalive. A second later he was hoisted through the window to the top stair.

“Tommy!” Now Sarah took the steps two at a time as they wobbled, creaked and cracked, praying and hoping they wouldn’t collapse as she rushed toward the small figure at the top. She reached the eight-year-old and bent down, grasping his slight body. Black soot covered him from head to toe, yet no other injuries were visible. As swiftly as she dared, she navigated the steps to the ground, adrenaline vanquishing any and all fear. She reached the rocky earth yet still ran, until she was far from the fire, and the air tasted sweeter. She gently placed the boy on the grass.

He blinked honey brown eyes, sniffled rapidly. “I’m… I’m so sorry, Sheriff. We didn’t mean to cause trouble. We didn’t start the fire, I swear.”

“I know, Tommy.” Sarah scanned the small child. He coughed again, yet his voice was strong, his breathing even. The absence of burn marks proved the fire had yet to reach him. She blinked tears of relief. He was going to be okay.

Yet suddenly she froze. “Did you saywe?”

“Yeah, Billy and me. The deputy is looking for him right now.”

An ominous creaking sounded, and the entire structure swayed. Sarah’s heart stumbled as the house tilted, tilted, tilted… and then stopped.Temporarily.She took Tommy by the shoulders. “I have to go back, but help will arrive soon. Don’t move.”

Sirens sounded in the distance, but she wouldn’t lose precious seconds by waiting for them. She turned toward the stairs.

Time to save the man she loved.

Blackness was approaching. Cole couldn’t see it, but he could feel it, along with the ticking of time running out. Time to find little Billy and get them both out before the entire building collapsed.

Before the visions overtook him.

He’d felt them coming even when he saved Tommy, could feel the pull back to the past, back to the bombing. He’d fought with everything he had and had managed to stay together enough to get the little boy to safety. He’d then gone back.

The smoke was thick and barely breathable. He had minutes at best, seconds at worst. “Billy!” he shouted again and again, listening for a cry, a scream, anything to alert him to the little boy’s location. And suddenly… a miracle.

The voice was so light, he barely heard it over the fire’s cackling. The darkness revealed a figure, tiny and diminutive but alive and breathing. Crouching in the corner, the little boy gasped and wheezed in the only pocket of air not completely inundated with smoke. He was next to a window, not big enough to escape, but enough to provide life-saving oxygen.

Adrenaline surged, as Cole pushed forward in the darkness. He picked up the little boy and pivoted back, toward a nearly impossible escape. Somehow there was still a staircase to send him to, and he hoisted the boy outside, then pulled himself outof the window. Grabbing Billy again, he raced down the rickety stairs. And then he was on the ground, yet still running.

He’d made it.

He ran until they reached Tommy, who cried out when he saw his friend. Now that the immediate danger was over, Cole studied both boys, grinning like a madman when it was clear neither were seriously harmed. Sirens sounded nearby, followed by the cadence of people running through the forest. Somehow, he’d managed the impossible. Now he would hold Sarah and celebrate life and the future. He scanned the blurry world, then froze.

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