Page 46 of Sadie's Guarded Harbor

He ran. The hallway was thick with smoke. The banging grew louder, more frantic. The smell of something burning became stronger. He flew around a corner and plumes of smoke billowed from under a closed door. A chair was wedge under the knob, ensuring that anyone inside wouldn’t make it out.

“Help me! Please!” The voice was dim, wispy.

His blood pressure spiked.Sadie.

“Fire!” He threw the chair out of the way and yanked open the door. A wall of heat barreled against him. Sadie, crouchedlow to the floor and pressed against the barrier, fell forward. Soot marred her face, hiding the freckles he loved so damn much. He scooped her into his arms.

“Wait.” The word croaked from her mouth. “The files. Grab them. Should be by the door.”

He spotted the files through the thickening smoke. He grabbed them and ran toward the stairs. He pulled out his phone to call for help, but he didn’t have a signal in the basement. Sadie was light as a feather in his arms. Her fingers curled around his jacket, and she buried her face against him. Her chest rose and fell in a slow, steady rhythm. Her breathes came out in ragged gulps. Smoke inhalation was just as dangerous as the fire.

Once he reached the first floor, he checked his phone again. Finally, a signal. He called dispatch. “There’s a fire in the basement of the courthouse. Get the fire department and ambulance here now. Pull security footage and talk to everyone who was inside. Someone trapped Deputy Pennel inside with the fire. Someone tried to kill her.”

Billows of smoke rose from the basement. He disconnected and headed toward the front door. A red fire alarm was secured to the wall. He yanked down the handle and bells of warning blasted into the air. Water rained down from the sprinklers inserted into the ceiling.

A middle-aged man with thick round glasses poked his head out from a nearby office. “What’s going on?”

“There’s a fire in basement. Get out now. Help’s on the way.” Not wasting another breath on a further explanation, he rushed back out the door. The man’s panicked yell hit him in the back of the head, but he kept moving.

He burst outside. Sadie shook and huddled closer to his chest. Sirens signaled help was near. He took the narrow steps two at a time. People poured out of the building behind him. Panicked questions tossed around with the wind.

Firetrucks and police cars peeled into the parking lot. He jogged to one of the two ambulances.

An EMT, Eric, jumped down from the cab. “What do we got?”

“Deputy Pennel was trapped in the room that caught on fire. Lots of smoke. Don’t know how long she was in there.” He carried her to the double doors in the back of the ambulance.

Eric opened the doors wide.

Tommy climbed into the back and lowered Sadie onto the gurney. Her death grip kept him close. He curled his palm against her dirty cheek. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

Tears ran down her face, leaving trails through the ash built up on her cheeks. “Locked in. Again.” Tremors overtook her body. Her lips shook, the color turning a scary shade of blue.

“She needs oxygen.” Eric crammed into the crowded space and grabbed a tank and mask. He fit the clear mask over Sadie’s mouth. “Take nice, slow breaths. Let me check your vitals before we head out.”

Sadie nodded. Her teeth chattered. Shock was setting in. The smoke and the fire combined with the fear of being locked in a literal inferno was bad enough. But add the trauma of the past and it was more than anyone could take.

Eric listened to her heart and checked her pulse. “Okay. Let’s get you to the hospital. Keep the mask around your mouth. Fill those lungs with nice, clean oxygen, okay?” He jumped out of the cab and closed the doors.

Tommy set the files she’d insisted he grab on the floor and shrugged out of his jacket. He tucked the coat around her slim frame. “Everything’s okay.”

She shook her head. “No. Why? Why did it happen again? The screaming. I could hear them screaming in there with me. But I was alone. Why am I always alone?” Her eyes slid closed.

He didn’t have to ask who she meant. Her nightmare had become her reality, blurring the past and present into onemoment of hell. The raspy quality of her voice and the anguish of her words tore at his heart. “Hey. Look at me.”

She lifted her eyelids and locked her gaze on him.

“Do you trust me?”

She nodded.

“I’m here, and I’m going to take care of you. Will you let me do that?”

“Yes.”

Pressure built in his chest, threatening to crumble his composure. The motion of the ambulance taking off had him swaying. “Good. We’ll be at hospital soon.”

“Okay.” Her eyelids closed again, and she let her hand drop from his shirt.

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