Page 43 of Up In Smoke

Luke barely motioned to the woman before he bolted across the lawn. This time he cut through the firefighters’ workspace between the truck and the house and he didn’t care.

Taggert was frowning as he got there.

“I think Jo’s inside!” Even as he said the words, he hated that he was grateful that Ivy would be at the library by now.

Taggert’s eyes snapped to his and Luke added, “I saw her car in the back.”

“Good.” The Chief’s bold declaration stopped him cold.

Why was this good?

The man must have heard his thoughts.

“Jo will get them out.”

Luke sighed. Taggert was right. Jo wasn’t going to die in a fire, she’d be too mad to die. And she sure as hell wouldn’t die in a fire at a damned spa. What was she even doing here, unless she, too, had seen it and run inside to help?

He watched as the firefighters took too long to inspect the place. When it was him, he always felt as though he were working as fast as humanly possible, from this perspective B-shift almost looked like they were dicking around.

But he knew it was always better to go in safe than to go in fast and make things worse. The team did their job and quickly decided that the front lobby was the way to go. He heard them shouting to each other that all the other exits were blocked and this was the biggest section of openings—doors and windows—on the building.

The Chief sent him to question everybody standing around watching, but in a few moments he’d ascertained that so far no one had seen anyone come out.

The spa was in a little house that had been converted for the business. The area had once been a row of small starter homes and had recently been gentrified to businesses. The lawyer next door and his assistant were out on their lawn watching the blaze, as were the employees and patrons of the medical supply shop next door.

As they watched, the hose line advanced forward, and Luke itched to get his hands on and help douse the fire. But he wasn't dressed for it and he’d only be in the way.

As soon as the fire was out by the door, he watched as the guys got the “key” in hand—a large battering ram that opened any door. They hollered to anyone inside to stay back. With three swift hits, the door flew open and the firefighters immediately fell back.

No flames reached out for them.

But even from where he stood, Luke could hear the shouts of the excited people inside. His heart had been beating double time, and now it slowed a little bit. They were alive.

There was a breath of waiting time, then the firefighters rushed in. One by one they brought out the people. Some had white towels wrapped around their hands, all had them over their faces. The last two were in white fluffy robes, clearly doused. Smart, Luke thought. Jo’s handiwork likely.

He looked around for her as the people who’d been inside were hauled over to where the medics waited. As he watched, one of the women in the white robes peeled the towel from her face. Luke felt his jaw drop open as he ran forward.

“Jo!” he yelled.

“I'm good. I'm good,” she told him, her words swallowed by a paroxysm of coughs. That didn’t surprise him, but she looked okay at first glance. Ash and debris covered her bare legs, and she likely had some burns.

Even as he looked, the woman next to her—much in the same condition—peeled her own towel from her head.

Luke spotted the blond hair and he simplyknew. His heart felt the squeeze as the towel came off and he saw Ivy’s sweet face. Only there was terror in her expression, as she called out in a gravelly voice. “I can't see!”

Chapter Thirty-Three

“This isn't uncommon in fires,” Luke heard the doctor say in a clipped tone. The man was standing over Ivy as she sat on the hospital bed, and Luke didn’t doubt that she knew it. The physician continued in his overly aloof tone. “And we're concerned that there may have been something in the accelerant that caused this.”

Luke pushed his way into the room. Ivy heard his footsteps or sensed him—a thought that would have made him smile had her own expression not been so wobbly.

The doctor continued to drone on about the damage Ivy’s eyes had taken, seeming to not even notice that another person had entered the room. Luke recognized the doctor and he wasn't a fan. “Miss Dean, you'll need to leave the bandages on for a while.”

Ivy's fingers laced together on her lap, as she quietly fidgeted her way through her anxiety. The doctor didn't notice, but Luke did.

“Ivy, this happens a lot with smoke exposure. I've had it, too. I was in bandages for a day.” Okay, his hadn’t been as bad as hers was. He’d simply been in a situation where he’d run out of air and had to remove his face shield. And he’d worked hard not to open his eyes. “It clears up on its own. It has every time I've seen it.”

As he watched, she relaxed, the blue and green pattern on the gown showing the lines of her shoulders and making it clear just how tense she had been. She sat in a pile of white sheets with starched pillows behind her. As she nodded at him, Luke turned to the doctor.

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