Page 96 of Chasing Fireflies

“Okay,” Ellie says, jumping down and taking off toward the house. Sara stands up and she and her bare feet walk out to the field. She stands there watching the fireflies while I sit and sip on my beer watching her. Little Miss runs out of the house, passing by me, heading straight to her mama. She tugs on her sweater and hands her the jar. I see Sara wipe her face, and I know she has been crying. Why is she so sad? I just don’t understand it. Ellie doesn’t notice, and Sara unscrews the top before handing it back to her.

She points out to the field for Ellie to run and try to catch them. I lean back on my elbows, watching my pretty girl with her long brown hair as she goes in circles. My eyes look over at my wife holding her face, and I see her shoulders shake. I take a big gulp of my beer and cast my eyes to the sky, taking in the enormousness of it and all the pretty stars. I see a shooting star, and it reminds me of the time Sara sat on my lap and asked me if I wished for babies. I didn’t wish for babies then. I wished for the same thing I’m wishing for tonight—for my wife to be happy and for her to never leave me.

*

“Yeah, he was fishing at the pond Ellie and I always go to,” I tell Ben as we sit at Chevy’s eating breakfast.

“Son of a bitch. I can’t believe he’s back in town,” Ben says as he takes the last bite of his eggs.

“Well, he is and we got to go tell Maci and Banner, just so they can be prepared. I know he’ll be back.” I lift my finger for Piper to bring me the bill so we can leave.

*

We pull up to Maci’s house and climb out of the truck. The smell of smoke hits me immediately, and I look over the hood at Ben.

“You smell that?” I ask.

“Yeah, smells like something’s on fire.” I look around, trying to find out where it’s coming from, and when I look back toward the house, I see it.

“Fucking hell, Ben. Call the fire department!” I yell back at him as I take off running toward the house. I try the knob, but it’s locked, so I rare back and kick it in. Smoke rolls out in waves, and I lift my shirt to cover my nose.

“Maci!” I call out.

“Cash!” she yells, but I can’t see anything. It’s too smoky, and my eyes start to burn.

“Maci, where are you?”

“I’m in the back bedroom. I can’t get out. The fire is blocking the door!”

I hear a gunshot, and I know it came from the backyard. Looking down the hallway, I see the door is wide open and flames crawl up the wall right in front of Maci’s door. Another gunshot goes off, and I start to panic.

“Shit, Ben. Maci, you’re going to have to break the window! I’m coming around. You’ll have to jump out!” I hear the fire trucks coming down the road as I run out of the house. I look for Ben but don’t see him anywhere. “Ben!” I yell. I run to the back of the house and hear a loud crash as something goes through the window along with heavy smoke.

“Cash!” Maci coughs.

“Come on. You’ve got to jump. I’ll catch you.”

“I can’t. I’m scared.”

“Maci, you either jump or you’re going to die. You don’t have a choice,” I say, holding out my arms. “Come on. I’ve got you!” I need her to hurry. I’ve got to go find Ben. She looks back into the house before looking down at me. “Maci, come on!” I yell.

She grips onto the side of the window just as I hear the fire department pull up. A few men run around the house as she steps onto the windowsill.

“Step back, chief. We’ve got her,” one of them says to me. I nod, stepping back.

“Maci, they have you. I’ve got to find Ben.” I run toward the woods, but look back to make sure she got out. The men catch her as leaps out of the window.

“Ben!” I look all around, seeing nothing but trees. My eyes search everywhere before landing on something. It’s two somethings. I run over and see Ben and Lucas lying on the ground. Ben groans, holding his side.

“Ben,” I say, leaning down. “Have you been shot?” I look at his side, noticing blood. I lift my radio and call for an ambulance. I know the firemen have medical equipment, too, so I whistle and yell their way. “Ben, keep pressure on it. They’re coming.” I stand up and look over at Lucas. He lies flat on his stomach. I walk over and put my finger against his neck. He has no pulse, so I lift his shoulder.

“He’s dead, chief,” Ben says painfully. “I saw him running out toward the woods. I chased him and tackled him from behind. The son of a bitch had a gun, and he shot me when we rolled over. I was able to pull mine out just before he went to pull the trigger again. I shot him in the stomach.”

The firemen run over to us with their medical equipment as I drop Lucas’ shoulder.

“See to Ben,” I tell them.

*

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