Page 63 of Last Chance Christmas
“I’m surprised this place hasn’t burned down before now,” Zoe said as Della parked. “I hope the snow stops it from spreading to the other houses. They’re so close together.”
“I dunno. It might be an improvement.” Izan’s voice carried over from the back seat. “There’s a lot of shady stuff that goes on here. Might be better to burn it all down and start from scratch.” He called in to the radio that they were on site.
As soon as Della was out of the truck, Anthony was there. Snow fell around them. “You’ll stay in the middle again? Between Izan and Zoe?”
His concern was sweet, but she had to stay on task. “I’ll be fine. And yes, I’ll be the communications person and stick close to the others.”
He nodded and squeezed her hand, then stepped back and let her go. So much was happening between them. It was fast.
But it settled deep into her soul. This was a good thing.
So as soon as she was done with this fire, she was asking him out. And she was going to forget about Vaynes and move on with her life. Maybe he really had left town after his failed attempt with the CO2.
She grabbed her air tank and tools and joined Zoe and Izan, who stood with Amelia. “What’s the plan, Lieutenant?” Zoe asked.
“Izan, you take lead with the hose. Nixon, you stay on the radio while Lewis feeds the hose as needed. Neighbors say it’s a rental. No idea if anyone is in there or not. There’s a car parked in the garage, so Rescue 5 is here and will be on standby. You stay on the fire and call if you see anyone. They’ll be ready to help evacuate.”
They didn’t waste any more time. After setting up the hose, Izan marched up the crooked steps. Hopefully the porch would hold them. With the rot and missing boards, they’d have to tread lightly.
It didn’t take much to open the front entrance. Izan took the hose and led the way, crawling under the thick smoke through a living area. Della followed, weaving around a dingy couch and scratched-up coffee table.
“Looks like the fire is in the kitchen, off to the right. Stay close to me.” Izan’s voice came through her speaker. He stood and readied the hose. “All right.”
“Start the hose,” Della called into the radio.
The hose went rigid. Izan aimed the water into the heart of the kitchen. Flames engulfed the whole room. “I need more pressure.”
Della relayed his request and looked around. “I’m going to check out the next room and see if we need to call Rescue in.”
Zoe gave her a thumbs-up. Della checked the door of the next room. Her thermal imaging showed it to be cooler than the other spaces. Using her Halligan tool, she knocked the door open. With the thick smoke, she relied completely on the TIC. No body or heat source registered on the screen. She moved back to the living room and found another den. Empty. She glanced up the stairs. A shadowy figure moved through the smoke.
“This is Last Chance County Fire Department. Stay where you are so we can help you.”
No one appeared.
Was she seeing things? Her TIC showed the shape of a person at the top of the stairs. Someone was standing there. Why didn’t they move? Were they scared? Confused? Not surprising if they had smoke inhalation.
“It’s okay. Come on down.” She used the voice speaker in her helmet and readied her radio. She should call in Rescue 5. But before she could say anything, the person moved down a step.
“That’s right. Stay low and follow my voice.” Della climbed the first few stairs. If she could lead the person out the front door, they wouldn’t even need Rescue.
Smoke obscured her vision, but on the TIC screen, she could see the person coming toward her. They were still walking upright.
“Stay below the smoke. It’s better if you crawl down,” she called out through her speaker.
Whoever it was ignored the instruction.
“Seriously, stay low. You shouldn’t breathe in the?—”
Out of the smoke, a man appeared on the stairs. A breathing mask covered his face, but she knew those soulless eyes.
Vaynes.
Before she could scream, he knocked her radio out of her hand and grabbed her. A sharp pain in her neck sent a burning throughout her body and then…blackness.
Fifteen
Anthony felt nothing. Not the snow, not the wind, not his toes. Maybe he was simply numb from the freezing temps, but until he could see with his own eyes that Della was okay, he would ignore everything else. Especially all the things she’d set off with that quick kiss to his cheek, back at the firehouse. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her, but all he could think about at the moment was the most important one: Was she okay?
