Page 33 of Flirting With Fire
“Hungry,” I mumbled around a mouthful of sandwich.
We had almost finished when a noise at the window made me jump. I turned to see two brown-haired kids, clearly identicaltwins and dressed in identical clothing, thumping on the glass with their fists. I was about to yell at them for scaring the heck out of me when I noticed their frightened expressions, filthy faces, and tear-streaked cheeks.
Dex furrowed his brow. “Tommy. Ryan. What’s wrong?”
“It’s Wildie,” one of the boys cried. “He’s hurt!”
“Wildie?”
“Short for Wildebeest, their older brother,” Dex said. “The twins live not far from here. Their dad works at the feed store. Mom works at the supermarket.”
Another time, I’d have been questioning who called their kid Wildebeest. But he was in trouble. I stood, almost knocking over my chair. “What’s happened?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
Dex headed toward the door, and I followed him after waving at the boys to join us there. They nodded and ran for the door.
I stepped outside to a wall of sound from the boys, shouting and crying at Dex to be heard over the other.
Dex held up his hand. “One at a time. Tommy, tell me what’s happened to Wildie.”
“He’s in the mine, and he won’t come out. We think he’s hurt real bad. We’re scared to go in there, so we came here.”
“We’ll find him,” Dex said. “Meyer is a firefighter. He’s the right person to find Wildie.”
“You were very sensible, boys.” I praised them, and they relaxed a little. “You said he's hurt?” I pulled out my radio to call it in. “Where is he?”
There was another stream of garbled explanations I didn’t understand, and I looked to Dex for help.
“Tell them it’s the old Robins Mine near the Stump.”
I nodded, knowing where we were heading now. Generations of Charming kids were told never to play there, so of course weall did—including me. I called it in and then followed Dex and the two boys to the entrance of the mine.
“Wildie? Wildie?” Tommy yelled, but there was no reply except the echo of his voice.
Dex and I exchanged a glance. That wasn’t good.
“He wasn’t far in, Dex,’ Tommy sobbed. “He could hear me when I called him.”
“You two go fetch your dad,” I ordered.
The twins didn’t look happy, but maybe Wildie would respond better to his father calling for him. They ran toward the feed store as fast as their legs could carry them.
I turned to find Dex heading into the mine entrance. “Hold on, Dex! we need to wait for backup.”
He didn’t stop. “We can’t leave Wildie in there. He’s a great kid but has no common sense. He’s as likely to walk further into the mine than out of it.”
“All the more reason we wait. Dex, hold up.”
But he ignored me, heading further into the mine, calling out for Wildie. Training warred with worry. I couldn’t leave him to find the kid on his own with no equipment.
I jogged after him, slowing as I reached the entrance. “Don’t go any further, Dex. You don’t know where he is. We should wait for backup.”
Now Dex was a shadowy figure ahead of me. If I hesitated there was a good chance I’d lose sight of him, and it had been years since I explored the mine. I’d have no chance of finding him.
“I can’t leave Wildie alone in here,” Dex called back to me.
I took a deep breath. Brannigan was going to have my hide if anything happened to Wildie or Dex. I followed him in. Was it any time to mention I hated the dark? I was barely ten feet from the entrance when I heard a rumbling above me.
