Page 59 of Fire and Ice
“Come on, boy.” He went to scoop up the dog. Spot bolted to the kitchen instead. Grady shouted at him and ran after him.
Grady almost tripped over a body. His heart nearly stopped when he saw it was the woman who planned to take Spot to daycare.
“Carla.” He bent and put his fingers to her carotid artery. Her pulse was faint, but she was alive. Grady scooped her up, and a cell phone slipped from her hand and thumped on the floor.
The sound of a 9-1-1 operator could be heard coming over the line. “Ma’am. Are you with me?” Carla had succumbed to the smoke before she had a chance to get herself and Spot out of the house.
Grady ignored the phone. The roar of the fire grew louder throughout the house as he ran for the door.
Archer took Carla from Grady and started out of the house at a jog.
Grady looked at the Dalmatian and pointed to the parking lot. “Go to the truck.”
Spot knew exactly what to do when Grady gave the order, but the dog didn’t move. He stayed close to Grady, as if he intended to play the part of a faithful firefighter dog.
Grady bolted out of the house, Spot at his side.
A scream tore from Kyra’s house, along with shouts of, “Help me!”
Grady shot his gaze to Cord and pointed to where Kyra leaned out of a top-floor window. She had a coughing fit and leaned on the windowsill with one hand. Flames engulfed the top floor.
Grady and Cord hurried toward Kyra’s end of the house, Spot following. Two other firefighters had already gone inside, but may not have heard Kyra’s screams as they searched the home.
Grady didn’t have time to take the Dalmatian to the street, and the dog was smart. He’d saved Carla’s life.
The fire roared as firefighters worked to extinguish the flames with powerful fire hoses, while others searched the house. Kyra saw Grady and Cord coming toward her home. The roof above her creaked, wood popping, and something crashed next to her. She cut her gaze in that direction with a terrified expression.
“Hang on, Kyra.” Grady shouted the words, but the noise of the raging inferno drowned them out.
Grady, Cord, and Spot reached her door. Grady shouted at Spot to get back, and this time the dog listened. Grady hurried through the doorframe, splintered from the other firefighters who’d already entered the home.
Flames filled Grady’s view.
Before Grady could start forward, Spot bounded through a gap in the flames and into the house.
“Shit.” Grady stepped toward the door as he glanced at Cord. “Let’s get Kyra.”
And let’s get Spot.
Grady put on his oxygen mask, then dodged through the same gap Spot had slipped through. The ceiling had collapsed in the living room, landing on the tile floor and consuming the furniture. But the stairs were still free of flames. Spot barked from the landing above them.
Grady and Cord hurried up the stairs. Smoke shrouded everything. When they reached the landing, Spot went left and into the room where Kyra had been yelling from. They rushed after Spot and entered the room.
Through the smoke, Grady saw a female slumped on the floor beside the window, Spot at the tall woman’s side. “Kyra!” She didn’t move.
He looked for some way around the fire to get to her. To the right, closest to the window, was a space so far untouched by the fire.
Cord said, “You’ll never get to her in time. This whole building is going to go.”
“I will.” Grady glanced over his shoulder. “Three minutes, in and out.”
Cord nodded right before Grady plunged into the fire, moving as fast as he could to the area yet to be ravaged by flames.
His heart thundered, but his mind was clear. He reached Kyra and Spot. The Dalmatian barked as Grady scooped up Kyra, who moaned. Her eyelids fluttered as she choked on more smoke.
He turned to head back in the direction they had just come.
Flames consumed everything in the room. Debris rained down a moment before another beam crashed through the massive hole in the ceiling, shaking the floor.
