Page 24 of A Touch of Fire

He opened the door and hopped down, jogging to the other side not fast enough to get her door, but she still took the hand he offered to help get her down.

“This is breathtaking,” she said as she walked forward to the picnic tables in the grassy area.

The city below them glimmered with golden lights.

“I agree.”

Of course when she looked at him, he wasn’t looking at the city but right at her. Megan quickly turned away and felt her cheeks redden with his eyes on her face.

He started to laugh softly next to her.

“What?”

“You know, I realize why my dad likes you so much.”

“Because he had someone to talk to that listened when he was going through a crisis and didn’t have family nearby?”

“Ouch. I deserved that, but I don’t think that’s it. My dad’s a tough one, and he’s lived in this town for his whole life.”

“So you’re saying he didn’t need me?”

“Not at all. I think he enjoys having a smart, funny, beautiful woman around.”

Megan looked back at him and didn’t respond.

“I have to say, I agree.”

Megan drew in a breath and opened her mouth to speak when a piercing scream shattered the night around them.

Troy jumped to his feet, and his head spun around toward the sound.

Megan was right behind as he took off in the direction, an unspoken agreement between them.

The screaming echoed through the pine forest around them, bouncing from tree to tree and echoing from farther down the road. Troy’s stride was longer, and he pulled farther away from her down the hill toward the road, clearly driven by instinct. Megan was behind, but pulled out her phone, hitting the emergency button three times to start dialing for help.

The dispatcher’s voice came through right as Troy slid on the pine needles around the corner, before jumping up and sprinting out of her sight.

“911. What’s your emergency?”

Megan rounded the bend and saw a smoking compact car smashed against the tree with all of the airbags deployed. The screaming pierced the air, loud and clear, punctuated with a dog barking somewhere.

Megan rattled off the location to the dispatch with quick details of the situation.

Troy was leaning against an open window talking to the woman inside, who was still screaming. He stepped aside when Megan reached the window and held his hand out to accept the phone she was already handing him, to take over the call to the dispatcher.

A brown lab in the back kept barking and whining. She shouted over it to make herself heard.

“My name is Megan. I’m an EMT and a firefighter. I’m here to help. Are you okay?”

A sheen of sweat covered the woman’s pale skin, and her eyes, stretched with fear, landed on Megan’s face but didn’t register her presence. She looked to be in her late teens at most. She would’ve been considered pretty, but the terror made her look gaunt and thin. Her blonde hair looked like she had straightened it earlier that day, but now was frizzy, with flyaways trying to break loose from the static electricity. Behind her, the dog kept barking and whining, trying to escape the vehicle.

“It’s okay. It’s okay,” she said in a failed attempt to reassure the dog. “We’re going to get you both out of the car. Can you move?”

The woman was shaking now, her hands trembling by her chest, shoved back from the wheel by the airbag.

Megan reached in over the broken glass, threw the latch to the door from the inside, and mercifully it swung open. Shoving the airbag out of the way, she fought to free the seatbelt and blew out a breath of relief when she heard the click releasing the belt away from the girl’s lap.

“Can you walk? I want to help you out of the car.”

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