Caught in Flames Read online

  Sam returned to Becca and rubbed her back, waiting for her to snap out of her trance and tell him what just happened. “Becks? You all right?”

  “What? Huh? Sorry, What?”

  “What the hell just happened?”

  “Umm, déjà vu, I guess.” She shivered, unable to stop flashes of the past hurl across her memory. She had to admit she was glad Trevor has left. He had left, right? She glanced around to make sure. Yup, he’d run like a scared rabbit. Or a guilty one.

  “You okay?”

  “Sorry, I’m fine. I’m good.” She stared at the flower still in her hand. “I’m not a nut-job.”

  Sam smiled sympathetically. His dark brown eyes stared intently at hers. “I know you’re not.” He didn’t press her for anything more.

  Becca nodded, placing the flower onto the counter and returning to her pancakes, smiling at Sam to try and convince him, and herself, that she was ok. She occasionally stole glances of the flower she’d left on the counter, her body shaking and the hair on the back of her neck standing straight up each and every time. She kept thinking back to the flaming rose on her brother’s tombstone, wondering if it was just coincidence. She highly doubted it. Creepy Trevor must have been the one to leave the flaming flower for her.

  “You’re going to burn your cakes.”

  “What?”

  “The pancakes, Becks. You’re burning them.”

  “Oops! Shit!” She quickly flipped them. “I need more coffee.”

  “Well, I just so happen to be the coffee king so keep an eye on those pancakes and I’ll get you a fresh cup.” He grinned at her again and she couldn’t help but appreciate how he treated her like nothing had happened.

  “Thanks, Sam.”

  “Anytime, roomie.”

  Sam winked at her and walked over to the coffeemaker to put one of his special coffee blends together.

  Becca tossed the pancakes onto a plate, pouring more batter to start on the next batch. Sam slid the coffee over to her as another knock on the door echoed through the apartment, causing Becca to drop her flipper into the pancake batter.

  “Whoa, settle down, pancake queen! That’s definitely the crew.”

  Becca nodded and pulled her flipper out of the batter. “Wait! Hold on!”

  Sam had just disappeared around the corner, but his head popped back. His eyebrows went up.

  She pointed down at her bare legs. “Can I please put some pants on first?”

  His eyes trailed down and Becca swore his face turned a shade of red. “Of course.” He nodded knowingly, as if thinking that was the reason she had acted strange before with Trevor.

  She jogged by him and grabbed her jeans folded on the couch. She jumped into them and grabbed a top and her bra as another knock pounded on the door.

  Someone yelled, “I smell pancakes.”

  Becca turned to Sam. “Can you flip the pancakes in the pan?” The minute he disappeared, she pulled her PJ top off and slipped her bra on, clasping it just as Sam leaned against the wall to watch her with a smug smile. He wasn’t going anywhere. She stuck her tongue out at him as she slipped her red shirt on.

  “Nice six pack,” he commented before he went to open the door and let in the entire fire station, all of the men smiling and waving at Becca as they piled into the small, two-bedroom apartment.

  Becca smiled back at them, quickly hurrying back to the kitchen. She tossed her extra clothes into Sam’s room before slipping back into the kitchen to flip another set of pancakes. She grabbed a pile of plates out of the cupboard and set the stack on the island. Her eyes shifted to the rose. Not wanted to thinking about it, she picked it up and tossed it into the garbage, a sigh of relief leaving her lips as it hit the bottom of the trash bin.

  “You got an admirer, Becks?” Chief Titan chuckled and pointed to the garbage. “Who’s the unlucky fellow?”

  “Just a weird neighbor welcoming me to the building.” Becca rolled her eyes at the garbage. “I’m so lucky, aren’t I?” She forced herself to keep a smile on while the guys joked around and chatted about the new gadget they would be testing after breakfast. Instead of being able to join them in excitement and fun, Becca continued to glance over to the trash can, her relief short-lived as she started thinking about the rose at the bottom of the bin and how it could be connected to the one from the graveyard.

  “Becks, can you explain it to the guys?” Sam dodged an elbow from the firefighter sitting beside him. “They’re waiting like its Christmas Eve and you’re Santa.”

  “Pardon?”

  “They want to know about the specs of the radio.”

  “Oh, right!” She forced herself to let go of her worry and curiosity for the second time that morning, filling the men in on the radio specs and how it will connect to their suits.

  They chatted all morning while devouring the breakfast Sam and Becca made together, helping her to feel at home, and trying to convince her not to leave once the trial of the helmets was over. Sam nudged her with his hip each time the subject of her staying was broached.

  Becca just laughed it off, but in the back of her mind, the feeling of home was more welcoming than she had expected. Her subconscious started pushing the possibility into her thoughts. It was tempting. Could she seriously consider dumping the testing gig and becoming a full-time firefighter again?

  Chapter 7

  Once they were done with breakfast and back at the fire station, Becca felt more in her element. She handed out the helmets to the fighters who would be going into any burning buildings or dealing with the 3-D Zone Control. She then handed out the standard radios that were on the same system to the Chief and operators.

  “Can’t we all get both?” one of the fighters grumbled as he held the radio.

  “These are testing helmets,” Becca explained. “I don’t have enough for everyone. You guys can switch with each call. Or however you want to do it. I just need to know what you like or dislike about them.”

  She went on to explain the specifics, answered the same questions Sam had asked about weight, the chance of non-communication, and other various scenarios that might come up. She was in the middle of being made fun of for the way she was explaining how the helmets worked when the fire bell rang throughout the hall, warning everyone of a fire in progress. The men dropped what they were doing and ran over to suit up.

  The Chief smiled at Becca and nodded his head toward a suit in an unclaimed locker. “You going to suit up, or what?”

  “Seriously?”

  He smiled. “I got you cleared to be on shift. That’s your gear.”

  She grinned and shut her laptop. “Then hell yeah, I am!” She ran over like a kid in a candy store to the unclaimed locker and started throwing on her gear. She grabbed one of the beta helmets and jumped into the back of the pump truck. Carrying the helmet under her arm, she hung onto the side of the truck, staring out the window as the boys pulled out the fire hall door and zoomed the trucks out onto the road.

  As the buildings flew by her, she leaned out the window letting the wind slap against her face. She nearly lost her balance as they rode over a speedbump without slowing. Sam pulled her arm and brought her back in and pressed against her. His heat seemed to radiate off of his gear. Or maybe it was Becca from Sam’s closeness. She pushed the silly notion aside.

  Keeping her balanced, he grinned and winked at her. “Been awhile, huh?”

  “Yeah, too long.”

  Becca and Sam had to scream to speak, the sound of the siren and truck engine drowning out most of their voices.

  “Feels good to be back, doesn’t it?”

  “Better than good.”

  Becca knew she shouldn’t be smiling so much; fires were tragedies. People could be hurt, or worse, but it felt too good to be back in fighter gear not smile.

  At least until they reached the location call. Her smile faded immediately when the small convenience store came into view, covered in flames, with two people trapped inside. Becca and Sam were the
first ones out of the truck, running full speed toward the blazing fire, while the Chief screamed into the new radio, trying to rein them in.

  “You two, you know better than to play heroes. Wait for the team!”

  “But there’re people inside!” Sam hesitated, axe in hand.

  “Go around the back. Check to see if there’s a rear entrance.”

  Sam nudged his head toward the side alley of the building and Becca followed behind him. They jogged along the sidewalk, trying a window, only to get rewarded with a giant flame bursting out. Becca ducked and grunted, feeling the heat of the flames through her suit but knowing she wouldn’t get burned. She worked her way through every window along the side and back until she found a backdoor.

  “Rear entrance is intact.”

  “You find something?” Sam’s voice sounded clear in the earpiece of the new helmets. He was at another window, checking to see if anyone was inside.

  “I’m going to try and wedge the backdoor open. The team got water yet?”

  “Spraying the front down now, but it doesn’t look good,” another voice came through the radio system.

  “Roger that. We’re going to try the back.” Sam came over and tried barging his shoulder at the door to force it open even a fraction. It was locked and wedged tight. He turned around and kicked at it over a dozen times with his boot before it budged slightly.

  “Wait!” Becca called out to him and moved forward. It was open enough that she could fit through between the door and the frame. Tight, but she could squeeze through.

  “Fire department, call out!” she yelled, hoping the people locked inside would hear.

  The smoke was thick as it tried to billow out the small crack in the door she had made. Screams erupted from a spot in the shop as if she were already too late. She panicked and ran full speed into the blazing flames, looking for the two people supposedly locked inside. She checked in every room, trying to find the source of the screams while fighting off flashbacks of her brother screaming all those years ago. “Fire department. Call out!” she repeated over and over. I’m coming for you, don’t worry. I’m going to get you out of here, just tell me where you are. She knew it was stupid she had gone in alone, but there was no turning back now.

  The screams seemed to have gone silent over the cries of the fire. Becca yelled at the top of her lungs. “NO! Come on, make some noise. Where are ya? FIRE DEPARTMENT, CALL OUT!!”

  “Becca, calm down. You’ll find them. We almost have this beast put out. Hang in there.”

  She had forgotten she was active on the radio. Sam’s calming voice help organize her thoughts. She moved toward the heat of the flames, the water from the firehoses outside already taking the monster down. Her breathing steadied and she moved around with deliberate action. She was back into the game.

  Several shelves had been knocked over and Becca made her way around them, continually calling out. She moved to a corner of the building and behind two stacks of empty shelves where there was a small storage room the size of closet. A woman and small child lay on the floor. Becca rushed over and spoke into the headset. “Two people. Woman and child. It doesn’t look good.” Thank goodness her training and experience kicked in. Becca moved as if on autopilot.

  “Where are you?” Sam spoke, sounding as if he was running. “We’ll come in through one of the windows.”

  “No window, I’m going to have to make one.” She looked around and found part of a wall that wasn’t drenched in flames. She ran over to it and cracked her axe into the wall, hitting it once, twice, three times until she was breaking through to the other side. It was one of the few times she was happy this neighborhood had cheaply constructed buildings.

  When the other members of the crew saw her axe, they went to work breaking down the other half of the wall. With the help of four men from the crew, Becca and the guys managed to break a piece of the wall down, and carried the two victims out of the building over to the safety of the grass a few feet away.

  As soon as they were safely down on the grass, other firefighters yanked off their helmets and began to administer CPR on the victims. When little girl began to cough, Becca fell back on the grass in relief. The relief felt short-lived as the other crew members rushed the mother into an ambulance.

  The little girl burst into tears and crawled over to Becca. She curled up against Becca’s chest, clinging to her suit for dear life. Becca wrapped her arms around the little girl and rocked her, quietly apologizing in her ear.

  “Becca.”

  She looked up to see Sam kneeling on front of her and the girl, holding out his arms.

  “The girl’s father’s here.”

  “Daddy?” the little girl croaked, her voice hoarse as she coughed.

  “Yeah, do you wanna go see your daddy?”

  The girl nodded and let go of Becca only to latch onto Sam. Becca watched as the two walked out of sight toward the girl’s father. Instead of getting up on her feet, Becca curled up into a ball and tried to stop herself from crying. She was devastated the girl’s mother was in terrible condition. Horrified that they hadn’t gotten to the fire sooner, and worst of all, that she had smiled the entire way to the scene.

  Chapter 8

  “Why do you wanna be a firefighter anyways, Corey?”

  “Because, it feels good to save people, Becks.”

  “And firefighters get all the action.”

  Sam came up from behind Becca and Corey, winking and grinning as he spun around to face them. Corey just shook his head and rolled his eyes at Sam.

  “What about the people you don’t save? What about them?”

  “I don’t think about that. I’m going to save everyone.” Corey winked at Becca before tackling Sam to the ground. “Unlike this guy, who will only save the pretty ones.”

  All three of them were laughing as Sam tried to defend himself, but couldn’t stop laughing long enough to sound convincing.

  Becca was busy mentally punishing herself and dwelling on her flashback when Sam came back to talk to her. When she didn’t respond to his question, he sat down on the grass next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I can wait until you show signs of coming back to the present.” He pulled her against him. “It’s not your fault, Becks.”

  Becca pulled out of her own head of memories and rested it against Sam’s shoulder, her body trembling against his arm. “Yes, it is.”

  “No, we got here as fast as we could.”

  Becca sniffed and wiped her nose across her sleeve, still fighting back the tears that were stinging the corners of her eyes. “This isn’t a game, and I was smiling, I was actually smiling on the way to a fire.”

  “You were happy to be at work. You didn’t know about the people.”

  “There’s always a chance of people. I know better.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over this, Becks. You didn’t start the fire; you didn’t hurt those people.”

  Becca nodded, but wasn’t really listening. She was lost in the conversation going on behind her. A cop in the police department arrived to examine the scene and talk to the Chief.

  “What do we got, Deacon?”

  It was so weird for Becca to hear someone call the Chief something other than Chief or Titan.

  “Seems to be the same arson.”

  “Casualties?”

  “We saved the daughter, but we’re not sure the woman’s going to make it. She coded on the way to the hospital. It doesn’t look good.”

  “Damnit. That makes ten.”

  Becca raised her head from Sam’s shoulder, looking behind her to the police chief.

  “Did you just say ten? Ten what?” She scrambled to her feet.

  “I’m sorry, who are you?”

  “Firefighter Taylor, sir.”

  He studied her a moment, his dark face grim. “This is the tenth victim of the Phoenix Arsonist.”

  “He’s killed people?” Becca stared shocked at the police chief. The news had never mentioned any
casualties. Becca felt the pit in her stomach grow thinking of all the victims the arsonist had created with his fires. “Do you have any suspects?”

  “Not that it is any of your business, but no, there are no suspects in the case currently.”

  Becca had a quick flashback to the pain she felt when the police told her family that their trail had gone cold, but they would keep the family updated if any new evidence came forward. “I want to help.”

  “No, thank you, we have police officers on top of this.”

  “Maybe a new perspective can help find the evidence you need for a new lead.”

  “With all due respect, Miss Taylor, the police will handle this. You just stick to putting out the fires. Leave the police work to actual police.”

  Becca scoffed at his rejection and was prepared to argue more fiercely, but Sam put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her from continuing.

  “Let it go, Becks.”

  “What? Why? We could help.”

  “We’ve already offered our help; the police don’t want it.”

  “That’s stupid and arrogant. Who would know more about fires than a firefighter?”

  Sam pulled her out of earshot. “Exactly, Becks. They think it’s one of us.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “They don’t think so, so just drop it.”

  Becca fumed. She hated that Sam was giving up so easily. She shrugged his hand off her shoulder and stormed off toward the truck, climbing into the cab to ensure she wouldn’t have to deal with Sam on the way back to the hall. When she heard the door to the cab of the truck open she was ready to bitch at Sam about not trying harder, but instead a cute guy pulled into a seat next to her. Becca couldn’t help but stare at the man who had just taken the seat opposite of her in the cab. She noticed the way his hair was neatly trimmed into a dark brown fauxhawk with tiny blue tips. His eyes were a nice, deep, blue that a girl could get lost in, and the shortest bit of stubble on his chin framed his face to perfection. She couldn’t tell how much muscle he was sporting under the fire suit, but she imagined he was well toned like most of the other firefighters on the crew.