Blazing Love

by Chantel Rhondeau

  “How did it go?”

  “Really good.” She twisted in his arms, rising up on her toes slightly to kiss him. “They’re airing it as the top story all day tomorrow. It sounds like the people who know are already on our side. We’ll stop this, Thayne.”

  He held her tight, bending to press his cheek against hers. “Now, let’s just hope they can catch the person responsible.”

  “Be careful out there today.” Laura took in some deep breaths. He’s going to be fine. He and Frankie will watch out for each other. Nothing bad will happen.

  No matter how many times she repeated it, Laura had a hard time believing it. Life would be simpler and safer when they caught the arsonist.

  “We’re packing up right now and driving to that fire,” Thayne said. “The crew there is at the end of their shift and has to be tired. We need to relieve them. I’ll text as soon as the fire is out. You going to be okay driving back to our house? No panic attacks or anything?”

  She nodded, liking the sound of Thayne referring to the house as theirs. “As long as you come home safe, I’ll be fine. Should I pick you up tomorrow?”

  Thayne shook his head. “Nay, I’ll take the bus. But you’ll have something waiting for me, right?”

  Laura giggled. “We’re talking about food, aren’t we?”

  “For starters,” he repeated like he had last night.

  Yep. Having a home and being with Thayne is worth the risk to my heart. Nothing bad will happen to him, and he’ll never leave me. Vicky was wrong.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “Mierda, estoy cansado,” Frankie muttered as they rode back to the firehouse.

  “No kidding,” Carlos agreed. “I’m beat. They have to catch the bastards setting these fires. We can’t take much more of this.”

  Thayne watched the houses pass by the engine windows, hoping they would get a chance to catch a few hours of sleep before the next fire started. It was sad that he was no longer thinking in terms of ‘if’ another fire started. It was only a matter of time. No one had slept last night, and it was already past two in the afternoon. Three fires later, they were all ready for some shuteye.

  He pulled his phone from the cubby in the doorway and pulled up Laura’s number. Hey, sexy, he texted. Exhausted, but safe. Only four more hours and I can see you.

  After a few seconds, his phone beeped. Can’t wait for you to get home. We’re up to 500 fans on the FB page. Each time the story runs, we get more and more sign ups. That rich guy who owns all those businesses in town, Nick Kendall, spoke up, offering a reward for anyone who could give information about the arsonist.

  Well, that was something. “Those rich Kendalls who own Carlie’s Creations are putting up a reward for information on the arsonist,” Thayne told the other men.

  A half-assed cheer followed his words, but they were all too tired to be overly excited.

  Thayne turned back to his phone. Thanks for that uplifting news, cat woman. We’re headed back to the station. I have to get some sleep and probably won’t wake up to text every hour. I’m beat. Afraid I won’t be much fun tonight.

  That’s too bad, her return text said. Sleep good. Bet I can perk you up when you get home.

  Definitely certain parts, he agreed. Love you.

  When her return declaration of love beeped through, Thayne put the phone back in the doorway compartment.

  “Looks like the news story’s working. The city’s coming together in our favor, wanting to protect our jobs.”

  Captain Smith leaned his head around his seat. “See? Told you boys I wouldn’t let you down. Before I’m through, everyone will be back to work, and the mayor run out of office.”

  Frankie and Carlos mumbled something rapidly to one another in Spanish that Thayne couldn’t begin to understand. He raised an eyebrow, but Frankie shook his head.

  “It’s nothing, brother, don’t worry.” Frankie leaned closer to Thayne and lowered his voice so that it could barely be heard above the noise of the engine. “We’re just wondering how far the captain would take things to prove his point.”

  Thayne shook his head in confusion. “Meaning... what?”

  “Carlos overheard him on the phone about twenty minutes before we doused that second fire. Didn’t it seem odd to you that another one started so soon?”

  Thayne narrowed his eyebrows further and looked across to Carlos, who studied him just as intently. Between them, Sterling appeared clueless about what they were saying. Probably a good thing, since Sterling and the captain were so close. He wouldn’t like the direction this conversation headed.

  “You really think he’s doing something?” Thayne whispered. “I can’t believe that.”

  Frankie shrugged. “It gave Carlos a bad feeling, that’s all.”

  “Engine eighteen,” came the crackly voice of dispatch over the truck’s speaker. “There’s another fire out on Parsons Road. What’s your ETA?”

  The guys in the truck all groaned as Dan turned the sirens on and hit the gas while Captain Smith responded to dispatch.

  Thayne shook his head. “No, he wouldn’t do this. Carlos must have heard wrong. He’s searching for the arsonist and trying to save our jobs.”

  Frankie shrugged. “I hope you’re right.”

  Thayne hoped so too.

  ***

  I never expected the message to reach so many people, so fast. God man is going to be a happy camper when he gets home.

  Laura responded to comments with gleeful abandon. With the way things were going, it wouldn’t be long before the people of Sayle made the mayor hear their voice. And they were angry.

  Already a petition circulated Facebook, demanding the city recall their mayor due to negligence of citizens’ safety. Combining that with the Kendalls’ offer of a reward for information leading to the arsonist’s arrest, things seemed brighter. Before long, Thayne’s job would settle down, and they could spend his off time in delirious happiness.

  But I better check that pork roast if I want to keep my man happy.

  Grinning to herself, Laura rose from the table and entered the kitchen, grabbing the hot pads and opening the oven. The aroma of cooking meat made her mouth water. Thayne should be home within the hour, and she’d feed him before giving him a nice, long massage. She felt bad that he’d had to fight three fires today, but at least she hadn’t heard from him again, which meant he had indeed gone to sleep.

  Poor thing probably passed out as soon as they reached the station. These long shifts are a bad idea when there are so many fires going on. At least he has tomorrow off, and I can pamper him all day.

  The sound of humming coming from her own mouth surprised her. Laura realized she’d never been quite so happy, not even as a child. Life was good.

  As she shut the oven door, Snips rubbed against her leg, meowing and head butting Laura’s jeans.

  “You’re turning into a chub,” Laura told the cat. “I don’t think you need food yet.”

  As though offended, Snips turned and raced from the room. Halfway to the living room, she got distracted and chased her tail.

  Laura laughed. “How about I get the laser light out? You need to work off some of that good food you’ve been overeating, and we have a while until I need to work more on dinner.”

  On her way past the laptop to where Thayne had hung the cat laser on the wall, Facebook beeped an alert about a new post. Curious, Laura stopped and clicked on the notification. Not that I have to know all the gossip, but what if it’s a lead to the culprit?

  The picture on a new post confused her. It was a house up in flames, but not an image Laura had seen before. The caption by Johnny Dedricks read: Parsons Road is in a blaze now. Will this ever stop?

  Now? As in right now? Laura shook her head in disbelief. There was a picture of Captain Smith, helmet in his hands and a look of despair on his face. It’s Thayne’s engine, but he never said they had a new fire.

  More pictures started showing up on the page from various people. Indi
stinguishable firefighters in their uniforms surrounded the blaze and held hoses against the burning house.

  Typing quickly despite her trembling hands, Laura asked: When did this fire happen?

  Johnny Dedricks: It’s happening now. I’m across the street. I think the family is still inside. Looks like some men are preparing rescue efforts.

  No. It can’t be. Thayne never said anything about it. He’s sleeping, safe and sound at the station.

  But she knew all the reassurances in the world would never convince her brain what her heart was screaming. Something was wrong, and Thayne was in trouble.

  Racing to the kitchen, Laura clicked off the oven and then ran for the front door.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Thayne looked at Frankie, seeing the fatigue behind the face guard of Frankie’s mask. It was dangerous to go inside the blaze as large as it was, but they’d just gotten word that the family may still be inside. It seemed the fire alarms didn’t go off again at this house.

  Was the arsonist purposefully taking out the alarms, trying to kill people? Or was it just bad luck of people not testing their fire alarm batteries?

  Carlos and Sterling were inside the doorway, hose trained on the flames in an effort to stop the fire from spreading past the kitchen and living room area.

  “I don’t know how long I can go on,” Frankie said, weaving on his feet wearily. “Someone said there might be kids, though. Are you ready?”

  Through the walkie-talkie, the Captain’s voice crackled, “You guys going to stand there all day or save some goddamn lives?”

  Grabbing the radio from its clip on his shoulder, Thayne pressed the button. “We’re going, sir, but get some volunteer firefighters down here soon. We can’t keep this up.”

  Even Carlos and Sterling looked as though their energy had reached its limits, and Dan joined them on the hose to keep the stream going steady. The rest of the ground crew vented the building and fought the fire from the outside, but it wasn’t going without a fight.

  Frankie pulled his gloves on. “Let’s go.”

  Just as he was about to enter, the sound of a honking horn drew Thayne’s attention. He turned his head, watching as his truck screeched to a halt in the middle of the street.

  “Shit.” He pressed the button on the radio. “Sir, Laura just pulled up. She looks mad as hell and is coming this way. Frankie and I will head inside. You stop her.”

  He’d have to worry about calming Laura after rescuing the family. Although he had no clue how she found out about the fire and was worried about how pissed she’d be that he broke their agreement of communication, Thayne couldn’t focus on any of that. Right now, he had lives to save—including getting him and his tired partner back out of the house safely.

  Together, they entered the house. Heat bathed Thayne and sweat broke out on his forehead. The house was like an oven. It would be a miracle if they found anyone alive. If it wasn’t for the possibility of children being inside, they might have decided the risk was too great to even try.

  But the final order belonged to Captain Smith, and he said to search. Now, Thayne and Frankie had work to do.

  Ducking below the smoke to look around the room, it was empty of people even though Thayne didn’t expect anything different. “Let’s try the bedrooms,” he yelled over the crackling of the fire. Shining his flashlight through the dark smoke to the hallway, he was thankful for the breathing gear. It seemed unlikely the family could have survived.

  Frankie crouched in front of him, leading the way through the gloom. “Any word on how many people?” he yelled into his radio.

  “Three kids,” Captain Smith’s voice came back. “The parents are gone to a party and the kids are home alone, according to a neighbor.”

  Thayne’s heart sunk to his stomach, nausea overcoming him. It sounded just like his last fire with Carl. Even the layout of the house looked similar. He grabbed Frankie’s arm, stopping him from advancing further.

  “Stay close to me, Frank. I got a bad feeling.”

  Frankie nodded, slowing his pace marginally.

  The hallway doors were shut, but Thayne guessed the kids would have hidden in their rooms, just like the kids in his and Carl’s last fire. “Check the back bedroom windows,” he said into the walkie-talkie to the venting crew. “The kids have to be there.”

  Frankie stopped at the first closed door, taking off a glove and testing the heat level to see if the fire had already sparked in the room beyond. “I think it’s safe to check,” he shouted.

  The vent men were still on the roof. Getting to the bedroom windows would take too much time, and Thayne made a decision. They had to get out quickly. Already the heat from the blaze in the kitchen spread toward the hallway, despite Carlos and Sterling’s efforts. They couldn’t wait too long. “Open the door.”

  Every nerve in Thayne’s body was raw with fear. Entering a bedroom was how Carl separated from him.

  After opening the door, Frankie stepped forward, Thayne close on his heels.

  Frankie shot his ungloved hand into the thickened smoke above them and yanked it back, cursing in Spanish under his breath. “Damn it,” he shouted. “We have to get out of here. I was wrong. It’s too hot. The whole thing could blow. Tell the vent men to be careful.”

  Thayne reached for his radio to tell the men, still peering into the rapidly darkening room, hoping to see movement though he feared they were too late. Sparks of light flickered through the smoke above them as it caught fire. “Fall back,” he ordered, also talking into the radio. “It’s gonna flash.”

  He tugged at Frankie’s arm, pulling him into the hallway and shutting the door. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Thayne headed for the front of the house, crawling along the ground as far out of the superheated smoke as he could get. Black smoke now snaked along the hallway ceiling, the tell-tale flicks of flame glimmering through it. They had to get away. The whole house was about the go up in flames.

  “Thayne, wait!”

  At Frankie’s desperate call, Thayne turned around. Down at the end of the hallway a door had opened.

  “It’s the kids.” Frankie took off without waiting for Thayne to give the order, running for the opening.

  “Frank, no!” Thayne twisted around, rushing for his partner.

  If they didn’t get out in the next few seconds, they were a good as dead.

  ***

  Don’t you tell me to sit and wait, you asshole. I don’t care if you are Thayne’s captain.

  “I don’t understand why you sent them in there,” Laura argued, rage and fear causing a mix of adrenaline the likes of which she had never felt. “Get them out! That fire is huge.”

  “Shut up, Laura,” Smith practically growled. “Thayne knows what he’s doing.”

  Scratchy voices came through the radio in Smith’s hand, and he held up his other hand to hush her further pleas. Laura couldn’t understand what was being said, it all sounded like so much garbled gibberish. Only one thing came through very clearly. That was Thayne’s terrified-sounding voice as he shouted no to his partner.

  “Fall back,” Captain Smith shouted to the men around the house. He pushed the button on the radio. “Bloodgood, Hernandez, get your asses out here, pronto. That’s an order.”

  Laura’s heart thudded painfully. Captain Smith had been smug moments before, now he sounded scared out of his mind. What could be happening in there to Thayne and Frankie to make the captain worry?

  Men around them shouted orders and moved from the building, still spraying the flames, even though Laura figured it wouldn’t help. Everything was utter chaos for a few minutes.

  “What’s happening?” she demanded. “Get Thayne out here.”

  The world stopped for a second, everything hanging in the balance before a huge whoosh of flames burst from all the windows and out the roof. A stunned silence followed for a heartbeat before the men shot back to action, resuming their fight.

  “They didn’t get out,�
�� yelled a younger firefighter. Carlos, if Laura remembered right from the press conference. “We have to go get them.”

  Laura sank to her knees, feeling helpless and hopeless. Thayne was in there, burning up.

  “Hernandez, Bloodgood,” Captain Smith shouted into his radio again, “are you okay?”

  Holding her breath, Laura prayed some scratchy indication would come over the speaker to tell her Thayne was safe. How could he do this to me? He promised to tell me everything, and now that damn arsonist has killed him.

  Captain Smith continued screaming into the radio at intervals, but there was no reply. “Send in the fucking RIC.” Smith dropped his head to his chest as the firefighters rushed to obey him. He looked as bleak as Laura felt. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. There weren’t supposed to be kids inside.”

  He didn’t mean for it to happen? What the hell is going on here?

  “What do you mean?” she asked, keeping her voice light, even though what she wanted to do was smack the shit out of him. The suspicion she just came up with made the man seem more dangerous than he had before. “Did you know this fire would happen?”

  His eyes snapped toward her, as though just then remembering she stood near him. “Of course not. It’s just worse when kids are involved. How could you even think I’d have something to do with this?”

  Although he said the right words, the captain didn’t seem to have any conviction behind them. But why would he set off the fires? That makes no sense. He helps people. Thayne thinks the world of him. He can’t be a murderer.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I’m just scared and trying to think of anything except the fact that Thayne isn’t answering that radio.”

  Captain Smith nodded, turning the walkie-talkie over in his hands. “You and me both. They should have been safe. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  He’s going to live. He’s going to live. He’s going to live.