Second Act

by Herkness, Nancy

  The sound was the clinic’s emergency notification. That meant fire, flood, or burglary.

  She fumbled open the jeweled purse and grabbed her phone to check the cause. Pure horror ripped the air out of her lungs on a gasp. “Oh dear God, it’s fire!” She leaped up from her chair, somehow managing to keep her balance on the ridiculous heels she was wearing.

  “Fire? Where?” Hugh stood up, too.

  “The clinic. I have to go.”

  “Just a moment,” Hugh said, seizing her wrist to hold her beside him. “Gavin, we need your limo. My apologies . . . I won’t be able to present the award to you.”

  “Go!” Gavin said, his cell phone already in his hand.

  “Wait, we?” Jessica said to Hugh.

  “I’m coming with you,” he said.

  She didn’t have time to argue with him, so when he released her wrist, she started toward the exit door, dodging between tables and chairs as fast as she could go, yet always aware of his presence behind her.

  Just as she reached the door, her phone began pinging with text messages from Tiana and Caleb, the two vet techs who lived closest to the clinic and were on their way there. They would probably beat the fire trucks, even though the clinic’s alarm was connected to the fire station, too. Of course, Jessica had expected to be within ten blocks herself. She hated for the techs to be the ones who got to the scene first.

  Hugh rested his hand on the small of her back as they strode through the lobby, guiding and balancing her with his touch. She heaved a sigh of gratitude when she saw the limo waiting at the hotel entrance. Hugh snarled at the paps who scrambled to snap their pictures while he helped her in. The big car glided away from the curb, and Jessica began pulling up the clinic records on her phone, checking to see how many patients were boarding that night. Eight. She winced and sent the information to the two techs, praying the fire wasn’t so bad they couldn’t rescue the boarders.

  Don’t go in to get the animals unless the firemen say it’s safe. Fill me in on the situation when you can, she texted.

  Now all she could do was worry and wish the driver would go faster.

  “You might want to remove the diamonds, since they’re borrowed,” Hugh said.

  “Oh, right!” She unfastened the dangling earrings. “You didn’t have to come. Now Gavin won’t have your whiz-bang introduction.”

  “I couldn’t let you face a fire alone.” An undercurrent of anger ran through his voice.

  “My techs will be there. We’ve prepped for this.” She fumbled with the catch of the necklace.

  “Let me help you,” Hugh said, indicating she should turn on the seat. She swiveled and bent her neck to give him better access. The brush of his fingertips against the sensitive nape of her neck sent a tingle dancing over her skin. She closed her eyes against the thought that she wasn’t sure if she would ever feel his touch again.

  Then the heavy diamond necklace slipped off and fell into her waiting hands, adding to her burden of responsibility.

  She cupped the glittering diamonds, staring down at the million-dollar pile in dismay. “What the hell do I do with these to keep them safe?”

  “Put them in your purse, and we’ll give it to Jaros, the driver, to take care of. He works for Gavin, so he’s very trustworthy.”

  She opened the clutch and tipped the diamonds into the satin-lined interior before handing it to Hugh with a surge of relief. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  Hugh had always thought the sweetest words he’d ever hear from Jessica were I love you, but strangely, I’m so glad you’re here sounded even better, especially after the sucker punch when she’d said he didn’t need to come with her when her clinic was burning down. After what she’d told him earlier, he couldn’t believe she would expect him to stand by and let her face it alone.

  As he watched her tapping away at her phone with calm efficiency, awe bloomed in his chest and powerlessness twisted through his gut. The only concrete help he could give her so far was handing over her jewels to the chauffeur.

  “Have you ever had a fire before?” he asked.

  “No, but we have an emergency plan, and the fire department gets the alarm at the same time I do. It’s just that I expected to be there first, since I live the closest.”

  “Your staff members strike me as quite competent.” Jess would hire only people she could trust in a crisis.

  Her hands twisted together on her lap. “I don’t want them putting themselves at risk. I’ve told them that, but I’m afraid they won’t listen.”

  Because she cared about her people, and taking the risk was her job, of course. He caught a glimpse of the steel under her warm, compassionate persona, and her earlier words about her strength echoed through his mind.

  He laid his hand over one of hers. When she instantly opened her fingers and wrapped them around his, pleasure washed through him. She had accepted his comfort.

  Her phone pinged, and she released his hand to check it. She closed her eyes for a moment and he braced himself, but the news was good. “Thank God, it’s not the clinic that’s on fire,” she said. “It’s the bodega next door. The smoke is coming through a vent in the wall we share with them, and that’s what set off our alarms. Tiana and Caleb got the animals out, and the fire department’s there.”

  She slumped into Hugh, burying her face against his shoulder, saying in a muffled voice filled with relief, “The fire could still spread to the clinic, but the animals are safe.”

  He held her as the limo bounced over potholes and swayed around corners, her body cradled against his. He closed his eyes, soaking up the feel of her in his arms, while all the things she’d said to him earlier crashed around in his brain. He wanted to believe her about their future, but all he knew for certain at this moment was that he loved her almost beyond bearing, and he would do anything in his power to help her through this crisis.

  After a few minutes, Jessica sat up and swiped at the moisture on her cheeks. She glanced out the window. “We’re almost there.”

  As soon as she spoke, he saw the strobing flash of emergency lights and heard the rumbling of the big fire truck engines. Before the limo came to a full stop, Jessica had the door open and was climbing out, wobbling for a second on her high-heeled sandals as she got her balance on the water-slicked street.

  When Hugh exited on his side, she was already talking with a man and woman behind the police barriers on the opposite sidewalk. A line of crates and animal carriers stood on the cement beside them. Despite the conflagration throwing angry flames high into the dark sky, the winter air sent needles of cold through the thin cotton of his shirt. As he strode across the street, he shrugged out of his tuxedo jacket. When he reached Jessica’s side, he draped the jacket over her shoulders, hoping his body heat would provide some protection for her bare arms.

  She looked at him with a startled expression. “Thanks, but I have to go into the clinic,” she shouted over the cacophony of sound as she slipped the jacket off and held it out to him.

  He ignored the clothing suspended between them. “What are you talking about? You’re not going in there.”

  The street was churning with the controlled chaos of fire trucks, emergency vehicles, firefighters, and police, all washed in the scorching light of the furious flames pouring out of the building next to Jessica’s clinic. The street and sidewalks reflected the blaze, making it appear as though even the ground burned.

  She tossed the jacket at him and started toward the police barrier. “Geode’s still in there. They couldn’t find him before the firemen made them leave.”

  “Geode?” Hugh looked at the huge, angry flames and thick, black smoke pouring out right next to the clinic, and his heart twisted in fear.

  “Our office cat. He has the run of the clinic, so he’s hiding somewhere.”

  “You mean the streak of orange fur bolting out of your office when I walked in?”

  “That’s the one,” she said before she ducked under the barrier and into
the street.

  Hugh dropped his jacket and vaulted over the barrier.

  “Are you going to stop her?” one of the vet techs shouted.

  “I sure as hell am,” Hugh yelled over his shoulder.

  He jogged after Jessica, catching up with her as a fireman roared, “Lady, you can’t go in there. There are oxygen tanks that could explode.”

  His chest went hollow with terror. Dear God, he hadn’t even thought of that.

  “I know, but there’s still an animal in there,” she called back as she kept going. “And I’m the owner.” When she noticed Hugh beside her, she shook her head and yelled over the din, “You heard what the man said.”

  The fireman stepped in front of them, his bulky suit creating an effective blockade. “It’s too dangerous,” he bellowed.

  “The clinic is not on fire yet,” Jessica yelled back. “I have to get my cat.”

  The fireman shook his head. “Try it, and I’ll have the cops lock you in a police car,” he threatened.

  It would break Jess’s heart if the cat died, but Hugh still felt a surge of relief. She would be safe, and he wouldn’t be the one who prevented her from rescuing Geode.

  Jessica whirled away from the fireman and headed down the street in the opposite direction from the bodega, skidding a little as her flimsy sandals hit a patch of icy slush.

  Hugh grabbed her elbow to steady her. “We should go back to the sidewalk.”

  She shook her head and tugged her arm out of his grasp as she kept going. “I’m not abandoning Geode unless the building is in flames.”

  Hugh took a long stride and put himself in front of her, forcing her to stop. “You heard what the fireman said. The oxygen tanks could explode.”

  “It’s only smoke right now, but it will kill Geode if I don’t get him out,” she said, steel in her voice. When she looked up at him, her jaw was set. “You’re wasting precious time. Get out of my way.”

  He wanted to pick her up and carry her far away from the sky-licking flames and the suffocating, black smoke, but he knew she would never forgive him. And he would never forgive himself if something happened to her when he might have been there to help. “I’m coming with you,” he said for the second time that evening.

  She shook her head.

  “Either I go in with you, or I haul you back to the sidewalk over my shoulder,” he said, his tone as steely as hers.

  “Hugh, it’s too . . .” She swept out her arm in a gesture of refusal.

  “Dangerous. That’s why I’m not letting you go in alone.”

  She searched his face for a long moment, her gray eyes picking up reflected glints of orange and yellow from the fire. “Don’t do anything stupidly heroic,” she said before nodding.

  “You should talk,” he said, stepping aside even as his brain screamed at him that this was insane.

  She started forward again, and his gut clenched when he saw where she was headed. Between the clinic and the pawnshop on the side away from the bodega, there was a narrow opening.

  “Where does that lead?” he asked, hoping he was wrong.

  “To the back entrance. Tiana said they unlocked it in case they had to exit that way.” Without breaking her stride, she looked up at him again. “Stay here. I know the clinic like the back of my hand. You don’t.”

  “Just tell me where to look first.”

  She hesitated for a long second but said, “My office. Check places you think are too small for a cat. He has a white tip on his tail, so look for that.”

  Hugh had to turn his shoulders sideways to fit through the dim, narrow walkway between the buildings. He didn’t even want to think about what was crunching under their shoes, especially with Jessica’s feet virtually unprotected by her barely there sandals.

  When they reached the back entrance, she started to pull open the door, but Hugh slammed his hand against it to check the temperature. It was not hot, so he let it go. When it swung open, black smoke boiled out in a blinding haze. “On your hands and knees,” he commanded.

  They dropped down and crawled into the pitch darkness, Jessica leading the way without faltering. At least the lack of light meant there were no flames in the clinic yet, but the acrid smell of smoke made Hugh’s eyes water and his throat burn. As they turned a corner, light from the front windows spilled down the hallway, illuminating the churning clouds of smoke just above their heads.

  “I’m going to look in the other places Geode likes to hide,” Jessica said when he came up beside her. “You go on to my office and yell if you find him there.”

  She turned off to crawl into another room, and he had to force himself to let her go, especially when he heard her begin to cough. His knees already felt bruised from pounding against the hard floor at high speed, but he slithered into Jessica’s office. Thank God there weren’t many nooks and crannies for a cat to cram himself into in the small space. Just as he was about to rise to kneeling height, he caught a tiny glimpse of white at the base of one of the tall oak filing cabinets. He scuttled over to find the tip of the cat’s tail barely peeking out from the space behind the cabinet where he would have sworn no cat could fit. The creature must have been terrified to wedge himself in there.

  He scrambled to the doorway. “Jessica! I found him! Jessica! In your office!”

  When she didn’t answer, every muscle in his body spasmed in terror, and he started out the door. “Jessica! Where are you?”

  “Here!” Her voice sounded far away. “I’m coming!”

  He didn’t want to leave in case Geode decided to bolt, but it took all his willpower to stay. It seemed far too long before Jessica emerged from the smoky dimness, scooting along a cat carrier as she crawled.

  Jessica shoved the case through her office door. “Where is he?” she asked between coughs.

  “Filing cabinet,” Hugh said, leading her around the desk while he fought down the urge to breathe deeply as his lungs begged for clean air. “I’m going to stand up and shift it. You grab Geode.”

  She looked up at the pall of smoke roiling above them. “Do it fast.”

  Hugh held his breath and leaped to his feet, thrusting up into the blinding, choking smoke. Squeezing his eyes shut against the corrosive haze, he shoved his shoulder against the cabinet. The shock of the impact radiated through his back, but the cabinet didn’t budge. There was no time for finesse, so he took a step back before he hurled himself against the heavy tower, slamming his whole body into the solid oak. This time it skidded away from the wall with a loud squeal of wood on linoleum.

  He dropped back to his knees as his eyes teared and burned while a fit of coughing tore at his chest. He’d probably bruised his side as well, but that was nothing compared to the craving for oxygen.

  “Got him,” Jessica said, slamming the gate of the cat carrier shut.

  “Out the front!” Hugh shouted. “It’s closer. Go! I’ll bring the cat.”

  Mercifully, she didn’t argue, leaving him the case and scurrying toward the door. He scuttled along behind her with the damned cat, wheezing, squinting, and feeling a tidal wave of gratitude that Jessica was safe.

  The outside door was ajar when they got there. Jessica felt Hugh tug her upward into a crouch so they could run into the street, dodging around the emergency equipment. The dirty air of New York had never smelled so wonderful as when she drew it into her smoke-clogged lungs, while Hugh coughed as he jogged along beside her.

  A fireman saw them and did a double take. “Where the hell—?” He glared at both of them before lifting his arm and shouting, “Get some oxygen over here. Two masks!”

  Jessica pointed to Hugh as an EMT dashed up carrying two portable tanks with masks attached. “Give it to him first.”

  She turned as she spoke and saw that Hugh’s face was streaked with black residue from the smoke, his eyes red rimmed and watery. But he pushed the mask toward her. “Take the oxygen, Jess,” he shouted. “Your lungs are smaller than mine.”

  She took it to keep Hugh fr
om arguing, but before she put it on, she asked the EMT, “Do you have a pet mask? The cat needs oxygen, too.” The cat case was vibrating as Geode flung himself against the walls, no doubt freaked out by the din of shouts, engines, and roaring fire, as well as the wild pulsation of lights and flames.

  “Come to the ambulance,” the EMT yelled. “You can sit down where it’s quieter, and we’ll get the cat taken care of.”

  Jessica was worried about Hugh, so she put her mask on, picked up the tank, and hurried to the ambulance to make sure he and Geode got proper medical attention. Hugh slid the cat carrier onto the floor of the vehicle before he helped Jessica into the back, his grip on her hand reassuring in its firmness. Then he climbed in himself, settling on the bench that ran along one side, his tank by his feet, his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell, drawing in the oxygen he clearly needed.

  Jessica clambered over to where the EMT was rummaging in a drawer. She took the cat-size mask and nodded toward Hugh, pulling away her mask to say in a low voice, “Will you make sure he’s really okay? He inhaled a lot of smoke.”

  “I’ll check him out,” the medic promised, hooking her stethoscope around her neck.

  Jessica knelt beside the cat carrier and swung open the door. Geode cowered in the back corner, his eyes wide, his fur smudged with black. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re safe now.” Jessica carefully pulled him forward enough to hold him while she positioned the mask over his nose and mouth. He surprised her by submitting without a struggle, which made her suspect that he appreciated the oxygen.

  She glanced over to catch Hugh shaking his head as the EMT approached him with her stethoscope held out. Sighing in frustration, Jessica settled down beside the cat case cross-legged. At least Geode had the good sense to accept treatment.

  Suddenly, a blanket descended over her shoulders. Hugh was leaning over to wrap the silver fabric around her. His tie was missing, his pleated shirt was splotched with black and ripped on one shoulder, and a clean streak down his smoke-smudged cheek showed that his eyes were still tearing.