by Amelia James
“Sherman’s infamous march to the sea ended at…” Mr. Haines’ voice droned into oblivion as Dash’s handwritten words came into focus.
‘Tonight. Under the stars, listen to my heart race.
Under the bleachers, on a blanket drenched in sweat.
Reach down and grab my dick while I slide into third base.’
She rolled her eyes and groaned, drawing a curious head twist from the basketball player in front of her. She shot a sharp glare at him and jerked her head in Mr. Haines’ direction. The kid turned around and resumed his note-taking.
The note blended onto her page as she wrote back. ‘Promising start, but the ending is a nasty fail. You can do better.’ She folded the paper and dropped it over her shoulder. Dash sighed and clicked his pen like a jackhammer. Then she heard hurried scribbling and felt him nudge her foot again. When she reached down, his fingers caught hers and gave them a squeeze.
‘Now. In this stuffy classroom, listen to my heart sing.
You’re everything I see, everything I need to know.
I’m handing you my heart. I love you, Simone.’
Students scattered as the bell rang, and Mr. Haines dismissed the class. Dash rose and stood beside Simone while she gathered her books.
She slipped her arm through his. “I know.”
“You know what?”
Mr. Haines collected his notes and walked out the door, leaving them alone in the classroom.
She leaned close and whispered in his ear. “That you love me.”
“That’s it?” He rolled his eyes. “I tell you I love you for the first time ever, and ‘I know’ is all I get?”
“You didn’t say it, you wrote it.” She waved the folded paper in his face.
He grabbed her hand and clasped it to his chest. “The written word is more powerful than the spoken word, darlin’, because it’s permanent.”
“Then I’m keeping this.” She stuffed the note in her bra, right over her heart. “I love you too, dork.”
“Yeah, that’s so much better.” He smiled and kissed her.
“Come on!” Flynn grabbed her arm as Simone snagged the book and stuffed it in her jacket pocket. He dragged her out of the room and they scrambled up the stairs.
Smoke surrounded them as the wind flung dust and twigs in their faces. Flames shot up from a neighborhood a mile away.
“The fire’s heading north.” Simone led the staff to the county SUV. “We’ve got to move away from it.” Obviously, idiot. She focused her thoughts and dug through her pockets. Damn it, are the keys still inside? Flynn handed them to her.
“Where are we going?” Cassie beat her to the driver’s door. “Do you know how to get to the shelter?”
“The high school, right?” Simone fumbled the jingling metal ring and dropped it as her hands trembled.
“Yes, but we can’t get there going south.” Cassie surveyed their surroundings. “There’s only one bridge in that direction.”
Simone followed her gaze, then turned and spotted thick black smoke billowing from a residential area. “We can’t go north, it’s too close to the fire.”
“I can get us there.” Cassie tried to snatch the keys from her, but Simone jerked her hand back.
“I’m in charge.” She couldn’t hand the lead over to someone she barely knew. No. She had to stay in control. “You take the passenger seat.”
“But I’m the one who knows this city.” Cassie didn’t budge. “And I know how to keep us away from the fire.”
Another building went up in smoke. “I’m responsible for the safety of these people.”
“Then make the right choice.”
Shit. She had no idea where to go even on a good day, and if Cassie could get them to the shelter, she had to let her try. Simone handed the keys over. “You drive.”
Flynn, Heather, and Mark scrambled into the back seat while Simone jumped in the passenger side. Cassie stomped on the gas and roared out of the parking lot, swerving around wind-blown debris.
“Turn right!” Simone shouted.
Cassie spun left. “No, that’ll take us downtown. We need to get out to the highway.”
“That’ll lead us straight to the fire.” She stared out the window as the wind ripped part of the roof off the command center and flung it into the parking lot they’d just abandoned. “Holy shit.”
Cassie maneuvered around a fallen tree branch. “I know the side streets. We can go around it.”
A speed limit sign wrenched off its post and landed on the hood of the SUV. “If you get us killed, I’ll fire you.”
Cassie wobbled the vehicle, dislodging the sign. “If you get us killed, I’ll quit.”
They sped past a police cruiser patrolling the empty streets. Simone grabbed the radio and ordered him to get to the shelter. The officer turned on his lights and followed them. Branches and leaves littered the air, mixed with chunks of shingles and siding. Cassie turned down a street marked dead end.
“What the hell are you doing?” Simone spun in her seat as the officer abandoned them.
“I grew up on this cul-del-sac. There’s an empty lot next to my old house that leads to the street behind it.” Cassie barreled down the road, flipping the windshield wipers on to clear the falling leaves.
“Good call.” Simone tightened her seat belt.
“Damn it!” Cassie stomped on the brakes, spinning the vehicle in a tight circle. “We can’t get through.” A new, sprawling ranch house blocked their path. She pressed her forehead against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.
“Shit!” Simone ducked as a branch flew over them.
“Wait! I got it.” Cassie sat up straight and threw it in reverse, careening backward over a mailbox. The broken post caught on the undercarriage, but she rocked the vehicle and lurched free.
Burning rubber made Simone’s nose itch as the spinning wheels hit the asphalt. “Pull over! I’m driving.” She tossed her seat belt aside.
The SUV roared down the street. “Like hell.”
“This is no time for a cat fight.” Flynn grabbed onto the headrest as they teetered around a corner.
Cassie gunned the engine then stopped short, dumping Simone on the floor. “Holy flying bicycles, Dorothy.”
Simone grabbed the dashboard and pulled herself up. “Enough! You’re reckless and—” She gasped and stared past Cassie. “Is that…?”
Flynn peered out the window. “Tornado!”
“Everyone buckle up!” Cassie stomped on the gas as debris swirled around them.
“Stop! We need to take cover.” Simone clamped Cassie’s shoulder.
“No, we can outrun it.” The SUV nearly rolled as she dodged a falling tree.
“You’re fired!”
“I quit!”
The tornado jumped in the opposite direction and an eerie calm descended. Silence filled the vehicle as Simone surveyed the destruction around them. Shingles and broken glass littered the street. Broken and uprooted trees covered neatly manicured lawns. Smoke blew in from the west, enveloping them in darkness.
Cassie turned the headlights on high.
“Close the vents.” Simone covered her nose and mouth with her shirt. The passengers in the back seat followed suit. An orange glow lit the sky directly ahead. “Get us away from that.”
Cassie nodded as the wind picked up again, pushing them down the street as she turned right onto the highway. “Dash’s house is up there.” She pointed to a neighborhood on a hillside below the encroaching flames.
“It’s going to burn.” Simone’s eyes stung as she patted her jacket pocket and felt his book safely tucked inside.
“Everything’s going to burn,” Flynn predicted from the back seat.
“No.” Cassie shook her head. “It’ll stop at the river.” She drove over a long bridge, crossing a hundred yards of churning, debris-filled water. “The school is two miles south of here.”
“This town needs more bridges.” Simone frowned at the lack of escape rout
es.
Flynn snorted. “Talk to city council.”
Cassie scoffed. “Talk to the voters. No one wants their taxes raised.”
“I think this might change a few votes.” Simone spotted rows of yellow buses beside a sprawling brick building. The school looked formidable, able to withstand a hurricane with minor damage.
Cassie pulled into the parking lot and searched for a space among the haphazardly scattered vehicles. She stopped next to a truck that occupied two spaces, its tailgate hanging open. They got out and wound their way to the front door. No one greeted them. No one told them where to go or what to do.
“This isn’t good.” Simone caught up to Cassie as she headed for the noisy gym.
They pushed the double doors open and gasped. Children cried while adults argued, fighting over a few bottles of water. Dirty plates and cafeteria trays littered the floor. A few makeshift beds lay in the center of the chaos, and an unspeakable stench emanated from the locker rooms.
Simone held her breath and spoke in a rush. “We need order and resources. Heather, gather every police officer you can find and get these people settled down.”
“We need more food.” Flynn rubbed his stomach.
“Right.” She’d never been to this part of town before, so she had no idea where to go.
Mark spoke up. “The cafeteria has already been cleaned out.”
Simone suspected as much. “Cassie, you grew up here. What are our options?”
“There are several fast food places down the street.” Cassie pulled the keys from her pocket. “I can go and gather whatever they have.”
“No. I need you here.” She took the keys from Cassie and handed them to Flynn. “Take Mark with you and bring back all the food and water you can find, on my authority.” She gave him her badge.
“Yes, ma’am.” He and Mark ran to carry out her orders.
“Cassie.”
“Yes?” The forecaster appeared ready to do whatever Simone asked.
She’d acquired a knack for recognizing her employees’ skills and delegating the appropriate tasks, but she couldn’t assign this disgusting chore to a woman used to smiling for the news camera. She’d have to ask, and she’d have to be willing to assist. “I’ll need help cleaning up this mess.”
Cassie’s lips twitched into a smirk and she nodded. “Yes, you will.”
Damn it, she’s going to make me ask. “I could assign the task to you.”
The forecaster’s face paled. “But you’re so good at organizing. I’ll be your assistant, boss.”
“Yes, you will.”
They put the listless adults to work collecting the dirty dishes, then gathered the kids and created a game of making beds for everyone. Simone asked for help cleaning the locker rooms, surprised that a few people volunteered to do it.
When Flynn and Mark got back with the food, they set up a buffet line, children first, and fed everyone. Then they distributed water bottles and locked the extra supplies in the principal’s office.
Simone found an empty bed and sat beside Cassie and Flynn. “You saved your tablet?”
Cassie nodded. “I thought we might need it.” She tapped the screen. “The Wi-Fi signal is weak though.”
“Get whatever information you can.”
Cassie snarled. “That’s what I’m trying to do.” She sighed. “I hate this damn slow connection. I miss my high-speed computers at the command center.” She stabbed the tablet, but nothing responded. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain. If you hadn’t got us out when we did, we’d probably be dead.”
Simone shook her head. “You got us here in one piece.” The knee she’d smashed on the SUV floor throbbed in protest. “More or less. That was one scary-ass ride, though.” She clapped her hand on the forecaster’s shoulder. “Thank you for rescuing us.”
Cassie stiffened. “I didn’t have a choice.”
Simone got the feeling that Cassie would’ve left her behind if given the opportunity.
A child’s laugh caught her attention, and she looked around at what they’d accomplished. Families gathered close, as comfortable as possible while the police assisted people with their needs. Strangers helped each other for no apparent reason. Surely she could expect the same from her staff, even the one she didn’t particularly like. “Can I count on you to help me keep order here?”
“It’s my job.” Cassie pressed her lips together and tapped the screen. “I got something.”
“Give me the worst.”
“Hurricane Opal is now a category five storm—catastrophic. Sustained winds over one hundred seventy miles an hour. Several tornado warnings have been issued.”
“What about the fire?”
“I’ll try to find something.” Her fingernails clicked on the screen. “The Wi-Fi signal is gone.”
Cold sweat trickled down her spine, and Simone hugged her arms as she leaned back against the bleachers. The corner of Dash’s book poked her in the ribs. She pulled it out and flipped through the pages.
“What’s that?” Cassie glanced at the cover.
“Dash wrote this…after we broke up.” Gut-wrenching words leaped off the page, wrapping her heart in an icy grip.
“He’s a writer?” Cassie frowned and leaned over to peek at a page.
“A poet.” Simone flipped the book closed, hiding the harsh words he’d written with her in mind. “He never told you?”
“No.” She tilted her head as if searching her memory. “Some of the things he said to me were kind of lyrical, but I never knew he’d written a book.”
“I didn’t either.” He’d only written down one poem, the one he passed to her in history class the day he told her he loved her. She still kept it buried in her jewelry box. Every other poem she knew about had been whispered in her ear, usually between kisses. “I found it next to his bunk.”
Cassie arched an eyebrow. “When were you in his bunk?”
Images of their recent tryst slapped her in the face, warming her cheeks. “Do you really want me to answer that?”
“I don’t think so.” Cassie tapped at her screen. “Are we going to keep fighting over him?”
“I can’t believe you haven’t given up yet.”
She gasped as if she’d expected a different answer. “Do you want him back?”
“I…” She still loved him. She knew that much. But could they make it work again? “We had a volatile relationship. I don’t know if that can last long-term.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I’m not going to.” She slid aside and flipped the book open, holding it close to her face so Cassie couldn’t see. The words blurred momentarily, then came into focus, sharp and stabbing.
True love’s kiss died on her lips
and rotted into my soul.
Without her, I’m a stinking corpse.
Mindless, dead to everything.
Except pain.
Ouch. Writing must’ve been therapeutic for him. But the pain and anger still lingered. She’d seen it in his face, heard it in his voice, felt it in his thrusts. A shudder wracked her body, mixing regret and desire. Do I want him back?
Animated conversation disrupted her thoughts, and she slapped the book shut. “I’m going for a walk.” She stood and stretched, selling the idea that she needed exercise. Cassie ignored her, and Flynn played a game on his phone.
Simone wandered down the hallway past the still rank locker rooms. The school had been built in a block with classrooms lining the outside walls, surrounding the gym and a library in the center. She ducked into the library and closed the door, blocking out the noise. “Quiet isn’t much better. Now I have to think.”
Cassie’s too-personal question buzzed in her brain while she strolled among the stacks, dragging her fingertips along rows of books. She found a dark alcove and sat down on the floor, flipping through Dash’s poems in the hope of finding an answer. The volume fell open in her hands, and the pages flipped to a crease in the spine as if that pl
ace had been read many times.
One title jumped out at her:
She Never Said the Words.
Obviously, I’m she. But what words?
Chapter 11
The Belladonna’s Peak Fire Chief met Dash and the remainder of his crew in the middle of the street surrounded by burning homes. “We’ve got this.”
“Yeah, looks like it.” Dash fought back the urge to run to his home and assess its fate. He wouldn’t take the time to gather his belongings. Everything precious to him he carried in his heart. Things could be replaced. People couldn’t.
Wind swirled around them, flinging flaming debris onto roofs and setting them on fire. The unmistakable roar of a tornado thundered in the distance. Dash spotted the funnel cloud. It’s headed for the command center.
He grabbed his radio. “Wilhelm HC to command, come in, over.” Static mocked him. “Simone! Flynn! Where are you?”
A tornado warning signal screeched through the speaker. The command staff would hear it and take cover. Maybe they already had.
Chief Rodgers sent her firefighters to a home in danger, but pulled Dash’s crew back.
“Let us help!” Dash clipped the radio to his belt and grabbed his axe. AJ and Jordy joined him.
The chief waved him off. “New orders. You and your crew are relieved.”
“Whose orders?” Goddamn it, if Simone interfered again…!
“The governor. He’s sending in crews from all over the country. Take care of your homes and families.”
A plume of black smoke shot up one block over. My street. “My home is lost.” A lump caught in his throat and he swallowed hard.
“Then go after the people you love.” Chief Rodgers nodded toward the tornado’s path. “Good luck.” She smacked his arm, pushing him toward his truck.
“You too.” Dash switched the radio on. “Simone! I’m coming for you.” He didn’t know if she’d heard him or not, but announcing his intentions steeled his resolve as he jumped in his truck.
Jordy climbed in the passenger side. “My family evacuated and our home is gone. I’m counting on you to save my ass, Superintendent.”