Into the Flames

by Multi-Author

  Knox hit the gas. “I always did like a challenge.”

  The fire truck rumbled along McIntosh within less than sixty seconds. The street was lined with tidy established homes on well-tended lawns with freshly mulched flowerbeds. Trees grew in every yard, and clusters of oaks, maples, and pines from the surrounding woods offered each house in the neighborhood a picturesque view.

  Marcus scratched his stubbly chin. “Dispatch said McIntosh, right?”

  Knox slowed, took the truck to the end of the street, turned around, and began another tour. “We’re in the right place, but there’s definitely no visible fire.”

  Marcus picked up the radio. “Dispatch. There’s no sign of fire here. Can you replay the call?”

  Sheila’s voice came back over the line. “I don’t make careless mistakes, Jackson. The caller said McIntosh and the tracker says that’s where you are.”

  “No other reports of fire in the district?”

  “None,” Sheila replied. “Maybe it was a crank call.”

  The radio crackled again and Captain Worth’s voice boomed over the wire. “We’re right behind you guys. Already looped around the block. We see no signs of fire. We’ll take another look around the neighborhood as a precaution.”

  “Copy that.”

  Sheila spoke again. “Truck six, report back to the station.”

  Marcus turned to Knox. “Let’s roll. I want a hot shower, food, and my warm bed. I’m so beat I could sleep until Monday.”

  Knox’s stomach growled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had an actual meal.

  He moved the truck forward, anticipating chow in the station’s communal kitchen. It was Chang’s turn to cook, and the rookie made the best buttermilk pancakes, waffles, and eggs over easy Knox had ever eaten. The jumbo eggs and milk came fresh every morning from a local organic farmer, and the scratch batter Chang made with them was as light as clouds. Knox could almost taste the fluffy goodness of a tall stack with real maple syrup on the tip of his tongue. Maybe Chang would cook bacon on the side, too.

  His mouth watered and his stomach let out a growl.

  Marcus laughed at the noise. “My empty belly says ‘hey’ to yours.”

  Knox visualized a cup of steaming coffee with real cream…and then the back of his neck started to prickle, wiping the culinary fantasy from his brain like a chalkboard eraser.

  His system went on high alert with his sudden unease and he shifted his focus to the quiet street that was beginning to show signs of activity. The fire trucks had attracted the attention of a few homeowners, but without the emergency sirens issuing a warning, they returned inside. One couple drove off in their car, but other than that, the street remained quiet. No one appeared distressed.

  Still, Knox’s unease grew.

  He slowed the truck at the end of the block, instead of making the necessary turn. “Something about that call doesn’t feel right.” He lifted his foot off the accelerator then craned his neck to see out the windows. “Let’s take another look around.”

  Marcus released a weary breath. “My brother, there’s barely a soul in sight. This neighborhood is like a ghost town this time of morning. If there was a fire, there’d be people everywhere, gawking at the flames and the smoke. Police, too.”

  “True that,” Knox replied. “Still…” He ran a hand over the base of his hairline to give his prickly neck a scratch. His instincts had never let him down.

  Marcus groaned. “Your neck is itching, right?”

  Knox knew that wasn’t really a question. “Yeah.”

  “And you won’t be satisfied until we scope out this street, will you?”

  “Nope.”

  Marcus rapped his knuckles on the doorframe. “All right. Let’s do it.”

  Knox pulled the truck to the curb in the middle of the block where it would be the most accessible. “You take that side of the street. I’ll take this one. We’ll go house to house.”

  Knox called dispatch and advised Sheila of their plan. “Permission requested from the captain to go house to house. We’ll head back to the station as soon as we’re satisfied there’s no emergency here.”

  A reply came a minute later. “Confirmed, Engine Six.”

  They parked, climbed out, and pulled walkie-talkies from a storage compartment and stuffed them in their coat pockets.

  “I’ll call you when I give my side of the block the all-clear,” Knox said.

  “I’ll meet you at the truck,” Marcus replied. They both took off at a fast clip.

  Knox jogged up the sidewalk to the house on the corner, ran a critical eye over the updated bungalow and its tended yard, and satisfied nothing appeared out of order, moved on to the next house.

  All seemed quiet with the yellow, vinyl-sided bi-level. Someone shifted a curtain and then dropped it back. Knox waited, but when no one came out to share information or report an emergency, he continued on.

  He’d made his way to the third house when a trim, elderly woman wearing sporty clothes and walking shoes emerged with a small dog on a leash. Knox wasn’t too familiar with dog breeds, but thought it looked like some kind of terrier. The moment the animal exited the front door and spotted Knox, he began showing his teeth and barking, like a pit bull protecting his turf.

  The woman admonished the dog. “Now, now, Jiggers—be a good boy.”

  “Maybe my turnouts and boots scared him.” Knox remained on the sidewalk and identified himself and his fire company.

  “Jiggers is usually friendly, but he isn’t himself this morning,” she said from her spot outside the front door.

  “Cute name.”

  The woman grinned. “He’s a rescue. Someone found him sleeping on a step outside a bar. He was quite matted and emaciated, poor thing. We were going to name him Whiskey or Shots…”

  Knox got the joke and smiled. “But you came up with Jiggers. Good choice.”

  “It suits him, I think.” She gave her pet a pat on the head and looked up at Knox. “I don’t know why he’s so agitated this morning. He’s been whining since just after dawn and running back and forth inside the living room. It’s not like him to act this way. I thought maybe a long walk would settle him down.”

  Knox eyed the dog with renewed interest. “Any idea what’s got him rattled?”

  The old woman shook her head. “He’s usually quiet, especially this time of day.”

  Knox checked his watch. Six-ten. Dawn came just after five-thirty. He looked up and down the street. “Have you heard anything strange or seen anything unusual?”

  The woman’s expression clouded. “No… I… Should I be worried?”

  Knox held up a hand. “Not at all. We’re just doing a routine check of the neighborhood.”

  She smiled at him then, and her pretty face lit up. “That’s awfully nice of you. We do appreciate our firefighters.”

  She headed for the sidewalk with the dog beside her. Jiggers wagged his tail at Knox and then pulled in the direction opposite the way the woman wanted to go, which yanked his collar.

  “Oh!” The lady gave a start. She stopped, stared down at the dog, and then said to Knox, “Guess he wants to go right instead of left.” She shrugged. “Fine by me. Have a nice day, young man.”

  “You too.” Knox watched the woman and her dog stroll down the sidewalk. Two houses away, the dog began barking and yowling again. His owner tugged him along and the little dog followed, but not before letting out another yelp.

  Knox headed in their direction and stopped in front of the modest, white stucco two-story house that had seemed to interest the dog. The house had a neatly trimmed lawn, blooming pink azalea bushes across the front, clusters of flowers in terra-cotta pots, and the oldest apple tree he’d ever seen growing in the side yard. He stood out front, watching and listening for anything unusual, using his trained eye to spot trouble.

  And then it happened. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled.

 
Knox stepped off the sidewalk and hurried into the side yard, where a flash of something out of sync with the earth-toned landscape slid past his peripheral vision. He craned his neck to inspect the apple branches and spied a purple patch near the tree’s highest limbs. Then he heard sobbing and cries for help.

  “Holy shit.” Adrenaline kicked in, erasing his earlier weariness.

  There was no time to wait for the captain. He’d take the lead on this one. “It’ll be okay,” he called out. “I’m coming up to get you.” He ran to the truck to grab an axe and hook, clips, and a coil of rope. He kept his feet moving while he radioed Marcus and the paramedics.

  Chapter Three

  Lexi’s voice had gone hoarse, but she tried again to call for help, emitting faint sounds from her dry throat. Ginger mewled.

  To her amazement, a husky voice answered. “Try not to move. I’ll be right up.”

  She followed the sound to the bottom of the tree and figured the blood rushing from her feet to her brain had turned her mind to oatmeal. She’d either grown delusional, or died from her injuries, because the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen had moved into her line of sight and stood at the base of her apple tree.

  She squeezed her eyes closed, and then opened them again. The man was still there. He had corn-colored hair and looked up at her with the eyes of an angel. The soot on his cheeks and chin couldn’t camouflage the stunning face beneath.

  A firefighter dressed in full regalia had come to her rescue.

  She watched, filled with relief and hope, as he hoisted a circle of rope over his shoulder and gripped a long-handled hook with an axe on the opposite side. In one smooth motion, he began to climb. She’d never been so glad to see another human being.

  That’s when Lexi remembered her naked breasts and the purple lace thong she barely wore.

  * * *

  Knox stared up at the woman caught in the apple tree in total disbelief as he made his climb. It wasn’t just the jam she’d gotten herself into that surprised him, but the rescue fantasy she presented that pumped duel shots of liquid energy into his system. The higher he climbed, the more beautiful the woman became, and the more surreal the situation seemed.

  The naked woman had long, honey-colored hair that trailed beneath her like ripples in a pond. She clung to a slim branch, not much thicker than a vine, to keep her head raised above her shoulders, but the awkward position that strained her muscles had clearly taken its toll. She stared at him with frightened amber eyes that tore a hole through his gut.

  He sharpened his focus to assess her predicament, and possible injuries, with detached precision, like a surgeon reading an X-ray. Shock. Swelling above the knee. Blood loss. Lacerations on her leg and abrasions on her hands.

  He eyed the place where the knot in the forked limb had captured her leg and noted the swelling that had prevented her escape. He’d seen a lot of freak accidents during his five years as a firefighter, but this one would go down in the record books. He would have called what happened next to impossible if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes. Talk about a bad day.

  “What’s your name?” He planted his feet firmly on the limb closest to hers and drove the axe into the trunk until he was satisfied it would hold. The exposed hook on the opposite side would aid his makeshift pulley system. He slid the coil of rope from his shoulder, fastened one end to a limb, ran it around the hook, and let the opposite end hang free.

  “Alexis Wentworth.” Her voice wobbled. “Everyone calls me Lexi.”

  Knox tried to be a gentleman and avert his eyes from her magnificent breasts and belly after he told her his name and the name of his fire station. Too late. He’d already noted every incredible curve and hollow, including the sexy gold ring at her navel. For the rest of his life he’d remember the way this extraordinary woman looked in this moment. Her image would be tattooed on his brain the way her unusual rescue would become the firehouse tale that likely followed him into retirement.

  None of those distractions mattered now. All that counted was the assistance he could provide. His mind clicked through procedures until he processed the necessary steps to take her down safely. Since nothing in the manual covered a situation like this, he’d have to improvise.

  Knox noted no obvious serious injuries like protruding broken bones, and the woman appeared calm, though he hadn’t ruled out shock as the cause. “I’ve got you,” he said. “Let me guide your hands to a supporting branch and sit you up until I can get you down, okay?”

  The woman blinked her understanding and nodded. Her eyes shone with tears.

  Knox pulled a branch down until it came within the woman’s reach. He tested its strength, and when he was satisfied, he led one of her hands, then the other, to a sturdy spot. He braced his palm against the small of her back to offer support.

  “Ah,” she sighed. “Feels better.”

  He lowered her nightgown over her breasts and belly to restore her privacy. The sheer fabric offered little of that, but she smiled at him in appreciation. The intimate contact with her warm body, and the grateful expression on her face, forged a connection that struck him with a physical ache. The gold flecks in her eyes drew him in, and he fought back an almost irresistible urge to kiss her. The rescue became personal the moment the woman leaned into him, though he knew regulations would prevent him from ever seeing her again.

  He raised Lexi into a sitting position, mindful of her trapped leg, and helped hook her free one over the limb. The sweet scent of strawberries on her skin offered relief from the smell of smoke and soot that clung to him. He inhaled her fragrance—and then reprimanded himself to stay on task. Lexi might be beautiful—and sexy as hell in that damned distracting negligee—but the job and her safety came first.

  “I’ll release your trapped leg as soon as I secure your body to the tree,” Knox said. He wrapped the free end of the rope around her waist and used an aluminum carabiner safety clip to hold it in place. The added weight tested the hook’s tensile strength on the tree until it quivered, yet it held fast.

  Marcus had backed the fire truck into the yard, and sirens blared in the distance. Knox breathed a sigh of relief that his partner stood ready and that paramedics were on the way.

  Something spit and hissed in his general direction. Knox spotted a kitten on the limb behind him and stifled a smile. No one from his firehouse had ever rescued a cat from a tree. Procedures had changed since the old days and first responders didn’t take those calls anymore.

  He almost smiled at this inverted event. “Let’s get kitty down so that I can focus on you.”

  “Her name’s Ginger,” Lexi replied. “She’s been terrified.”

  Knox reached for the frightened cat and whispered words of encouragement. The kitten mewed and licked his fingers after he scooped her up. “Good girl.”

  Knox called down to his partner. “Marcus! Bring me a small handsaw, and take care of this cat, will you?”

  “You got it!” Marcus yelled back. He placed a ladder against the tree, and a moment later, began to climb.

  Knox leaned down and handed over the pet when his partner reached up. “I’ll put kitty back in the house,” Marcus said.

  Knox blocked Lexi’s nakedness from his partner’s view as best he could. Her vulnerability had stirred his protective instincts more than usual and he didn’t want her further embarrassed.

  Knox explained the situation as Marcus handed over the saw. “It’s not safe to carry her down this ladder, and the pulley I rigged won’t work for an extraction. Hoist the aerial ladder, will you? And have a blanket ready. The paramedics will take things from there.”

  The aerial ladder attached to the truck was topped by an enclosed platform. Fire departments, utility companies, orchards, and landscapers all used cherry pickers to reach tall areas. Knox wanted to keep Lexi as comfortable as possible under the circumstances, and the cherry picker was their best bet.

  “Roger that,” Marcus replied. He disapp
eared down the apple tree with Ginger tucked inside a gloved hand.

  Knox turned back to Lexi. “Okay. I’m going to free your leg. I’ll be as gentle as possible.”

  Lexi nodded, but her gaze looked wary as she eyed the handsaw. “Do I need to remind you to be careful with that thing?”

  Knox finally allowed himself to smile. “I wouldn’t think of damaging your leg.” Her long, slender, magnificent leg. He wondered if she took ballet or yoga lessons, and if she was as limber as she looked. Suddenly, the yoga classes he saw advertised all over town didn’t seem so dumb.

  Knox sawed away the thick gnarl and the branches that had trapped Lexi and tossed the debris to the ground. With care, he freed her.

  Lexi winced but didn’t cry out during the extraction. Though her shin had been lacerated and bruised and her leg had swollen above the knee, he didn’t suspect severe trauma. The hospital radiologist would make that determination, but Knox hoped he’d called this one right.

  The truck rumbled below them and the sounds of a hydraulic lift preceded the appearance of the white cherry picker. Knox gave Lexi a genuine smile, filled with relief over the prospect of a successful rescue. Though she’d suffered some degree of shock, her color had improved over the last few minutes and she appeared lucid. He was both pleased and relieved when she offered a wan smile.

  He swept out a hand. “Your chariot awaits, miss.”

  The guys would call him a dick for the rest of his life if they knew he’d said that, but in that moment, he didn’t care. There was something about this woman—other than her pretty face and amazing body beneath the nightie she barely wore—that made his chest ache and his belly clench.

  Lexi seemed sweet and gentle, but was clearly also strong and capable. To her credit, she’d maintained control under trying conditions. He’d seen plenty of people in dire circumstances go completely to pieces, which made his job as a first responder that much harder. Lexi had kept her cool, which meant she was made of sturdy stuff, and he respected that. He wanted to stay connected with her a little longer and was grateful for the slow ascent of the aerial ladder. Once they reached the ground and the paramedics took over, he’d never see her again.