Fire Games

by Lorana Hoopes

  Jordan waited until he heard Cassidy’s door lock before continuing up the small walkway to her front door. He stilled his breath and listened as he inserted the key, but silence was all he heard. As the door swung open, he pulled his flashlight from his pocket and his gun from his holster. He preferred to search with lights on, but as he didn’t know where all the switches were, this would do until he could find them.

  The door opened to a simple living room. In the low light, he could make out a chair, a couch, and a small end table. He swung the light to the left and the right flicking on the light switch when he spied it. Nothing moved as the light dispelled the shadows, but Jordan took another moment to verify the surroundings before continuing into the house.

  The room extended into a kitchen and a single hallway led away from the living room. Probably to the bedrooms and bathrooms, but he would need to check the kitchen first. From where he stood, almost all of it was visible, but a center island blocked some of his view and the rest of the kitchen resided behind a wall. Not a ton of places to hide but enough, and kitchens contained knives. He didn’t want to be blindsided by a maniac wielding a knife.

  Cautiously, he stepped forward keeping his ears hyper-aware for any sounds. The small kitchen held no surprises other than a cluttered counter. How many appliances did one woman need? A toaster, a waffle maker, a blender, and a coffee grinder filled her counters. Did she use them all every morning?

  Focus! He needed to focus. He was securing the house not dissecting the woman though she seemed like she might be an interesting one to dissect. He moved out of the kitchen and down the hallway. Three doors. All closed. He hated closed doors as they made it harder to get the upper hand on someone. With a deft twist, he turned the knob and pushed the door open, pointing his light and gun in at the same time, but this door held only a small closet. Stuffed to the brim with coats and shoes but nothing else.

  The next door opened into a bathroom. Again, he was struck by the sheer amount of clutter on her counter. Bottles of product, a brush, and at least two hair appliances filled the small space. Maybe she was a diva type after all. Or was this a common trait for most women? His fiancé had also kept a ridiculous amount of beauty products in her bathroom, but then she had turned out to be a diva…. or at least not the woman he had thought he was marrying.

  The last door must lead to the bedroom then and it was cracked. Had she left it that way or was someone inside? He heard no sound from inside, no shuffle, no rifling, no drawers opening and closing, so if someone was in there, they were either still or possessed ninja-like skills. With a swift push, he opened the door and crouched, but nothing flew at him.

  After flicking the light switch on, he cleared her bedroom. While no one was inside, he’d have to ask her if she’d left it this way because it looked as if a tornado had touched down. Clothes hung out of overstuffed drawers and littered the bed. A half-packed suitcase sat in the corner begging to be emptied. How she could live like this was beyond him. His place was spotless, but perhaps some of that compulsiveness came from being a cop.

  He slid his flashlight into his pocket but kept his gun out as he walked out of the house and back to Cassidy. She opened the door and stood when she saw him approaching, and he could read the questions in her eyes. Man, her eyes were like a mirror reflecting her inner emotions. He wondered if she knew how easy she was to read.

  “All clear. There’s no one inside, but it looks like your bedroom might have been tossed.”

  Cassidy’s cheeks flamed as she dropped her eyes to the pavement. Her toe twisted a small half circle on the concrete. “No, that was me. I just got back from the show and haven’t unpacked fully. It’s not usually that messy.”

  Jordan held up a hand to stop her. He didn’t care about her mess or her excuses. He wanted to finish this job and get back to finding the missing kids. “Make sure you lock all the doors when you get inside if they aren’t already. The windows too. I’ll sit down the street for the next hour. After that, call me if you need anything.”

  “Okay, thank you, Detective Graves. I know you must have better things to do than stake out my house.”

  “You can call me Jordan, and it’s fine,” he said cutting her off and shifting his eyes from her thankful gaze. “Just part of the job.” But he did have better things to do. While he was sitting here watching for a stalker who probably wouldn’t appear, another kid might disappear. Or worse.

  Chapter 6

  Cassidy rubbed her eyes and tried to wake up, but the heaviness of sleep enveloped her like a suit of armor. She’d been too wound up to fall asleep, jumping at every shadow and every settling creak of the apartment even though nothing had been there. There’d been no phone call, no more threatening notes, but that hadn’t eased her anxiety. And when an hour had passed and she knew Jordan was gone, it had only gotten worse.

  At some point she must have fallen asleep as evidenced by her wrinkled clothes and dry mouth, but it certainly hadn’t been quality sleep. She rubbed her eyes again. The light stung them, and her lids felt glued together. She would need a strong cup of coffee today in order to function.

  With half-closed lids, she stumbled to the shower hoping the hot water would wake her up. Going into work tired was never a good idea, but for a firefighter it could spell disaster. She needed to have all her senses working in case there was a fire.

  The water managed to clear some of the haze, and the two cups of coffee after finished the transformation so that by the time she had to leave for work, she felt a little jittery but fully awake.

  Her eyes scanned the area as she opened her front door. She might not be a detective, but she could look for things out of place. Nothing appeared amiss though as she walked the few feet to her car.

  “Hey, Cassidy.”

  She jumped at the masculine voice that came from behind her and nearly dropped her keys. “Hey, Dustin.” Cassidy hoped that was his name as she turned around to find him leaning against the corner of her building, his dog beside him. If he was her stalker and she said his name wrong, would he get angry and attack her? More importantly, what was he doing at her building? She thought he lived a few doors down.

  “I haven’t seen you around for a while. Have you been busy with work?” He stared at her evenly as he waited for her to answer.

  He didn’t know she’d been on the show? She supposed that wasn’t entirely surprising as she hadn’t advertised it, but Ivy had been checking her apartment a few times a week. Had he not noticed her? She chose her words carefully, hoping to sound nonchalant. “Yeah, life has been busy, but that’s the way it is sometimes, right?”

  “I suppose, but I seem to have a lot of free time. Maybe we can hang out sometime when you have some?”

  Not on his life. Or hers. But she couldn’t say that out loud. Not until she was sure he wasn’t her stalker. “Yeah, maybe. I can’t right now though because I have to get to work. Don’t want to be late.” Before he could say anything else, she ducked into her car. As he watched her back up and turn toward the exit, she tossed him a wave hoping the fear she felt wasn’t written all over her face.

  “Everything okay, Marcel?” Bubba asked as she pulled open the front door of the firehouse twenty minutes later. He lounged against the reception desk with a cup of coffee in hand as if he’d been waiting for her, and he probably had. She’d probably find him around every corner until this stalker was caught.

  “Everything is fine, Bubba. Nothing new to report.” Although that wasn’t entirely true, she didn’t have any real indication that Dustin was the stalker. “No new notes if that’s what you’re worried about.” She smiled and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm as she passed him.

  “Sleep okay?” he pushed as he fell into step beside her.

  Cassidy stopped and turned to face him. “Why do you ask?”

  He pointed just below her eyes. “Just wondered if those dark circles were a fashion statement or something else.”

  She batted his hand away.
“Fine. I didn’t sleep well. It was a little hard to relax worrying that some crazy guy might try to break in.”

  “You could stay with me until this blows over if you’d like.”

  His words warmed her heart. She had known her friends were amazing, but she still hadn’t expected this. “Thank you, Bubba, but I’m not going to give this guy the satisfaction of turning my life upside down. Besides, who knows how long it will be before they catch him. Jordan gave me his number to call if anything happened, so I’ll be fine.”

  “Jordan, huh?” She didn’t miss the teasing lilt in his voice.

  Cassidy opened her mouth to tell him it wasn’t like that – there was nothing romantic going on between her and Jordan er Officer Graves, but before she could, the alarm sounded.

  “Truck 51, Squad 4, Ambulance 3. Fire in the Huntington Apartments. 412 Merriweather Lane.”

  Cassidy hurried to the bunk room to drop her stuff and then joined the others at the engine and quickly donned her gear.

  “You awake enough for this?” Bubba teased as he grabbed his hat and stepped onto the rig.

  Cassidy wasn’t sure. The coffee was still coursing through her veins, but she didn’t feel herself and didn’t like it.

  “Man, I hate apartment fires,” Luca said as the truck roared out of the firehouse.

  “Only because you hate stairs,” Deacon pointed out. “If you ate a little better, you wouldn’t hate them so much.”

  Luca turned his fiery gaze on Deacon. “I could take you any day, Jackson.”

  “Okay, let’s focus on what matters here,” Captain Fitzgerald said.

  The men quieted and Cassidy reached up to touch the small silver cross that hung around her neck. It wasn’t flashy, but knowing what it symbolized always seemed to calm her spirit. She sent a silent prayer up as the truck swung into the parking lot. Apartment fires were dangerous because there were multiple floors and they could give out at any moment. The possibility of falling to your death or being crushed when a floor caved in loomed in her mind.

  “All right, it looks like the fire is on floor two. Marcel and Campbell, you take that level. Go door to door as quickly as possible and get the stragglers out. Sanders and Jackson, you clear the lower level. Witherspoon and Kalhoun, you take the third floor. Let’s get everyone out alive, hear me?”

  “Yes, sir,” they shouted in unison before pulling on their masks and filing out of the truck. Cassidy followed Bubba into the main entrance. Her mother had once asked her how she could run into a burning building, but Cassidy rarely thought about it. It was her job, so she did it, but today the mask felt stuffier, the fire hotter.

  Bubba motioned her to a back staircase that looked solid and intact and they made their way up it. The second floor was full of smoke which seemed to be coming from the apartment farthest away.

  “Let’s go quickly,” Bubba said, the mask distorting his voice.

  “Fire Department,” they called out as they headed down the hall.

  Cassidy pushed open the door on her right and entered the apartment. “Fire Department, call out.” Her voice sounded muffled behind the SBCA mask. She cleared the main room and then headed down the short hallway. “Fire Department. Anyone here?” The sound of crackling flames filled her head, but there was no other sound. The bathroom and bedroom were empty as well.

  “Anything?” Bubba asked when they met again in the hallway.

  Cassidy shook her head. “I’ll check the next one, but we better get some retardant on the last apartment before we lose it entirely.”

  “Our job is just to clear it. Let’s finish up and report back to the captain.”

  With a nod, Cassidy pushed against the next door, but it didn’t open as the others had. She stepped back and threw her shoulder against the door. It moved barely an inch, but it was enough to see that a body was blocking it.

  “Bubba! Bubba, I need you,” Cassidy yelled as she pushed against the door again. Moments later, she heard Bubba’s footsteps behind her and with his force, the door moved enough. “Grab her and get her out,” Cassidy said. “I’ll make sure there’s no one else.”

  Bubba glanced up at the fire. “Don’t be long. We don’t have much time.”

  “Just get her out of here.” Cassidy continued into the apartment as Bubba pulled the woman out. “Fire Department, call out.” Only the roar of the fire answered her. Sweat rolled down her spine from the pressing heat, but she continued through the apartment. The rest of it was empty as was the hallway this time when Cassidy re-entered and continued to the last apartment.

  The unbearable heat pushed against her, but she had to be sure. She pushed against the door and nearly fell back from the wave of smoke and flames that roared out to meet her.

  Cassidy pushed against the invisible wall of heat and called out. Flames licked up the walls and sweat rolled into her eyes sending a burning sensation that set her blinking. She turned to head toward the bedrooms but something on the floor caught her eye. A doll? Was there a child in here? Her head swiveled to the right and the left, but there didn’t seem to be anything else indicating a child. No highchair, no gates, no other toys, but the couch appeared out of place. Cassidy crawled behind it expecting to find a child huddled there. Instead, she found a hole in the wall. What in the world?

  Ignoring the encroaching flame, she crawled closer to the hole. Two leather straps hung from the wall and a bowl like a dog dish sat in the middle of the floor. What was this? A cage?

  “Marcel, it’s time to go.”

  Cassidy stood to see Witherspoon and Kalhoun standing in the doorway with the hose.

  “There might be a kid. I haven’t gotten to check the bedroom or bathroom yet.”

  “Captain said it’s time. We’ll keep our eyes open for a kid.”

  Cassidy cast another glance at the hole in the wall. She should obey the order, especially since she was on thin ice with Fitzgerald as it was, but something didn’t feel right here. “I think it’s a girl. Please.”

  “We’ve got this,” Witherspoon said and motioned for her to get out of the way so they could fire the hose.

  As they headed past her to cut off the flame, she grabbed the doll and exited the apartment. She had questions, and she was going to get answers.

  “How was your babysitting gig last night?” Al asked with a smirk as Jordan sat down across from her.

  “Who told you?” He certainly hadn’t. After leaving Cassidy’s, he’d stopped by the restaurant and helped Graham clear out the broken mirror. Graham had sent the movie posters to a collector and secured a sizable sum from them which thankfully was going to pay for most of the renovations, but there was still a lot of work to do.

  “Stone,” she said with a shrug. “I asked him where you were, and he said you were checking out a stalker for Cassidy Marcel.”

  “Yeah, one she acquired while she was on that show you love so much, but it was a waste of time. Probably just some random fan. Anything new on the case?” He turned on his computer and waited for it to load.

  “Not yet. I mean on one hand that’s good news. No new kids taken that we know of, but we still have no idea where they are or how to get to them. Stone is getting anxious.”

  Jordan was getting anxious too. It didn’t usually take them this long to nab whoever they were after, but this guy was slick. It was like he was a chameleon, changing every time so their intel was never good.

  His phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out expecting to see the number of his CI, but it was an unknown cell number. “Graves,” he said holding the phone to his ear.

  “Jordan? It’s Cassidy.”

  Jordan stifled a groan. He couldn’t deal with more stalker nonsense today. “Hey, Cassidy. Did you get more notes?”

  “What?” Her voice held a note of confusion. “No, this isn’t about the stalker. I need to know if you can investigate a scene.”

  Jordan’s brow furrowed. Firefighters didn’t usually call cops to investigate a scene. “I’m a
little busy with a kidnapping case.”

  “I wouldn’t have called if it wasn’t important. I took it to Captain Fitzgerald first but he dismissed my concerns.”

  Jordan wondered if he should be doing the same thing, but there was a sense of urgency in her voice that gave him pause. “Okay, why do you want me to investigate a fire scene? What’s going on?”

  There was an intake of breath and then, “About an hour ago, we returned from an apartment fire. In one of the apartments, Bubba and I found an unconscious woman. He pulled her out and I continued to secure the apartment. That apartment was empty and I didn’t find anyone else in the last apartment, but I found a doll.”

  So far Jordan was not seeing the sense of urgency or the need to call him. “Okay, so what? Maybe the people who lived there got out.” Or didn’t, but he didn’t want to say that out loud.

  “That’s the thing though. There was nothing else in the apartment that suggested a child. No other toys, and there’s one more thing.” She paused for a moment and Jordan tried not to rush her. “As I was leaving, I saw the couch looked out of place. I thought a child might be behind it, but I found a hole in the wall instead.”

  Suddenly Jordan sat up a little straighter. A hole in the wall was odd but combined with the out of place doll, it felt a lot more suspicious. “Did you look in the hole?”

  “Yeah, there were two leather straps as if someone had been tied up in there and a blue bowl like a dog dish. Captain Fitzgerald doesn’t believe me that there might be something criminal happening there, so I thought I would take a chance and call you. I know you’re busy and you don’t know me, but -”

  “Are you still at the fire house?” he asked interrupting her.

  “Yeah, I’m on shift until tomorrow morning.”

  “Okay, tell me where the fire was and we’ll go check it out.” Jordan’s gut was rarely wrong and right now it was telling him this might be worth looking into. He wrote down the address Cassidy gave him and hung up the phone after promising to call her with any information.