Controlled Burn

by Shannon Stacey

  Joe shook his head. “I know where that building is and if they weren’t first on the scene, they were damn close to it.”

  “They train for this,” Marie said in a soft voice. “When it’s colder than usual, like tonight, it’s a challenge, but they know what they’re doing. Especially Rick. He’s been doing it a long time.”

  Jessica remembered what Ashley had told her about not watching the news or the Facebook and Twitter updates, and now she was beginning to understand why. Jessica knew she could drive herself crazy, staring at the screen and hoping for a glimpse of Rick. She was already straining to hear the voices in the background, barely audible above the news correspondent’s.

  Forcing herself to sit back against the couch cushion, she wondered who they would notify first if something happened to Rick. His parents were the obvious choice, but it wouldn’t surprise her at all if Joe and Marie were first on his list of people to call.

  Five minutes later, she watched Aidan Hunt accept a cup of coffee from a volunteer. His expression was grim and the camera cut away as he lifted the cup to his mouth. She wanted to yell at the television. If the camera stayed with Aidan, maybe she’d get a glimpse of the others.

  Then the station cut back to regular programming, promising to update on the fire as needed, and she wanted to drive to the scene herself just to make sure he was okay. Instead, she set her book on the table and went into the kitchen. Her mouth was dry, so she poured herself a glass of water and tried to think about anything else but what Rick was doing at that moment.

  “I don’t imagine it’s an easy thing, loving a firefighter.” Marie had followed her into the kitchen and, when her grandmother put her arm around her shoulders, Jessica leaned into the embrace.

  “You’re probably right. I don’t know how Lydia and Ashley do it.”

  “They’ve had a lot of practice, and their dad was a firefighter, too. And their brother, so they’ve both done their share of waiting for news. But I meant you.”

  “I can’t be in love with Rick.” Too late, she realized how weird that sounded. She should have said she wasn’t, not that she couldn’t be. She knew she was, of course, but she didn’t really want Marie to know it.

  “Why can’t you?”

  “We live on opposite ends of the country, for one thing.” It was weak, she knew. In the past two months, she’d spent more time in Boston than in San Diego. Not that it was a sustainable, long-term solution, but she’d proven she could work remotely. “I have a career and a condo and that’s...it’s just where my life is.”

  “I think it might already be too late to tell yourself you can’t fall in love with Rick. Even your grandfather noticed you two have feelings for each other and he’s not exactly a romantic soul.”

  “I don’t know what my father would do without me.” But she couldn’t help wishing she’d called him back to clarify whether he’d been joking about a Boston office or not before she’d left California this time.

  “He’s a grown man, Jessica. He’s leaned on you long enough.”

  It wasn’t that simple, but she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere arguing the point with Marie. She was going to change the subject, maybe suggest they have some ice cream, when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She squeezed Marie before stepping out of her embrace to pull the phone out, and then she felt a rush of relief when she saw Rick’s name on the screen.

  “It’s Rick,” she told Marie as she opened the text message.

  Only have a sec, but if you see the news, I’m ok.

  It looks awful. Be careful.

  Yeah. Going back in soon but don’t worry.

  She couldn’t help worrying, but she could tell by his short messages that he didn’t have time to hold her hand by phone. Be safe. See you soon.

  After she’d reluctantly put the phone back in her pocket, Jessica looked up to see Marie watching her with a soft expression. “I think the fact he reached out to you during a break in a tough night says a lot, don’t you?”

  Maybe it did, but the thought of going through this on a regular basis was daunting. And so was the thought of abandoning her father and everything in San Diego to move here. She knew he wouldn’t leave Boston. His family was there, and Joe and Marie. And there was the extended family made up of his fellow firefighters and their families. He had an emotional investment in his home that was stronger than hers to San Diego, with the exception of her father and a few coworkers and friends she was close to.

  Picking up her water glass, she tried again to chase away the dryness in her mouth. The thought of such drastic changes to her life scared her, and it seemed ridiculous to consider it based on the fact he’d texted her tonight.

  But the knowledge that when most of the men were probably taking advantage of a short break to reach out to their loved ones at home, Rick had reached out to her thrilled Jessica in a way she couldn’t deny.

  But he’d said he was going back in, so there was more waiting and more worrying for the time being.

  * * *

  They were pulling back, given permission by the incident commander to take their break so fresh companies could move in, when the floor shifted under their feet. Suddenly they were scrambling and there was shouting and confusion. The smoke was thick, making it hard to see, but he could hear the unmistakable sound of the floor caving behind them.

  He saw the reflective strips on Gavin’s coat and they were facing the wrong way, and that meant the kid was getting turned around. Putting his hand on Gavin’s shoulder, he shoved him in the right direction and yelled at him to keep moving. Gavin wasn’t a rookie, but there were times a situation gone to shit outpaced a guy’s experience and this was one of them.

  When they got outside, Rick swiveled his head. Boudreau. Porter. Eriksson. But it was the E-59 crew that caught his eye. Grant Cutter was on his knees, gasping for air, but Aidan had his arms around Scotty, who was fighting like hell to go back in.

  Danny Walsh.

  He could hear the commands and updates flying. The other companies would focus their efforts on beating the fire back while locating Walsh and getting him the hell out. But Scott couldn’t go back in and Aidan was losing his grip on him.

  “Scotty.” Rick stepped in front of him, putting his hand on the man’s shoulder. “We need to get out of the way.”

  “He didn’t come out, LT.”

  “I know.” Some of the fight went out of Scott and Aidan steered him toward their engine. Rick walked with them, the rest of their crews following.

  “You have to let me go back in. He’s my brother-in-law. He’s family.”

  “They’ll get him out, Scotty, but we have to stay out of the way and let them do it. You know that.”

  “Ashley’s pregnant. Barely two months, so only the family knows.” Scotty sagged onto the ice-coated bumper of the truck, his eyes welling up with tears. “I’ve gotta bring him back to my sister.”

  Shit. The word echoed around Rick’s mind. Shit shit shit.

  “I can’t go home without Danny, Rick. Not after everything they’ve been through. Not ever.”

  “That’s not going to happen.” Fear knotted his stomach. Fear for the guy he’d worked with for years. Fear for Ashley, who’d just gotten her marriage back on track. And fear for all of them. Danny was family to some of them literally, but to all of them figuratively.

  His first instinct was to barge into the building and protocols be damned, like Scotty wanted. That was Danny Walsh in there.

  But that first instinct was exactly why he took a deep breath and forced himself to clear his mind. If push came to shove, the guys of L-37 and E-59 would do anything to get Danny out, without regard for their own safety or maybe even the safety of others. And that was exactly why they had to stand back and let the other companies work.

  None of them stripped out of their i
ce-stiffened coats, though. They grabbed fresh tanks and double-checked their gear. If they were needed, they’d be ready in seconds.

  As they listened to the radio and to the organized chaos around them, the volunteers brought them coffee and hot chocolate from the canteen truck. Rick thanked them and made sure Scott actually drank his, then turned to scan the scene. They were in an area offset from the main action, where the news cameras were aimed. And there were a lot of trucks forming a barrier. He was pretty sure if Ashley or Lydia were watching the news, they wouldn’t be able to tell in a sweeping glance that Danny wasn’t standing with them. Tommy Kincaid would be listening to that old scanner he kept at the bar, though, and he might know what was going on. Whether he’d tell his daughters or not before the story had an ending, happy or otherwise, Rick couldn’t guess.

  Somebody shouted and there was a lot of movement at the side of the building. They started moving in that direction, but stopped when the strident beeping warned them an ambulance was trying to back through the crowd.

  “Can you see anything?” Scott rocked onto the toes of the heavy boots, trying to see what was going on.

  “It has to be Danny.”

  The EMTs threw open the back doors and hauled out the stretcher, but they were met halfway by three firefighters supporting the weight of a fourth between them. They had him in a hammock carry and even if the lolling of Danny’s head didn’t give it away, it was obvious to Rick he wasn’t conscious.

  All they could do was hope he was alive. The EMTs wasted no time getting him on the stretcher and into the back of the ambulance, and the men who’d carried him out gave helpless looks to Scott as it pulled away.

  “He was breathing,” one of them finally said.

  “I should go to Ashley,” Scott said quietly, almost as if he were talking to himself. “She needs to get to the hospital.”

  “Your dad probably already knows, but I’m going to call him and he and Lydia will take care of Ashley. We have a job to finish, repacking this shit, and you’re already a man down. We can’t go to the hospital until we can get the trucks out and it’s going to be a while, so focus on what we’re doing. The doctors will take care of Danny and other guys will show up to wait with the family until we can get there. You know that.”

  When Scott nodded and Rick was sure he had his head on straight enough to stay put, he left him in the care of the others and moved away to call Tommy at the bar. As he suspected, Danny’s father-in-law knew what was going on and had been just about to leave to pick up Ashley at her house.

  “Do me a favor,” Rick said, “and make sure the second you know something, you let Scotty know. He’s pretty messed up.”

  Once he’d gotten that call out of the way, he let his thumb hover over Jess’s number. He wanted to hear her voice in the worst way, but then he tucked the phone away. She was a distraction he couldn’t dwell on until this hellish night was over.

  After knocking the ice off his coat and helmet, Rick grabbed a fresh coffee from a volunteer and went to check in with the incident commander.

  * * *

  Jessica woke to a weird sound, and it took her a second to realize it was the glass door sliding open. She was in Rick’s bed and she sat up when he closed the door behind him. By leaning out over the bed a little, she could see him, and it was probably a testament to his exhaustion that he didn’t even jump when he made eye contact with a person he wasn’t expecting to be there. Or maybe he was expecting her to be there because where else would she be when he might need her?

  “Hey,” she said softly as he stepped out of his boots and tossed his coat on a chair before walking toward her.

  He pulled the T-shirt over his head and then paused to take off his jeans and socks. He’d obviously taken a shower at some point after the fire. “Hey.”

  “You’re limping.”

  “I whacked my knee a good one, but it’s not a big deal.”

  When he reached the bed, she moved over and threw back the covers so he could slide in. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. After dragging the covers up to his shoulder, she relaxed into his embrace.

  “We almost lost Danny Walsh tonight,” he said against her hair. “Or last night, technically. Whenever the hell it was.”

  “I heard about it on the news and texted Lydia. She said he’ll be okay. Right?”

  “He’s got a pretty bad concussion, smoke inhalation, a broken arm and he busted his leg in two places, but he’ll be okay.”

  “What happened?” She felt his muscles tense slightly. “Actually, never mind what happened. What matters is that he’s going to be okay. Is everybody else okay, too?”

  “The rest of our guys are okay. Other companies had a few minor injuries, I guess. A guy slipped on the ice and broke his clavicle, and a few were treated for smoke inhalation, but nothing major considering it was fully involved.”

  “I know you need to sleep now, but I was worried about you and I just wanted to see you for a few minutes when you got home.”

  “Do you have any plans for this morning? You need to work?”

  She could hear the exhaustion in his voice and knew he’d be asleep in a matter of minutes. “There’s nothing that can’t wait.”

  He muttered something she couldn’t make out and nuzzled his face into her hair. Then, a few seconds later, she felt his muscles go lax as he nodded off. Despite being an early riser, she’d spent a good chunk of the night tossing and turning herself, so she was content to drift in and out of sleep for a while.

  It was almost three hours before he stirred a little and rolled onto his back. Jessica waited until he resumed snoring and then slid out of his bed. He’d wanted the comfort of her being there when he first climbed into bed, but she suspected he’d probably sleep better now if she wasn’t lying awake next to him. Every time she shifted, he stirred, and she was restless.

  Last night had been scary even before the news broke about Danny. And then she’d been afraid for him and for Ashley.

  But when she’d seen Rick limping toward her, his face haggard with exhaustion, the fear had settled into the pit of her stomach. He’d been in just as much danger as Danny Walsh had been, and it could just as easily have been him lying in the hospital this morning.

  Rather than roam his apartment alone or sit on his couch in silence, she went down the interior stairs and found Marie vacuuming the living room. Her grandmother hit the off switch when she saw her and gestured for her to sit down on the couch with her.

  “Good morning, honey. How’s Rick?”

  “Exhausted. And he hurt his knee somehow. He was limping when he got home.”

  Marie squeezed her hand. “He’s fine, then.”

  “He was sound asleep when I left him. I think he will be for quite a while actually. I’m not sure what to do now.”

  “We’ll make a casserole for the Walshes,” Marie said. “Something that can be put in the freezer and easily heated in the microwave. Ashley doesn’t need to be worrying about meals while her husband’s in the hospital.”

  Jessica followed her into the kitchen. “How many casseroles do you think she’ll get?”

  Her grandmother laughed as she pulled out her recipe box. “At least two dozen. Probably a lot more. Most of them will get thrown away when they need the freezer space.”

  “But we’re going to make one anyway?”

  Marie shrugged, her eyes serious. “Yes. It’s simply what we do.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rick killed the snowblower’s engine and looked around the driveway. They didn’t have any fresh snow, but the snowbanks along the edges were slowly creeping into the parking spaces, so he was using the snowblower to cut them back.

  “I guess that woman’s right about the driveway looking bigger,” Joe said from the open garage door.

>   It had been the real estate agent, after looking at photos she’d taken, who suggested some snow removal—or at least rearranging—would make the driveway look bigger, and that was supposedly a huge selling point.

  Rick’s knee wasn’t too bad and he was happy to have the physical activity to help take his mind off Danny’s accident, so he’d volunteered to do it.

  “I don’t know what the holdup is,” Rick said, pushing the snowblower inside. “She gave you a value on the property last month. Why didn’t she just use that to list it?”

  “I guess she gave us a pretty close ballpark figure, but to actually list it, she needs all kinds of photos and information. How old the roof is. The furnace. Crap like that. She wants to price it just right.”

  “That makes sense, I guess. Prospective buyers will want to know that.”

  “Seems like a pain in the ass to me.”

  “Yup.”

  “Marie and I were talking last night. Jessica said the place we’re looking at is really reasonable and we could actually swing it even without a huge profit on the house.”

  “That’s good. Means you won’t have to worry about it in the future if you end up with surplus in the bank.”

  “It also means we could sell it to you if you were interested in it. You’ve taken good care of this old beast—and of us—for years and we’d like to give you an opportunity to think about buying it before we go ahead and formally list it on the market.”

  And then he named a price that Rick almost couldn’t believe he’d heard correctly. “That means a lot to me, Joe. You know I love you guys and this house, but you can’t do that. If I want to buy it, and honestly I have considered it, I’ll pay you what it’s worth.”

  “What’s a building worth? It’s the people that matter and you’re like family to us, so think about it.” Joe gave him a grin. “Besides, you can’t go spending all your money or you won’t be able to afford gas for that truck of yours.”