“They’re usually in the garage! Matt, search the laundry room! Get these people out!”
“You got it!”
The house is filling with smoke. I can feel heat in the kitchen. See flames licking the closed bathroom door.
As I head for the garage I shout, “Billy, don’t open that door!”
Matt yells, “Someone call 911! Call 911!”
It’s a mob scene, people trampled, crying. These parties are too fucking huge and the space too small.
I shove my way through.
In the garage there is nothing. Nobody lives here anymore, the movers cleared the place out years ago. Desperate, I claw open abandoned cupboards as fast as I can, searching for hope.
Rushing back inside I cough at the smoke. “Fuck, it’s getting thick fast. Maddie! Matthew! Where are you? You guys out?”
He appears through a cloud of charcoal, grabbing my sleeve. “Billy won’t leave!”
The house emptied while I was searching for an extinguisher, all except for the guy who grew up here.
He’s running back and forth with a bucket of ice.
“Knew I bought extra for a reason!” he shouts, eyes wild.
He fights me off as I grab his shoulders, urging him, “Billy, no! We have to get out of here. The flames are jumping, man! We gotta go!”
“You didn’t find one? Not one?”
“I came up empty. I’m sorry.”
“It’s my home! This was my home! My parents’ home! I can’t leave it!”
“You have a new home now. So do your folks.”
“I have to try!” He makes a break for it.
Matt and I grab Billy and haul him up above our heads, carrying him out as fast as we can. Crashing through the front door we come upon a huge audience watching from the street, all staring as one side of the house is engulfed in flames. We set Billy down and Madison rushes up.
“Nicholas, did you see the dog?”
Frowning I quickly shake my head, “No, I would have grabbed him!”
“He’s not out here!”
I shout to the crowd, “Anyone see a black dog?”
They stare at me, shaking their heads.
Madison runs toward the house. “I have to find him!”
I chase her, stop her, “No, I’ll go!”
“I’ll come with you!”
“No! Stay here! Be safe!”
Matthew shouts, “Nicholas!”
“Hold on to Billy!”
Flames lick the door-frames but I dash through them, praying I’ll have time to make it back alive. Leaping out the back door I shout, searching the yard, “Here boy! Come!” The heat lamps on the right side have caught fire, the fence a dancing blaze of orange and red behind them. Squinting at the heat, I shout again, “Here boy!” A whimper reaches my ears. I flip around, blinking against the itch in my eyes. “Where are you boy!!! Come here! COME!”
No movement.
My eyes widen at the shed, its roof engulfed.
The door is closed.
Was it earlier?
I race over and whip it open.
He’s cowering in a corner, sparks in his fur, crying, frozen in terror.
I squat low, urge him, “Come here boy.”
He won’t move.
As fire laps above us I grab all eighty pounds of him, my lungs weak from the smoke. “I’ve got you, boy. I’ve got you.”
Carrying him out of the shed I set him down and stamp out the bits of fur that sizzle my hands. “Okay, let’s go!” Lifting him up again I carry him into the house, coughing like crazy. Can’t see anything anymore except a grey-orange haze.
Matt appears in the kitchen’s entrance. “You scared the shit out of me! Don’t do that again! You got him?”
I cough, “Run!”
He pulls his shirt off, waves it through the polluted air, getting the smoke out of our way as best he can so we can see where the fuck we’re going. But the wind increases the flames and it just feels hotter, the fire chasing us.
We burst outside, gasping and desperate for clean oxygen. The crowd cheers and Madison runs up. Behind her Denise is pacing, fanning herself from suspense.
Maddie’s gentle hands reach for the dog’s face. As I set him down they slide over his back. “Oh, poor baby, you got burned!” Over her shoulder she asks the onlookers, “Whose dog is this?!”
No one steps forward to claim him. Her eyes fly up to meet mine. “Thank you! You saved him!”
Wiping soot from my eyes I laugh with relief, “I told you I saved a life today.”
CHAPTER 8
M ADISON
A siren rushing up the quiet residential street in Sandy Springs, Georgia, turns everyone’s heads. This poor dog is clinging to me as I squat beside him, his weight pressed into me.
“I know those are loud, boy, but you’re safe now, I promise.”
Denise shakes her head and I nod. This was someone’s pet and they abandoned him tonight in their escape. Wouldn’t be surprised if they never come forward, and they may have already left in shame. If they’re here, nobody’s saying anything.
The truck pulls up, firefighters bursting into action. Cop cars, too, and Billy hurries over.
“It was just one candle!”
“That’s all it takes,” they tell him.
The house gets swamped with hoses, one from the water supply in the truck, another connected to a hydrant. As the flames fight back, we stare. The side and back of the house collapse under our watch, the tragic crunch of lost memories affecting all of us.
I close my eyes.
Denise whispers, “People will be talking about this for years.”
A policeman walks up and asks me, “Your dog okay?”
I don’t bother to correct him that it’s not mine. “He will be.”
“What’s his name?” He bends to pet him. “Got burned a little, huh?”
“Yes, unfortunately. I’ll take him to a vet.”
“I know one that’s open twenty-four hours.”
Glancing to Denise I ask, “Will you use your phone? I don’t want to stand up yet. He’s so scared.”
“Of course.” She gets the name and address and thanks the police officer as firefighters emerge from billowing clouds of smoke and steam.
Nicholas and I lock eyes, and I offer him another smile of gratitude. He stares at me a second, nods and turns to ask his friends something I can’t hear from where I am.
Denise looks at me. “Okay, remember when I told you we could go when I said the party is over? The party is over.”
Ruefully I smile, “Ya think?” Taking the dog’s collar I see a shiny tag bobbing on it. “Oh, I never even thought to look. His name is Bucky. And there’s a phone number.” Glancing to Denise I see her rolling her eyes. “We’ll call later. Come on, Bucky, let’s get you fixed up. That’s more important now. We can kick their ass later.”
Nicholas jogs over as we head for my car. “You taking off?”
“One of the police officers told us of an animal hospital that’s open all night.”
He bends to pet Bucky’s ears, looking him in the eyes and saying, “You’re in good hands, boy.”
“His name is Bucky.”
“Oh yeah? Cute name.” Nicholas takes a deep breath and straightens, nodding to me. “You take care.”
Chewing on my lip I nod, “You too.”
Denise has already gotten into the passenger side and from there she watches as I open my door, slide my seat forward and coax Bucky to climb in. My heart warms as he jumps inside, a show of trust I’ve felt with the children I take care of.
“I’ve never had a pet,” I confess to Nicholas as I fix the seat.
“Maybe his owner will come forward.”
“There’s a number. I’m going to call it.”
You could ask for my number right now.
I’d give it to you.
Nicholas smiles, backs away. “See ya.”
I nod, awkwardly smile, and get in.
With my concentration half on the road, I sigh, “No.”
“I think he likes you.”
Wondering if she’s kidding I glance over. But her expression is as numb and blank as I feel.
“As a friend. I think we’ll all be friends after this mess.” The hypnotic yellow line blurs into infinity as she directs our journey with Google maps.
“Check on Bucky, please?”
She turns in her seat. “He’s wondering what the fuck just happened.”
“He’s not alone.”
“Right?”
“That was crazy.”
“I wanna call that owner right now and see what the hell is wrong with them!”
“Wait, is this the exit? My mind’s not working right.”
She glances to her screen. “Not yet. Two more. You want me to call?”
“No, I’ll do it tomorrow.”
“I meant the vet.”
“Oh…yes.”
She dials, angrily muttering, “That’s right, you’re not giving Bucky back until we’re damn sure this was an honest mistake, because fuck this! If I saw them right now, I’d go all Marla and Madison on their ass. Hello? We have a dog that’s been saved from a house fire. Are you open? You are? Oh good. We’re about ten minutes out. Thank you. Bye.” She lays the phone on her lap and sighs, “I wish traffic was like this all the time.”
“So do the millions of other people who love living here.”
“How do we make them leave?”
I smile, glancing over to remind her, “Part of why we like it here is the people.”
“True. Guess there’s always something bad about everything, if you look for it.”
I mutter, turning the wheel, “Honestly, there are very few things I don’t like about Atlanta, so I guess I’ll stay.”
“As if you’re going anywhere without me!” She smacks my leg and turns around in her seat, smiling with a gentle voice, “Bucky, may not feel like it right now, but you just got an upgrade.” Facing forward again she mutters, “We should change his name to Lucky.”
“I don’t know if I’m keeping him.” I glance over. “Can I?”
“Honey!”
“Yeah, maybe I could.”
When I pull into the dim parking lot, I glance back and see him looking so sad it breaks my heart. But he climbs out of the back seat when I beckon him.
The three of us enter a bright office with a middle-aged woman behind a beige desk. She glances up from her computer, name tag that reads: Harriet.
“Are you the ones who called?” Her eyes drop to Bucky. “Oh, yes you are, aren’t you? Poor thing. What happened? House fire, you said? Everyone okay I hope?”
“Bucky was the only one who got burned.”
Denise corrects me. “I saw some burns on Nicholas’s hands and his right arm.”
Appalled that I hadn’t noticed, I ask, “You did? Oh my God, I didn’t see them. He didn’t act like he was hurt!”
She smiles at me, “Not the kind of guy who would.”
CHAPTER 9
M ADISON
A s Harriet leads a reluctant Bucky by his collar toward a sterile white door, she motions to her desk, “I left your forms over there. We’re short-staffed tonight, would you mind grabbing those and filling out your information for me?”
“Not at all.” I lift the clipboard, thumb the pages with curiosity, and carry it to an uncomfortable bench as Bucky disappears. “Well, he did not want to go in there, did he?”
“Would you?” Denise sits with me, voice hushed, “You’re not going to tell them you’re not his owner?”
“What if they make me call them tonight, then? They’d have to!”
She hums in agreement, and glances around colorful posters of warnings about heart-worm, advertisements for flea and tick medications, stacks of flyers for dog-training. “Good thing he’s not a puppy. Notice how they’ve got everything out of chewing distance? I hope he’s house-trained, too. Dogs are a lot of responsibility.”
My gaze flicks from the form to her. “Yeah, and I just realized this is going to cost money.”
Her shoulders hunch. “Oh shit.”
Neither of us has extra cash lying around. Our jobs make us happy but they’re not glamorous.
I tap the pen against the forms while my budget marches around, numbers switching places but never getting the least bit comfortable. “I’ve got very little space on my credit cards. That root canal I got in November took my savings. Then Christmas cleared me out.”
“Who did you buy for, because I know you didn’t get me a gift.”
Laughing under my breath I sign the expensive dotted line. “I had to buy for my kids.”
Her neck swings back a little. “The ones they pay you to watch?”
“They expect presents. Besides, I liked doing it.”
She jokes, “Listen guys, I can barely afford rent so suck it up! You’ve got Santa. Enjoy him while you’re young. Tooth fairy, too. Because in the real world, when you need dental work, you pay them!” She smiles at me. “Can’t really tell them that.”
“Umm…no.”
The door opens and Harriet appears with a deep frown. “He’s very scared. Would you mind coming back? We’re having trouble.”
Exchanging a look with Denise, I slowly rise. “Sure, I’ll help.”
The well-meaning woman reminds me, “He trusts his momma!”
My feet aren’t exactly speeding their way toward ‘the reveal’ of my life.
But as the swinging doors open and we walk into a large examining room, I see they’ve got him on a metal table, two men restraining him as he fights, one on either side.
Turns out he hates vets.
The second Bucky locks eyes with me, he relaxes.
Touched, I hurry forward to reassure him, “It’s okay, Bucky, you’re safe!” If he could talk he’d be begging me to get him the fuck out of here.
While they evaluate a more cooperative Labrador, I think about what this means for me, if I were to keep him for good. I live alone, but I spend most days at the mansion of the family who employs me. Maybe they’ll let me bring Bucky? Skylar and Kyle would benefit from having a dog around—all kids need pets. I could propose that to the Schweises and see what they think.
And as for me, it’d be nice to have a buddy living with me. I’m maternal by nature, so I think I could give this a go. Might need to ask for a raise, or get a second job. But really, how much does dog food cost? I could manage with what I make, couldn’t I? After this vet bill is paid off, it can’t be that bad, right?
Soon we’re given the go-ahead, and I’m handed tubes of ointment and bottles of vitamins.
How can I afford all this?
Too proud to turn any of it down I listen to everything they tell me, and promise I’ll return for a checkup in two weeks.
More money, ugh.
Bucky and I walk out to the waiting room. Actually he’s pulling me out, but same thing. Denise joins us at the desk where Harriet amiably logs everything that happened down in a report, her voice chipper as she tells us the weather is sure to be beautiful tomorrow.
Grabbing my wallet I ask, “How much do I owe you?”
“Oh, it was paid for by your friend. I thought you knew that.”
Frowning to Denise I give her a very firm, “No!”
Her hands fly up. “Not me. I didn’t do it!”
Harriet glances between us as she explains, “A man called before you arrived. He wanted to cover the bill. Let me see, just a moment.” Lifting up the transaction receipt, she reads, “Nicholas Devin Cocker.”
Denise and I stare at each other.
“How?”
She makes a noise, thinking about it. “He must have asked that policeman where we were going!”
I’m so relieved and shocked, I can’t even talk.
Harriet asks, up-selling the tab, “Would you like to buy a l
eash to take Bucky home?”
“No! He’s paid for enough.”
Denise clears her throat and asks me again, “Maddie, you wanna buy a leash?”
“What? Oh, yes, I need a leash. Guess I left it at the house. Duh, totally forgot. I’ll pay for that myself.”
Keying the charge into their computer, Harriet hums to herself.
I blurt, “You have any dog food?”
She blinks.
Denise leans forward, making the funniest face, “We’re curious what an actual vet recommends. Bucky’s been having stomach issues. It’s pretty gross, if you know what I mean. Diarrhea all over.”
“Just stop,” I smile.
Harriet waves her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ve heard worse. We have a great brand with no grain. You want the four-pound bag or the thirty?”
“The four is fine, thank you.” Who knows how long I’ll have him. “Uh, my tab again. Nicholas did enough.”
“It’s right over there in our little shop area. And you can pick out what color leash you want. I charged you for the large-dog one, of course.”
Finally we’re on our way home, Bucky on the new leash, Denise carrying the bags of food and meds.
At the car I hand her the leash, “I forgot something!” and run back inside. “Excuse me, did Nicholas leave his phone number?”
Harriet frowns, “I’m sorry. We don’t ask for that with payment. Only for your name, credit card number, expiration date, plus the code on the back.”
Disappointed I bite my lip, searching for a way. “Thank you.”
“Bucky’ll probably sleep a lot for a little while—don’t be alarmed. He’s just healing.”
Outside I find big black eyes nervously awaiting my return. He stands up when I appear.
“He wouldn’t get in the car, Maddie. Just planted his butt on the concrete and made sure you were coming back. Did you get the phone number for a certain Mr. Cocker, whilst you were away?” Her eyebrows lift on a knowing smirk.
Bending to pet Bucky I flick a glance up. “How did you know?”
“I’ve known you since we were three, hello! Did you get it?”
“No.”
As we pull out of the parking lot, Denise stares off at the problem. She’s not one to give up easily. “Hmm…Nicholas doesn’t have a regular job you can visit, either.”
Nicholas Cocker (Cocker Brothers Book 16) Page 4