Chasing the Fire (Backdraft, Fully Involved, Flashover) (2 page)

When she got her bearings, Jane thrust off
the burnt wood that covered them and climbed off Evans. He wasn’t
moving. She began to feel around, running her gloved hands along
the floor. Finally, she touched metal. “Thank God.”

“What’s going on there, Evans?” The voice
came over the mic.

Jane ignored Malvaso’s question and grabbed
the helmet, felt the cap’s face and managed to secure the hat and
breathing device on him. Then she said into her mic, “Chief, me and
Evans fell through the floor. Northwest quadrant of the building.
Evans’s out cold. He lost his SCBA, but I retrieved it. Oh, wait,
he’s moving, coming to.”

“We’re sending ropes and harnesses. Hang on.
We’ll be there in minutes.”

It was quieter down here and she heard a moan
come from the corner. Jesus, victims in the basement were all they
needed. She rummaged around again until she found the imager and
scanned the direction the noise had come from. A body was moving in
the corner. Quickly checking the rest of the area through the
viewer and seeing no heat-emitting shapes, she started to move
toward the corner. Evans rasped out, “What is it, Phillips?”

“Victim about ten feet away. I’m going. Stay
still, Cap.”

The fact that he did made her realize this
rescue was all on her. Slowly, feeling her way, she crawled to the
body. Her hands reached the victim and she discovered he was a big
lug of a man. “Whaaaa happened?”

“There’s been a fire. I’m a firefighter.” She
took off her mask and placed the mouthpiece over his lips. “Here
take some air.”

The man sucked it in as she coughed like a
son of a bitch. He handed her the mask back. “Make sure you take
yours, Firefighter.” The gravelly voice sounded surprisingly
confident in his order.

They exchanged two more mouthfuls of air,
then she heard from above, “Hey, Phillips, we’re here.”

She yelled out, “Cap’s right below the hole.
I’m in the corner with a victim.”

“Stay there.” Apparently Malvaso had decided
to join the rescue with his fellow firefighters. “I’m coming down
with two others, and there’s a group here to pull us up top.”

The smoke started to clear. She saw the
outline of Malvaso shimmying down the rope. Then someone after him.
Malvaso went to Evans, and two people headed to her. She hoped one
of them wasn’t Riley. That’d freak them both out.

It wasn’t. Duncan and McCabe, both
paramedics, reached her. “I have the BVM,” Duncan said. “Keep your
mouthpiece on and I’ll fit the guy with the oxygen mask.”

The victim, who coughed mercilessly, muttered
something about saving somebody else first, but they ignored
him.

In minutes, the paramedics put a neck brace
on the guy and moved him onto a backboard. Before he left, McCabe
tugged her up by the arm. “Should I check you out?”

“I’m fine, Jack. I fell on top of the
cap.”

As the two paramedics left, Jane glanced
around; she was the only one left down here. Quickly, she walked to
the hole, where megalights were shining through. Somebody threw her
a harness, she stuck her feet in it, belted the waist and let
herself be pulled up. She heard somebody joke, “Jesus, Phillips,
you gotta lose some weight.”

When she reached the top, her limbs were
saturated and her head hurt from the smoke. “Okay.”

“Hell, she must be in bad shape if she let
that remark go.” She recognized the voice of the man who helped
bring her up. He grabbed on to her and held her close. “I got ya,
babe, like always.”

Jane removed her helmet and unbuttoned her
coat—the cool air felt wonderful—then surveyed the scene. Bodies
were scattered over the parking lot and grassy area behind the
store. “Casualties?” she asked.

“Not a one.” Riley put his face close to her
ear. “You scared me, honey.”

“None of that, Rye.” She looked around. “The
Cap?”

“Fine. His head’s hard enough to withstand
the blow.”

“How ’bout the guy I was with?”

“Alive, they say. With a wracking cough.”

After a few minutes, Malvaso approached them.
“Gallagher, the man Phillips saved is asking for you.”

“For me? Not Janie?”

“Uh-huh. But she should go with you.”

“What? Why?”

“Just do it.”

Jane and Riley headed to where Malvaso
directed them. The man lay on the grass propped up against a tree.
His clothes were in tatters, now covered with smoky grime, and he
sported a beard which practically obscured his face.

Riley knelt down in front of him. “You wanted
to see…” His voice trailed off.

Janie bent over, too. The guy smelled like
body odor and alcohol. He raised his dirty hand to cup Riley’s
cheek. “I never thought I’d see you again, son.”

Riley jerked back. Bolted up. His fists
curled at his sides. “Yeah, right back at you. Which was fine with
me.”

oOo

RILEY BOLTED UP
from the bed yelling,
“No, no, it can’t be true.” His naked body was covered in sweat and
his heart was beating double-time.

Jane reached out for him and grasped his hip.
“What’s wrong?”

“Nightmare. Go back to sleep. You need rest
after yesterday.”

He and Jane had left the firehouse as soon as
they got back from the clothing-store call. The night shift had
come in early because battling the fire had been exhausting for her
group. And two of their guys had sustained minor injuries. Turning,
he could see Jane’s sleep-tousled form in the gray light of dawn.
“I’m getting up. Sleep some more.”

“Okay.” Her eyes closed.

Grabbing some sweat pants and a T-shirt from
the floor, he dressed in the bathroom, then went out to the
kitchen. They’d bought a ranch house on the outskirts of Hidden
Cove eight years ago. It had been a fixer-upper and now was exactly
how they wanted it. Hardwood floors. Lots of windows and natural
light. Comfortable furniture. Big kitchen where they both liked to
cook. Most firefighters did.

His father had.

“Fuck,” he said aloud, pulled out a cup and
poured coffee, which had been set to brew at six. In an effort not
to think about his father, he looked out the side window and saw
Frank, their older, half-blind neighbor sitting on his deck. Riley
noticed the donuts they stopped to pick up every night, for the
next morning, and grabbed the smaller bag.

He stepped outside and crossed the yard. “Hi,
Frank. Up pretty early, aren’t you?”

“My sciatica is bothering me.” He eyed the
bag. “Hmm, is it jelly this time?” They always brought Frank a
treat.

“Yep, one of your favorites.” Though Riley’s
mind was whirling with conflicting thoughts, he stayed and talked
to the lonely man for a few minutes.

However, when he returned to his kitchen and
picked up his coffee, his mind went right back to his father’s
downfall. Riley had been nearly twenty-three and still considered a
young gun in the fire department. But he was treated with respect
because his dad was a captain on one of the busiest engines in the
department. And head of the Firefighter’s Union. Maybe that had
been the worst thing, because when the scandal broke and their town
councilman, a local cop, and his father were implicated, the entire
fire department had been disgraced. He’d never forget when his dad
had revealed the truth.

Ben Gallagher had come to the apartment Riley
shared with Jane then…

“Hey, Dad.” He was always glad to see his
father, as he adored the man.

Tonight, though, his dad’s face was ragged.
And his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn’t slept. “Hi, son. I
need to talk to you and Janie right away.”

“Janie isn’t here. Come on in.” His father
lumbered into his house as if he bore the weight of five SCBA
tanks. “Can I get you something?”

He’d been shocked to see his father’s eyes
well. He’d seen his dad cry a couple of times at a firefighter
funeral and when a baby died in a fire, but this kind of emotion
was a rare occurrence.

“Dad, sit on the couch.” He practically led
his father to the sofa, dropped down beside him and put his hand on
his dad’s shoulder. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Ben stared at him. “I’m on my way to the
police department.”

“Why?”

“I’ve done something wrong, Rye. Really
wrong.”

“You? I don’t believe it.” In his eyes, his
dad was infallible.

“You…” He cleared his throat. “I-it’s about
the Steele scandal. You know some of the details.”

“Yeah, everybody does. The fuckers were
trying to hurt the chief and sabotaged the fire department. A lot
of our guys were injured. Are you filing some sort of charge on
behalf of the union?”

Ben had shaken his head. “No, I’m a fucker,
too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I helped Stan Steele.” The councilman.

“Dad, come on. Don’t joke about this.”

“I’m not joking. I set up some of the
sabotage.”

Riley’s heart had flip-flopped in his chest.
“You wouldn’t do something like that.”

“I
did.
For money.”

“Why? Money never meant much to us.”

“I…” His eyes turned even bleaker. “I got a
gambling problem. I was in deep. Steele found out and offered to
pay off all my debts if I’d help him.”

“No, no. The cop, Ruscio, helped him, did it
for the money.”

It had taken his father a half hour to
convince Riley that he’d been involved. Still, Riley had been
stunned. He’d cried like a baby with his face buried in his
hands.

Janie came home before his father left. But
she’d wanted to help Ben Gallagher get through what was to come, go
to the police station with him, stand by him.

And Riley couldn’t. Something seemed to snap
inside him at the awful thing his father had done to the
brotherhood of firefighters. In the end, all he could do was brace
himself against the shame.

There had been backlash from others in the
department, which hurt like hell, and an emotional wall had shot up
between him and Janie. He still didn’t know how much she supported
his father, because after several fights over what Riley should do
and how Riley should feel, they’d agreed not to discuss the matter.
Later, he learned his mother had tried to help his father, too, but
Ben Gallagher had ostracized her and she gave up. They’d been
divorced ever since his dad had gone to jail…

“Hey, Rye, what are you thinking about?”

He turned to find Janie had come into the
kitchen. “Take a wild guess.”

She crossed to him, kissed his cheek—she
always smelled good after a shower—and poured herself a mug of
coffee. “Let’s sit down.”

They took seats in the sleek, oak breakfast
nook he, Janie and his buddies had constructed after they’d bought
the house. “You’re thinking about Ben, right?”

“Of course. I was shocked to see him after
all these years.”

“Me, too.” She stared at him. “Was it hard
for you, leaving him at the scene?”

“No. The ambulance came. He had what he
needed. Besides, I was worried about you.”

“Aren’t you worried about
him?”

“When hell freezes over.” He would have
preferred to lie to Jane, to pretend he was forgiving like her, but
he was always straight with her. They promised each other they
would be.

She sipped her coffee and he noticed she’d
put on the ring he gave her when they were sixteen and a
cheerleader had tried to seduce him. It was a promise-of-fidelity
symbol and she wore it everywhere but work. “Well, I’m
worried.”

He raised his eyes to the ceiling. “Here we
go again.”

“No, it won’t be like what happened before.
We were kids when your dad got in trouble.” She picked up his hand
and kissed it. “We know how to work out our issues now.”

“Maybe. I can’t stand the thought of the
bastard coming between us again.” He shook his head. “And hurting
Mom and Abby like the last time.”

She opened her mouth to say something, then
closed it. After a minute, she asked, “I’ll go with you today to
tell your mom he’s back.” They were both off shift.

“I’m not going to tell her. I have to protect
her from him. We all thought he went to New York City after his
two-year stint in jail. She doesn’t need to know any
different.”

“Rye, you can’t keep the fact that he’s back
from Mave. And Abby will be furious if you don’t tell her.”

“I won’t let them be hurt by this again! He
can crawl back into his hole and we can forget we even saw
him.”

“That is so not going to work.”

He slapped his hand on the table. “No, Jane.
I’m not bringing them in on this. And this can’t come between us
again. Don’t you remember how it was last time?”

Her face closed down. And her eyes turned
grim. He still remembered the strained quietness of the house,
spending their free time away from each other, the lack of
intimacy. He’d hated the breach they’d both caused by their
stubbornness. “Look, I know he was like a father to you when yours
died, but what he did…I can’t forgive him.”

She shook her head. “After fifteen years
together, I still don’t know this side of you.” Drawing back, she
took a deep breath. “All right. Let’s not discuss him. It’s too
painful for us both.”

He brushed his hand down her hair. “How do
you feel this morning?”

She smiled. “Good enough for what I know you
want.”

“That’s my girl.” They both stood and he
slung his arm around her neck; she slipped her hand around his
waist. “I need the oblivion of some hot, monkey sex.” He kissed her
head.

“I can do that for you.”

oOo

JANE NEVER KNEW
what she was going to
get from Riley when they made love. As they walked to the bedroom,
she remembered their first time. They’d been sweethearts their
sophomore year in high school but too young for sex, so it wasn’t
until after the Junior Prom, when they’d rented a hotel room in
Camden Cove, that he’d taken her on their first flight to intimacy.
Since both of them were novices, they’d fumbled and it wasn’t good
for her, but he’d made up for it by, of all things, asking his
sister for pointers. The two of them had been close, and Abby had
been like a sister to Jane, so she’d given them pretty explicit
instructions, some books for them to read, and a hefty number of
condoms. By the time they graduated, their sex life was great for
both of them. And neither had ever slept with anyone else. For a
nerd and not a very pretty one, she considered herself lucky to
have snagged the school football star and Prom King. The nice thing
about it was he’d considered himself lucky, too, to have a smart,
funny, and feisty girl like her in his life.