CHAPTER 24

Rafe and the crew of Engine 6 were currently in competition with Ladder 6, doing hose drills. It was backbreaking, sweat-inducing work, but he was determined that their team would win.

They came in two seconds behind Ladder 6.

Dammit.

“Should have run faster, Rafe,” Mitchell said as they caught their breath at the end of the drill. “You were lagging.”

Rafe faced off against Mitchell. “Oh, I was the one lagging? You could barely heft the hose onto your shoulder. You must have eaten too many ribs last night.”

Ginger walked by. “I ate hummus and salad for dinner last night, and I kicked both your asses.”

Rafe glared at Ginger, then looked over at Mitchell, who shrugged and said, “She did.”

“Yeah, she did. Shit.”

Mitchell clapped him on the back. “The barbecue was great, man. No regrets. Except we ran like slugs out there. I probably shouldn’t have eaten that fourth plate.”

Rafe laughed as Mitchell walked away.

Well, hell. He probably shouldn’t have stayed up half the night making love to Carmen. Then again, he thought about the way her body had moved under—and over—his, the sounds she tried so hard not to make, the way she’d come apart for him time and time again. The way they’d both collapsed—finally.

Totally worth it. He wished he hadn’t had to leave her before dawn. She’d been wrapped around him, one leg across his stomach, her head on his shoulder. Despite it being hot-as-fuck summer, waking up to Carmen’s body against his was something he could get used to.

The alarm sounded, and he ran for the truck bay, slid into his turnout gear and boots and climbed into the truck. Ladder 6 was also responding.

“Report of three-alarm fire at a six-story apartment,” Jackson said. “Stations 23 and 16 also responding. Smoke reported from the third floor.”

“That sounds like a clusterfuck,” Rafe said.

“So we’ll need to do evacuations,” Ginger said. “And set up on the floor below the fire.”

Jackson nodded. “We’ll do our assessment as soon as we get there.”

They were the first on scene. Captain and battalion chief had also come on scene, so they would direct the project. The building was old brick, and Rafe saw flames. Not good.

They entered the lobby of the apartment. Building manager was already there, and people were walking out from the stairwell.

“Lock out the elevators,” Jackson said to Mitchell and Ginger. “We don’t want anyone getting stuck.”

Mitchell and Ginger nodded and hurried off to the elevators. As soon as both elevators got to the main floors, they’d lock them down to make sure no one else could get on.

Jackson opened up the key box to get access to all the apartments in case they had to evacuate someone or assist with removal.

Once elevators were shut down, Jackson got with his team. “Ladder team set up outside and start putting water to those flames. The rest of you set up on two and drag hose up to three. The backup teams will start evacuations.”

Rafe nodded. “You got it, Lieutenant.”

Rafe had Mitchell, Ginger and Tommy with him. They went out to the truck and grabbed their gear, then entered the stairwell. When they got to the second floor and chocked the door open, they unlocked the standpipe that would provide the water they needed. Rafe unscrewed the cap off the standpipe with his wrench and attached the elbow. They flushed the system into the stairwell to rid the pipe of debris, then moved up the stairwell and made their way to the third floor.

“Mask up,” he said. “Smoke’s heavy up here.”

They propped the door and laid the hose down the hallway. Fortunately, it appeared as if there were no people up here, though his team knocked on all the doors anyway, announcing themselves as the fire department and listening for sounds of people inside. Grateful that there were no answers, they walked their way closer through the thickening smoke.

It was easy to find the apartment where the fire was located. The orange glow was obviously visible under the doorway.

“We’re at the fire,” Rafe said into his mic.

“Fighting it outside as well with ladder team,” Jackson reported. “Take it down carefully and let us know if you need backup.”

“You got it.”

“This is gonna be ugly,” Mitchell said.

Rafe nodded, still remembering what it was like to be knocked out by the blast from the back draft. He didn’t want a repeat of that, so he intended to be cautious as they entered the apartment.

When they made sure the hose was laid out, he got on his mic.

“Charge the hose.”

They waited for water to fill the line. When it did, they soaked the door, then opened it.

The room was fully engulfed. They doused it with water and made their way inside. It was already apparent to Rafe that the flames had gone through the ceiling and into the floor above. Rafe reported that to Jackson, who said he’d send another team in and call for more backup. They already had the other teams checking floors and making sure there was sufficient air in the lobby in case they needed to resupply.

Rafe’s team could only work one apartment at a time, so they cleared the main room and moved into the next, putting the fire out in the kitchen, the hallway and a small bathroom. The entire apartment was an inferno, so they took their time to make sure the fire was fully extinguished.

With the hoses pouring in from the open windows from the ladder team, they had this under control. At least on this floor. Rafe heard on his earpiece that the fire had spread to the north side of the building, so the other stations were battling it there.

Rafe’s stomach dropped as they doused the flames in the master bedroom and he surveyed the scene. It was clear there was a body in the bed.

Shit. Clearing an empty apartment was one thing. Finding out someone hadn’t made it? That sucked. Hard.

“We’ve got a body in the master bedroom,” Rafe reported.

It took Jackson a couple of seconds to respond. “I’ll notify the coroner and the fire marshal.”

“I hate this part of the job,” Ginger said, her hand on his back as he led with the hose.

“Same,” Rafe said.

They didn’t have time to stop. They moved into the other bedroom and extinguished the fire in there, but Rafe’s thoughts continued to linger on the person in the other room who hadn’t made it out.

They did another walk-through, making sure there were no other hot spots, then moved into the hallway and entered the adjoining apartments. There was a small fire in one that they put out easily. The fire hadn’t yet made it into the apartment on the other side.

With the fire out, they could go in and start checking walls for flare-ups to make sure nothing would reignite.

They went downstairs to unload their air tanks and put on fresh ones just in case new flames broke out.

“Everything okay up there?” Jackson asked.

Rafe nodded, still feeling the effects of finding the body, but shoving it aside for now. He had a job to do. “Fire’s out. We’ll head back up to check for hot spots.”

“Okay. We won’t send the coroner up there until all the smoke is cleared, but the fire investigation team is on their way.”

He nodded and grabbed his pry bar. His crew went back upstairs, poking through the debris and the walls, making sure the fire hadn’t reignited.

Mitchell and Tommy were working in the main living area. Ginger was in the kitchen, and Rafe told them he’d work the bedrooms. He steered clear of disturbing the area around the body in the master bedroom, because he knew the coroner and the fire investigation team wouldn’t want that space disturbed.

He made his way into the smaller bedroom. Nothing in there, and he breathed a little easier.

They finished their walk-through, then Rafe notified Jackson.

“Noted,” was all Jackson said. “Is it clear up there?”

“Yeah.”

“Coroner and fire investigation team are on their way up to you.”

Rafe waited for them. He led them to the bedroom where the body was located, then waited to make sure no new fires broke out while they did their jobs, listening in as the coroner indicated it was a smaller adult body and likely female.

Damn.

She’d been all alone in here with no one to help her.

They should have gotten here in time to save her.

Once the body was bagged and removed, Rafe and his team walked down with them.

All three stations were waiting as the coroner’s crew wheeled the body outside. Rafe and his team walked behind them. It was somber and quiet as they watched them load the body into the coroner’s van.

“You okay?” Jackson asked. Kal was next to him.

“I’m fine.”

Jackson nodded, knowing he didn’t want to talk about it. Not right now.

“Let’s pick up and get out of here.”

They learned from a few of the people who lived on the same floor that the woman lived alone, worked the late shift at a restaurant and slept in most mornings. That’s all they knew at the moment since the investigation team would have to determine the cause of the fire.

It took another couple of hours to clean up and roll hoses, put all their equipment back in the truck and coordinate with the other stations and do a final walk-through of the entire apartment complex to make sure nothing else was going to spark up again.

When they finally made it back to the station, Jackson asked Rafe to write up a report about the scene in the apartment so he could add it to his own. After he showered and scrubbed down the grit from the fire, writing the report took Rafe several hours. He didn’t want to leave out any details, because he knew this one had been big, and he wanted to make sure he got it all in there. He only stopped to eat dinner, then went back to work. He read through it several times, then asked Ginger, Tommy and Mitchell to read it over to make sure he hadn’t missed anything.

They all called it good, but he wanted to go over it again. He remembered a few fine details, so he added those in and then turned the report in to Jackson.

They ended up getting another call. Fortunately, it was a minor car accident with no injuries, so they weren’t on scene long.

By the time they got back, Rafe figured he’d crash in his bunk, but he couldn’t sleep, couldn’t handle the darkness. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the charred remains of that apartment and that body in the bed.

Had she cried out, or died of smoke inhalation, unaware of the fire breaking out around her?

Too many damn questions.

He got up and went into the main room. It was empty, so he grabbed a bag of chips and a water and turned the TV on. He found the sports channel, though he wasn’t really tuned in to the scores or what the commentators were reporting on. It was just talking. Noise. Exactly what he needed right now. Something, anything, to drown out the visuals in his head.

Jackson slid onto the sofa cushion next to him.

“Can’t sleep?”

“No.”

Jackson looked at the TV for a few minutes, then over at Rafe.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked.

“Not really.” Rafe continued to stare at the TV.

“It might help.”

“Probably. But not tonight. It’s too raw for me right now, Lieutenant.”

Jackson nodded. “Maybe tomorrow, when I’m your brother again and not your lieutenant.”

“Maybe.”

“Okay.” Jackson stood and left the room.

Rafe continued to stare at the TV, not really sure what he was even watching.

He didn’t care, either. As long as he had noise, he’d be good. Sleep would come later.

Much later.