Around ten a.m. on the first day of a new shift, a call came into their house. “Car fire on Bramble Street. Engine 4, Truck 2 go into service.”
Lynne bolted up from the weight bench where she’d been lifting and hurried out of the room. She wore only a tank top and shorts so she shivered in the ice-cold bay as she donned her turnout coat and boots. The others came out, geared up, and jumped on the rig in under two minutes.
From the front seat, Zander read from his tablet. “A neighbor called it in. No information on the cause or extent of the fire or if victims were inside.”
They sped down the roads and arrived at the scene in another three minutes. Luckily, the car was on a side street. Truck 2 hadn’t arrived yet. Zander jumped out and raced over to the vehicle, which had hit a big tree, then called back, “Nobody’s inside. Quick, Lucas and Loder, lay a foam line. The engine’s dripping gas.”
Lynne had already fastened her coat and secured her air pack in the rig, then climbed off. Sometimes firefighters were careless about PPE, and the call ended badly. She’s had to reprimand more than one Dannerville firefighter about slacking off that way.
Braxton attached a line to the truck and then she and Loder hauled hose over to the car. She took the nozzle, while Loder was careful to shake the hose to get the kinks out, then stand behind her.
“I need foam,” Lynne called out calmly.
The thick white stuff spurted out but Lynne kept her footing. With Loder behind her, she positioned herself five feet back from the car and started spraying at the bottom. Thick white clouds of smoke billowed out and a November wind swept them away.
She blanketed foam on the fuel surface because it separated the ignition source from any metal near it. Tiny pops came from the vehicle, then the fire went out.
Behind her, Loder physically edged her closer. Not sure that was the right thing to do, she moved in a step and sprayed more. He pushed on her again, and she moved even closer. Before she could lay the last of foam, the car reignited and a balloon of angry flames enveloped Lynne.
She dropped the line and stumbled out of the inferno. “Oh my God! Oh my God!” She slapped her helmet off and moved in a circle, disoriented for a few seconds.
Loder grabbed the bouncing line and doused her with foam.
When she put her hand up signaling enough, he fell to his knees about 15 feet back, trained the hose back on the car again and let it rip. Gradually, Loder inched closer, and Lynne repositioned her helmet and got behind him, holding the hose. The smoke turned black then white again. Finally, the fire went out for a second time.
Lynne took off her helmet, air mask and Nomex hood, despite the frigid wind which whipped her hair and stung her face. She’d put out car fires before, but she’d never seen anything like this.
She glanced over at the parking lot. Oh, no. The world would see what happened. Someone standing across the road had filmed the incident.
* * *
Trish and Nathan had been walking in the area and someone told them there was a car fire nearby. Since this was Lynne’s district, they got in their car, drove to the scene and pulled into the parking lot across from it. Nathan held onto Trish’s hand when they got out.
“Nathan, no, no,” she gasped. “No.” Her legs started to buckle and Nathan caught her.
“She’s not hurt, sweetheart. She’s out of the fire and seems fine.”
Finally, Trish straightened but terror held her in its grip.
“Why is she fine?” he asked.
“Her PPE.” Personal Protective Equipment. “It saved her.” But in the aftermath of panic, she felt weak still. She wavered on her feet and Nathan drew her closer.
“I didn’t know…” Nathan could hardly get the words out. “You’re in so much danger.”
“Absolutely not. This shows firefighting is less dangerous because of the precautions we take.”
He scowled. “Not in my book.”
* * *
Annie and JJ were running in the park when JJ’s phone pinged. She kept moving and took it out. “Hmm.”
They both stopped.
“What?” Annie asked.
“Somebody taped Lynne in a fire. Let’s watch.”
They moved off to the side of the jogging path and Annie hit play. When the flames enveloped Lynne, Annie burst into tears and JJ swore. Fear enveloped them.
It was over in under a minute, but they were too weak to move. “Thankfully, she’s all right.”
“It was a close call.” JJ blew out a heavy breath. “Man, I hope Nick doesn’t see this. He’ll flip.”
“I-t could have been Colin.”
JJ grabbed her hand. “It could have been any of us.”
Annie said, “Are we all crazy to be firefighters?”
* * *
Brooke and Tess were together in her office at the academy when David barged in. “You have to see this.” He held up his laptop.
Startled, and a bit disconcerted, Brooke moved to make room on her desk.
David called up a video.
When she realized what was happening, Brooke uttered, “No, no. God, no, not Lynne.”
Tess felt her stomach pitch. “Oh, no, oh no….”
“She makes it out, love.” This from David. “I should have said so first but I was thrown by it too.”
“But…she’s consumed by the fire.”
Bile rose in Tess’s throat. She bolted up and raced out of the room. David followed her. She wretched violently in the nearby bathroom, something she hadn’t done in months. Hanging on to the toilet, she started to weep.
Brooke was crying when they came back. The danger her best friend had been in was too much too soon after the loss of her husband.
* * *
“Don’t talk about this yet.” Zander’s voice was grave when they climbed onto the truck. “I don’t want any comments till we get to see the incident. I asked for the video to be sent to my computer.”
Deathly silence filled the rig; no one spoke all the way home. The pall over them was an aftermath of one of them almost dying. Lynne had experienced this kind of fear before but that didn’t make her near-miss any easier.
Exhausted, they ditched their turnout gear and trudged into the firehouse. Lynne went to the bunkroom, stuffed her legs in sweats and slid her arms into a hoodie to cover up her tank top. She met the others in the common room where they’d dropped down onto couches and Zander connected his tablet to the TV. It was raw footage with no editing…
Their arrival at the burning car.
Setting up the hose.
Lynne, steady at the nozzle. The fire went out.
Loder grunting behind her.
Then the reignition of the car. Lynne gasped aloud as she saw herself in the midst of the flames. Others swore.
The regrouping and putting the fire out.
Harry dragged a straight chair over close to them. “All right. First off, Lynne, are you gonna toss your cookies any time soon?”
“Nearly, Cap.”
“Glad you’re safe and sound. You were excellent out there. Second, good rebounding and finishing the job, Cameron.”
Mumbles.
“Now, what the fuck happened here?”
Silence. Then Lynne stated the obvious. “I got too close to the car.”
He stared at her. Then transferred his gaze to Loder. “Is that what happened, Cam?”
A seasoned firefighter, Cam ducked his head sheepishly. “No.”
“Well then?”
“I urged her closer. Pushed her closer. This was my fault.”
“I’m not trying to lay blame,” the cap said honestly. “I want the scene analyzed and conclusions drawn. So, number one. It seemed like an easy call and we got too close. What do we learn from that? Billy?”
Billy sighed. “There’s no easy calls. We have to be on alert all the time.”
Her face ragged, Dynai Blackfeather didn’t wait to be asked. “Stay a safe distance back from the fire when dousing a blaze with foam or water.”
More suggestions came.
“Anything positive come out of this?”
“Lynne wasn’t hurt.” Dynai again.
“Why?”
“The PPE protected her. The new gear worked great.”
Zander continued. “We’ve had some trouble with firefighters getting too complacent and not suiting up properly on a routine car fire. Or even in a kitchen fire. Be prepared for this video to be used in a training.”
Cam groaned. Lynne sighed.
Zander said, “We all make mistakes, Cam.”
“I don’t even know what I was thinking.”
Lynne waited as long as she could to say, “I should have resisted. I’ve been in charge of these kinds of calls before.”
“Any of your people ever catch on fire, Lynne?” Braxton asked.
“Not exactly. But foam fires reignited enough for me to know better.”
“What would you do differently?”
“I’d turn around and tell Loder to fuck off.”
That brought snickers and laughter.
* * *
Brady kicked back on the couch at home and switched on the television. Emma had an overnight with his parents and he was on his own from early evening until mid-morning. He needed these respites, where his parents or Jenny’s mom and dad took his daughter for a sleepover. He whispered to God, I know it’s selfish. But could you hold any emergency calls for these hours?
You know that’s not how it works, Brade.
Still, a man could hope. The local news came on as he sipped his coffee. “An explosive scene on Bramble Avenue earlier today shows the CCFD in a routine call gone bad.”
A niggling up his spine.
A truck pulled up to a car on fire. The crew jumped out, and they talked about foam. Soon, two firefighters lined up. His heart bumped in his chest when he saw the lettering Lucas on the back of a coat. Brady came to the edge of his seat.
Lynne was first on the hose and sprayed the car. The guy behind her kept moving her closer. They put out the fire. Then, suddenly, the car…burst into high, wide flames…and they engulfed Lynne.
She didn’t panic, just leapt back. She wasn’t burning once she got out, but her helmet flew off. He heard, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God!” as she walked around in a small circle.
The guy from behind her picked up the hose she’d dropped and directed it toward Lynne. After a few seconds, she held her hand up for him to stop. He trained the foam on the fire, and Lynne got behind him. From a safer distance away, they put the fire out.
Brady’s throat clogged. He tried to calm his churning stomach.
She’d acted like a true pro.
But damn, she could have died.
* * *
Lynne stepped into the whirlpool bathtub at David’s house and sighed. Every single muscle in her body ached from the tension of the day. She laid back on the bath pillow and tried not to remember fire engulfing her. She’d been in the moment then, so she didn’t have time to think of the consequences.
She’d called Ken’s house to tell him about the fire and the tape that was circulating. Instead of expressing concern, he said, “Well, you got the action you left me for, I guess.”
“Put the kids on.” Calmly she explained about the fire and that she was fine. She talked a long time to Melody, who got the most upset.
Then each of the Sisters of Fire had phoned, congratulated her quick actions, expressed their concern, then accepted that she was doing well and didn’t want company. Now, she lazed in the bath, blanking her mind, until the water cooled. When she got out, she dressed in fuzzy blue pajamas and headed to the kitchen, where she poured wine. She was halfway to the living room when the front bell rang. She grabbed a hoodie that was on the back of the couch, went to the foyer and peeked out from the side window. “Wow.”
She opened the door. Brady Jamison stood on the stoop. “I saw the coverage of your fire. I did an unconscionable thing and looked up your address on our Flying Solo administrative list.” He shrugged a shoulder. “For some reason, I had to see for myself that you were all right.”
She stared at him. His sandy-colored hair was ruffled, and his pretty amber eyes shadowed. He wore a navy-blue sweater and a down vest.
“Ah. I see you are. I’ll go.”
“Please don’t. I could use some company.” Though she’d told the Sisters of Fire she didn’t want any, she realized she wanted to see him. Taking his arm she drew him inside.
He scanned her up and down. “You’re ready for bed?”
“I put on comfortable pjs,” which were more decent than some of her clothes. “If you’d feel more comfortable, I can change.”
“Nah.” The corners of his mouth turned up. “You look cute.” She’d put her hair up in a messy knot on her head.
Smiling, she led him to the living room.
He scanned the large space, long windows, and high ceilings. “You have a beautiful place.”
“Not mine. I’m renting—sort of—from a friend until I can get my own house. I’m lucky because, yes, this is a gorgeous home.”
“I’m glad you have something like this to live in.”
“Sit.” She pointed to her glass. “Would you like some wine? You only drank beer at Trivia Night.”
“Sure. I like wine too.”
She retrieved the Cabernet, poured him a glass, they sat and Lynne leaned up against the padded arm of the couch, facing him.
He lifted the glass. “To successful fire calls.”
“Hardly.” She took a sip anyway. “I got too close to the fire. My bad.”
His brow furrowed.
“What?”
“You’re very generous to take responsibility. But the guy behind you physically edged you closer.”
“I could have stopped him.”
“Split second decisions are what they are. If you had to do it over, you’d do that.”
“Yeah. That’s what I told my cap. By the way, Cameron, the firefighter behind me, took the blame. I insisted I share it.”
“Like I said, you’re a generous person.”
“I try to be. Unfortunately, these last few months, I’ve done some things I don’t like.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“I will if you tell me what you’ve done in the recent past that you don’t like.”
“I took time for myself tonight, cut everybody off, so I could have space.”
“That’s not a flaw. You should have time for yourself.”
“Your turn.”
She explained how Ken broke his promise to move to Crystal City, how their marriage had grown cold and why she left Dannerville. “That’s not so bad. You’re entitled to live your life in the way you want to.”
“I behaved badly when I discovered he was cheating on me. Nothing public, but I was cruel to him.”
Brady laughed. “Most people wouldn’t be kind under those circumstances.”
“I bet you would.”
He averted his gaze, as if he was hiding something. “What do you usually do in the evenings, when your kids aren’t here?”
“Sometimes I see my friends. But not tonight. I’m exhausted.”
“I should go, then.”
“No Brady, don’t. Stay. But let’s not talk about anything serious.”
“All right. Sit back and stretch out your legs. We’ll chat.”
“Tell me about your siblings. I don’t have any.”
“Bryce and Brianna were hellions.”
“That’s your names? Bryce, Brianna and Brady?”
“Yep.”
“Why all B’s.”
“My mother read romance novels. Those were the characters.”
“Ha! Are she and your father still living?”
“Yeah. Bob and Belinda. Your dad’s alive, you said.”
Lynne put her wine down and cozied into the crook of the arm and cushions. “Tell me stories.”
“Once when the three of us…”
Listening to Brady’s calm voice, Lynne drifted off.
* * *
Why Brady stayed another half-hour after Lynne fell asleep was a mystery to him. When he stood to leave, she moved restlessly on the couch. “Get back, get back.”
He waited.
“The fire, it’s coming. It’s coming. No, no…”
Leaning over, he grasped her arms and shook her gently. “Lynne, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
She bolted awake. “What, what?”
“You had a dream. About the fire.”
“Why am I…” She glanced around. “Oh, yeah, I remember.”
“I was just leaving.”
She grabbed his hand. “No, don’t. I feel…”
“Anxious and upset?”
She nodded.
“Delayed reaction of near-trauma. Sit up.” She obeyed. He dropped down next to her. Slid his arm around her and pulled her close. “This is what you need.”
“A man to hold me?”
“A friend to help chase away the demons.”
She leaned into him and put her hand on his chest. He kissed the top of her head.
And Brady realized how much he’d missed holding a woman. It had been too long. As he hugged her close, he wondered why he’d waited.
The sunlight coming in through the windows awakened him. Why hadn’t he drawn down the blinds in his room? A weight against him brought him to reality.
He and Lynne were stretched out lengthwise on the couch, and Lynne Lucas was plastered against him. Her face tucked into his neck, her warm breath on his skin, her groin nestled into his. He’d responded as any man would.
She squirmed. “Hmm. Feels good.”
He said aloud, “That’s an understatement.”
She came awake. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Are you?”
She laughed softly. “I guess not.”
“Me, either.”
“Damn, I wish I was into recreational sex.”
He moaned. “My mind just spun into a thousand different fantasies.”
“We’d better sit up now and talk.”
“I guess.”
They tried to extricate.
“Ouch,” she said when his knee moved.
“Um, your hip is…”
Finally, they were able to sit.
“First—” he began
“No, wait. I need coffee.”
He stayed on the couch, ruing his ethics, regretting his choice to be a moral man. When she came back, she handed him a steaming mug which he sipped generously. She sat a few feet away.
“All right, now that I’ve had some caffeine. First what?”
He smiled at her. She was sexy all sleepy eyed and mussed. “First, I didn’t come over to sleep with you.”
“Sleep is the operative word here.”
“I was worried and…needed to see you. Kind of out of proportion for how little we know about each other.”
“No, Brady, I felt it, too. Trivia night, when you kissed me.”
“Whew. That’s good to hear. Second, I haven’t had a relationship with anyone in over two years. Actually, I’ve never made love with anyone else besides Jenny.”
“Same for me and Ken. That’s why his infidelity hurt.”
He drew in a heavy breath and let it out. “Lynne, I want to know you better.”
“But slowly, right?”
“I think so. Unless we change our minds about recreational sex.”
“I’d like to spend a little more time with you before anything happens. If we ever do it.”
He chuckled at her phrasing and she rolled her eyes.
She checked her watch. “I’ve got to go. It’s seven, an hour after our usual day starts. But the night shift offered to stay so we could have a couple extra to regroup.”
Another smile. “And have you regrouped?”
“Oh, yeah. In a very pleasant way.”
“I think so, too.”