SCORCHED: A Firefighter Stepbrother Romance Thriller (17 page)

Chapter 19

Gunner

“This
is central dispatch. 10-33 Code 1 in progress, building fire on 32
^nd
and Marathon at the old Washington Theatre—”

“Son of
a bitch,” Simon muttered as he pulled the car into reverse, squealing out of
the parking space like a bat out of hell. My stomach felt like it was being
pushed back into the seat as he put the car in park and burned rubber out into
the street.

“He has
her, Simon,” I said, my heart pounding in my chest. I could almost picture Connor
there, standing over her body—that fucked up mask with its perpetual
frown looking down at her while he laughed. “That piece of shit has my sister.”

“Get on
the phone and call the cops,” he snapped. “They don’t know that she’s there.
They need to know that they’ve got someone inside, otherwise they aren’t going
to send anyone in there after her.”

My
fingers felt numb as I tried to dial those three simple numbers. I kept seeing
Tanya lying dead in the reflection of my screen. Simon hit his brakes hard,
sending us into a sharp turn as his back tires skidded over the asphalt.

“We’ll
be there in no time so long as I don’t get pulled over.”

I shook
my head, putting the phone to my ear as I heard the sound of the 9-1-1 operator’s
voice come over the line.

“9-1-1
Emergency, what’s the nature of your call?”

“The
fire on 32
^nd
and Marathon,” I blurted out as Simon barreled through
a red light, nearly taking out a pick-up truck in the process.

“We already
have units dispatched to—”

“No,
you don’t understand. Someone is inside of the building. Possibly two.”

“Can I
please have your name, sir?” the woman asked, doing her best to stay on script.

“Gunner
Cole. I work for the fire department.”

“We
have units on the way to that location, Mr. Cole. You need to stay calm and
everything will be just—”

I
slammed my thumb into the “end call” button, cutting her off before she could
finish telling me my least favorite lie. Everything seemed to blur as I held
tight onto the overhead handle in Simons car, gripping it hard as he took us
through another one of his G-force inducing turns. I’d be lucky if I ever made
it to the fire with the way he drove.

“This
is really fucking bad, Simon.”

“Yeah,
I was sort of able to figure that out, but we’re almost there.”

“And
then what? I’m not exactly geared up to head into a fire.”

“You
didn’t fucking hire me as a problem-solver, Gunner. All I can do right now is
make sure you get there. Hopefully in time to get your sister out.
Alive.
”

Simon
and I sped past another red light and finally made our way to the intersection
at 32
^nd
and Marathon. The fire was not immediately apparent—only
the black, acrid smoke billowing out of the many boarded up windows gave any
indication to its existence. My heart began to sink as I caught the first
glimpses of fiery tongues flitting in and out of one of the lower windows like
a perverse lizard. As we put the car into park we finally heard the police
scanner crackle to life again.

“Be
advised, we have reports of a civilian inside the building. All units proceed
with caution.”

The
sirens were deafening, like banshee screams coming from all directions as fire
engines barreled down the roads, full compliments of firefighters riding along.
As the trucks came screeching to a halt along the road, blocking off both ends
of the intersection I noticed that my own company had come in response to the fire.

“Gunner!”
someone called over the keening cry of the sirens. I turned my head to find the
Captain hustling over. “
The
hell’re
you doing here? You’re not—”

“I’m
here to help,” I said. “Get me some gear and I’m ready to go.”

“What
the hell do you think this is, son? We’re in an emergency and I’m already a man
down.
Stoggins
is missing.”

Stoggins
is missing
? My
mind whirled. I had only hoped that the lazy son-of-a-bitch had just forgotten
to go check on her, something I was going to chew him out for the next time I’d
see him—but if both Tanya
and
Stoggins
were missing, then something bad had definitely
happened.

“I’m
your best guy, Captain. I can help. I know you keep a spare set of gear on the
truck, just let me at it and I’m good to go.”

“Dammit,
Gunner. Fine. But I don’t want you playing hero in there, this is fucking
serious.”

I gave
him a grim smile. “I won’t let you down, boss.”

I
couldn’t tell the Captain that my sister was in there, otherwise he’d never
have let me go in—I’d have been labeled “emotionally compromised.” But
sitting on the
side lines
was not something I was
willing to put up with today.

I
geared myself up faster than I’d ever done in my life. The gear on the truck
was a little tight on me, but more than sufficient to still be able to move
around without too much trouble. The weight of the gear felt good, like an old
friend to comfort me when I needed it most. I felt like I was ready for
anything.

“All right!”
I heard the Captain’s loud, booming voice rising over the din. “We’ve got a
reported civilian trapped inside. I want four of you inside searching while the
rest of you focus on containment. No fucking hero bullshit.”

I knew
that last comment was directed at me, and part of me was almost sorry that I’d
have to completely disobey the order—but that was only a small part. This
was so much more than my usual stunts, the usual macho big damn hero crap I
loved so much, this time it meant something more than just a stroke to my
ego—my little sister was one there—no, the woman I
loved
was in there. I wasn’t about to
let her down, even if it meant my own life.

I made
damn sure that I was on the team that breached the
theatre’s
boarded up door. Connor must have managed to find himself a less conspicuous
way inside, but Connor also didn’t have a battering ram. I watched as two
firefighters slammed the heavy steel cylinder against the rotted wood. It caved
almost immediately, sending
a gout
of flames out to
greet us.

Behind
me, I heard the roar of water pumps coming to life as the hoses began to stream
high-powered jets of water toward the flames that had begun climbing out of the
lower windows and up the outer walls.

“Go!”
one of the men on the battering ram shouted, and the other three men hustled
inside of the building. What I saw I had seen a thousand times before, but
somehow it all seemed so much more frightening.

I
wasn’t sure if it was my own nerves, or the fact that what I could lose in this
fire meant so much more to me than it ever had. It wasn’t just me or my friends
who could get hurt—trained professionals who knew exactly what could
happen with a single slip-up or even the slightest bit of bad luck. No, this
fire could cost me my whole family, which turned a routine blaze into a trip to
the mouth of Hell.

The
fire around us was creeping its way up the walls, crawling like a mass of
snakes that kept eating and giving birth to one another again and again. I took
a moment, focused on the sound of my respirator, the steady rhythm helping me
find an island of calm in the storm that my thoughts and emotions had become.

“Structure
still looks sound upstairs. I’m
gonna
head up, Freddy and me up and Gunner and Tim down here. Maybe whoever’s in here
got stuck in the upper seats,” came a voice over my earpiece, corresponding to
the movements of one of the firefighters at my side. I nodded my agreement and
made my way toward the large set of double doors that would lead down to the
stage.

I
pushed hard, throwing my shoulder against the old wooden doors, but to no
avail. What little the door did give appeared to be hindered by something
shoved against it from the other side. I peeked through the small crack I’d
manage to make, seeing the jumbled legs of the theatre seats piled
half-way
up the door.

“Fucking
bastard,” I breathed, looking around for another way to get inside.

Places like this always have a cast
entrance
, I thought.
I can get
to the stage from there.

I could
only hope that I was right, or that Connor hadn’t blocked that door off, as
well. Through the smoke I spied a hallway leading along the outer wall, and
against all the terrible possibilities I saw before me, I chose to believe that
it would lead to the dressing rooms and the back stage access.

I had
to believe that. If I didn’t, then there was no hope left. No hope for Tanya.
And without her, no hope left for me.

Shameful
to say, my knowledge of theatre didn’t come from any actual dramatic
experience—no, I’d learned all about the back workings of theatrics
through my own boyhood need to find more daring make-out spots. I’d never
imagined that it would come in handy, especially not now.

I
walked cautiously through the smoke-filled hallway, doing my best to read the
tiny brass plaques on every door. I’d at least discovered that I had picked the
right hallways, finally discovering a heavy wooden door that read “Cast &
Crew Only.”

Once
again I threw my weight against the door, my heart sinking when it didn’t budge
on the first try. I felt my pulse in my ears, drowning out my thoughts as I
once again flung my body against the stubborn thing.

To my
surprise, the door not only opened,
but
practically
fell off of its hinges, sending me stumbling to the floor on top of the
half-rotted thing. I let out a groan of pain as I slowly pushed myself up to my
feet.

“Everything
all right down there?” I heard over the radio.

“Yeah,
I’m good,” I said, rolling my shoulder to make sure I hadn’t dislocated it.

The
others all sounded off as I looked around through the hazy darkness. Despite
all of the smoke, I couldn’t see any evidence that the fire in the lobby had
spread back toward the stage, in fact the fire hadn’t managed to touch this
part of the theatre at all—not yet, anyway. It was too perfect. Something
in my gut told me that I was getting closer and closer to finding Connor and Tanya.
Connor liked theatrics—he was the kind of guy who enjoyed a
show—and what better place to put one on than on the stage itself?

I
walked past the forlorn stage equipment that lay strewn backstage, the sounds
of a conversation reaching my ears as I crept closer to the stage proper.
Luckily I had more than enough cover from the heavy curtains left behind when
the theatre was closed, blocking Connor from even noticing my approach.

“Fire
fixes everything,” I heard him say, his words ringing clearly across the stage.
I reached out, pushing the curtains aside just in time to watch as the tiny
glimmer of a lit match fell from Connor’s hand, right onto a smeared ring of
red surrounding the crumpled body of my sister.

“Tanya!”
I screamed, rushing out of the curtains like a bat out of hell.

“No!”
Connor snarled as I threw myself into the ring of fire. It was spreading
quickly, lighting up the wood beneath her and already starting to catch on the
legs of her chair. I lifted it up just in time, pulling both the chair and
Tanya from the
flames,
cutting away at the ropes with
a knife I kept in my boot as quickly as I could.

I
couldn’t carry her like this. Not strapped to the chair. Before I could save my
stepsister, I had to set her loose.

“She
has
to die!”

Without
warning, I felt something hit me from behind, square in the middle of my back.
I stumbled sideways, tripping on the uneven floorboards in the stage and
toppling over.

I saw
stars as the pain in my back flared, then began to ebb away. I scrambled to my
feet as quickly as I could, the heaviness of my gear weighing me down, slowing
my movements. I searched desperately for my knife, something to defend myself
with.