When Shadows Fall (32 page)

You'll probably have questions about your father. And I won't have the answers you want. His name is Rex Coleman. Right now he plays bass guitar for a group called Night Wolves. But the band name has already changed twice, so I don't know what it will be years from now or even if Rex will still be playing. Actually, that's not true. I'm sure he'll still be a musician, because the only thing he loves in his life is music. I wish he loved me the way I loved him. And I know you're thinking right now that he didn't love you either, but he didn't know you baby girl. When I told him I was pregnant, all he heard was responsibility, and he took off. I'm still trying to forgive him for that.

I guess I'm a lot like my mother when it comes to men and bad judgment. I hope you'll break the chain, because you won't be raised by us. You won't see what we had to see or live through what we had to live through. At least I pray that you don't.

You probably want to know something about me, too. I hope I'll be able to tell you, that we'll share lots of long talks, but there's a part of me that is afraid that won't happen, because I'm a lot like my dad, I get restless and afraid and I drink too much. I don't hurt people like he did—except maybe myself. Which is another reason I had to give you away, because I never ever want to hurt you.

So if we never meet, and that might be the case, because only the Lord knows where I'll end up, I want you to know a few things about me. I love to dance. I wanted to be a ballerina when I was a little girl. I like puppies; I don't care for cats—don't tell my mom. She's a cat lover. I like mint chip ice cream and my favorite hour is midnight. Sometimes I go down to the beach just before midnight and watch the ocean as one day turns into another. I wait for the sun to come up, and I hope the new day will be better than the last.

I'm at the beach right now. I wish you could see the moon playing off the waves. It's so beautiful. When I look out at the sky and the sea, I feel like I'm close to heaven. And it calms me. I know everything will be all right. You'll grow up happy and loved. I wish I knew what your name was. I told the social worker that I wanted them to call you Olivia, but she said I couldn't tell your parents what to name you. Olivia is my middle name, and I'd love to have a piece of me with you. But whatever your name is, I'm sure it's as beautiful as you are.

With all my love,

Your Mama

Olivia sat down on the floor as she pressed the letter to her chest. Only then did she realize that she was crying. The words of her mother—and she now knew without a doubt that Francine was her mother—ran around in her head. She felt both sad and angry that the only contact she would have with the woman who gave birth to her was this letter.

But Francine had predicted that that might be the case. At least she'd had the foresight to leave this note behind—a note she might never have found if Molly hadn't reached out to her. And she didn't even know if Molly knew about the letter since it was hidden away in Francine's music box.

She folded the letter back up and put it in the pocket of her jeans. She knew she'd reread it a million times in the upcoming days, weeks and years.

As she got to her feet, she wiped the tears from her eyes. She blinked against the stinging moisture and as she did so, she realized that the air was smoky and thick. She'd been so caught up in the letter, she hadn't smelled anything until just now.

She ran up the stairs and into the laundry room. The smoke was much thicker, the heat intense, and along with smoke, she smelled gasoline. She stumbled to the door, her way now lighted by bright orange flames.

The house was on fire!

She reached for her phone, but she realized she'd set it down on the floor in the basement. She had no light anymore. But she didn't want to take time to go back and find it.

She felt her way toward the hallway door with one hand outstretched. With the other hand, she tried to pull her sweater up over her mouth and nose.

When she entered the hallway, she saw a wall of flames between her and the front of the house. And then she saw a male figure come out of the dining room. He had on dark clothes and a hood over his head, but when he saw her, he stopped abruptly, staring at her in shock.

At first she'd thought it was Peter, but as the flames leapt higher she realized it was Keith Fletcher, the police officer she'd met at the bar, the one who'd been having drinks with Colton's father.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he shouted. "No one was supposed to be here."

"Why did you do this?" she asker, her eyes watering as she stumbled down the hallway.

"I couldn't take the chance there was anything else here to find."

His words weren't making sense, but she didn't have time for questions. She started coughing as the heat and smoke began to make her dizzy. She put her hand toward the wall as a horrible rumble ran through the house, and then everything exploded.

She was knocked off her feet and six feet down the hall by a blast of fire. As she landed on the ground, she put her hands in defense as the ceiling came crashing down on top of her, revealing more fire coming from the upstairs. He'd obviously started the fire on the second floor.

It took a moment to get her wits about her. Then she felt intense pain running through her ankle. She tried to move, but a heavy piece of wood had pinned her to the ground.

"Help me," she cried. She tried to see down the hall, but everything was black and smoky now. She didn't even know if Fletcher was still in the house.

Then she felt a rush of air that was both welcome and terrifying as the fire around her inhaled new oxygen.

She'd never thought of fire as loud before, but everything was crackling, popping, breaking. And in that moment, she realized there was a good chance she was not going to make it out of this house.

"Oh, God," she whispered. "Please help me."

She thought about her mom, about Colton, about her friends, all the people who would miss her, all the things she would miss.

And then a voice came through the darkness.
"Hang in there, baby girl."

She looked around, but she couldn't see anyone.

The voice came again.
"Fight. Don't give up like I did."

She reacted to the words, to the challenge. She wasn't going to give up. She wasn't going to die in Molly's house. She had to find a way to get free. She twisted and strained and tried to slip out from under the beam, but it wasn't moving and the fire was getting worse.

Then she heard another voice—male this time, and very familiar. She looked up as a man appeared on the other side of a curtain of fire that hung halfway down the hall, the flames licking angry paths up and down the melting wallpaper as they came closer to her.

Colton!

She was both relieved to see him and terrified that he was now in danger, too.

"Hang on," he yelled. "I'm going to get you out of there."

She wanted him to do just that, but how could he get to her without being caught in the fire? He had no gear with him, no protective clothes or mask.

Colton disappeared, then reappeared a moment later with a towel around his head and chest. Another second, and he barreled through the flames, batting the sparks away as he reached her.

He dropped to his knees. "Can you move, Olivia?"

She shook her head. "My leg is trapped."

"It's going to be okay."

She'd appreciated his calm confidence before, but she liked it even more now.

He grabbed the beam with both hands and tried to move it off of her, but the weight of the ceiling bearing down on the upper portion was too much for him. He tried again, and she could see the strain in every muscle of his face.

The fire was getting worse. Not only was she going to die, Colton was going to die as well. "You have to leave, Colton. Get help."

He looked into her eyes. "Help is coming, and I'll never leave you, Olivia. You just have to hang on."

Another man appeared behind him. At first she thought it was a firefighter, but was shocked to see it was Keith Fletcher. She would have thought he'd be long gone by now.

Like Colton, he pulled his hoodie over his head, then made a dash through the fire. His sleeves were flaming when he reached them. Colton helped him beat out the fire.

"You came back," she said in amazement.

He gave her a hard look. "I once had a chance to save Molly, but I didn't take it. I can't do the same tonight. I can't let her granddaughter die."

"How do you know I'm her granddaughter?"

"I've been researching you ever since you showed up in town. You've got her eyes, eyes that once pleaded with me to arrest her husband."

"We can do this later," Colton interrupted. "Help me lift this beam."

With Keith's help, Colton was finally able to move the heavy wood enough for her to wiggle free. She tried to stand, but more pain shot through her ankle. "I can't walk."

Colton didn't hesitate. He grabbed the towel and wrapped it around the upper part of her body. Then he swept her up in his arms. "Hold your breath. We'll be out of here in a second."

She squeezed her eyes shut and didn't allow herself to breathe as he took her through the fire. The heat was intense. And for a minute she didn't think they would be able to escape the flames, but somehow Colton got her through them.

His speed increased as he hit the front door, and he didn't stop running until he got to the sidewalk. As he set her down on the ground, a fire engine came screaming around the corner.

"It's about damn time," he muttered. Then he looked back at her with grave concern in his eyes. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "Thanks—to you," she coughed.

He cupped her face and gave her a quick kiss. "Don't try to talk. I'm going to go find Fletcher."

"Wasn't he right behind us?"

"I don't know where he went. Stay here."

"Don't go back in there, Colton." She couldn't bear the thought of him going back into that fire. But she saw the resolute gleam in his eyes and she knew nothing she could say would dissuade him from doing what he considered to be his job.

"It's going to be okay, Olivia. I promise."

She didn't know how he could make that promise, but he'd once told her he never lied, so she was going to trust him to come back to her.

Robin, the EMT she'd met in the bar a few days earlier, was at her side a moment later, insisting on slipping an oxygen mask over her face and putting her leg in a splint. Then Robin and a male EMT helped her onto a gurney and loaded her into the ambulance.

"We're going to take you to the hospital," Robin told her.

"Wait, where's Colton?" she asked, straining to see through the swelling crowd. Not only were there a dozen or so firefighters at the house, there were now also neighbors milling around.

"Colton is fine," Robin said, giving her a smile. "Don't worry about him. This is what he does, Olivia. I'm sure he'll be your first visitor in the E.R."

As the ambulance left the scene, she tried to relax, to tell herself the worst was over, but she knew she wouldn't be able to relax until she saw Colton again.

She slipped her hand into the pocket of her jeans, her fingers curling around the letter her mother had left her. Everything else in Molly's house might be destroyed by fire, but the note had survived, and she would have at least one special link to her mother.

She closed her eyes and as she did so, she heard the same female voice she'd heard during the fire. "
You're going to be fine baby girl.
"

She was going to be fine. "
Thanks
," she whispered.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It was almost an hour and a half before Colton could get to the hospital. He knew Olivia was in good hands and that her injuries were not serious, but he was still worried. She'd inhaled a lot of smoke. She could have damage to her lungs. She could have gone into shock after leaving the scene.

All kinds of negative scenarios ran through his mind, shocking him with their intensity. He wasn't a man to imagine the worst. He'd always been able to compartmentalize, to be optimistic, to believe he could overcome any obstacle, but when it came to Olivia he was one big mass of nerves.

When he'd arrived at Molly's house and smelled the smoke, terror had run through his body. That fear had increased when he'd seen Olivia trapped under a pile of debris, the flames within a few feet of her.

In his mind, he'd been taken back to the week before, when he'd lost a man in a similar circumstance. But he couldn't lose Olivia, not now, not when he'd just realized that he was falling in love with her.

Thank God, he'd been able to get her out.

He probably wouldn't have been able to do it if Keith Fletcher hadn't come back to help him. While the man had been willing to commit arson, his conscience wouldn't let him commit murder. Colton was grateful for that.

After striding through the E.R. doors, Colton quickly located a nurse who took him to Olivia. When he walked into the exam room, he found Olivia sitting on the table, her back supported, her left leg stretched out in front of her, her ankle covered by an ice pack.

She gave him a bright, happy smile and pulled the oxygen mask away from her mouth to say. "Colton, I am so glad to see you."

"Likewise, babe."

Her lips trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "I was so afraid—"

He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a tight hug. He could smell the smoke in her hair and on her skin, reminding him of how close he'd come to losing her. But he hadn't lost her.

He pulled back so he could see her face. And gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his fingers. "You can't cry now. It's all over."

"I think that's why I'm crying," she sniffed. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize. You've been through a lot tonight. How's the leg?"

"The x-ray showed a hairline fracture. The doctor wants to put me in a boot cast."

"Sorry about that." He gave her a sympathetic smile. "But I'm glad it's not worse. How are your lungs?"