Page 13 of Arsonist’s Match (Blaze and Badge #1)
“ W hat a jerk,” Nita commented to Flash in the restroom at the fire station an hour later. She gave Flash a sympathetic look. Flash shook her head.
“Lieutenant Jackson said he’s just trying to establish himself in a new house. He doesn’t know me from a brick, especially since I’ve been gone half the time he’s been here,” she explained, trying to convince herself as much as her friend. “I should have checked with him first.”
“And what if that SUV with the family inside slid off the bridge while he was making up his mind?” Nita’s penetrating gaze met hers in the mirror over the sinks, and she rested a hand on Flash’s arm.
“You did what any first responder worth her salt would have done. I think he’s intimidated by a strong woman. ”
Flash glanced down as she washed her hands. “I have to give him the benefit of the doubt because I don’t know him either. But I can’t let him or anyone else interfere with me doing the job.”
Nita shrugged. “So true. Hey, speaking of strong women …” Her tone brightened, and she handed Flash a paper towel. “Tell me about your date with Agent Hottie.”
Flash’s cheeks flushed, and a grin tugged at her lips before she could stop it.
Nita was attractive enough with her raven hair, sapphire eyes combo, but she was a friend, and no Athena Bouvier.
Around Flash’s age, they’d come up through the academy as the only two females in their class.
Nita had taken the EMT route while Flash had always aimed for full-fledged firefighter. It was her passion. Well, one of them .
“Totally awesome, as I’m sure you can imagine.
” Pleasure erupted in Flash just thinking about it.
“We went to this fancy restaurant, which Athena insisted on paying for since I had bought the theater tickets, and the show was fantastic—top-notch performers.” Turning, Flash leaned against the sink in contemplation. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Confusion enveloped Nita’s face. “Is what going to be a problem? Having a wonderful time with a smoking hot babe you’re crazy about?”
“No.” Flash’s pleasure waned. “Can you keep a secret?”
Nita rolled her eyes, crossed her arms, and snorted.
“No, I mean really—seriously. It’s like you have this thing where you just feel you’re going to burst if you don’t tell everyone you know something interesting or fun or horrible the moment you’ve been sworn to secrecy.”
Dropping her pose, Nita stepped closer and looked Flash in the eyes. “OK, if it’s truly important, I can keep a secret. You’re my best friend; you can trust me.”
With an exhale, Flash nodded. “Athena is secretly rich—like heiress rich, a big inheritance. I mean, she makes a lot more in her next-in-line-to-head-honcho at the FBI than I do to begin with, but she’s got millions of dollars. The house in the suburbs where she hid me?”
Nita, lips parted with an astonished look, nodded.
“Well, it’s like a plantation mansion with a pool and mega security systems. Anyway, sometimes it makes me feel … less than.”
“You?” Nita’s astonishment broadened into shock. “Feel less than? About anything ? Flash, you’re the most confident woman—no, person—I’ve ever known. How could something as insignificant as money rattle you?”
“Because it’s not insignificant,” she answered with concern.
“I like to be the protector, the provider, the one others look to for help, only—with Athena and money—that’ll never happen.
When I was trying to pick out a gift for her, it was like, ‘How do you impress someone who could buy whatever you give them—twice?’ If I had picked up the restaurant tab, I couldn’t have gone grocery shopping until the next payday.
I’m not on equal footing with her in that arena and never will be. It just makes me feel … inferior. ”
“Look, Flash, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses,” Nita consoled. “Can she beat you in any physical contest—strength, speed, endurance?”
“Yeah, but that’s different,” Flash dismissed.
“Why?” Nita arched a brow. “Because you think you must be the best at everything?”
“I’m younger and more physically fit than her, and, besides, I don’t want to just be the muscle.”
“Ah!” Nita lifted a finger, a smile tugging at her lips. “And you don’t suspect she feels intimidated by you in that regard? Maybe a bit insecure that she can’t keep up with you physically, the way you can’t keep up with her in the money department?”
“But—”
Nita’s raised finger pressed over Flash’s arguing lips.
“You need to have this discussion with Athena, not me. And you have to be OK with not being the best at everything, or you’ll never make a relationship work.
Strong women like Athena need to be the best at something too, you know. Ever think of that?”
Before Flash could form a coherent response, the alarm went off again, blaring through the narrow, tiled room. Saved by the bell , she thought. Honestly, Nita had given her some things to think about.
Flash was in the middle of a weird dream where Lieutenant Edwards had horned in on her date with Athena, doing his best to make Flash look bad while flirting with her girlfriend, when the blaring alarm bell shook her out of it. Groggily, she sat up, dispelling the bizarre images.
“Up and at ‘em, Flash!” Nita sprang from the bed beside Flash’s with way too much energy. The clock read 00:58.
Flash rubbed her face and finger-combed her hair while the dispatcher rattled off the address and other specifics. It must be big, because they were calling for both engines and units from Sixteen as well.
“Let’s move it!” Edwards hollered.
Rushing out behind Nita, Flash reminded herself that the disagreeable lieutenant was not after Athena.
The brisk wind whipping through the open cab windows slapped her alert as the anticipation of the big warehouse fire raced through her veins.
“Listen up,” instructed the lieutenant, as he angled himself in the front passenger seat to see everyone.
“We’re heading to Synergy Warehouse Collective, and I just received a heads-up that some fifty-gallon drums of ethanol are housed in the westernmost section, with other flammables scattered throughout.
The owner is on his way and says the building should be clear except for two security guards.
The cleaning crew should have been out by eleven p.m., and the first trucks and loading crews aren’t scheduled to arrive until four.
First priority is to locate the two guards and ensure no one is still inside.
Captain O’Riley will be on scene to coordinate with House Sixteen on how to proceed. ”
Waylon brought the engine to rest and pulled the parking brake lever.
Edwards was still shouting when Flash and Flores hit the pavement, already jogging toward O’Riley’s vehicle. The captain stood with another officer beside it, pointing at the blazing warehouse. Flash stopped at a respectful distance, giving him an expectant stare.
As the firefighters gathered, Captain Jake issued his directives. “We haven’t located one security guard.”
Glancing about, Flash spotted a tubby fellow in a gray uniform talking to an older man with stress lines weighing down his face. Both appeared devastated as the guard raked a hand through his hair, shooting terrified glances toward the inferno.
“Squad Eight,” O’Riley commanded, “start a search and rescue through the main entrance. Engines Eight and One, get water on that fire through the front; back up Squad and keep your eyes and ears open. Sixteen, get your water cannons aimed at the roof and bring hose support around the west side. Don’t enter the west of the building.
I repeat,” he emphasized, “do not enter the west side of the warehouse. They’re storing volatile substances prone to exploding.
Lopez, stand by in case they rescue the security guard. Let’s go! ”
With safety masks in place, Flash and Waylon burst through the wall of heat at the front entrance, dragging their hose fitted to the nearest hydrant.
Inside, the engulfed office spewed flames to the roof like a Roman candle.
Crates on the warehouse floor near the office also burned, illuminating a dark structure overflowing with black smoke.
“Someone needs to vent the roof,” Flash yelled above the fire’s crackle. “Ready?”
“Ready,” her partner responded, pressing in behind her in a horse stance to steady the power of the hose’s pressure.
Flash opened the valve, concentrating her stream on the office inferno, which looked to her to be the point of origin.
Several squad guys raced ahead, deeper into the smoke-obscured building, calling out for the missing security guard.
Together, she and Waylon inched closer, one step at a time. “The office is done for,” her partner called in her ear. “Let’s start on these crates.”
Flash angled her body and the blast of the hose to the side, as steam and smoke swirled around them.
Shaquille Woods and Bobbie Flores appeared beside them, adding their compressed gush of water to the blaze.
With a loud whoosh, a plume of flames erupted across the ceiling, its rounded billows like a time-lapse film of a gigantic flower blooming.
At least it was a good thirty feet above them.
The danger lay in the fact that the roof would soon collapse, raining fire and debris onto every firefighter inside. Flash would monitor it.
“Captain, where are those water cannons?” Waylon hollered into the radio clipped to his turnout coat. “It’s spread to the ceiling in here.”
“They’re coming,” Jake’s voice replied.
The squad crew passed them, assisting a coughing security guard from both sides. “We got him, building’s clear,” Lieutenant Jackson reported. “But a hotspot’s sprung up in a storage room about forty yards that way.” He pointed in the direction from which they’d come.
“Thanks for the heads-up,” Flash said and exchanged a glance with Waylon.