Page 38 of Arsonist’s Match (Blaze and Badge #1)

S hooting pain. Ringing in her ears. Smoke. A wave of heat.

Flash moved an arm, then a leg, struggling to orient herself. Her brain was foggy, but she grasped what had happened. As she pushed to wobbly hands and knees, a searing yell cut through the thick air. “Flash!”

Athena. Must get up. Make sure she’s safe.

She opened her eyes to a roaring blaze, everything sounding muffled, like she was under water.

When she stood, Flash realized her gloved hands were empty.

She shot her gaze around the circle of fire that used to be the office, scanning for her ax and extinguisher.

Spotting the canister a few feet away, she took two long steps and jerked it up. Pulled the pin.

Flash laid down a foamy spray, carving a path to the door. Once she saw an uninjured Athena with Travis and Samuel opposite a fiery curtain, she breathed again—and coughed.

“I’m coming!” Flash shouted over the muffled noise. She attacked the vicious blaze, heat pummeling her in waves, and smothered the flames that blocked her path. The extinguisher choked out its last puff—too soon to help quell the growing threat.

“Thank God!” Athena’s arms flew around her neck, pulling her tight. Only for an instant. “I was afraid—”

“I’m a little shaky, but OK.” Flash pulled back, assessing the rest of the shop in an instant.

It hadn’t just been the office. Fire blazed from a storage room, danced through the waiting area, and shot up the walls surrounding the garage.

Smoke billowed through t he hole in the roof, which was good—except for the rush of oxygen the conflagration sucked in through it.

“I didn’t trip anything,” Flash declared. “I swear.” Her hands still clung to Athena’s arms, unwilling to let her go.

“I know.” Athena tugged free to turn around and point. “A camera. He used a remote detonator.”

“What happened? The place is lit up like the Fourth of July,” Paulson bellowed into everyone’s earpieces. Flash could barely hear him.

“Check for electronic signals,” Athena called back. “Perp used a remote. He couldn’t just sit here for a week waiting for us to show, so he rigged something.”

“Checking,” Paulson replied. “Most of those need to be in close range.”

“Campbell, Howard,” Athena shouted.

“We’re on it,” Agent Howard replied. “Checking the whole block.”

“He could be inside a building,” Campbell added, “but we’ll sweep the outside first.”

“Keep it to a two-block radius,” Paulson instructed. “To use a radio signal, he couldn’t be farther away than that.”

“I just called 911,” Shoops said, her voice a pitch higher than normal. “The fire department is on the way.”

While they discussed how to find the arsonist, Flash searched for an escape route.

She had fully regained her balance, though aches shot through her hip and ribs.

They couldn’t go out the way they came in.

Flames fueled by the leaves and branches leaped in front of the garage doors.

She raced around burning piles, smoke stinging her eyes and lungs, to the back door.

Unlocked it. Turned the knob. The outward-opening “emergency exit” door was jammed.

“Hey, Agent Paulson,” she said into her com. “Are you picking up another person around here?”

“Sorry, Cash. The infrared is just all one big red blob at this point, but I think I’ve got a fix on a radio signal. It’s moving north away from your position. Stopped.” Her ears must be opening up, as she could understand everything he said.

A new explosion sound ed across the garage bay, perhaps the can Flash had noticed earlier.

“Howard, Campbell, head north,” Athena ordered.

Flash pushed her com button. “I asked because, when I checked the building, nothing was blocking this back door. It was just locked. I unlocked it, and now it won’t budge. I’m getting a crack, just a sliver of light. Asshole blocked it with something.”

“Howard, stay in pursuit,” Campbell said. “Bouvier, I’m heading to you—see if I can unblock that door.”

“Alright. Shoops, get out there and help Howard track this guy down.”

“Lost the signal,” Paulson exhaled into her ear. “It’s gone.”

“What do you mean, ‘gone?’” Flash couldn’t tell if Athena was more confused or infuriated.

“He probably smashed it,” Ice speculated.

As Flash rushed over to join her team, huddled away from the burning piles, a loud creak caught her attention—metal straining.

A glance over her shoulder revealed the burnt-out shell of a pickup truck precariously balanced atop a hydraulic lift, where it must have sat for the past five years.

A fresh fire blazed beneath it, twisting and stretching its way up the supports, weakening the already compromised steel.

She flew the few feet to where Athena and the agents huddled, followed by an eerie-sounding crash.

The truck, its once-melted tires smoldering again, plummeted.

Metal crunched and clanged onto the cement, spewing a fountain of smoke and sparks.

“Damn!” Travis exclaimed, taking a step in the opposite direction. Glancing up, he added, “When’s the rest of this coming down?”

“Soon,” Flash confirmed, “but we’ll get out first. Our guy set up multiple ignition spots, rigged to go boom by remote.

He didn’t use C4 or explosives. Just took advantage of what was here.

I was looking for a trip wire, a pressure plate, cans of gasoline, chemical tanks, or propane.

They aren’t here.” She pointed toward the front door.

“That’s the last exit to check. Others are no-gos. ”

“There’s a lot of fire between here and there,” Athena observed. “Campbell should be prying open the back door soon.”

Acrid smoke burned Fl ash’s nose as she scanned the shop through heat warping the air like a desert mirage. The sweat-soaked T-shirt under her uniform stuck to her body like a second skin.

“Should be,” Flash repeated and coughed.

“We can’t stay in here.” Anxiety tore through Hernandez’s voice as he rocked from one big foot to the other. He wiped a hand down his face, eyes darting at the inferno surrounding them. “We’ll cook!”

His fear was far too close to reality. Flash understood how much every second counted in a fire, especially with no clear way out.

Sizzling heat, cracking beams, and suffocating smoke.

The four of them were walled in by lethal flames trying to swallow them whole.

Plus, she still ached from being blasted across the office and might have cracked a rib.

Flash shook it off. Panicking agents or whiny firefighters wouldn’t help the situation.

Everyone counted on her to get them to safety, and all but one avenue had been explored.

“I’ll check the front door,” Flash said.

Athena clamped her arm, pinning her with an intense gaze. “Be careful,” she said, voice thick with smoke and fear. Flash gave a crooked grin and jogged toward the fire.

She had to shimmy between columns of blistering flames and press through ravenous, fiery tongues that licked at her gear to reach the door. Smoke clawed at her throat, clouded her eyes. The ceiling groaned overhead—every second a countdown to being baked alive.

Weathered plywood covered the broken glass from the door and should be easy to break if the mechanism was jammed.

“I’m here,” Campbell said into everyone’s ears. “Someone parked a forklift, blocked the door, and took the keys.” Oofing sounds ensued. “Won’t budge.”

With her ears now clear, Flash heard the whir of approaching sirens.

Flip the deadbolt, turn the handle. Sticky.

Tight. She reared back and kicked it. Plywood splinters flew from the frame as a spooky light poured through.

Flash recognized that odd look in the sky—the hurricane was closing in.

Squeezing the handle again, Flash thrust her hip into the door to jar it loose, then pulled.

The rickety, metal-framed door opened , then fell off its hinges, tumbling into the burning remains of a visitor’s chair.

She raced back the way she’d come, the flames higher, the heat more intense. A chunk of ceiling hurtled down, and she hurdled over burning debris to avoid it. Flash threw off her coat and flung it around Athena.

“Make a mad dash. Don’t give the fire time to burn you.”

Everyone ducked when another piece of the roof crashed behind them. “Let’s go!” Flash urged.

“Are you sure about this?” Hernandez’s questioning gaze met Athena’s.

“I trust Firefighter Cash on this. Run for it,” she ordered, voice low and urgent.

Flash led the way, zigging and zagging, carving out the safest route to the outside. A portion of wall collapsed behind them, spurring the reluctant Hernandez forward. Campbell’s face was washed in relief as they emerged.

“You made it!” he exclaimed, extending a hand to shake Samuel’s.

“Is everyone OK?” Athena asked her team as they distanced themselves from the inferno.

Ice beat out a smoldering hole in his pant leg. “Right as rain.”

“I don’t like fires,” Hernandez grumbled while checking himself over.

“Speaking of rain.” Flash glanced up and pointed. “Clouds are rolling in.”

“Paulson, where are we on finding that bloody felon?” Athena shouted into her headset mic.

“He was moving north before the signal died. Glad you’re all OK,” Paulson said.

“Shoops and I have split up,” Howard reported, “taking opposite sides of Burkett Street. Mostly residential. Some vacant lots.”

“I want eyes in the sky,” Athena ordered. “Extra units at our location, pronto. He’s on foot. There’s no excuse if we can’t catch him.” Pivoting to Flash, her tone softened. “Thanks for getting us out of there. I knew you would.” She shrugged off the protective coat and handed it to Flash.

“I should’ve seen the trap,” Flash muttered, jaw tight. Athena could’ve been burned—or worse. Hernandez would have nightmares. Nothing fazed Ice. But still. She took the coat and kicked at a root.