Page 114 of Fire Fight

When I swung the door open, a wall of flame leapt out at me, and muscle memory had me dropping to the floor as it shot over my head.

“Fuck!” Tuck yelled. “Cap, you good?”

His face appeared in my vision, hand outstretched to help me up when I waved that I was fine.

“Fucking hell,” I said. “I thought that was gonna take my head off.”

Tuck choked out a laugh. “I thought it did. Closet is clear, though. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Status report,” Chief’s voice crackled over the radio.

“Upstairs and basement are clear. Main floor is nearly clear and then we’re heading out.”

“Good job, boys. See you out here.”

After a final pitstop to check behind the shower curtain in the small bathroom and receiving confirmation from Childers andBurns that the living, dining, and kitchen were clear, we pushed out into the night.

“Open those lines up!” Chief shouted as soon as we appeared, and a heartbeat later, the distinct hiss of water hitting flame filled the night.

Sutton and Thomas approached, handing each of us water bottles. After we removed our masks, Tuck and Childers dumped theirs over their heads while I settled for sipping mine and slipping off my turnout coat.

Police sirens cut through the night, and I watched as my brother and another patrol car pulled up, Lane and two of his men approaching the scene.

I was grateful Johns wasn’t one of them. That guy had always been a prick, even when we were in school together. I’d grown up, and grown out of my bad habits, but he refused to let it go. The punch I’d delivered to his face outside my house had been a long time coming.

“Sheriff,” Chief Madden said when my brother reached our sides.

“Chief, Captain,” Lane replied, nodding at both of us, then to my men. “Boys.”

Childers, Burns, and Tuck all jerked their chins in greeting…then promptly found somewhere else to be.

“We cleared the structure and didn’t find anyone. Looks like the owners are out.”

My brother lifted a hand, urging him to stop. “I could’ve told you that.”

“You know who owns this place?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Lane said, scrubbing a hand down his face. “And you’re not going to like it.”

“Spit it out, Lane,” I ground out through gritted teeth.

My brother cut me a glare, but heaved a sigh as if psyching himself up and said, “This house belongs to Harold and Lee Leigh.”

I swore under my breath as Chief said, “As in…Vicky Lee?”

“Her parents,” Lane confirmed.

“Fuck!”

“Knock it off,” Lane warned. “We’re in public.”

I got in my brother’s face, anger coursing hot and heavy through my veins, not giving a single fuck that the entire second shift of the Dusk Valley Fire Department stood somewhere behind me. “Can’t you see this fucker is taunting us now?” I shouted, then dropped my voice before dropping a bomb on Lane. “The Lee family is the one that reached out to Aspen. They’re the reason she’s here.”

“Fuck,” Lane breathed.

“Cap!” someone shouted before I could say anything further, and I whirled to find Childers standing at the perimeter, a few feet off the smoldering front porch. With two hoses, the engine crew had made quick work of knocking down the blaze, and we were about to start overhaul.

“Yeah?” I called back.