Page 16 of Rescued Dreams

Ridge turned to Amelia. “You wanna?—”

He saw the look on her face. She wanted to find that child. In fact, she already had her tank and mask on.

“Yes.” Amelia took off running toward the house. So maybe it was better for him to be the lieutenant right now.

If she were in charge of this scene, she would need to stay outside and be the commander on site.

Something about this being her childhood home meant she was on alert. Everyone wanted to find a missing child, a tender-age victim, but her knowing the layout of the house would be an asset.

He turned to Izan and Della, already hooking up the hose. “Get water on the front rooms.”

“Ask her what happened. Ask where the kid will be hiding.” Amelia’s breathy voice filled his comms earpiece.

Ridge turned back to the mother. “Can you tell me what happened?”

The mother had curled blonde hair that hung past her shoulders, and she looked to be about forty, maybe a little older. Slacks and a blouse, over which she had pulled a wool sweater with the collar of the blouse flipped over the neck. Flat black shoes. Smartwatch.

She sucked in a shaky breath. “I was walking around, picking up before we left for Karlie’s piano lesson. Waiting on her to grab her other shoes. There was a boom. It was so loud, and I ran out the front door. The windows shattered. There were flames everywhere. Karlie isn’t answering her phone.”

Ridge looked at the house with its wide bay windows downstairs. Manicured lawn. The kind of place that had an above-ground pool out back in the summer. Brand-new-looking white van in the drive and a basketball hoop.

This was where Amelia had lived?

He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it probably wasn’t this. He hadn’t grown up destitute, but he certainly hadn’t lived in a neighborhood like this.

Amelia said, “I need the room.” Her breath washed over the channel. “I’m almost to the end of the hallway.”

“Copy that.” Ridge turned to the homeowner. “Which room is Karlie’s, and where would she hide?”

“The last room on the right.” The mom pressed her fist to her lips for a moment, then said, “She makes forts in her closet. Or she’ll be under the piano in the den, if she made it that far. Sometimes she kicks off her shoes under the piano, so she might’ve gone to the den to find them.”

Ridge turned away slightly. “In the closet in her room, last on the right. Or under the piano in the den.”

The mom frowned. “Don’t you need to know where the den is?”

Ridge said, “The firefighter who went in knows the layout of the house.”

She shook her head. “How could she know that?”

Amelia interrupted what he’d been about to say with, “I need to focus. This chatter is distracting.”

Ridge watched Della and Izan fight with the hose, spraying the blown-out front window to the right of the door. Smoke poured out of the left side. He turned back to the mom and said, “Hang here.”

She nodded, likely too distracted by her child being in danger to worry why a firefighter knew the layout of her house.

Ridge strode across the lawn, still unsettled by the fact that Amelia had lived here. This place was where people who had brand-new leased cars, went on cruises every year, and skied all the time in winter lived. He didn’t mean to be prejudiced about people with the money to enjoy their lives, and he didn’t resent that some had more than others—it was simply the discrepancy between this place and Amelia.

But then, when they’d never seen even a glimpse into each other’s private lives, why wouldn’t he be surprised by what he found?

“Lieutenant.”

Amelia was back on comms.

Ridge said, “Go ahead.”

“I have her. Back door is the closest, so I’m coming out that way. If you’re not busy right now.”

Ridge frowned. Amelia and her abrasive edge. He knew it was a front and she felt deeply. She treated the job with the utmost respect because she cared so much. She only got mouthy when someone’s life was on the line and they were able to do something about it.