Page 96 of Up In Smoke

“No, that’s okay,” I say. The faint wail of sirens comes from down the street, and relief rushes through me.

Rico.

Even if he wasn’t a firefighter, I desperately want my husband by my side now anyway. But knowing that he’s coming with the cavalry makes my heart leap.

“I can hear the first responders now. Somebody else might need your help, so I’ll hang up. Thank you so much, Vanessa.”

“You stay safe, Jesse,” she says sincerely, then the call cuts off. I slip my phone into my jeans pocket.

“Towels, towels,” I mutter as I rummage through the cupboards. I should know where they are, but it’s like my brain won’t work properly.

Or maybe, subconsciously, it knew I should have been searching for something else this whole time.

Because when I open the cupboard under the kitchen sink, there it is.

The little fire extinguisher Rico told me all about.

He’s a firefighter. Of course he’s going to have something like that in his home.

“Klaus, look!” I cry, grabbing it like it’s buried treasure.

The problem is, I remember now that it’s only got a few bursts of foam in it. It’s designed to put out pan fires, not a raging inferno. But it might be just enough to make the difference if the blaze gets through the front door.

Suddenly, Klaus barks and runs back into the bedroom. “What is it?” I ask as I follow him. I should probably be doing the thing with the wet towels that the nice dispatcher told me to do, but then he starts scratching at the wall.

That’s when I hear the thump from the other side.

I gasp.

“Katerina!” I run to the wall and bang back. “Katerina! Are you there?”

I can’t make out the exact words, but I’m going to assume it was something very expletive in Russian.

I look down at the extinguisher in my other hand, then at Klaus. He cocks his head at me. “I think she needs unsere Hilfe.”

Like a bullet from a gun, he blasts into action, racing to the front door. I follow hot on his heels.

Hot is probably the operative word right now.

My heart is pounding, and my head is spinning, but I can’t leave my friend alone, especially not with her joints the way they are. I might be able to make a run for it down the stairs if I can get past the flames, but she’s not going anywhere fast.

I pull the pin from the extinguisher and rest my hand on the doorknob. Klaus’s leash is looped around my wrist so I can use both my hands. “Ready?”

He barks at me once. I take that as a yes.

In just a few minutes, the fire has spread even more. But I remember what Rico told me and aim the nozzle of the extinguisher at the base of the flames, and squeeze the handle tightly, sweeping back and forth to clear a path so I can get one door over.

I can already feel it emptying by the time I reach Katerina’s apartment. Luckily, she’s left the door unlocked. I burst inside past the last few flames, throwing the used-up canister to the floor. I hustle Klaus past the threshold so I can shut the door behind us. “Katerina!” I call out as I pat Klaus down, making sure he didn’t get singed. The power is out so I activate the flashlight on my phone so we can see.

“Here!” she croaks from her bedroom.

Yeah, the damn smoke is creeping in. But I can do something about that.

I run to find our elderly neighbor huddled up in her bed in her dressing gown, surrounded by her fur coats. Her cat, Noski, is crouched on top of the closet, looking terrified. “Are you all right?” I ask Katerina.

She scowls at me. “Do I look all right, new boy?”

“Yeah, stupid question,” I admit. “Where do you keep your towels? I’m going to try and block out the smoke. And where’s Noski’s travel case?”