Burn Out (10 page)

As he parked his truck in front of the
cabin, he felt himself starting to relax a little. He hopped out
and started unloading his supplies. The front door squeaked when he
opened it. He would have to remember to get the WD 40 and oil the
hinges.

“
Honey, I’m home!” he
yelled out. No one answered back, as usual. He unloaded some of the
boxes and put them on the couch. He headed back to the truck to get
the cooler.

Whistling while he worked, he opened
the refrigerator door and loaded up the eggs, milk, cheese, salad
mix and beer he bought at Wal-Mart. Tonight the menu would be
simple, but luxurious. A single man’s go-to dinner. Steak on the
grill, buttered baked potato, and a salad.

He marinated the steak with some brown
sugar, soy sauce and other spices and placed it in the fridge. He
grabbed the potatoes and washed them in the sink, scrubbing the
skin with a vegetable brush. Grabbing a dish towel, he dried them,
poked a few holes in the skin with a fork, and wrapped them in
aluminum foil to place on the grill with the steaks. Then he took
some time to tidy up the place. His date was waiting for him and he
wanted it to look good.

He lit some candles, which smelled
like apples and cinnamon, and placed them throughout the small
living area. He started a fire in the fireplace, taking pleasure in
hearing the crackle of the fire, and he fluffed the pillows on the
couch and straightened the afghan his mom had made.

Glancing at the kitchen clock – a
black cat with a swinging tail – another gift from his mother – he
realized it was almost time for his date. He brought his suitcase
in from the truck and took a shower, relishing the fact that in
just a couple of hours he was going to be reunited with the love of
his life.

Lake Juniper, Thursday
night

She was being held in some dark
room that had a damp and earthy smell. She was pretty sure today
was Thursday, but it was hard to tell because there was no light to
keep track of the days and nights. And “the asshole,” as she liked
to call him, took away her watch and other jewelry when he
kidnapped her.

She looked at her surroundings.
There were a couple of small Coleman battery-operated lanterns –
“the asshole” warned her she shouldn’t keep on all the time because
once the batteries were gone, they were gone – an army surplus cot
with a moldy smelling blanket and pillow, and a makeshift toilet.
The toilet was basically a bucket for her to take a piss in. She
also had a cupboard with a couple loaves of bread, some peanut
butter, a jug of water and some Skittles. How considerate; “the
asshole” remembered she liked Skittles. Some diet.

But there must be some
reason why he wanted her to live or he wouldn’t have left the food
and water. One thing she knew, she would never eat peanut butter
and Skittles again if she ever got out of here alive. Correction,
she thought.
When
she got out of here.

She had a lot of time to think and
kept her mind active so she wouldn’t go crazy. The events on how
she was kidnapped played over and over in her mind like a broken
record. It all started the night of the warehouse fire.

It was her turn to cook for the
crew. Every shift someone was responsible for making dinner.
Everyone raved about her homemade chili, so it’s what she made. Her
cell phone rang as she was putting the cornbread and salad
together. She didn’t recognize the number, but answered the call
anyway.

“
Hello.”

“
Hey, little lady. How are you
doing?”

It took her a second to recognize
the voice. And only one person she knew called her little lady. She
hated that. And hated him.

“
What do you want? I’m a little
busy.” She popped the cornbread in the oven and then stirred the
chili on the stove top. The smell of spicy tomatoes and onion
filled the room.

“
I need to talk to you. Can we
meet when you get off shift?”

She put the spoon down, motioning
to Mack to take over dinner. She walked outside where she could
talk in private.

“
I don’t think it’s wise we are
seen together, let alone talk. I said all I needed to say to you
last weekend.”

“
I think it’s really important we
talk. There are some things you need to know before you go to court
next week. Please.”

Leaning against one of the fire
trucks in the bay, she let out a deep sigh. “Whatever you need to
tell me, you can say over the phone.” The last thing she wanted to
do was see him in person again.

“
I don’t think it’s safe for us to
talk about this over the phone. I need to see you in
person.”

This was starting to get old. She
needed to end it, for good this time. “I am hanging up the phone
now. I have nothing to say to you and have no desire to see you.
I’m done. Please don’t call me again.” She disconnected and turned
off her phone.

As she went back inside, Mack was
setting the table. She knew her face was hot with anger and she
took a couple of deep breaths to settle her nerves.

“
Everything okay? You seem upset.”
He knew she was stressing out due to her husband’s
trial.

“
Yeah, sure.” She nodded towards
the other guys sitting at the table listening.

Mack got her meaning. Can’t talk.
He was the one person she could count on right now and it killed
her that she couldn’t tell him everything.

“
Ok, then let’s eat.”

Just then the tones went off,
indicating they had a call.

Everyone froze and listened to the
voice of the dispatch operator coming over the speaker. After
getting the information on the fire, Sam and her crew quickly
dressed in their bunker gear and took off.

Sam could smell the smoke before
they rounded the corner to Campbell’s Farmers Market. She directed
her crew once they got there, knowing her first priority was to
locate the victim and get him and her crew out safely.

Once inside the burning building,
she couldn’t help but think how easy it would be to run from her
problems. Here was the perfect opportunity. She had already stashed
a little money away in case she had to leave. It wasn’t enough to
get far, but she could start over somewhere else. She knew Ken was
in over his head with the trial and now the Mexican mafia wanted to
hurt him on top of that. There were threats made to her as well,
but she thought the kids would be safe with her mom. The thing
was…could she leave her kids? She didn’t think so. They already
lost their dad… at least until after the trial or jail time. No,
her kids needed her. She chastised herself for even thinking that
way. She put the thought out of her mind and focused on the task at
hand.

A few minutes later, they found
the victim and she led her crew towards the front of the warehouse.
She was bringing up the rear and saw Mack and Kevin already had the
victim out the door.

It was then she saw something. A
quick flash before her eyes. She hesitated and turned back around
to take a better look. It looked like the figure had on
firefighting gear. Did someone else come in without her knowing?
She made the split second decision to go investigate. Making her
way toward the back of the building, her air tank warning went off.
She only had a few seconds. When she got close, the figure suddenly
turned and started rushing towards her. What the hell is going on
here? She heard Mack’s frantic Mayday call over the radio. She went
to answer the call when suddenly she tripped over something. The
roof starting caving in and then everything went black.

The next thing she knew, she was
riding in the back of a van. She thought she was in an ambulance at
first. Then she realized she was alone and bound by her legs and
arms. Her mouth was so parched she could barely whisper and her
head hurt. She felt nauseous and dizzy. After what seemed like a
long time, the van came to a stop. She held her breath when the van
door opened. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“
What the hell are you doing?” she
said, croaking out each word painfully.

“
Shhh. Don’t talk. We will have
plenty of time for that later.” He lifted her gently out of the van
and brought her inside. “I’m getting you away from all this. Where
you will be safe from everyone.”

Sam tried to sit up, but he pushed
her back down. “Just relax. If you play nice, you can stay here. I
have to go back in a couple of days, but I will make you
comfortable before I go.”

He took out a needle and leaned
over her.

She started to protest. “What is
that?”

“
Just a little something to help
you sleep. Tonight has been traumatic enough.” She could barely
feel the needle prick her skin. Before she could say anything else,
her eyelids closed and she went into a deep sleep.

The next time she woke up she was
here. In this dank, dark place. She had no idea why he didn’t leave
her in the cabin. The asshole had left a note that said he had to
get back to town, but would be back soon. His explanation of why
she was here, to keep her safe, made no sense
whatsoever.

Her thoughts were interrupted by
the sounds of a gunshot. She had heard a few shots off in the
distance when she first got to this hell hole, so she figured she
was close by a hunting lodge. But the sound of this one was a lot
closer. Like right outside the door.

She listened for a few more minutes
and thought she heard footsteps. Then a creaking noise. Sure
enough, the door was opening.

Instinctively she crouched in the
far corner and waited for whatever hell she was going to face
next.

Santa Rosa Beach, Thursday
late afternoon

Jeff Stanton had been staring at the
open file on his desk for the past thirty minutes. The fire at
Campbell’s Farmers Market had him baffled.

Jeff had worked as the Santa Rosa
Beach fire marshal for around six months since transferring from
the Tallahassee office. He had a wife and a stepson who he adored.
His other love was fire. He had been fascinated with fire since he
was a child. Not in a pyromaniac kind of way, but a scientific way.
How it started, what made it burn, how to put it out. What fuels
the fire? So it was natural he became a firefighter. For the first
two years of his career, he fought fires. But he realized he was
more interested on how and why it burns.

He trained to become a fire marshal.
He worked in the Tallahassee region and when an opening came up in
Santa Rosa Beach, he applied. His wife was from the area and wanted
to move closer to her parents. His stepson was autistic – his
wife’s former husband left her because he couldn’t handle the
situation – and she wanted her parents’ help.

This was the seventh fire his office
had investigated since his arrival. It was also his most
challenging. There had been two other suspected arson fires in the
last two months, but this was the first one involving a missing
person.

The fire had proved to be set
intentionally and whoever did it either wasn’t skilled or didn’t
care it was sloppy. Gas was used as an accelerant – which was the
most traceable source. The perp who set the fire splashed gas
throughout the warehouse and then lit it on the way out. The
warehouse was not equipped with smoke alarms, so the victim never
knew what happened. The smoke had become so thick, he had no chance
of escaping. Sam and her crew came at the right time. Another
minute and a rescue would not have been possible. Plus, the propane
tanks the owner had stored in back for weekend BBQ’s were full.
They exploded with force a few minutes after the victim was pulled
out.

An interview with the victim didn’t
glean much information. He had closed up shop at five o’clock and
went to his office to do paperwork. He was turning off his computer
and gathering his things to go home when he smelled smoke. He
opened his office door to see the warehouse in flames. That was the
last thing he remembered. Whether he was overcome with smoke or his
blood sugar was low – he was diabetic – it was unclear. He had
passed out and didn’t remember the firefighters bringing him out.
His next memory was waking up in the ambulance on the way to the
hospital.

What happened to Lt. Samantha Collins
was the most puzzling thing. There was no reason for her to go back
into the warehouse. Not only was it against protocol, but it was
stupid. Even if she saw something or someone in the warehouse, she
would have notified her crew. And then to leave her fire helmet at
the back door was even more puzzling.

He remembered some advice
his old boss gave him when he was training as a fire
investigator:
“If you hear hooves, it's
probably horses, not zebras.”
In other
words, sometimes the most logical answer is the correct one. Her
helmet could have come off during the explosion. She became
disoriented and wandered off. It was quite puzzling and he thought
of the different scenarios so many times his head was
hurting.

As a fire marshal, the easy part of
the job was done. He found the cause of fire. Who started it and
why? And more importantly, what happened to Samantha Collins? He
was still waiting on fingerprint analysis to come in, but he held
little hope for it. The farmer’s market was a public place and it
would be hard to exclude everyone. The gas cans were not
found.