Gone in a Flash (8 page)

He doubted it. The fact that the last ten years had flown by without a peep from anyone was proof of that. With dread in his heart, he knew the truth of his situation. A truth he had avoided facing for ten years. Now that truth stared him in the face, mocking him. Letting him know that his comfort zone had just been penetrated.

He had to find Jillian Carter.

There was only one way to restore peace to his life. He picked up the phone and called the one person he trusted with absolute confidence to bury this secret so deep it would never stir again.

2

April 10, 4:35 p.m.

The flames reached for the ceiling, consuming everything in their path. Sprawled on her belly and forearms, staying as low as possible in the burning house, Alexia paused and listened. Visibility was almost nonexistent. She heard an ominous creaking and raised her eyes to the ceiling. It splintered, cracked. The fire had been burning up there a lot longer than reported if the ceiling was ready to go.

“Joel! Get out from under there!” She shoved herself toward him, still staying low and knowing she wouldn’t reach him in time to push him out of the way.

On his knees, testing the door in front of him, Joel looked up—just as the ceiling caved, sending a large piece of wood crashing down on his shoulder, then glancing off the side of his helmet.

With a cry, he went down flat against the rapidly heating floor.

“Joel!” She made her way back through the smoke to reach him. Into her radio, she called, “Joel’s down, Captain, I need help!”

“On the way,” he reassured her. “Lex, the mother just showed up. Little girl, three years old, name’s Maddy. In the back bedroom, last door on the left.”

Alexia froze. A kid?

She scrambled over to Joel, grabbed him under his arms, and started hauling him to the exit, her exertions using more air. How much time did she have left? Plenty. They’d been in the building less than two minutes. “Joel, there’s another kid in here somewhere. I’ve got to find her.” But she couldn’t leave her partner. Not yet, not ever. She made sure his air tank was functioning. He looked dazed, stunned, but not seriously injured.

Looking up, she made out the shape of another firefighter. “Get Joel, he’s hurt. The girl’s in the back! I’m going to look.”

“I’ve got him.” Alexia recognized Snoop’s voice.

“I’ll be right out,” she said.

“I’m coming with you.” Sanders. Great. The one man in the department she didn’t want to work a fire with.

Another groan sounded from above.

Alexia looked up just in time to jump back from the crashing beam. Sanders muttered a curse and dove to help cover Joel. “Get back, Alexia! RIT’ll be coming for you!”

The Rapid Intervention Team. Two firefighters whose only duty would be to get her out. But until they reached her, she still had a job to do. She was trapped between a wall of flames and the back of the house.

“I’m looking for that kid!”

Without waiting for a response, she turned and crawled toward the bedroom. She paused and listened.

Nothing but the sound of the burning building.

Pounding on the closest door, she hollered, “Maddy?”

No answer.

Raising up on her knees, she tried the knob.

Locked.

She rose to her feet and stepped back. Lifting the axe in her right hand, she brought it down on the knob. The door shuddered and the molding around the door cracked as the knob fell to the floor. Lifting her booted foot, she gave the door a hard kick and it slammed in against the wall. Smoke swirled out, but no flames. Breathing in the life-giving air from the tank strapped to her back, she used the thermal imager device in her left hand to search for anything that pumped blood and put off heat.

Nothing.

She filled her lungs again and headed for the closet.

Flames licked down the hall behind her. Great, she’d have to find another way out. She reported in. “I’m in the small bedroom on the left.”

“We’ve got Joel, Alexia. You find the kid?”

An alarm sounded. Alexia pulled in another breath of air. And stopped. No air. She looked at her gauge. Out of air. That was the alarm going off.

Panic hit her. “Captain, I’m out of air.”

“What?” His voice roared in her ear.

Dizziness hit her.

“Get out, Alexia. Now!”

“Just going to check the closet first, sir.”

“Get your tail outta there. Immediately!”

She needed air. She reached up to disconnect the hose from her tank, then shoved it up under her heavy turnout. The coat would protect her as much as possible from smoke inhalation. And she sure didn’t want a blast of hot air in her lungs. She caught a breath. The dizziness receded.

The countdown was on.

The decision: leave or check the closet?

She scanned the imaging device over the door. Bingo. “I’ve got something. Definitely a child.”

“Alexia! Get out!”

“She’s here, sir. Can’t leave without her.”

Alexia went to the door and turned the knob. A little girl. “Maddy?”

The child looked up at her, eyes wide, stark terror stamped on her tear-streaked features. Then she coughed and her eyes rolled back. Alexia slung the imager over her shoulder and leaned in to pick up the little girl.

Alexia took another breath and coughed.

Dizziness returned full force and she went to one knee. Vaguely, she felt the sweat roll down her back. “I’m in trouble,” she said into her radio, keeping her cool, refusing to panic. Help was just a second away. “Where’s RIT? No air.”

Lights flashed in front of her eyes and she blinked. Tried desperately to fill her lungs. How had she run out of air? She should have had plenty of time left.

She pulled in a lungful of smoke this time. Coughing, sputtering, she turned with the child, frantic to get her out before the flames caught up with the smoke.

And then she had no more time to think as the spots before her eyes merged into one big black dot.

Then nothing.

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When the Smoke Clears