The Fire Inside (14 page)

It took two and a half hours to get all
fifteen fully dressed and checked by an instructor.

Olive Hennessey looked at her watch. “Take
off the facemask, helmet and hood.” She scanned the recruits. “You
look worse for wear.” Down to a person, the recruits were dripping
with sweat. “Go put your gear in the locker room. Lt. Phillips will
show you where to stow it. Then hydrate. In fifteen minutes come
back here wearing just your uniforms.” She smiled at Tony. “Lt.
Ramirez will show you what every firefighter should carry in his or
her pockets, and he promises it won’t be strenuous.”

They exited with slumped shoulders and
dragging feet. Tess took off the borrowed gear, trying not to think
about how good the heavy equipment felt, how its smoky scent was so
familiar and the smell caused a spike of adrenaline to go through
her. She’d never wear it into a fire again.

That ugly fact stayed with her as she
descended the stairs to get some water. By the half fridge off to
the side, she found Jack, his stance casual, his face relaxed. God,
he looked good like this. She hadn’t seen or heard him come in.

She asked, “How long have you been watching
me?”

“I got back from the firehouse a half hour
ago. I stopped in to see how things were going.”

“Why were you at a firehouse?”

When he explained his lunch and dinner
missions his face brightened, so he must have enjoyed it. “That’s a
great idea.”

“I have them once in a while, Teresa.”

“So, what’d you think of my lesson?” Her tone
was challenging.

“It was perfect.” He watched her. “Except for
one thing.”

That annoyed her. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, I’ve seen other instructors teach this
content. They allowed the recruits to take off their turnout coats
and pants for the time you have to spend on the SCBA.”

“Why would they do that? Recruits have to
learn how to put on the tank and face mask fully dressed.”

His expression was one of…pity? What the
hell? “Seasoned firefighters have mastered how to get into gear
quickly; they aren’t learning. You know as well as I do, it takes
them minutes to suit up. For first timers, it takes hours to learn
how.”

The knowledge that he might have a point
niggled at her, but she ignored it. She’d taught this lesson before
in the same way. “Criticizing me already, Captain?”

“You asked.”

“My mistake, then. Do me a favor and stay out
of my instruction until the recruits come to complain about it to
you.” She started away. He grasped her arm, but she shrugged him
off.Damn him. He was finding fault, and it was only day one.

While she was talking to Jack, Tony Ramirez
had come into the gym and was distributing papers on two tables
where they’d eaten earlier. “Need help, Tony?”

He glanced up at her. For the first time, she
was struck by his appearance, which everybody teased him about—they
called him and his wife the Beautiful People. “Yeah, sure. Put some
paper on the second table and add the magic markers.”

After she checked out the material, she gave
him a quizzical look. “I thought you were going to teach them what
to store in their pockets before they went into a fire.”

“I am. This is a game to learn about the
tools.”

“It looks like a puzzle.”

“More of a picture find. They have to search
out and trace the tools and other things that they could or should
carry with them into a building.”

“Why don’t you just tell them?”

“Because kids learn by doing. And it’s a good
idea to make lessons fun.” He added, “Especially after such a
grueling afternoon session.”

Still stinging from Jack’s comments, Tess
snapped, “You have something you want to say about my instruction,
Lt. Ramirez?”

His brows rose in an innocent look. “Not a
thing. I don’t judge others’ teaching methods.”

Left unsaid was
so don’t judge
mine.

Tess took in a deep breath and let it out.
“You’re right. I’m sorry for questioning you. Maybe I’ll play the
game, too.”

Tony gave her a brilliant smile.

After distributing the papers, she sat down
and picked up a marker. Hell, she didn’t see anything at first.
Then the wire cutters came into focus, the screwdriver, the knife
and a light. It was kind of fun outlining each one.

“Done,” she said, making Tony cross to
her.

He picked up her paper. “Nope, you’re not.
You missed some.” He winked at her. “And you’re a seasoned
firefighter. Not so easy, is it, Captain?”

“I hear ya, Tony,” she said good-naturedly,
and went back to the game.

It wasn’t until later in the day, she
wondered why she could take Tony’s implied criticism on the chin
but prickled when Jack expressed something similar.

o0o

Tess leapt out of bed, wearing the T-shirt
and shorts most firefighters slept in at the firehouse. She pulled
on pants and socks and hurried downstairs. Grumbling from the rest
of her team about being awakened so abruptly was minimal. They all
knew the job of the night shift.

She dove into her boots and bunker pants and
adjusted the straps, then climbed onto the truck. Ramirez was the
officer, so he sat shotgun, Frazier drove, and next to her were
Chief Hennessey and Phillips.

Tony read the paper he’d torn from the
computer about the call. “Blaze on Avenue D.” Which was downtown
Hidden Cove. “The just-built skyscraper in town, which means we’ll
have excellent water usage from a brand new standpipe to attack the
fire.”


Soon the rig screeched to a halt in front of
the scene. Working standpipes were a necessity as they funneled
water from the hydrant or pumper up several floors. Three trucks
were on site—Rescue 7 and their Quint and Midi. Tony hopped off the
rig while the others donned their Nomex hoods, snapped on the
backpacks, adjusted the breathing mechanism and secured
helmets.

“
Don’t forget pocket tools,” he told
everybody.

Their job, Ramirez reported, was to go to
floor five, where the fire had started, carrying a heavy hose to
hook up to the standpipe. He led the way, and Tess was right behind
him. Halfway up, she began to sweat. Then her ankle started to
ache.

“
What’s wrong, Righetti?” Ramirez
asked.

“
Nothing.”

He said, “I don’t judge.”

They kept going. It was hotter than hell on
floor five as the fire blazed before them. Ramirez stopped. “I
don’t have a good feeling about this.”

Grabbing the hose, Tess limped over to the
standpipe, and went to turn the valve. She needed purchase on her
legs and…couldn’t get it.

She glanced over her shoulder and saw her
crew, standing stock still waiting for her.

Their faces began to melt.

Their shoulders drooped into the bunker
pants. Soon they’d be a puddle on the floor…

Tess awoke with a start. She was roasting in
her gear, covered with sweat, and her breath came like bellows.
But, looking around, she realized she was in the Malvaso home, on
the second floor in Zach’s old room. Swinging her feet off the bed,
she tried to calm herself.

But she couldn’t. If she kept breathing like
this, she’d hyperventilate. She tried slow ins and outs and calmed
some. But her hands kept shaking. This kind of thing hadn’t
happened in a long time, but she’d had several attacks after Joey
died. Often, she’d call Mitch or Zach. She could get someone in the
house now. But she didn’t want to disturb them. Anyway, she knew
who she wanted to talk to. Unable to squelch the need, she picked
up her phone from the night table, got into her contacts and
punched in Jack’s number.

He answered on the third ring.
“Harrison.”

“Jack. It’s Tess.”

Calmly, he asked, “What happened? Is someone
hurt?”

“Um, no.”

“Teresa, it’s three o’clock in the morning.
Something must be wrong for you to call me.”

Her whole body was tight as a whipcord,
making her muscles hurt. “No, nothing life-threatening.” She ran a
hand through her hair. “God, this is embarrassing. I had… I…I had a
nightmare. I couldn’t catch my breath. And I’m shaky.”

“All right.” Some rustling. “Lie down on the
pillows and get under the covers.”

Scooting back on the bed, she rested her head
and pulled up the quilt. She was no longer warm.

“Take some deep breaths.”

Already she was settling from the sound of
his voice. But she took three more breaths. After about ten
seconds, she said, “I feel better. That didn’t work well when I
tried it alone.”

“Glad I could help. You were having an
anxiety attack from the dream.”

“I used to have them all the time.”

“Tell me about this one. Talking will dilute
its power.”

She turned on her side. “I was in a fire. I
endangered my crew. But they weren’t actually my crew. They were
instructors at the Academy.”

“Think back. What were the similarities in
the dream to what happened today?”

“I was overheated and dizzy before we got to
the fire. Sweat dripped in my eyes.”

“I think we both know where that came
from.”

“Oh, yeah, probably.”

“What else?”

“There was something about tools in it. I
discussed what firefighters carry inside in their pockets with Tony
today.”

“Harmless enough.”

It wasn’t, but she didn’t mention the
discussion she and Tony had had and what wasn’t said but
recognized.

“They all were dying, Jack. Melting away.
Fuck, like the witch in
The Wizard of Oz.
”

“Why?”

“Because I couldn’t open the standpipe. I
couldn’t get a good stance to turn the wheel.”

“Honey, you’re mourning the loss of your
position on the line. You’re trying to work out in your dreams what
you just lost.”

“You think so?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Thanks.” She picked at the bedspread. “I
didn’t expect a therapy session.”

“What did you expect? Naughty talk?”

A shiver went through her. “Um, no.” Though
right now, trading sexy quips seemed a lot better than delving into
her psyche. His husky voice reminded her of their night together,
how he kissed her, touched her, moved inside her. “Maybe just a
friend.”

“We said we’d be that for each other.”

“I guess.”

“Anything else?”

“No, I’ll let you go.”

“It’s all right if you want to talk about
mundane things. It’s going to be a while before your body catches
up with your mind on the nightmare. You won’t sleep right
away.”

“I’d like to, Jack.” She wanted to call him
John. She wanted to be Teresa tonight. The picture he displayed on
his desk came to mind. “Tell me about your kids.”

“They’re almost done with the second
semester.”

“This early?”

“State college has three summer sessions, so
regular classes end in April.”

“What kind of people are they? Tell me how
you raised them.”

“You sure?”


“Yep. It’ll calm me, like you said.”

“Okay.”

She listened to the sexy timbre of his voice.
Then she felt her eyes closing. Soon, blankness enveloped her.

Day two of the recruit-class training began
with roll call, then classroom instruction. Ian Woodward sat in his
wheelchair up front, sporting a serious expression on his face.
Tess stood in the back, anxious to see him in action.

“I’m Captain Woodward. I’ll be training you
on the fire department’s response to terrorist attacks locally. An
entire unit will be dedicated to this later on in your course work,
and the same goes for EMS safety. Those classes will cover using
universal precautions, aka suiting up in protective gear, like
facemasks and gloves for medical calls. I’ll also go into what
you’re to do when you arrive at a site which might have a dirty
bomb.

“But today, Chief Hennessey asked me to talk
about the first two areas of safety listed up here."

Clicking into PowerPoint, Ian called up the
first slide on the screen behind him.

1. 1.Fire ground Safety
   

2. 2.Vehicle Accident Safety
   

3. 3.EMS and universal precautions—to be
   included in EMS classes
   

4. 4.First Responders at Terrorist Attacks—to be
   included in another unit
   

He wheeled closer to the recruits, who sat
like good little soldiers, stiff and attentive. The April sun
slanted in through the big windows, casting their young faces in
sharp relief, and for a moment, their vulnerability shocked
Tess.

“I’m going to call on people to answer some
questions. Relax. Having no idea of what I’m talking about or
incorrect answers won’t work against you.” Ian gave them a genuine
smile, then peered down at his list. “Recruit Murphy, what would
you guess are the dangers at a fire ground?”

Murphy thought for a second. “Going into a
building when it’s too far gone to do any good. The text said the
term is being
fully involved
.”

“Right on both accounts. It’s a strict code
of the fire department that you listen to the officer in charge
about when to go into a fire and when to come out.” He picked up a
horn that sat on the desk and blew it. Everybody jumped, including
Tess, then the recruits laughed nervously. Ian chuckled. “That’s
the evacuation sound.”

When they settled down again, he focused on a
different person. “Recruit Cruz, give us another thing that would
be considered a safety issue on the fire ground.”

“Gear. Wearing it right. Maybe making sure
you have enough air.” Which Tess had just taught them.
Good
girl
that she remembered.

“Those are definitely things to watch.”

Before Ian could call on the next person,
Danny Mauro raised his hand.

Ian said, “Yes? The recruit in the back.”

“My brother’s buddy is a firefighter in
upstate New York. Some guy torched his sister’s house to lure
firefighters there and shoot at them. Two firefighters were
killed.”