Phoenix (Own The Skies Book 2)

by Emma Nichole

  “I’m am.” I hug her back, squeezing even tighter.

  “Did you enjoy yourself?” She steps back a bit as if to examine me.

  “I did. Very much so.”

  “I sense there is more to that.” She pulls me around to the back of the desk and plops me onto a chair. “Spill.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Honey, you have that look all over your face.”

  “Which look is that?” I say, with a cock of my brow.

  “The look like someone kicked your dog.” She sits in the chair next to me.

  “You’re the second person who has used that analogy to describe me. Surely, I can’t seem that pathetic, right?”

  “Tell me what happened,” she insists, and so I tell her.

  I tell her everything. Seeing Case again, sleeping together in Atlanta, the casual arrangement, the ghost hunting, the fight, the pool...all of it.

  “Well... hmm,” she says, tapping her nails on the desk.

  “Hmm? That’s it? You insist I spill my guts and you just give me hmm?”

  “I’m processing. You know I process before I speak,” she says, and I laugh.

  “Since when?”

  “Respect your elders, child.” She laughs with me. “This Case, the only reason you don’t want to go further with him is just because he’s a cop?”

  “It’s not that per se. He could be a firefighter, or in the military, or the Coast Guard, it’s not the career. It’s the danger that comes with it. It’s the hero complex. It's the fact any time he walks out the door; he may never come back. I can’t live with that pain again.”

  “While I understand, Nora, but at the same time, I think you’re being stubborn and foolish.”

  I blink twice, slightly taken aback. “What? Why?”

  “Because you love this boy, and you’re letting the fact he’s a good man keep you from him.”

  “I mean, when you put it that way...”

  “There’s no other way to put it. You’re scared of loving and losing, because you loved and lost your parents. Sweetie, it’s time to take your life back. Stop living with the fear of what happened to them repeating itself. Live for the now.”

  “When did you become so wise?”

  “Decades of bullshit helps you learn a thing or two.”

  Her eyes move from my face to a television screen in the waiting room that’s just off the nurses’ station, and then she speaks again. “Looks like you got out of there just in time.”

  “What? What do you mean?” I spin around in my chair and let my eyes settle on the news broadcast playing out before us on the Weather Channel.

  Case

  The rain came fast.

  Quicker than I could have ever imagined it would. We stood on the shore on Tybee Island and watched the wall of rain roll in.

  A Category 3 hurricane is going to decimate this small city with its one hundred and twenty mile per hour winds and immense amounts of flooding.

  The last fact sends a chill up my spine.

  Tybee has been evacuated, so Grayson, Amelia, and Cadence are staying at his parent’s place, which is one less worry for the personal side of my brain.

  The professional side, however, is kicked into high gear and unable to focus on anything except my job.

  The preparation for the storm came at a time I needed it. Not that I ever wish natural disasters on my home, but I welcomed the distraction. Busywork to keep me from dwelling on one simple fact.

  I love Nora Masen and she left me because of it.

  A call blaring through the radio attached to my shoulder snaps me from my thoughts.

  It’s not for me, but I pay attention anyway. In these situations, you need to always be aware of everything happening around you.

  Our captain stationed us at different points around the city to ensure everyone was remaining safe, and if there was an emergency, there was also someone to respond in just a few moments.

  So here I sit, at the corner of Bay Street, just a block from the river, and I can see the water beginning to rise and run over the cobblestone, pooling around the already full storm drains.

  The rain is falling in long sheets, so thick and opaque you can barely see out of my cruiser windows. Arya is pacing back and forth in the back seat, anxious and bored.

  “I know, girl, but as long as we are in here, that means nothing is wrong. I’ll take it.” I reach back and give her a scratch on the head.

  My eyes move back and forth across the street as my windshield wipers try in vain to keep the glass clear. I silently send a thank you up to whichever divine being exists above the clouds that everyone has listened and is staying off the streets.

  We, without a doubt, always have that one asshole who thinks he can take on a storm Lieutenant Dan style, which obviously never works, and ends in a mountain of bullshit for all parties involved.

  But not tonight.

  Tonight, it’s empty on these streets. We’ve adjusted the stoplights so there is just a stream of flashing red lights at each intersection, illuminating my car in tandem. It’s nearly hypnotizing.

  The storm itself isn’t as bad as predicted. It was lowered to a Cat 2 storm.

  The winds are significantly slower than they expected, but the rain is monstrous. The flooding, even worse.

  I pull my cell from its place in the center console of my cruiser to check the time.

  2:15 a.m.

  Eleven fifteen in California. Eleven fifteen for Nora.

  Goddamnit. My mind, no matter how hard I try, always circles back to her.

  I’ve kept myself from checking any social media accounts she has. I don’t want the temptation to reach out to her.

  Okay, so that last part was kind of a lie. I’ve checked it once, just to see if she was okay.

  She hasn’t really updated any of it since she left, save for one status update the day she left me.

  A song. “Vulnerable” by Secondhand Serenade.

  A song I’ve kept on repeat nearly every chance I can, because the romantic who resides deep in my soul likes to think she shared that song for me. Because of me. Because it reminds her of me, and it says the things she wants to say.

  I pull the song up on my phone and press play, letting the music blend with the sound of the rain pelting down on the roof of my car.

  It gives me a sense of peace, of solace amongst the chaos surrounding me in this moment.

  I let my eyes drop closed for just a moment, reveling in the music, and when I open them, all of the calm disappears from my body.

  Panic sets in.

  I hear the screams and cries before I see anyone.

  “Help! Help us! Please!”

  Chapter 26

  Nora

  I pace the breakroom at the hospital with my cell phone pressed against my ear.

  “Come on, Amelia. Answer the damn phone,” I whisper to myself.

  “Hello?” a voice comes through the phone, but it’s not my friend.

  “Hello?” I say in return.

  “Hiiiii, Nora.” It’s Cadence.

  “Cadence. Hi, sweetie. Where’s your dad? Or Amelia? And how did you know it was me?”

  “Your picture pops up, silly.”

  “Cadence? Who is that?” I hear Amelia ask in the background.

  “It’s Nora. Here you go! Bye, Nora!”

  “Bye, Cadence.” I smile a bit.

  “Nora?” I hear my friend finally, loud and clear.

  “Oh my God. You’re so hard to get ahold of. You can’t disappear during a hurricane. You know how I panic,” I say, finally sitting in a chair.

  “Signal has been a shitshow around here. Sometimes it’s there. Sometimes it’s not. Same with power.”

  “Where are you? You’re not at your house, are you?”

  They live on Tybee Island, literally two blocks from the ocean. The last place they should be is at their house.

  “No, of course not. We took the sentimental things and are staying at Gray’
s parents until this all ends.” I can hear the exhaustion in her voice.

  “How bad is it?”

  “Not as bad as they said it would be. Just a lot of rain. Too much rain.”

  “Cadence seemed okay. Not too scared.”

  “She was at first. It was really windy for a minute, but that’s died down. She can handle the rain.”

  I can hear her pull the phone away from her ear and talk, but I can’t make out what she’s saying.

  “So everyone is safe?”

  “Yes, everyone is safe. Gray is a bit on edge though. Case is obviously out working in this tonight, so he won’t be settled until this passes or Case comes off shift.”

  I prop my head up with my hand to forehead. “Case is working in it?”

  “Well, yeah, all emergency responders are on call or on shift tonight. Just in case.”

  “Yeah, that make sense.” I check the time and sigh. “I have to get back. Be safe tonight.”

  “We will. I’ll stay in touch, okay?”

  “Okay, and Amelia—please let me know that Case is all right? I just...please let me know.”

  “I will. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I end the call and open up my text messages, hovering my thumb over Case’s name.

  I stare at it for what could be thirty seconds or thirty minutes, debating whether or not I should say anything to him.

  I’ve been so strong thus far. Not reaching out. Letting him move on. Letting myself move on, but I need to say something—just in case.

  I open our text thread and begin to type a new one.

  Type.

  Erase.

  Type.

  Erase.

  Type.

  Send.

  Me: Case...be safe out there, okay? I miss you. - Phoenix.

  Case

  I can hear the jingle of Arya’s collar as we run through the streets toward the screaming voices. The rain is pelting down around us so hard that it feels like small pebbles bouncing off my skin.

  “Come on, girl.” I grip her leash in my hand as we round a corner, and my eyes land on a young boy, no more than eleven or twelve, standing near a storm drain, waving me down, screaming for help.

  His brown hair is drenched and hanging in his eyes. His clothes are sticking to his body. He drops to his knees and sticks his hand down into the storm drain.

  “Help! Help him! Please!” He is screaming so loudly his voice is cracking.

  I run up to his side and take him by the shoulders. “What are you doing out here? Are you okay? What’s the matter?”

  “My brother! Help my brother. Please.” He is fighting me off, trying to get back toward the drain.

  “Where is your brother? Look at me. I need you to focus so we can help him, okay?”

  Arya is pacing back and forth, anxious in the conditions.

  “He is in there!” He points to the drain. “We were playing in the rain and he dropped his phone. He went in after it. He’s stuck.”

  Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

  “What’s his name?” I ask, lying down on my stomach, trying to look into the drain.

  “Cory.”

  “Cory!” I yell down into the dark emptiness. There’s water rushing through the drainage system and it’s rising quickly. “Cory, can you hear me?”

  I pull out my flashlight and point it down to see inside. I pan it to the right and I get a flash of an orange hoodie.

  “Cory?” I yell again, and the person inside of the hoodie moves.

  “Help…me.”

  I can barely make out his words. He’s hurt in some capacity and he needs to get out, or the water will fill too much and he’ll drown.

  The familiar burn of anxiety and fear creeps up my throat and sends goosebumps along my skin.

  I close my eyes, just for a moment, and allow Nora’s words to sink into my soul.

  Breathe, Case. You’ve got this. You can do anything.

  I have to act now, without fear, or this boy is going to die.

  Act. Protect. Serve.

  “Arya. Lay. Stay.” She obeys instantly and I lay her leash down on the ground. I put a call in on the radio attached to my shoulder, alerting dispatch of my location and the situation, letting them know I need backup and medics right now.

  I move to my feet and begin stripping off unnecessary weight from my uniform.

  “I’m going to go down and get Cory, okay? I need you to do something important for me. Can you do that?”

  “Yeah, I can do that,” he says through sobs.

  “This is Arya. She’s my partner. She’s going to stay up here with you. Sit with her and she’ll keep you safe. Got it?”

  “Got it. Okay. Please hurry.”

  I unhook my utility belt and lay it across the ground, but I keep my gun in the holster attached to my hip. I hardly notice the rain anymore, saving Cory is my one and only goal at this point.

  I lie on my stomach on the hard concrete and assess how I’ll be able to slide into the drain, quickly deciding I’ll have to go in on my front side, feet first.

  “Stay put, okay? I have friends coming to help too. They’ll be here soon. I’ll save Cory. I promise.”

  I adjust my body so my feet are able to slip within the drain and I begin to ease myself back, carefully slipping myself between the concrete and the metal bar across the top of the opening.

  The cold water immediately engulfs my shoes all the way to my ankle. I push through the immediate pang of fear and keep going, sinking in more and more.

  I have to turn my head to the side to allow it room to fit, but when I do, I’m able to fully drop down into the drain.

  I hold on to the top until I can find my footing. The water reaches my waist and it’s steadily rising higher and higher.

  The current of the water rushing through becomes my instant concern. It’s strong, too strong for nearly me, and certainly too strong for Cory.

  I never relinquish my hold on the top of the drain opening I slowly fight the rushing water, making my way toward the boy.

  “Cory. Can you hear me?”

  He moves a little, lifting his head. “Head. Hurts.”

  “Did you slip and fall? Hit your head?”

  “Mmmhmm.”

  He’s moving in and out of consciousness.

  Concussion. That’s my instant guess, which means I need to keep talking to him.

  “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? You just have to do everything I say without question. Can you do that?” I look around me to decide where my next spot to hold on to will be.

  “…try.” That’s all I can make out between his quiet, tired voice, the rain above, and the water rushing around us.

  My hands are shaking and my heart is racing more and more with every inch the water rises. I make my next move, gripping another opening in the concrete above so I can walk across to Cory.

  When I reach him, I can see the blood crusting to his head, and it becomes clear to me he fell when he came down to get his phone.

  “I’m going to help you up. Can you move your arms? Your legs?” He nods, showing me he can. No spinal injuries. Good. “Give me your hand. I’ll pull you up.”

  I keep a solid grip up top and extend my hand out to him.

  He reaches forward to take my hand and his grip is weak, at best, but I tighten mine. When I’m confident I have him, I haul him up and into my side.

  “Hold on to me. Do not let go. The water is moving really fast and it will carry you away.”

  I need to be blunt to make him understand.

  He’s younger than the boy above on the street. No more than seven or eight, which makes the process of extracting him easier.

  With calculated steps, I guide us through the water, which is now nearly at my chest. It’s not far from the small ledge Cory was on to the opening in the storm drain, but the circumstances make it feel like a mile.

  It’s becoming harder and harder to balance with the force of the current picki
ng up, but within a few steps, the grate on the drain is directly in front of us and I can see Arya and the boy on the street, peeking down into the opening, looking for us.

  “I’ve got him! I need you to move aside so I can send him up.” I shift Cory around, but in order to send him up, I’ll need both hands, which means I have to let go of the metal bar that’s holding me upright.

  With a steady breath and a prayer, I let go of the bar and slowly bring my hand down. I have my feet firmly placed on the ground beneath the water and when I feel confident, I lift Cody up, easing him headfirst out of the drain.

  We carefully snake him through until his shoulders are clear and I take a step forward for a better stance when the ground disappears beneath me.

  “Fuck!”

  I slip, falling forward, smashing my face into the concrete wall in front of us and crash below the surface of the water, leaving Cody hanging, half in the drain, half out.

  The current is spinning me, pulling me under. The cold water is engulfing me—threatening to pull me into the darkness—just like it did when I was a kid.

  I thrash, fighting to break through to the surface. I focus on living. On breathing. I fight down the panic, keeping Nora’s face in my mind until I crash upward, breaking the surface and taking that first breath of oxygen.

  But it’s short lasting.

  The current slams me into a wall just to the right of the drainage opening and instant heat and pain sears through my leg. It’s the worst physical pain I’ve felt in my life.

  “God fucking damnit!” I cry out into the air. When I reach down to feel my leg, my fingers connect to a piece of metal, rebar maybe, that has pierced through my thigh, from back to front.

  My chest is rising and falling rapidly. The shock of the pain setting in. My eyes scan the area wildly and settle on the storm drain in enough time to see Arya has Cody’s shirt in her mouth, and is pulling him to safety.

  Thank God. Thank God.

  Okay, Carmichael. You’re not going to die today. Get the fuck off this wall and get out of this water.

  It’s caressing my lips now. There will not be a stitch of oxygen left down here in the next five minutes. I have to act now. Right now.

  I try to move my leg, to pry it off the rebar, but pain shoots from my thigh up into my back, pulling a pain-filled scream from my throat.