Cause to Burn

by Mairsile Leabhair

  More fragments of wood and drywall rained down from above, pinging off of my helmet, and I scrambled to get back under the shelter. That’s when I saw it. I turned around to watch the falling debris and saw that the large beam had knocked a hole in the floor. Had I been in that spot, I would have been crushed. Shivering at the thought, my mind switched back to looking for a way to escape. Did the beam knock a large enough hole in the floor that I could jump through? What would I be jumping into? A desperate thought came to mind that had me smiling for a moment. Just pretend that you’re jumping into Robbie’s waiting arms. Wait. I’m thinking of Robbie and not Tina? I didn’t have the time or the strength to analyze that further.

  As I cautiously approached the beam, I saw water suddenly shoot up, forming a geyser that dropped water on the floor like rain. The beam juddered and then made a grating sound as it slipped down the hole and out of sight. I heard shouting and then a metal ladder punched through the expanding hole. A white helmet peeked up through the hole, and I giggled like a prepubescent schoolgirl. Tears stung my eyes as I cried, “Uncle Joe!”

  “Jordy, thank God! Come on, honey. Climb down and let’s get out of here.”

  “You got it,” I replied, taking a deep breath of air from the tank before I abandon it and began crawling toward the ladder. Then I remembered Scott. He had a family, and they needed closure. They needed a body to bury and preferably not a charred skeleton, which is what would happen if I left him behind. I crawled over to him and began tugging on his jacket. He might have been a drunk and womanizer, but his family wasn’t. Besides, we don’t leave a man behind.

  He was heavier than before, probably from absorbing the water pooling on the floor, and I struggled to move him, even a little bit. Uncle Joe startled me when he grabbed my arm and pushed me back. Coming up the ladder behind him was a rapid insertion firefighter that I didn’t know.

  “Get down the damn ladder, now!” he shouted, his face red with anger. He bent over and grabbed Scott’s arm and began pulling him across the floor. I grabbed the other arm to help him, and the RIC rescuer grabbed his feet.

  Once we got to the ladder, I went down first and then Donny climbed up to catch Scott. Other firefighters surrounded me and one of them gave me a fresh SCBA tank and a new mask as another pulled me toward the exit. I didn’t want to leave. Uncle Joe was still up there. Please, Uncle Joe, please get out of there! I yanked my arm away and watched as Donny and two others brought Scott’s body down. Not surprisingly, because I’m sure Uncle Joe coerced him, the RIC rescuer came down next. I only began breathing again when I saw Uncle Joe finally descend the ladder. Thank you, Jesus!

  The first floor was in remarkable shape considering the other two floors, but I could tell the fire was growing, despite the deluge of water being pumped into it. The building would be a total loss, and I was damn lucky to have escaped it.

  As I walked out into the soft morning light, Uncle Joe’s arm around my shoulders, people began clapping. I pulled off the mask and inhaled as deeply as I could.

  They carried out Scott’s body on a stretcher and people stopped what they were doing and saluted. As his body passed in front of me, I also saluted. I decided I would ask Uncle Joe if I could talk with Scott’s family and let them know what a hero he was. He was indeed a hero. Totally sober and committed when he went into that burning building, he performed above and beyond the call of duty. His family would take solace from that.

  “I need to check on—”

  Uncle Joe cut me off. “You’re not checking on anything until the EMTs check on you.” He waved at the techs and they came rushing over, leading me toward the ambulance.

  Roberta met me halfway and wrapped her small arms around my waist and squeezed. Excitedly, she stood on her toes and kissed me square on the mouth. It was as if she were kissing life back into my wheezing lungs and sparks of energy into my depressed muscles. Before I could clear my head enough to reciprocate, she pulled back.

  Her face was flushed but her beautiful, tear-stained eyes smiled up at me. “Oh, um, sorry about that. I was just so glad you’re alive.”

  I grabbed her up and planted my own kiss on her lips. A kiss of gratitude, of relief, of desire. When I let her up for air, I quipped, “Me, too.” Then everything went black.

  Chapter Six

  Roberta Witherspoon

  “Jordy! Jordy, can you hear me?” I cried, tears blurring my vision. She had slumped into my arms and I couldn’t hold her up, so we fell to the ground and she landed on top of me. I turned so that her head was lying in my lap, and I patted her cheeks. “Jordy?”

  She began to rouse, fluttering her eyelids open, her eyes whirling with confusion, until she focused on me. Then she smiled and winked. I kissed her on the forehead, relieved that she was all right. The EMTs snatched her away, and my arms felt empty and cold. What just happened?

  They lifted her onto a stretcher even though she protested that it wasn’t necessary, she was fine. It was as if they didn’t hear her as they took her blood pressure, put an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth and poked and prodded the length of her body.

  “Anything broken?” one paramedic asked as he ran his hands over her legs.

  She kicked at him and pulled the mask off. “No, damn it. I said I was all right.”

  The chief walked up and leaned over her, a stern look on his face. “Jordy, you do as you’re told and let them check you out. I don’t have to send my favorite goddaughter to the hospital, do I?”

  She scowled at him. “That doesn’t count. I’m your only goddaughter.”

  “Jordy, please,” I said quietly, placing the mask back over her mouth and instinctively taking her hand in mine. She looked at me and her frown dissolved into a soft smile. A surge of emotions that I wasn’t expecting bubbled to the surface and I was terrified that she could see them. I had to distract myself. “Remember, the first round of drinks are on me, and I’m really thirsty.”

  She laughed, her eyes glistening with that air of cockiness that, admittedly, I was relieved to see.

  “Jordy!” a woman screamed from behind me. “Let me in, damn it!”

  Is that the woman who dump Jordy? The bitch has some nerve.

  Jordy yanked the oxygen mask off again and waved for the woman to come over.

  “Jordy, Jordy, are you all right?” she gasped, grabbing Jordy’s other hand as she rushed up. She looked down at my hand, and then up at me. Her face was neutral, but I still pulled my hand away. I wondered what she would have done if she had seen me kissing Jordy?

  “I’m okay, Tina. I guess Uncle Joe called you?”

  “No, Joe didn’t call me. I saw it on the morning news just now. I saw you go inside that burning building and not come out,” she explained through quivering lips.

  “Oh, and did the local news get a good shot of my ass?”

  “It wasn’t the media; it was an amateur video. They said it was taken on a cell phone so the quality wouldn’t be as good. But the moment I saw you—”

  “Uncle Joe!” Jordy yelled, sitting straight up on the stretcher. “Where’s the chief?”

  “What’s wrong, Jordy?” Tina asked, obviously not expecting Jordy’s reaction.

  I was impatiently curious also. “What is it, Jordy? What’s going on?”

  She jumped down from the stretcher and pushed the EMT away. Someone must have radioed Joe because he came running up just as Jordy was about to go find him.

  “I thought I told you—”

  “Listen, Tina just told me that the arsonist filmed the fire and sent it to the news station,” Jordy said, swaying just a bit at the surge of excitement.

  Tina shook her head. “I did?”

  “Tell Uncle Joe what you just said to me,” Jordy instructed.

  “That for some reason he didn’t call me to let me know that you were in trouble?”

  “I was a little too busy trying to save her ass to stop and call you, Tina,” Joe responded testily.

  I smothered a smile,
and Jordy ignored their spat altogether.

  “No, the part about the video on the news,” Jordy said.

  Tina cocked her upper lip at Joe and pulled out her cell phone. “I can just show you the video. Jordy, you know I only get my news online from Facebook.”

  I glared at her under shuttered eyelids, and thankfully, I was quick enough to smother the groan threatening to escape my lips. Oh, yeah, Facebook is such a reputable news source, full of fake news and funny cat pictures.

  “Uh, sorry, forgot about that,” Jordy replied. “Let’s see it.”

  Joe, Jordy, and I formed a close circle around Tina and watched the video.

  “Where’s the audio?” Joe asked.

  “There wasn’t any on the news page, just the newscaster talking, but I can Google it and see if he put it on another video website, if you want me to?”

  “Yes, great idea. Most arsonists love to share their work,” Jordy stated.

  As Tina tapped on her phone, I watched the two of them together and wondered if Tina had changed her mind about leaving. Part of me hoped that she had, for Jordy’s sake, and part of me hoped that she would leave. I just couldn’t see the two of them happy together. They didn’t look at each other as soulmates would. Lovers, sure, but there was something missing. I just couldn’t articulate what that was.

  “Got it,” Tina said as she tapped the volume control on the side of her phone and hit play.

  The video panned the building and then cut to a close-up of Jordy climbing the ladder.

  “This is Henry Stringfellow’s only child, and she just photobombed my masterpiece,” the narrator stated excitedly. “Somebody’s gonna die tonight.”

  “Who the hell?” Joe exclaimed and glanced at Jordy. “Did you recognize the voice?”

  Jordy shook her head. “No, but he seems to know my father, and I’ve got a gut feeling that he didn’t like him much. So, that was her father that died with mine. This is so surreal. “I need to get to the office and talk with Rosie, our computer forensics tech. She can retrieve that video and maybe pull some raw data from it.”

  Shaking his head, Joe countered, “Nothing doing. You’re going home to get some rest.” Jordy started to protest, but Joe cut her off. “You’re off work for the next three days.”

  Damn it!” Jordy looked at the others standing around and softened her tone. “This is the first solid lead we’ve had on this bastard. It can’t wait three days.”

  “Can’t you just remote in from home?” I asked, not realizing the firestorm it would cause.

  “Yeah, I’ll do that if I have to,” Jordy countered.

  “Like I said, nothing doing,” Joe repeated. “I’ll get the techs working on that video.”

  “Chief,” Jordy said, using her professional voice as she stepped closer to him. “You’re the one who taught me to never give up. To protect and serve. You and my father drilled that into me every damn day of my life.”

  He stepped closer still, and talking so low that I could barely hear him. “I’m not saying give up, honey. I’m saying you need to be at full strength when you go after him. Three days. Just give it three days and then go at it with everything you’ve got.”

  Jordy’s face did not draw back on its intensity, but before she could rebut, Tina joined in.

  “Come on, baby. Let’s go home. You’ve been through a lot. You need to rest.”

  Jordy glared at her. “What I need,” she growled, “is to catch this bastard before he kills someone else.”

  Tina raised her hands in defeat and stepped back. Joe crossed his arms and continued to stare at Jordy. It was like a Mexican standoff where no one was willing to concede. Hopefully, the idea that just popped into my head would pacify both of them, as well as get me what I want.

  “Okay, I have an idea,” I said, but neither of them acknowledged me. That didn’t deter me from continuing. “With Joe’s, I mean Chief Tripp’s permission, I’ll go back to the station and do some research. I can run the reports, cross-checking them with police reports, etcetera.” They were listening now. I could see Jordy trying to think through the possibilities and Joe was smiling.

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Joe agreed. “I’ll have the probie drive you back and get you set up on the computer. I can’t leave the scene just yet.”

  “Sounds good, thanks.”

  “He was just here,” Joe said, looking around for Paul. He clicked on his radio and said, “Send Paul Mason to me, ASAP.”

  “Chief, this is Kandyce. The probie has already gone back to base,” a garbled voice replied.

  “Okay, find me someone who can drive Ms. Witherspoon back to base.”

  “I’m available, Chief. Be there in a sec.”

  “Roger that,” Joe replied and lowered the radio.

  “Great. Thank you, Chief,” I said. “I’ll print out the reports and bring them to you in the morning, Jordy.”

  “No. That won’t work,” Jordy finally replied, shaking her head. “Can you bring them to me tonight?”

  The chief frowned, but when I looked at him he shrugged and nodded. I think he knew he was not going to win the fight. At least not all of it, anyway. I was impressed that he at least got her to agree to stay home for the remainder of the day. I had a feeling that was the best he could have hoped for.

  I shot a quick glance at Tina, who was looking perplexed with just a hint of anger still resonating. I didn’t like the thought of my interrupting their time together, especially when they had so much to work through. But if I didn’t help Jordy out, she would be at the station doing it herself and I’ll admit, her fainting in my arms scared me. I glanced back at Jordy. “Sure, I can do that.”

  “And if anything pops out at you while you’re researching, call me ASAP, okay?” Jordy wasn’t really asking; she was insisting.

  “I will, but don’t get your hopes up,” I replied. “It will take me hours to filter through the files and put them into categories.” And find out if your father killed mine. I found myself wondering what I would do if he had. If I found proof that he was responsible, what would I do with the information? Sue for wrongful death? Hell, yes! But who would I sue — Jordy’s family? The fire department? After witnessing Jordy’s unfailing heroism this morning, how could I even consider that? The woman was magnificent in her commitment and bravery. A more gallant woman I have never met. But it didn’t matter. It couldn’t. Someone had to pay.

  A blonde bombshell dressed in turnout gear strolled up – her helmet tucked under her arm, her jacket open, and her suspenders dangling by her legs. I seem to be developing a thing for suspenders. I could feel myself staring, but I couldn’t turn away. It was as if Marilyn Monroe was walking toward me in slow motion, the wind tossing her suspenders to and fro. Please be gay. Please be gay.

  “Robbie, this is Kandyce Morgan. She’ll drive you back to the station,” Joe said, pulling the keys from his pocket. “Take my truck and get her settled in. Then come back and get me.”

  “Will do, Chief,” Kandyce said, taking the set of keys from Joe.

  I put my hand on her bare arm, the warmth of it tantalizing my thoughts. “Thanks, Kandyce. I appreciate the lift.”

  “Kandyce, do you need my password?” Jordy asked.

  “Not if it hasn’t changed from the last time,” Kandyce replied, her breasts pushing against the tight t-shirt she was wearing, as if asking if they could come out and play. Yes!

  “You’re good to go then,” Jordy assured her and then turned toward me. “Look forward to seeing you tonight.”

  “Yeah, me, too,” I said, and then glanced at Tina. “I mean, um, I look forward to going over my findings with you tonight.”

  Jordy grinned, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

  *

  “Thanks again for the lift, Kandyce.”

  “Oh, surely, happy to help,” she said, with a thick Southern accent.

  She was intriguing. “Are you from Memphis?”

  “Nah. I’m from LA,” she re
plied.

  “Los Angeles? Um, but your accent?”

  “Oh, my goodness gracious!” she laughed as she came to a stop at a red light. “That was a joke. I’m from lower Alabama.”

  “Ah, that makes more sense. Roll Tide,” I cheered.

  “I reckon that’s right nice of you, considering y’all haven’t won a game against us in nine years.”

  Oh, I love that accent. She could melt butter with it. “Is that right? I don’t watch much football, or any sport, for that matter. I’m a fan of the Memphis Redbirds, but I haven’t been to a game in years.”

  “I’m fairly new to Memphis, that’s baseball, ain’t it?”

  “Yes, minor league. Um, if you’re interested,” I said, stealing a quick glance at her. “We could go to a game sometime.”

  “Bless your heart. Look, I don’t know if you’re gay or not, but just so y’all know, I’m not,” Kandyce said, as the light turned green and she accelerated.

  “Oh, I, um… okay, sure,” I stuttered, trying to hide my disappointment.

  “But I let everyone think that I am so the men will leave me alone,” she continued.

  “Oh, I can’t imagine…”

  “Yeah. I’ve tried telling them that I was happily married, but it didn’t make a damn bit of difference. So, when I was transferred to this unit, I told everyone I was gay. That’s not really working for me, either. The men want a threesome, and the women want to move in with me.”