A Firefighter's Ultimate Duty

by Beverly Long

  “It was a great introduction to the community,” Daisy replied. And to a certain sexy firefighter. That she kept to herself.

  When it was time for the speeches to start, she and Blade made their way to the table. There, he introduced her to the fire chief and his wife, who both also had nice things to say about the event. Then it was time for the chief to say a few words. He thanked people for coming and thanked Blade and Daisy for their efforts. He introduced Hosea.

  Daisy held her breath, wishing that she’d gotten a preview of his speech. But a minute into it, she realized that her fears were misplaced. And knew that she’d never have been able to do the topic justice. Hosea gave a first-person account of what it had been like to be in a serious situation and need the assistance of the brave men and women of the Knoware Fire Department. He talked of the sudden fear of falling, the dawning awareness of waking up flat on his back, unable to move. He talked about the worry of wondering whether this might be it. The end.

  And then he talked about the competence of everyone who responded and what a terrific relief it had been to know that these professionals were going to be the difference between a life well lived or a life still worth living.

  Daisy could feel her eyes moisten. Hosea was being so open, and it was compelling.

  “The two people who made tonight possible, Ms. Daisy Rambler and Mr. Blade Savick, were with me in Myrtle Canyon,” Hosea said. “They made a difference that day, and they’re making a difference tonight. The rest of us can do the same. I’m begging you, get out your checkbooks. Bid up your neighbor on a silent auction item. There is no better place that your money could go. Thank you and have a good evening. I won’t be on the dance floor tonight, but I expect to see all of you.”

  The crowd gave him a standing ovation.

  And then Gertie started putting on her show. At least fifteen teenagers, dressed in black pants and white shirts, carried salads and bread baskets to the tables. Wine bottles, both red and white, were already open and in the middle of the table. Guests wasted no time passing them. As glasses started to fill, there was laughter and conversation and by anyone’s assessment, it appeared to be a success. The DJ was continuing to play background music.

  Daisy smiled at Blade. “I’m so relieved,” she said in a voice that only he could hear.

  “Never had a doubt,” he replied, handing her the bread basket.

  When the salad plates were cleared, dinners started to arrive table by table. Within fifteen minutes, all of the tables had been served. Daisy took a bite. It was delicious.

  She could go home happy now, knowing that people got a good meal for their fifty-dollar ticket. But she knew that she would stay until the bitter end. She would see this through.

  And she intended to dance with Blade. They’d keep it G-rated. Even if it killed them. The payoff later, when he sneaked into her room, would be worth it.

  Once the dinner dishes were cleared, the DJ moved to his podium. “Let’s get this party started,” he said. And then he played “Ring of Fire” by Johnny Cash. It was the perfect start for a firefighters’ fundraiser.

  “I’m going to go thank Gertie,” Daisy said to Blade. She’d seen several of Gertie’s elves setting up the dessert and coffee table that people could help themselves to at their leisure. The kitchen’s work was done. With the exception that there was probably a huge pile of dishes. Thankfully the community center had invested in a commercial dishwasher that would make the job less painful.

  “I’ll go with—”

  “Blade,” the fire chief interrupted. “There’s somebody I’d like you to meet.”

  “Go,” Daisy said. “I’ve got this.”

  “I’ll find you,” he said, giving her a quick wink that only she could see.

  In the kitchen, there were kids everywhere, lounging on chairs, chest freezers, countertops. Some were sitting on the floor. A handful of adults, most of whom she recognized as employees of Gertie’s Café, were also there. Everyone seemed very relaxed and very happy.

  The dishwasher was running. Two high school boys were stacking more dishes in green carts, getting them ready for the wash cycle. She looked around, but did not see Raven, Sophie or Gertie. She did see Cheryl, so she made her way toward the woman.

  “You all did wonderful tonight,” Daisy said. “The room was full of compliments.”

  “It was fun. My feet hurt, though,” Cheryl said. “I brought a dress to change into because my husband is here, but I’m not sure how much I’m going to dance. It might be fun to sit in the corner with a piece of dessert, however. And have none of my four children clamoring for a bite.”

  “Totally get that,” Daisy said. “Speaking of children, I was looking for Sophie. And Raven Savick, too.”

  Cheryl looked around the room. “Hmm, I’m not sure.” She turned to one of the boys sprawled on the chest freezer. “Have you seen Sophie and Raven?”

  He nodded. “Some guy came to the back door. Wanted to talk to Sophie. She told Raven to come with her.”

  Daisy felt the ground sway. Knew it really hadn’t, but the kid’s words literally made her head feel disconnected from her body. A guy. Came to the back door. Sophie had needed reinforcements to talk to him.

  “Gertie wanted them to take the lemon bars out,” the kid on the freezer continued. “When I told her about the guy and that they’d gone outside to talk to him, she asked somebody else to do it, and then she went looking for them.”

  Should she get Blade? Or Marcus? But Blade was getting face time with the chief. She didn’t want to interrupt that if it wasn’t necessary. And Gertie could be outside with the girls right now, just chatting. Her work was done.

  “I’ll just poke my head outside,” she said to Cheryl. She walked past the big stainless-steel refrigerators and the six-burner stove. She opened the back door. She knew an alley ran behind the community center, but it was too dark to see it well now; there wasn’t even a light above the door. Wait. There was a light. She reached back inside to flip the switch. Did it twice. Nothing happened. Thank goodness there was a full moon.

  A streetlight a half block away also helped but not much. “Sophie,” she said, her voice loud in the quiet night.

  No answer. She took a couple more steps. “Sophie. Raven.”

  She heard a moan. There were garbage cans to her right. She moved toward them and almost stumbled over the body on the ground. She knelt. “Oh, Gertie,” she said.

  “Daisy,” the woman moaned. “Be care—”

  “Hello, Daisy.”

  Chapter 20

  Daisy froze. She knew that voice. She turned her head. Jacob Posse. And behind him, just walking into view, were the man and woman she’d seen get into the car at the sub shop. She spared them barely a glance, because it was who they were hanging on to that she was interested in.

  The man had Sophie. The woman had Raven. Both of them had guns.

  “No, Jacob,” she cried. “No.”

  “You shouldn’t have left me, Daisy. I need you.”

  Oh, God. “I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever. Just let them go.”

  “You for them. That’s what I want. You come with me. You’re going to have to be punished for the effort you’ve caused me, Daisy. But once we’re past that, you and I’ll be happy. I know we will.”

  “Yes, yes.” It didn’t matter what happened to her. “Let them go.”

  Jacob wrapped his hand tight around her bare arm. He yanked her to her feet. “Now,” he said.

  He turned to the man and woman. “Take care of them.”

  “What does that mean?” Daisy demanded.

  Jacob held up a finger in her direction, to silence her. “They’ll be detained for a bit, allowing us time to escape.”

  She saw the man and woman exchange a glance. “What about the old lady?” the woman asked.

  “She’s alre
ady pretty close to dead,” Jacob said. “Leave her.”

  “You bastard,” Daisy hissed.

  He twisted her arm, high behind her back, causing her to cry out in pain. “I warned you to be quiet. That will cost you, Daisy,” he said.

  She wanted to scratch Jacob’s eyes from his head. But she needed to make sure that Sophie was safe. She did not resist when Jacob pulled her down the alley.

  “Mom, don’t—”

  Her daughter’s plea was stifled.

  “You or them,” Jacob said.

  Daisy didn’t look back. “Just do what they say,” she said, loud enough that Sophie would hear. “I love you. Never forget that.”

  * * *

  Blade saw Marcus and Jamie chatting near the bar. He walked up, clapping them both on the back. “Your dates already go home?” he asked.

  “They’re together, checking out the possibility of a week in Paris,” Marcus said, nodding in the direction of the silent auction table.

  “That one is mine,” Blade said.

  Jamie narrowed his eyes. “What are you going to do in Paris?”

  “A gentleman never kisses and tells,” Blade said easily. Then he looked over both shoulders to make sure he could not be overheard. “Daisy wants to go to Paris. I’m going to take her there for our honeymoon.”

  Marcus bobbled his drink, saving it at the last second before some spilled on the floor. “For the love of God, give me some warning before you say things like that,” he said.

  “Have you asked her to marry you?” Jamie asked.

  “Not in so many words. We still haven’t even told Raven or Sophie that we’re together. But that’s going to change. I’m done hiding it.”

  “You look happy,” Jamie said.

  “I am.”

  “Where is the bride-to-be?” Marcus asked.

  “She...” Blade looked around the room. “She went to the kitchen to thank Gertie, but that was a while ago. I need to check,” he said, already moving away from his friends.

  He opened the kitchen door just as he heard someone yell, “Go get Blade Savick.”

  It was Cheryl. She was standing by the back door, flashlight in hand. And when she saw him, she motioned with her arm for him to follow her outside. Once the door was shut behind them, she said, “It’s Gertie. She’s badly hurt. Over there,” she added, shining her light.

  “Where’s Daisy?” he asked. And why was it so dark? He looked up and saw that there was no bulb in the light by the door.

  “I don’t know,” Cheryl said. “I can’t find Sophie or Raven, either.”

  No. No. There was screaming inside his head. But he saw Gertie’s body on the ground, and years of training kicked in. Blade grabbed the flashlight from Cheryl’s hand. He ran to her side and fell to his knees. “Gertie, we’ve got you now. It’s going to be okay. Can you hear me, Gertie?”

  “Blade,” the woman said, her voice soft.

  Gertie’s eyes were closed. He used the light to inspect her for injuries. The right side of her once-white chef’s jacket was drenched in blood. He put the flashlight in his mouth and used both hands to rip open the buttons. Saw that she’d been shot in the far right side of the chest. If it had missed a lung or another major organ, it would be a miracle.

  “Get Jamie Weathers,” he said to Cheryl. “And Marcus Price.”

  “Already here,” he heard Marcus say. “Step back, Blade. Give Jamie some space.”

  Thank God. They either had followed him to the kitchen or one of the teenagers in the kitchen had been smart enough to go get help. He shifted, making room. “How did you know?” he asked Marcus.

  “Spidey sense,” Marcus said.

  Blade understood. Sometimes you just knew that something wasn’t right.

  “Plus I had overheard Daisy ask the DJ to play Jimmy Buffet’s ‘Delaney Talks to Statues.’ When it started and neither of you were back, I figured something was wrong.”

  A song about fathers and daughters. Oh, God, where was Raven?

  Marcus turned to look at Cheryl. “Go back inside. Keep the workers in the kitchen. I may need to talk to them. Everybody else needs to keep dancing. We’re going to need to keep this alley clear.”

  “Blade.” Gertie opened her eyes.

  He grabbed for her hand and leaned close. “Help is here. Hang on.”

  “Dumpster.”

  “What?”

  “Dumpster.” Then she closed her eyes.

  Down the alley, maybe fifty feet was a large commercial dumpster. He was suddenly too frightened to move. Was she telling him that Raven and Sophie and Daisy were in the dumpster? That they were dead?

  He stood up, his legs feeling hollow. Took two steps. The alley in this direction was brighter.

  “Blade, what did she say?” Marcus demanded, catching up with him and grabbing his arm.

  He shook his friend off. “Dumpster.”

  Blade got there a step ahead of Marcus. He lifted the lid of the big commercial dumpster, fearing the worst. And then he saw his daughter. Whole. Alive. Her eyes more scared than he’d ever seen. There was a gag in her mouth and her wrists and ankles were tied. She was lying on top of bags of rotten-smelling garbage. Next to her was Sophie, looking much the same. “It’s okay, girls, we’ve got you. We’re going to get you out of there. He reached in and pulled out Raven. He ripped the gag out of her mouth.

  “Daddy,” she said.

  He wrapped his arms around her tight. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

  Maybe he was reassuring her. Maybe himself. Someone had seen fit to toss his beautiful child into the garbage like a sack of rotten vegetables. He saw Marcus pulling Sophie out.

  He ran his hands down Raven’s arms and undid the knot in the rope around her wrists. Did the same with her legs. She was whole, and he didn’t see any injuries. “Did they hurt you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Sophie,” she said, turning her head.

  Marcus had the girl out of the dumpster. Raven reached over and grabbed Sophie’s gag and tossed it aside.

  “He has my mom,” Sophie said, looking at Blade. “You have to find them.”

  Daisy was still alive. Hope surged. He would hang on to that. “We will, honey,” he said.

  “Tell us what happened,” Marcus said, quickly getting rid of Sophie’s bindings.

  “A guy came to the back door of the kitchen. He asked for me. When I got to the door, he said that he had information about Jacob Posse that my mom was going to want. I looked outside. I didn’t see anybody but him. I asked Raven to go with me. I figured two against one that we were safe.” She looked at Raven. “I’m so sorry.”

  It had been a dumb thing to do, but she was just sixteen. She’d done it for her mom. “Then what happened?” Blade asked. From the corner of his eye, he saw that an ambulance had arrived for Gertie. She was on a gurney, and Jamie was getting in the back to ride with her. That meant that she was still alive.

  More police were also in the alley. Squad cars with their lights flashing blocked both ends.

  “We got outside, and suddenly, there was a woman. And they both had guns. They told us that they would shoot us if we didn’t do exactly what they said. Then Jacob Posse came walking down the alley. He told me to call my mom on my cell phone and to have her come out the back door. He said to tell her not to tell anyone or that I would die. He said he just wanted to talk to her, but I knew better than that.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I thought if I called my mom that she would tell you, even if I told her not to. She trusts you.”

  Blade thought his heart might break. Daisy had trusted him, but he hadn’t kept her safe.

  “I was just about to call her when Gertie came out the back door. I think she was looking for us. She saw what was going on, and she told Posse and the other two to let us g
o. Posse had a gun. I hadn’t seen it until he raised it and he shot her.” Tears were running down Sophie’s face. “Gertie is dead and it’s our fault.”

  “She’s not dead,” Blade said. “She’s on her way to the hospital, and the best trauma doctor on the West Coast is right next to her. She’s not going to die. Tell me about your mom, Sophie. I need you to be very clear. Tell me everything.”

  “Mom came out. I don’t know if she heard the gunshot or she was just looking for us, but whatever the reason, she came out the back door. The man and the woman yanked Raven and I into those doorways down there,” Sophie said, pointing. “I don’t know where Posse went. It happened so fast. They put their hands over our mouths so we couldn’t scream.”

  “It’s okay. What happened next?”

  “I’m not exactly sure, because we couldn’t see. But I think Mom somehow found Gertie. I heard her say “‘Oh, Gertie.’ And then I hear Posse say, “‘Hello, Daisy.’” Sophie’s voice cracked at the end, and she let out a ragged sob.

  Raven stepped forward. “That’s when the man and the woman dragged us back into the alley, and we saw Posse standing over Daisy and Gertie. Then he said that he would trade us for her. Then something about him punishing her for leaving him and they belonged together. It was hard to keep it straight. Daisy went with him, Dad. She did it to save us.”

  Of course she had. And Posse intended to punish her. The vision of him hitting her so hard that he knocked her out of her chair almost took him down. He fought to stay focused.

  “Did you see any vehicles?” Marcus asked. “Do you have any idea what Posse was driving?”

  Raven shook her head. “Posse told them to take care of us. After he left, the two of them started arguing. The man said that Posse meant that they should kill us, that take care of them was his code for kill them. The woman said that she wasn’t killing any kids. I think the man just wanted to get away as fast as possible. He gave in. They gagged us and tied our wrists and ankles. Then they tossed us in the garbage. We tried kicking the sides, but there was too much garbage.”