Holding On

by Jill Sanders

  She sighed. “Okay, only if you promise to call the moment you know anything.”

  “I promise,” he said before hanging up.

  “Head to the McGowan’s place instead.” She glanced out the window at the glow just over the horizon.

  “You sure?” her brother asked.

  “Yes, it’s too dangerous. I’m supposed to wait there with Trey’s family.”

  The truck turned and suddenly she was heading away from Trey. Her heart sank as they turned a corner and the full effects of the fire could be seen. At this point, it was more than just one hill on fire. From this view, it appeared the entire horizon was glowing red.

  When she arrived at the McGowan’s place, Gail was on the front porch, as if she’d been waiting for her. Her phone was in her hands and Dylan knew that Tyler had called to let his mother know she was on her way over.

  Before she could get out of the truck, she was being drawn into the older woman’s arms in a hug that forced all the wetness out of Dylan’s eyes. Crying on the woman’s shoulder drained her of any energy she had left.

  “Come on inside, both of you. Everyone’s arriving. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of food while we wait.” She nodded to a few more cars that were pulling in behind them.

  Sure enough, within the hour, the kitchen table and countertops were completely full of wonderful-smelling dishes. Dylan couldn’t stomach eating anything. Even when Addy delivered a plate to her, she set it down and pushed the food around without eating anything.

  Every time the phone rang, she jumped. The TV in the main room was on the local news with the volume set to low. They had coverage of the fire and were able to get more updates from the TV than they were from phone calls.

  Each time Tyler or Trent checked in, they didn’t say much other than they hadn’t found Trey yet and that they were safe.

  Dylan noticed that they called her instead of their mother. It was after the first hour that she realized that Gail wasn’t in as bad a shape as Tyler had let her believe she was in. Dylan was in far worse shape than anyone in the house.

  Dylan hadn’t bitten her nails in years, but she found herself biting them now and pacing across the wood floor.

  Addy was by her side the entire time. She had at one point fallen asleep in the chair but woke when Dylan’s phone rang again. Her friend looked worried and very tired.

  “They spotted his truck from the helicopter,” Trent told her. “It was sitting where they believe the explosion happened.”

  “Oh god,” she cried out, covering her mouth as she sat down. A hand went to her shoulder as she closed her eyes. The entire room was quiet as they waited to hear more.

  “No, that’s a good thing.” He added. “They had enough space to get close. He wasn’t in it or anywhere near there, which means he’s on the run somewhere. The fire near that part of the hill is still out of control, so they’re having to back off until they can drop another bucket of water. The emergency fire crews arrived on scene and have kicked us out, but we’re going to stick around here.”

  “What can we do?” she asked, looking around the room.

  “Stay put, pray, keep watch over my mother and family.” He added, “I’ll call again soon.” He hung up.

  Waiting was pure hell. The clock ticked slowly as everyone came and went. Blankets were draped over her as she sat in the chair. At one point, she felt her head dipping and her eyes closing. Jolting awake, she walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee, then stepped out on the back patio, into the chilled night air, and watched the bright red glow from over the hills. Now it appeared the entire mountain was on fire, glowing like a massive volcano hovering over the town.

  “How are you doing?”

  Dylan turned to see Kristen’s mother, Trisha, step out onto the deck, a cup of steaming coffee in her hands.

  “I’m scared,” she admitted to the woman. They had chatted a few times when she’d seen her at the store or the Dancing Moose.

  “I know the feeling. When Kristen was taken last year… It’s the worst feeling in the world, having to wait for news.” She leaned against the deck and looked out over the darkness. “What a mess.”

  “What happened?” she finally asked.

  Trisha leaned back. “I don’t know. You said he was called out there on an emergency call?” Dylan nodded. “Maybe he arrived too late to stop whatever happened?”

  “Pumps just don’t blow up. I’ve been doing a lot of research since I was hired. Once the pump is in place, the chance of it sparking and blowing are very slim. The Meier property was set up a few months ago. Everything had been inspected and signed off on. There shouldn’t have been any issues.”

  Trisha sighed. “I don’t really know much about what happens, but obviously something went wrong.”

  Dylan thought over everything she’d learned in the past few months since working at McGowan. She’d even gone to the length of watching safety videos. Usually, problems were related directly to employee errors. Trey couldn’t have been there long enough to do anything. Nor was anyone else on the site at the time. She hadn’t known that until after the fact when every employee had been accounted for. The other troubling item was that no one admitted that they had called him about an issue at the Meier’s Ranch.

  She hadn’t told anyone yet about her fears or her speculations. But their uncle was an expert in explosions, and she had a gut feeling that, no matter what Trey had done, the outcome would have been the same. She knew that the family probably thought the same, especially after catching him blow the trailer on video. It was a jump from blowing up a vacant trailer to blowing up your nephew, but still, if it was true that Carl was out of his mind, maybe he’d crossed that line.

  Her stomach ached as her mind wondered about the possibilities. When her phone rang again, she was ready. Tyler had taken to calling on the top and the bottom of every hour.

  “Any news?” she asked, still looking out over the darkness.

  The long pause told her it wasn’t good. She didn’t hear the glass door open behind her but felt the presence of several other people on the deck with them.

  “They have found a body.” Tyler sighed. “They haven’t given me any other information other than it appears to be a male. But the body they found was in a car, so there’s a good chance it isn’t Trey. They think it was someone trying to escape the flames.”

  Her head spun quickly, and she realized in slow motion that the phone had slipped from her fingers. By the time it hit the deck, blackness had overtaken her.

  * * *

  Trey was up shit’s creek. Literally. His entire body was covered in the wet smelly stuff. All the water had evaporated shortly after the fire surrounded him, blocking him in his current location. After the massive explosion that had knocked him on his ass, he’d let the water he’d jumped into carry him down the hill as fast as it could. He figured he’d traveled almost a full mile before the rushing water had slowed to a trickle.

  Then he’d gained his feet and run as fast as he could through the knee-high sludge. When the water had stopped altogether, he knew it had been blocked somewhere upstream by the fire that lapped at his heels. So, he’d run even faster.

  He stayed by the dry waterbed, hoping somewhere it would open to a lake or a stream. He realized that somewhere he’d dropped his phone. Maybe it had flown out of his pocket when he’d been carried away by the cool water. Hell, maybe he’d left it in his truck.

  It didn’t matter now. He doubted it would have survived the wet trip anyway. Still, he knew his family would be worried sick and wanted to ease some of that pain. But every time he glanced around, he realized quickly that he wasn’t out of the worst of it yet.

  He was about to lose hope. The ditch had dried up completely and the mixture of mud and cow dung at the bottom was caking up so that it was almost impossible for him to run through. Fire lapped at either side of the banks, singeing his skin and clothes.

  He had covered his face with the T-shirt
he’d ripped off his back and soaked in the water before it had disappeared. Breathing was becoming almost impossible. He’d traveled almost another mile when finally, the ditch opened up to a larger creek. He was thankful, as he’d been starting to get light-headed.

  Diving into the cold water, he felt his skin sizzle and soothe. Relief turned to sheer panic when he glanced around and realized the fire was already surrounding the waterway.

  His best bet was to move to the center of the creek and float until someone spotted him. He’d thought a few moments ago that he’d heard the whiz of a chopper overhead.

  He didn’t know how long he’d been gone or how long it had been since the explosion, all he knew was that he was exhausted. His legs ached and as he floated in the freezing water, he imagined just letting go and drifting away.

  Part of his mind screamed that it was shock and he should get out of the cold, but the bigger part of his mind told him he could take a few minutes more to enjoy the peacefulness of it all.

  Glancing up at the night sky as he floated downstream, he watched the flying sparks mix with the stars overhead. The roaring sound of the fire mixed with the calm sound of the rushing water. His mind drifted and thoughts of floating away almost overtook him.

  He had just closed his eyes when his mind snapped an image of Dylan quickly behind his eyelids. Her eyes were red, and she cried out his name over and over. The image shook him out of the trance. His body jolted, and he spit out the water that he’d sucked into his lungs.

  He fought the water, forcing himself to find a stronghold and plant his feet on the rocky bottom of the growing river.

  The sky had turned a lighter color and it took him a moment to realize that it wasn’t because of the fire. The sun was slowly rising over the east hills. He had to blink a few times to realize that he was no longer surrounded by fire and destruction.

  Instead, he stood in a green field near the edge of a slow flowing river. It was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. He crawled out onto the rocky bank and glanced around. His mind and body were too cold to register just where he was.

  He shook his head several times but still wasn’t able to focus. His body shook with the cold and every time his breath escaped, puffs of white smoke floated overhead.

  He rung out his wet shirt and thought about putting it back on, then dismissed the idea of putting something even wetter than he was over his chilled skin.

  The other side of the lake was a steep incline uphill. The side he’d crawled out of was muddy and full of tall grasses. He slowly made his way out of the muck, getting stuck several times and almost losing his work boots in the process.

  By the time his feet hit dry ground, the sun was bright enough that he could figure out where he was. There was a bead of sweat rolling down his shoulders as he looked around.

  “Jensen’s cabin.” He practically screamed it, and his voice and words echoed back to him, bouncing off the rocks around him.

  His legs muscles screamed at him as he rushed across the small field towards the cabin. He knew that old man Jensen had an old CB radio in the hunting cabin. When he reached the door, he didn’t hesitate to use the hidden key under the wood carving of Jensen’s old dog, Buddy, to unlock it and step inside.

  Taking the blanket from the back of the sofa, he wrapped it around himself and sat in front of the radio and flipped it on.

  Chapter 19

  Dylan rushed from the truck and met the paramedics as they wheeled Trey out of the cabin. She reached for his hand but stopped when she noticed the white bandages wrapped around his arms.

  “Hey, gorgeous.” He smiled up at her. His skin was red, his blonde curls singed, but he was the best thing she’d seen in years.

  “Hey.” She smiled down at him as tears rolled down her face. She wiped them away quickly.

  “Don’t do that.” He looked like he wished he could reach up and touch her, but he was strapped down to the gurney. Even though his face was red, as if sunburned, she could see how pale he was under the burns.

  “God, don’t cry, baby. You’re breaking my heart.”

  “How is he?” she asked the paramedic.

  “We’ll know more once they give him a full examination. Right now, we’re treating his immediate burns and dehydration along with hypothermia.”

  “Hypothermia?” She glanced down at Trey.

  “Only my baby brother could get hypothermia in the middle of a fire,” Tyler said from beside her.

  Trey chuckled then winced. “Damn it.” He sighed. “Shut the hell up,”

  Tyler laughed, then turned to her. “He won’t be able to live this one down. Why don’t you ride with him? We’ll meet you at the clinic.” Tyler pushed Trent towards their truck.

  “How are you feeling?” she asked as they loaded him in the back of the ambulance. She climbed in behind him and settled next to him as the paramedic strapped her in.

  “Well, right now, everything is still pretty frozen from my nice lazy float downstream. But when things start to wake up…” They started bumping down the dirt road towards the highway.

  He was talking slower than normal and she could tell it was costing him a great deal of effort, so she decided to talk to him instead of asking him questions.

  “Your mom and everyone else went directly to the clinic.” She told him everything that had happened, who had shown up, what food they had brought. When she finally took a break between words, she realized Trey had fallen asleep.

  “He’s exhausted, ma’am. Besides, we’ve given him a little something for the pain.” The paramedic assured her, “His vitals are very strong and steady. The burns are only on his arms and neck area. His body temperature is back to normal, so he should make a full recovery. He’s lucky. Real lucky.”

  “Yes.” She smiled down at him. “Yes, he is.”

  When they reached the clinic, she stood back as they pulled him out of the back and wheeled him inside. Trey’s eyes opened slightly as he was wheeled past his family. Gail began to cry as soon as she saw him.

  “I’m okay, really,” he reassured her.

  “You don’t look okay,” she said softly. “You look like you’ve run through the gates of hell and back.”

  He smiled. “I feel like it, but… I’m here.”

  “We’ll have to talk about how you are and what happened when you’re feeling better,” Tony said, standing next to Gail.

  Dylan saw Trey’s demeanor change. His eyes turned darker. She followed him into the back room. Several nurses entered, and she stood out of their way as they got to work cleaning Trey up and treating his burns.

  She relaxed when she saw that his burns weren’t as bad as she had feared.

  Most of the red marks were on his upper body. He must have, at one point, removed his shirt, since there were red marks all over his chest, back, and arms. They covered him with salve, then wrapped what they could in clean bandages. He had a few large cuts as if he’d landed on his knees at one point, as well as a slice just below his left shoulder blade. They gave him a few stitches for the slice and covered the cuts on his knees with more bandages.

  She hadn’t realized he’d been watching her until her eyes returned to his.

  “So, am I still sexy?” He smiled at her.

  She laughed. “You surprise me.” She moved to his side and took his freshly bandaged hand.

  “Oh?”

  “It’s not as bad as we all feared. How did it happen?” she asked as the last nurse finished up.

  Trey’s smile fell away. “There were several small explosions, which caused the main pump and pipe to go.”

  “Your uncle?” she asked. Trey sighed and nodded.

  “I don’t know who else, at this point. Unless they find proof…” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

  “You must be tired.” She stroked his hand with her fingers.

  “Don’t leave me, okay?” His eyes opened slightly.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” she assured him as he f
ell back asleep.

  She pulled a chair over towards the bed he was resting in. Nurses came and went, some checking his vitals, others wrapping him in fresh warm blankets. His mother and brothers entered the small room and made themselves comfortable as he slept.

  When Addy and Kristen came in later, the sky outside the window had grown dark again.

  “Any news?” Addy whispered.

  “He’s been resting.” She smiled and took the coffee mug Addy handed her, then hugged her friend when she brandished a box of donuts.

  “I hope there’s some of that for me.” Trey’s voice caused everyone in the room to jump.

  “We didn’t mean to wake you. I was trying to be quiet,” Addy said.

  “You didn’t. The smell of coffee and sugar woke me.” He leaned up, then winced.

  “Here.” She set her coffee down and hit the button on the side of the bed to sit him up. Then she turned and handed him the cup to sip from.

  “Nectar from the heavens.” He sighed after a long sip of the hot fluid. “Did I smell donuts?”

  “I don’t know why we even worried about him in the first place,” Tyler joked.

  “Stop it,” Gail said, waving at her oldest son as she moved over to Trey’s side and held out the box Kristen had handed her.

  “Are you sure you’re cleared to eat that much sugar?” Trent asked.

  “Shut up,” Trey said between bites.

  “So,” Tyler said when Trey had finished his second donut, “are you going to tell us what happened, or do we have to see it on the news?”

  Trey hit the button again and sat further up. “Someone blew the pump. Two quick pops and I had less than two minutes to find shelter before it hit the main pipe.”

  Everyone in the room was silent. “I think we’d better ask Tony and Mike to come in.” Tyler stood up and walked out. Within five minutes, Mike and Tony followed him back into the room.

  “Go on.” Tyler motioned as Mike pulled out a notepad.

  Trey glanced around. “I arrived after receiving a call.”