Familiar Fire

by Caroline Burnes

  “Roy Adams knew our history,” Jake said softly.

  “So did Betty Cody,” Kate added.

  “Anyone could have told the DDC.”

  “Anyone who was working with them.”

  “Then we’re agreed that someone local is involved in this?” Jake said.

  Kate nodded. “Someone could have innocently mentioned our past,” she pointed out. She bit her bottom lip as she looked at Jake. “I hate to say it, but Roy Adams seems like our best suspect.”

  “I find this hard to believe of Roy.” Jake began to pace the room. “I can’t deny that he looks guilty, though.”

  “Who has access to your apartment?”

  “Roy has a key. Since it’s attached to the fire house. He’s the mayor. But anyone on the city council could get hold of the key.”

  “Maybe it’s time we began checking on Roy and Betty’s alibis, just to play it safe. I’ve already spoken to the other two suspects about their alibis.”

  “Other suspects?” Jake gave her a curious look.

  “As much as it flattered your ego to think that I questioned Alexis and Evelyn only because I was jealous, I did consider them both suspects. They have alibis for the night of the church fire, though.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Which doesn’t mean they couldn’t have hired someone to do it.”

  “The damnable thing about this is we still have the same list of suspects we had a week ago, only with more additions,” Jake said. “We need some way to narrow the field.”

  “I’m afraid the only way to do that is to wait for another fire and hope the arsonist makes a mistake,” Kate said.

  “Don’t—”

  Before he could finish, the alarm bell began to clang. It startled both of them, but Jake reacted by picking up a leash and throwing it at Kate. “It’s a fire. Keep Ouzo out of trouble for me, please.” With that he disappeared down the firepole. Kate could hear him throwing his gear onto the truck as the station doors opened and the volunteer firemen began pouring in.

  Kate snapped the leash to Ouzo’s collar before the dog could think of making an escape. “Come on, Familiar,” she called as she raced down the stairs with the dog.

  She jumped into her truck and was ready when Jake and the firemen who’d hurriedly assembled took both engines out into the night.

  Even as she pulled behind the fire trucks she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Ahead of her the orange flames licked the night sky. The fire was downtown, in the heart of the old historic city.

  Kate knew that most of the buildings, though updated and refurbished, were made of wood. If the fire got out of hand it could quickly spread.

  Heart pumping, she followed the trucks far enough to see that one of her worst nightmares had come true. The Golden Nugget was in flames. The building that held so much of her childhood was in danger of burning to the ground.

  JAKE STEERED the first truck through a street crowded with panicked pedestrians. His only thoughts were of fighting the blaze that had turned the main street into an inferno. Had all of the gamblers escaped? Alexis? His mind was racing.

  As the second truck pulled in behind him, he saw that the firefighters were functioning as a highly trained unit. The ladders were out and the hoses soaking the wood that was burning as efficiently as kindling.

  “I’m going in,” he called and saw that two firemen clad in protective gear fell in behind him. He pulled down the visor of his fire mask and walked into the burning building.

  The interior of the casino was a smoke-filled inferno, but it appeared everyone had escaped. He and the men made a hurried search of the first floor while the fire hoses sprayed the building.

  “Looks clear,” one of his men called. “Let’s get out of here!”

  But an overhead beam snapped. Roofing dropped not three feet from Jake’s shoulder. The ensuing rush of heat made him stagger backwards, stumbling against a slot machine.

  “Help!”

  Jake stumbled to regain his balance as he tried to pinpoint the feminine cry for help.

  “Help!”

  “It’s a woman,” one of the firefighters said. He pointed through the smoke and flames. “Look! she’s there, at the top of the stairs.”

  Jake saw Alexis standing at the head of the staircase that led to her private apartment.

  “Go to the window, Alexis!” he cried. He knew there was no way she could make it across the casino, which was blazing. At any moment, more of the roof could collapse.

  “Jake!” There was relief in her voice.

  To Jake’s horror, she started down the stairs toward him.

  “Go back!” He waved at her. “Go back! Go to the window and jump. We’ll get you.”

  “Jake!” she shrieked as part of the staircase fell beneath her weight. She barely managed to catch herself. “Jake, I’m scared,” she called, looking around as if she expected help to come.

  Jake waded through the flames that licked at his fireproof clothing. Even though he was protected, he couldn’t take the heat. He had an oxygen tank, but the air in the building was quickly being consumed by the fire, and the danger grew with each passing second.

  “Jake, I’m afraid,” Alexis wailed.

  “Don’t do it,” the fireman warned Jake. “Either she goes out the window or she doesn’t. You can’t get to her.”

  Jake looked around. The casino bore a strange resemblance to what he imagined hell would look like. There wasn’t a choice. He was the fire chief. It wasn’t in his job description or his nature to leave someone to burn. He ducked beneath a large burning beam then headed for the stairs.

  Chapter Nine

  Kate watched the smoke billowing out of the Golden Nugget and felt a pain as sharp as if she’d physically been stabbed. No matter that she’d accepted that the building no longer belonged to her, it was always there, always a reminder of the relative she’d loved…

  And finally come to view as an embarrassment.

  The emotional fire that licked at her heart was more devastating than the sight of the old saloon and stage in flames.

  Jake’s words came back to haunt her. She couldn’t escape the past by trying to forget it. There was no running from what she’d felt and what she’d done.

  The truth was, there was no more running at all. She’d come to Silver City to take her stand, and she wasn’t going to buckle. She’d lost her family and everything that tied her to it—except the old saloon. And now it was going, too.

  Dazed by the enormity of her loss, she got out of the truck and walked closer to the fire. Firemen shouted orders as they fought the fire hoses off the spools and struggled to hold the torrents of water onto the flames.

  “I think we can save some of her,” one of the firemen shouted at Kate.

  She stared at the flames that leapt into the night and felt as if she, herself, were burning.

  Suddenly she remembered the portrait of her grandmother that hung over the bar. No one would think to save it. No one cared. It was a piece of decoration to Alexis Redfield, but it was family history to Kate.

  History she had turned her back on, Kate reminded herself.

  But what if Jake was right? What if stepping into the future required an acknowledged peace with the past? And once the portrait was burned, there would be no recovering it.

  If the fire destroyed the casino and the portrait, there would be nothing of Kate’s family history left. Kitty’s portrait was virtually all that was left

  She made sure no one was paying attention as she slipped down the alley to the back entrance that opened under the staircase.

  She felt a tug on the back of her leg and looked down to see Ouzo gripping the hem of her denims. That darn dog was everywhere.

  “Grrrrrr!”

  “Let go.” She shook her leg.

  Ouzo refused to yield.

  “Let go!” She shook harder.

  Ouzo hung on for dear life.

  “I’m going for that portrait,” she told the dog in no uncertain
terms. “I’m going now.” She jerked free. Before she could take a single step, Familiar flashed by her and headed in through the back door.

  “Familiar!” Kate cried as she ran after him, Ouzo hot on her heels.

  Immediately Kate’s eyes began to burn and tear. The smoke was so thick she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to breathe, but closer to the floor there was a draft of air. Crouching low, she allowed Familiar to lead her forward. The fire was contained mostly in the front of the casino, but Kate had no intention of surveying the damage. She moved forward as Familiar and her memory helped her inch ever closer to the portrait. Ouzo brought up the rear, as if he could protect her from the fire.

  Familiar leaped at her. “Meow!” he cried, dodging a piece of the staircase that almost fell on top of him as he pushed her aside.

  Kate managed to twist and avoid the burning wood. When she looked up, she saw that a portion of the staircase was gone. Disappearing from the edge of what was left was the unmistakable boot of a fireman. Someone was actually climbing the burning stairs!

  Beside her, Ouzo began to whine.

  It took Kate an instant to connect the two. “Jake!” She started toward him only to be driven back by a timber that fell from the roof. Shaken, Kate drew the cat and dog to her side and held them. Ouzo was determined to go after his master, but Kate firmly held his collar. There was nothing the dog could do.

  The roar of the fire was like a cyclone in her ears, but it seemed as if the flames were diminishing in intensity. She could hear the shouted orders of the firemen, their voices grim with determination.

  Jake would be safe. He was doing what he had to do. She ran those words through her mind like a mantra. They would be fine. In another minute she’d have the portrait and be out in the fresh air.

  Beneath the sound of the fire and the firemen, Kate heard another noise. The overhead timbers were groaning. For a split second, the significance didn’t strike her. When it did, she was terrified—for herself and Jake. He was on the second story. If the flooring gave, he might tumble into the flames.

  “Jake!” She darted forward again, the cat and dog with her. As she looked up the staircase she saw Jake disappearing into Alexis’s apartment:

  So, Jake was risking his life to save Alexis. Kate might have been jealous in the past, but she was proud now. Saving people was Jake’s job, and if he had to put his life on the line, he would. Just as she would in performing her duties as sheriff.

  “Come on, Ouzo,” she said, holding firmly to the dog’s collar. “The best thing we can do for Jake is to get out of here safely. Once he has Alexis out, he’ll be okay.” She tugged the dog after her as she started back the way she’d come. Familiar was more than ready to lead the retreat. The firefighters might be able to put the blaze out before it got to Kitty’s portrait and it might escape water damage. She’d have to hope for the best.

  Kate looked back once. Kitty McArdle stared at her from above the bar. So far the flames and the water hadn’t damaged the original bar or the stage. Kate stared at it, trying to commit every detail to memory.

  In a split second she remembered sitting with her grandmother at the piano. Kitty had turned to her, her face wrinkled beneath the mass of her bright red hair.

  “I was a beautiful young woman once,” she told Kate. “When you want to see me in my prime, go to the opera house. I’m hanging there in all my glory.”

  The stab of memory galvanized Kate forward. She wanted her grandmother’s portrait. She needed it. The past wasn’t dead and buried after all.

  Kate pushed Ouzo and Familiar out the exit, then slammed the door behind them. She was across the space in a flash, and to her surprise, the portrait came down from the wall easily. It had hung by a wire, as it always had.

  “Come on, Kitty,” she said, hefting the big canvas and heavy frame.

  Above her she heard the loud crack that signaled trouble. She sprinted, half carrying, half dragging the canvas. She was almost safe when the fire-weakened beam came down. The end that struck her head was not on fire, but it knocked her to her knees. For a moment she braced against the picture frame.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. She knew she was losing consciousness, though she fought hard not to. A figure loomed up out of the smoke and flames, and she instinctively reached a hand out to it. Jake had come back to rescue her. Somehow he’d known she was in trouble.

  She saw him, his face covered by the fireman’s hat and the mask that he wore. “Jake,” she said on a breath so soft that she couldn’t be certain if she’d spoken aloud or not.

  She saw another piece of lumber coming at her head, but she was too befuddled to duck. The shadowy figure reached out and delivered a blow that struck her temple. Slowly she toppled forward, her hair only inches from the flames that crept slowly along the burning beam.

  “OKAY, ALEXIS.” Jake scooped the woman into his arms. She clutched an armful of pastel calico cushions, sobbing into them as she let Jake lift her.

  “I’m terrified of heights,” she said, burrowing deeper into the cushions and his arms.

  “Don’t look,” he said as he approached the window with her.

  “Boys! Are you ready?” He called down to the firemen who held the tarp.

  “Let her rip,” one of the men said.

  “Please, Jake, don’t do this.” Alexis clung to him.

  Beneath his feet Jake felt the floor shift. It was impossible to tell how extensively the fire had damaged the support structure of the casino, and he had no intention of waiting around to find out. It was only a one-story drop, and Alexis would be fine. He held her out the window and felt her nails dig into his fire-coat.

  “You’re fine,” he said. And then he let her go.

  She hit the tarp with a resounding thud. The men tossed her to her feet on the side and held the tarp for Jake. He didn’t waste a second as he went out the window and landed safely.

  “Oh, Jake,” Alexis said, almost swooning toward him.

  Jake sidestepped, easing her into the arms of another, very willing fireman. He walked to the fire truck to talk with the men.

  “Good thing you went after her,” a sandy-haired fireman said. “The smoke would probably have gotten her if the flames didn’t.”

  “Yeah,” Jake answered as he rubbed his eyes, which burned from the smoke. Ouzo and Familiar came tearing around the side of the building. The dog barked and the cat meowed as if they were reporting important news.

  Jake bent to scratch Ouzo’s ears. “What’s going on?”

  The cat grasped his hand with a none-too-gentle paw, and Ouzo snagged his coat and began pulling at him.

  “I’ve had about all I can take for one day,” Jake cautioned them. He looked around, hunting for the flash of Kate’s red hair. In the crowd he saw no one who looked like her at all. Kate was, indeed, uniquely herself. Even as a teenager she’d stood out in a crowd.

  Ouzo tugged and growled deep in his throat The premonition hit Jake hard and with a feeling of near panic. Kate would never have allowed Ouzo to be free on the street…unless something had happened to her.

  “Jake, we’re about to get the fire under…”

  Jake didn’t wait to hear the fireman’s statement. He took off running, pushing his way through the bystanders with fear in his heart When he saw that Ouzo and Familiar were headed to the alley entrance, he knew that his worst fears had been confirmed. For whatever reason, Kate had gone inside the casino. She was in there now, more than likely injured.

  JAKE KICKED THE DOOR IN with one hard blow of his boot. He still wore his protective coat, pants and boots, but he’d removed his helmet and mask after he’d rescued Alexis.

  Before he dove into the blaze, he waved three firemen over. “Did you see Sheriff McArdle go in here?”

  “No, sir,” they answered in unison. One frowned. “We wouldn’t have allowed anyone to enter a burning building, even if she is the sheriff. We’ve got more training than that.”

  Jake r
eached down’ and snatched Ouzo’s collar. He motioned the young fireman over. “Don’t let go of this dog no matter what he does, okay?”

  “Yes, sir,” he answered, his fingers twisting around the collar.

  Jake didn’t waste any more time. He rushed through the door and into the hottest fire he could remember. The blaze at the front of the building was almost under control, but the residue of heat and smoke was like a furnace. As soon as he adjusted to the smoke, he began a frantic search. Almost instantly he noticed that Kitty McArdle’s portrait was off the wall.

  He strode over burning embers and smoldering braces, dodging flaming pieces of the ceiling as they fell to the floor.

  “Kate!” It was useless. If Kate were in a position to answer, she’d be outside with the portrait. Something had happened to her.

  He made his way to the bar. Had she gone back to the alley entrance? He couldn’t count on that. And he didn’t have time to make a mistake. A layer of thick smoke hung in the air. Had Kate found a niche to hide in where she was protected and able to breathe? Kate was a smart woman. Very smart. He couldn’t allow his panic to make him underestimate her ability to cope.

  “Kate!”

  Only the determined roar of the fire answered him. He ran forward into smoke so thick that he couldn’t see anything. He felt his way along, establishing a grid pattern in his head. He’d have to do the search systematically, like a blind man.

  He was near the stairs when something brushed his leg. It was Familiar. The cat seemed unsteady on his feet, but he struggled as Jake attempted to capture him.

  “Familiar!” The feline eluded him.

  “Meow!” Familiar headed away from the stairs.

  “Dammit, Familiar, I don’t have time for this.” Or was Familiar attempting to lead him to Kate?

  “Meow!” Familiar called from another two steps away.

  Jake followed the cat. After only three yards, his boot nudged something on the floor. Kneeling, he felt the obstacle. He knew instinctively that it was human and more than likely Kate. His hand moved over the soft flesh and he felt a hip and then the curve of feminine buttocks. She was on her stomach. For one heart-stopping moment, Jake thought she might be dead. In the dense smoke, he couldn’t see her. But he could feel her, and there was a slight rise and fall as her lungs worked.