by Ashley Shay
Dallas stood under the hot spray long after his partner left. Morgan was right, of course. Trying to stop the Wheelers of Parrish would be like trying to stop the sun from shining. Jude was a hot topic after her divorce from Steven, and the family hadn’t forgiven her for standing her ground. She’d defied them at every turn, and so far, she’d managed to prosper despite their attempts to ruin her. Now it would be the three of them against two, and that made the odds a little better.
Dallas was aware that Jude already knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of the Wheelers’s disapproval. She fought tooth and nail to open her business, fighting the mother-and-son team while they tried to implement an obscenity zoning law. It took a while, but Genevieve gradually backed down when she saw the community embrace Jude’s store and her tireless efforts to bring business and tourism into Parrish.
Dallas shut off the water and decided Morgan might be right after all. He toweled himself off until his skin glowed from the rough material, and then he dressed in his favorite jeans and old, comfortable Western shirt. It was time to collect the packages from Jude and ask when to pick her up for the ball.
Chapter Three
“What time do you want us to come over on Saturday?” Morgan shifted the packages under his arms and waited for her reply.
Jude thought he looked tired from fighting the earlier fire and maybe a little world weary from all that he’d seen. She found his brooding sexiness a challenge. Could she make him smile?
“Depends on what you want to do before we leave?” she teased.
Dallas stepped forward, running his knuckles across her cheek. “Honey, if we start anything, we sure aren’t going to stop having fun to go to some fancy-assed dance.”
Jude was rewarded by a quick smile flitting across Morgan’s face. He nodded in agreement.
Regardless of the fact they were freshly showered, a faint hint of smoke clung to them like the aura of a ghost. It reminded Jude of the risks they took daily to save lives. These men were real heroes, the everyday kind of heroes who got ignored too often. The kind of men her ex-husband, the lawyer, looked down upon. He ridiculed them for not having white-collar jobs.
“In that case, I’ll be ready an hour early, and you can come over whenever you like. I’m looking forward to this.”
Morgan leaned forward to brush his lips against hers. “We’ll pick you up…”
Once again, like the morning’s interruption during her fashion show, the alarms started ringing next door.
“Gotta go, babe.”
The two men left at a run. So this is what I’m getting myself into, Jude thought. Will there always be an alarm during an inconvenient time? Yes, she told herself, imagining that was a way of life for most firefighter’s families.
Jude watched them rush into the bay of the station, tossing the packages aside and undressing as they went. Peeled down to faded blue department T-shirts and their jeans, they stepped into the turnout gear. The outfits consisted of a boots-and-pants combo, heavy Nomex coats, and their helmets. In record time, they were in the truck pulling out of Station Three. This time it was Morgan who tossed her a wave as they rounded the corner on to Main Street.
The brake lights of Ladder Six were still in sight when Jude’s cell phone rang. She fished it out of her pocket while locking the door. She turned her “Open for Business” sign to “Closed, please come back tomorrow.”
Tracey’s hysterical voice screeched shrilly through the phone. “Jude, the nursing home’s on fire. Grandma’s inside…Grandma…Oh, God, Jude…”
Jude felt her heart do a dizzy plummet to her feet. Their grandmother had raised them after their mother died of cancer in her late twenties. She was really the only mother either of them could remember. “Tracey, listen to me, don’t panic. Station Three is on its way. I’ll be there in a minute. Where are you?”
Jude’s sister was beyond panicked. Her voice trembled so badly her words were nearly indistinguishable. “I’m across the street. They won’t let anyone near.”
“Stay there,” Jude ordered. She grabbed her purse from beneath the counter, knocking over the partially full watering can. “I’m on my way.” Jude ignored the water dripping onto the tile floor. She would worry about that tomorrow. For now, she had to get to her sister and her grandmother. There must be something she could do to help, she thought, but her frightened mind couldn’t seem to focus.
Running red lights and ignoring traffic signs, Jude made it to the nursing home in a record-breaking matter of minutes. There were no cops on the road to slow her progress. She knew that everyone available would be called to the nursing home fire.
Jude maneuvered her Eclipse through narrow streets clogged with emergency equipment. Two blocks away from the nursing home, she found a parking space big enough to fit the compact car in, and she took it. If the car got towed, she would deal with it, but right now, she had to find Tracey. Her sister would be on the verge of a total breakdown by this point.
Forgetting to lock the door, Jude ran the rest of the distance. She didn’t stop until she saw Tracey standing apart from the crowd. She was bathed in the orange glare of the flames. Tracey spotted her immediately and dashed to meet her. She collapsed in a sobbing heap into Jude’s arms.
Rubbing her sister’s back, Jude let her cry for a moment before gently pulling her away to look into her face. “What happened, Trace?”
Scrubbing the tears from her face, Tracey tried to explain. Her words poured out in a confusing jumble of half formed sentences. She was breathing so fast, Jude thought she might hyperventilate. “Calm down. We can’t help Grandma unless we know what’s happening. Okay? Concentrate, Trace. I know it’s hard.”
Tracey nodded, making a serious effort to calm herself before speaking. Her body trembled violently with the beginning of what Jude suspected was shock.
“The fire started on the third floor. They have everyone out from the bottom two floors. They’ve been moving patients from three, but the smoke is getting so bad the medical staff had to leave. No one’s on five, it’s under renovation, but there are still patients on four. Grandma’s on four, Jude.”
Jude smoothed back her sister’s hair with gentle hands. “I know, Trace, I know.”
Jude’s grandmother suffered a severe stroke earlier in the year and couldn’t care for herself any longer. Reluctantly, Jude and Tracey decided it would be best if she had twenty-four-hour medical supervision. One of them, and sometimes both, visited her every day. She could barely communicate, but she seemed to recognize them. She also seemed to understand what they said, even if she couldn’t respond. Today had been Tracey’s day to visit.
“What are we going to do, Jude?”
Jude watched the coordinated, but frantic, rescue efforts by the medical staff, city police, and the fire department. If she could find Dallas or Morgan, they could tell her what was happening inside. Jude thought it possible that her grandmother had already been brought out to safety. Rows of gurneys and medical beds were lined up all the way down the street. Paramedics, nursing home staff, and emergency hospital personnel worked feverishly to calm the terrified patients and help with minor injuries. So far, no serious injuries had been reported. Still, time was running out. The patients trapped on four would be suffering smoke inhalation soon if they weren’t rescued.
“Stay here. I know someone who might be able to help.”
Jude watched for a break in the ambulances and fire equipment. She dashed across the street and through the momentarily distracted police line to find Ladder Six. If she could reach Dallas or Morgan, she knew they would help her. Running feverishly in the direction of the ladder trucks, she was ignored by the various emergency personnel. They all rushed past her on their way into the building without giving her a second glance.
With the men dressed in their full bunker gear, it became nearly impossible for Jude to recognize anyone. She felt a sob of panic escape her throat. How would she ever find Morgan or Dallas? She had to find th
em. She had to make sure they would look for her grandmother. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she bit back the scream that burned her throat as raw as the billowing smoke.
At last, she spotted Ladder Six parked on the edge of the manicured lawn. Jude swerved sharply in that direction and collided with a firefighter, nearly knocking them both down.
“Fuck!” She heard an angry male voice beneath the helmet. “What the hell…Jude?”
She couldn’t believe she’d found Dallas. She grasped the man’s coat with both hands. “My grandmother’s in there, Dallas. She’s on the fourth floor. You have to find her. You have to…”
Dallas peeled her away from him. He pushed her back hard, making her stumble a couple of steps. “I’ll find her, sweetheart, now get out of the way. I’m serious. Get out of here.”
“But, Dallas…” she began. He wheeled her around and smacked her ass hard enough to get her attention. She took a couple of running steps from the force of his blow.
“I said go. We’ll get her out.” He made a “follow me” movement with his hand to the men coming up fast behind him. Then he ran toward the building, ignoring Jude as she reached for him one more time.
Jude watched Dallas for a moment with tears blurring her vision. When he disappeared into the smoke, she jogged back to her sister. They huddled together, shivering in fear as they watched the ladder trucks get into position and firemen begin the climb. Smoke billowed out of the windows, obscuring the firefighters as they climbed toward the fourth floor.
Unable to see anything but smoke and the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles, Jude remained silent. She hardly dared to blink for fear she might miss something. It seemed to her as if the men had already been gone for hours, and she realized the rest of the crowd watching must have felt the same. She could hear muttered speculation sweeping across the throng in low urgent tones.
“No one can breathe in that much smoke,” Tracey finally whispered. “She’s not going to make it, Jude.”
Jude hugged her sister tighter. “She’ll make it. Morgan and Dallas will rescue her, you’ll see.” Even as she said the words of reassurance, she felt doubtful. They had been in the building such a long time and no one was coming out.
Suddenly, there was a sound like a muffled explosion. It took Jude a moment to realize something must have collapsed inside the building. The sound caused a flurry of activity to take place on the ground around the command center. Jude could hear the shouts.
“Call them out. Get them out of there.”
“Oh, God,” Tracey groaned. She dropped to the ground and buried her face in her hands. “This is my fault. I should have stayed home with Grandma. We shouldn’t have put her in the home, Jude. We could have worked out a schedule.”
The lump in Jude’s throat kept her from speaking. Where were the men? she wondered. Were the firefighters trapped, too? She thought she had cried herself out, but fresh tears welled up and rolled down her cheeks. It couldn’t end this way. She wouldn’t be able to handle the guilt for her grandmother or the men she had sent to find her.
In the midst of growing despair, an excited murmur rose from the crowd, then cheers and hand clapping. The crowd surged forward, pushing at the police line in their eagerness to get a better look. The cops held their ground, pushing the crowd back while making half-hearted threats to arrest the next person who crossed the line.
Tracey jumped to her feet, hopping up and down with excitement. The first firefighter had broken through the barrier of smoke. He had a rescue in his arms. Ignoring the calls of the crowd, he carried the frail, elderly man like a small child. Jude could see him talking to the old man as he walked past, gently placing him in the care of the paramedics.
More firemen walked by with patients. The crowd had suddenly grown still. Two firemen had not returned. Ladder Six was missing two of their men.
A search and rescue team geared up, ready to go inside if needed. The captain of Ladder Six huddled with his team of firefighters, plotting the best strategy for reaching the trapped men.
Jude ran to the police line, catching at the sleeve of a fireman as he went past. “Dallas Preston or Morgan Kent, have you seen them?” She knew she sounded desperate, and she didn’t care. Oh, God, she’d told them to find her grandmother. What if she had sent them to their deaths with that request?
The firefighter pulled off his heavy helmet, his face showing the strain of worry and fatigue. “We’re looking for them. They went back for the last patient and the floor collapsed.”
“My grandmother,” Jude choked. She shook her head in disbelief, as if she could clear it from the nightmare taking place around her.
The fireman’s soot-streaked face softened with pity. “We’ll do all we can, ma’am.”
Through the fire, smoke, flashing lights, and water, the scene turned surreal. Jude felt as if she had stumbled into some foreign war zone. She realized she had crossed into a level of grief and tension that her mind couldn’t bear. She felt numb as she watched, like she had stepped outside of her body and couldn’t remember how to get back.
Suddenly, the crowd began screaming. Jude’s heart leapt into her throat. Bursting from a service door on the west side of the building, two firemen stumbled out. The taller man carried a small bundle in his arms, wrapped protectively in a bunker coat. The second fireman wasn’t wearing his coat. He was covered in soot, but no one had ever looked so good to Jude. She recognized Dallas and Morgan.
The firemen headed to the medical personnel in a run. Dallas gently laid his small burden on the waiting gurney. Paramedics immediately strapped an oxygen mask over the woman’s face, but not before Jude caught a glimpse of her beloved grandmother.
One of the paramedics caught Morgan’s arm when he tried to leave. She moved him to the side, forcing him to sit down on the wide bumper of the ambulance. After carefully examining his arms, she applied antiseptic ointment. Ignoring his protests, she wrapped the burned skin with soft gauze bandages.
Dallas looked over the crowd, then headed straight for Jude. A series of flashes went off as reporters snagged pictures of the man who had risked his life for the last patient. He snarled at them to get out of his way, effectively backing them up, at least momentarily.
“I don’t know what to say.” Jude put her hand out to touch Dallas. “I can’t thank you and Morgan enough. You know that, don’t you?”
Dallas looked serious. “She’s pretty bad, Jude. I’m not going to lie to you. She inhaled a lot of smoke.”
“You did everything you could. She’s made it this far. She’s going to make it.” Jude looked past Dallas at Morgan. “Is he okay?”
Dallas tossed a glance over his shoulder. “Yeah, he’s going to get disciplinary action for taking his coat off, but he’ll be fine. He got some burns, but nothing deep enough to be more than a nuisance for a couple of days.”
“Disciplinary action?” Tracey had walked up to join them. “Why would he get that?”
“Because we don’t take our gear off for anything,” Dallas explained. “The theory being that if we go down we can’t possibly save a victim’s life.”
Tracey looked at her grandmother lying still and white on the gurney. “He won’t face any disciplinary action. I promise you that.”
Dallas looked skeptical, and then he shrugged. “We made a judgment call. Your grandmother’s skin is too thin and fragile to have made it through the heat. We were trapped and couldn’t get out the window, so we had to come back down the stairs. There wasn’t really a choice in the matter.” He glanced back over his shoulder. “I gotta go now. They’ll be taking your grandmother to Valley View Hospital.”
The two sisters watched him walk away. “I’m going to call the governor’s office from the hospital,” Tracey said. “Heroes don’t deserve to get beat up for doing the right thing, even if it is against rules.”
Jude looked over at Tracey’s determined face. Her sister’s resilience never failed to surprise her. “The governor’s offi
ce?”
Tracey winked. “I know his campaign manager. Rhonda can give the governor a heads-up on a wonderful promo opportunity. He should come down here for the fireman’s ball and shake the two heroes’ hands. He could do a little song and dance campaigning at the same time. You know it will get him a lot of local votes to honor a couple of hometown boys. The election isn’t that far away.”
“You are devious, little sister.” Jude laughed, grabbing Tracey in a hug. “Let’s go to the hospital so we can be there when they bring Grandma in.”
* * * *
Morgan fiddled with the bandages covering his arms. “Do we have to do this?”
Dallas sighed heavily. “Yes, you thick-headed bastard. The governor wants to get a picture of you, me, and him with Mrs. Dolan. It’s going to look great on the evening news.”
Morgan groaned. “It’s shameless to use the old lady.”
“Shameless, but effective,” a female voice said from the doorway. “That’s why we’re doing the photo shoot here at the hospital instead of the fireman’s ball.” She extended her hand. “I’m Rhonda Pearson, the governor’s campaign manager. Needless to say, we’ve talked to the fire chief, and you gentlemen won’t be facing any disciplinary action. You’re going to be the heroes of Arizona by the time we get finished with you.”
Morgan opened his mouth to reply, but the presence of the governor, along with a crowd of news reporters, cut him off. He clamped his mouth shut, staring at Jude, who followed a discreet distance behind the crowd.
Her glossy black hair was tucked behind her ears, and a faint smudge of violet under her eyes gave away the fact she hadn’t slept any the night before. Dressed for comfort, she wore jeans and a simple T-shirt, somehow managing to make the outfit look chic instead of casual.
“You owe me,” Morgan mouthed at her when she smiled his way.
As the politician droned on, Morgan found it impossible to concentrate. He couldn’t keep his gaze from wandering back to Jude. She really did have exquisite bone structure and an exotic European kind of beauty with her black hair and blue eyes. It didn’t stretch Morgan’s imagination to see her picking grapes from a vineyard in Tuscany.
