Furious

by R. L. Mathewson

“Maybe Kim will change her mind,” Teddy said as they headed down the hallway that Grey made them promise to stay away from, making it perfect because they would never think to look for them down here.

  “You heard what she said, Teddy. She can’t keep us,” Deb said absently as she began testing doors, trying to find one that was unlocked.

  “But maybe she’ll change her mind,” he said, sounding hopeful.

  “She’s not going to. You heard her. She’s going to California to move in with her daughter to help with the new baby. She’s not going to change her mind for us,” Deb said, sighing with relief when she finally found an unlocked door.

  “Maybe they won’t send us back to Grandma,” Teddy whispered, sounding close to crying. Not that she could blame him, not after what happened the last time they made them go back.

  “We’re not going back there,” Deb said with a firm shake of her head as she shoved the heavy door open and dragged her little brother inside with one hand as she reached up with the other and flipped the light switch on.

  She didn’t care what their social worker said. They weren’t going back to that house. Over the past few months, the social worker had tried to make them see their grandma, telling them that Grandma was sorry and never would have left them with their father if she’d known what he was going to do but she was a liar. She knew that Daddy was hurting them because she’d let him do it.

  “What if he finds us,” Teddy asked as Deb gently pulled him out of the way as the heavy door slammed shut behind them.

  “He’s not going to,” Deb said as she took in the small room only to end up sighing heavily when she saw the large metal shelves lining the walls stacked with boxes and bottled water. They weren’t going to be able to hide in here, Deb realized as she turned around and moved to open the door only to frown when the doorknob wouldn’t turn.

  “What’s that smell?” Teddy asked, making her frown when she caught the scent of burning rubber.

  Deb looked back over her shoulder and felt her stomach drop when she saw the white smoke coming off the back wall. Licking her lips nervously, she grabbed her brother’s hand and pulled him closer to the door before releasing his hand so that she could try the door again.

  “Deb?”

  “It’s fine,” she promised him, risking another look over her shoulder to see more smoke coming in through the wall.

  “I’m scared,” Teddy mumbled.

  “We’ll be fine,” Deb said, focusing back on the door. She tried to pull the door open again only to end up banging her hands against it and screamed, “Help!” but she knew that no one was going to hear them back here.

  As she continued pounding her fists on the door, she glanced over her shoulder and watched as the smoke slowly made its way past the boxes and–

  A window!

  “Come on!” Deb said, grabbing her brother’s hand and pulled him over to the shelves. When he tried to pull away, she tightened her grip and kept going all while she kept her eye on the window that they should be able to reach if they climbed up the shelves.

  “There’s more smoke,” Teddy whispered hoarsely as she pulled him closer.

  “We need to get to the window,” Deb said, releasing his hand so that she could grab hold of the large box on the bottom shelf and pull it out so that she could use it to climb onto the shelf, but it was too heavy.

  She was just going to have to climb the shelf and pull Teddy up behind her, Deb decided as she reached up and grabbed hold of the shelf above her head and pulled herself up. When she managed to get her feet on the second shelf, she reached back and–

  Froze when she felt the shelves begin to move.

  *-*-*-*

  “How about now?” Chase asked, making her bite back a smile as they pulled into Shadow House’s parking lot.

  Pursing her lips up, she pretended to think it over before saying, “I think I’m going to have to say no.”

  No matter how tempted she was to say yes, and god, was she tempted, it hadn’t escaped her notice that he hadn’t told her that he loved her. There was no doubt that he wanted her, but…

  She couldn’t marry a man that didn’t love her.

  “Are you sure?” he said, throwing her a questioning look as he reached for his door.

  “I’m afraid so,” Sloane said with a sad shake of her head.

  Sighing, he murmured, “I understand,” as he opened his door and–

  “How about now?”

  “Still no,” Sloane said, feeling her lips twitch when she saw the hopeful look on his face as she opened her door and climbed out. For a moment, she considered asking him to take her home instead so that she could curl up in bed and pretend that the last twenty-four hours didn’t happen, but Chase needed to swing by the fire station to see what the chief wanted and she needed to go see if that job offer was still good.

  Sighing, Chase closed the car door and met her in front of the truck he’d traded the minivan in for as soon as the doctor cleared him to drive again. With a pitiful sigh, he leaned down and pressed his lips against her forehead. “You’re driving me crazy, Pookie.”

  “The chief’s waiting,” Sloane pointed out as she leaned up and kissed his chin.

  Sighing heavily, Chase leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “This isn’t over,” he promised her as he placed his hand over her belly.

  “Go,” Sloane said, giving him a gentle push.

  Sending her a mock glare, Chase said, “I’ll have a ring on that finger by the end of the week, guaranteed,” as he reluctantly headed back to the driver’s side door.

  “Go,” Sloane said with a rueful shake of her head and a chuckle as she adjusted her bag over her shoulder and forced herself to head to the front door.

  She was tempted, more than a little tempted to say yes, but …

  “God, I’m an idiot,” she told herself, sighing heavily as she pressed the call button and waited to be buzzed in.

  She should just tell him yes, because that’s what any sane woman would do when the man that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with asked her to marry him, but apparently, Sloane was an idiot. The sound of the door unlocking drew Sloane’s attention back to reality. Slowly exhaling, she opened the front door and–

  “Did you see the kids outside?” Kim asked as soon as Sloane stepped inside, making her frown as she glanced over her shoulder and took in the large parking lot.

  Shaking her head, Sloane said, “No. What’s going on?”

  “I think they overhead my conversation with their social worker. My daughter just had a baby and as much as I would love to stay for the kids, I can’t,” Kim rushed to explain, only to take a deep breath before continuing, “I can’t find them anywhere.”

  “Where are they sending them?” Sloane asked, moving to check the play area to see if the kids were hiding in the playhouse or behind one of the large tubs of toys.

  “Their grandmother,” Kim sighed, not sounding any happier about it than Sloane was because there was no way in hell that they were going back to that house. She didn’t have to ask if Grey or Hunter knew about it because if they had, they’d already be doing something to stop it.

  Their grandmother had neglected them, leaving them locked in their room for days at a time and letting her asshole son, who’d lost his rights and wasn’t supposed to come near the kids again, stay at her house. When he’d decided to beat the shit out of Teddy because the poor kid spilled milk on the floor, the grandmother had left his battered little body on the kitchen floor and locked Deb in a closet where she’d screamed until her throat bled, thinking that her brother was dead. When social services showed up to make a surprise visit, they’d found Teddy on the floor struggling to breathe and his father passed out on the living room couch.

  No, they weren’t going back there, Sloane decided because she wasn’t going to let it happen. She loved those kids more than anything and would never let anything happen to them. If Kim couldn’t take care of them anymore, then Sloane woul
d. She’d take the job that Grey offered her, go back to school and get her certification, and do whatever it took to keep those kids safe. And Chase…

  She had no idea what she was going to do about Chase. They were going to have to figure everything out later, but for right now, she just needed to find the kids and make sure that they were safe.

  “I’m sure that they’re around here somewhere. They’re probably just hiding,” Sloane reassured her as she dropped her bag off at the desk. “I’ll check the back.”

  “Thank you,” Kim said, sending her a grateful smile.

  Sloane quickly made her way to the pool, checking the break room and changing rooms along the way, already knowing that she wouldn’t find the kids in any of these rooms. Deb would never make it that easy on her, Sloane thought, unable to help but smile as she thought about the little girl that lived to terrorize her.

  She was probably holed up somewhere in one of the back-storage rooms contemplating world domination. No doubt, she’d already constructed her throne from stacks of old files, Sloane told herself as she passed the pool. She headed down the small corridor and–

  “Help!” came the muffled scream that had Sloane moving faster, quickly checking doors until she finally found one that would open.

  As soon as she opened the door, Sloane felt her stomach drop when she spotted the kids across the small room filling with smoke, struggling to stop a large metal shelving unit from falling over on top of them. Sloane was across the room a second later, moving to grab hold of the unit and push it back up, but it was already too late. Knowing that there was nothing else that she could do, she released her hold on the shelves, grabbed the kids and moved quickly.

  They barely made it halfway across the room when the sounds of everything that had been on the shelves crashed to the floor along with an ominous creek seconds before something slammed against her back. Sloane barely managed to push the kids out of the way before it knocked her to the floor and–

  Tore a scream out of her when she felt the bone in her leg snap only to end up biting back another scream when pain tore through her ribs. Gasping, Sloane dragged in smoke laced air and slowly exhaled as she forced her attention on the kids to find them sitting in front of her, crying.

  “Are you okay?” Sloane managed to get out on a cough as the muffled sounds of the smoke alarm going off in the other room caught her attention.

  “Y-yes,” Deb said as Teddy nodded frantically.

  “That’s good,” Sloane said, biting back another scream when she tried to move only to have more pain tear through her body.

  “You’re bleeding,” Teddy said, drawing her attention back to find him pointing to her head.

  “And I’m going to be fine,” Sloane promised him, somehow managing a smile as she noted that there was a lot more smoke in the room than there had been a minute ago. “We need to get you guys out of here.”

  “The door’s locked,” Deb said as Sloane shifted as far as she could so that she could look for another way out and when she saw the soft orange glow on the wall behind her, she realized that they didn’t have much time.

  “What about the window?” Sloane managed to get out, but god, did it hurt to talk right now.

  “I can’t reach it,” Deb said, sounding close to crying.

  Sloane looked back, noting the shelving unit on top of her was pretty deep and should be enough to help Deb reach the window. “Climb on top of the shelf and climb out the window.”

  “But it’s on top of you,” Deb whispered.

  “It’s okay, Deb. You’re not going to hurt me, but I need you to get your brother out of here,” Sloane said, trying to ignore the pain only to add, “You have to take care of Teddy,” when the little girl hesitated.

  Nodding, Deb pulled herself to her feet, grabbed hold of the shelf and–

  “Are you okay?” Teddy asked when Sloane gasped as the small movement caused searing pain to tear through her ribs and down her leg.

  “I’m fine,” Sloane reassured him, struggling to keep it together as Deb pulled herself onto the shelf.

  “I’m almost there!” Deb said as Sloane was forced to close her eyes as she struggled not to pass out, praying that the little girl was able to do this and trying not to think about what would happen if she couldn’t get that window open.

  For what felt like hours, Sloane laid there, struggling to breathe through the pain only to end up coughing when smoke filled her lungs and Deb’s added weight made it impossible to take in any more air. She bit back a pained gasp when the shelving unit on top of her shifted, causing the cold, hard metal to dig deeper into her side and leg until finally–

  “I got it!” Deb announced as the pressure crushing down on Sloane was suddenly eased.

  “Go get help!” Sloane said around a cough as she opened her eyes to find Teddy sitting next to her, crying and looking absolutely terrified as he struggled to breathe through the smoke.

  “Okay!” Deb yelled as Sloane reached over and grabbed one of the bottles of water that went flying when the shelf tipped over.

  “Take off your shirt, sweetie,” Sloane said, giving him a reassuring smile as she opened the bottle and waited.

  Coughing, Teddy quickly pulled off his Iron Man T-shirt and held it out to her. She poured the water over the shirt, completely soaking it. “Put it over your face and breathe through it,” she told him, and once he did that, Sloane said, “I need you to lay on the floor and get as far away from the smoke as you can.”

  “I’m scared,” Teddy whispered even as he did what he was told.

  “You don’t have to be scared. I’m here,” Sloane said, struggling to stop coughing as more smoke filled her lungs.

  “They’re gonna send us back to Grandma,” Teddy said as he curled up next to her as much as the metal braces on his legs would allow him to.

  “No, they’re not,” Sloane promised him as she wrapped her arm around his trembling body and held him close.

  “Yes, they are. I heard Kim talking to the social worker,” he said, sounding terrified and she didn’t think it had anything to do with the fact that they were trapped in a room filling with smoke.

  “You and Deb are going to come live with me.”

  “You promise?” he whispered after a slight hesitation.

  “Yes,” Sloane mumbled, forced to close her eyes as she struggled to breathe.

  “What if they don’t let you?”

  “Why wouldn’t they let me?” she asked, giving his trembling body a gentle squeeze. “Besides, I’m going to need help with the baby when it comes,” she said, praying that Deb was able to find someone in time.

  “A baby?”

  “Mmmhmm, and I’m going to need you and Deb to help pick out names,” Sloane murmured, her voice sounding slurred to her own ears.

  “What about Chase?” came the softly whispered question as she struggled to open her eyes as her lungs stopped pulling in air and–

  He loved her.

  She knew it even if he didn’t. It was in the way that he touched her, the way that he smiled when he looked at her, the way that he held her and made love to her, and…

  She should have said yes, Sloane thought as she found herself starting to drift off.

  Chapter 43

  “You can’t do this!” came the high-pitched screech that met Chase when he climbed out of his truck and found himself sending Thomas a sympathetic wince when he saw Amy throw herself at him in mid-tantrum.

  Poor, dumb bastard, Chase thought, chuckling as he made his way to the station where half the crew was standing outside, watching the show.

  “Seriously dodged a huge fucking bullet,” Adam said, shaking his head in wonder as he watched Amy drop to her knees as she begged Thomas to take her back.

  “Please don’t do this! I love you!” came the hysterical scream that followed Thomas as he walked away.

  “If he takes her back, I’m going to have to kill him,” John said, shaking his head in disbelief as he reached
over and shook Chase’s hand.

  “I think you’ll have help,” Chase said, chuckling.

  “How is Sloane? I heard that she wasn’t feeling well last night,” John asked with a warm smile as he gestured for Chase to follow him to his office.

  “She’s doing better,” Chase absently said, wondering how he was going to fix this.

  She loved him and he…was fucking broken, he realized, biting back a sigh. There was no doubt in his mind that he could do this, but he wasn’t sure that it was going to be enough for Sloane. She deserved more and he honestly wasn’t sure that he was going to be able to give it to her. He’d take care of her and the baby, make sure that they never wanted for anything, but…

  He couldn’t give them more than that.

  “Good,” John murmured as he closed the door behind him and gestured for Chase to sit down. “How are the classes going?”

  “They’re going well,” Chase said as he watched John walk around his desk and sit down. “Actually, they’re going better than I expected. I’ve got some interest in running a paramedic course and some guys asking for help training for the academy. I’ve been playing with the idea of opening a school since I came back.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” John murmured softly.

  “Thank you,” Chase said, watching the chief as he seemed to think something over.

  There was a heavy sigh and then, John said, “I was actually hoping that you’d consider coming back,” taking Chase by surprise.

  “Coming back?” Chase repeated slowly, not sure that he’d heard him correctly.

  “I spoke with your doctor and he thinks that you’d be ready to come back on light duty in a few months and probably back on the truck within a year,” John said as Chase sat there, slowly nodding as he thought about coming back on the truck and–

  “I think I’m going to have to pass,” Chase said, forcing the words out, already knowing that he would never be able to do this job again.

  Right now, he could deal with a smoke alarm going off, but that was it, which was a problem for a fireman. He wouldn’t be able to do his job without putting his men’s lives at risk and he would never do anything that would risk their lives no matter how badly he wanted back on the truck. He…