Ten minutes later, Ryan and Danielle were in his Chevy, driving toward the Hair of the Dog. Thank God he’d taken four aspirin, because her excited chatter alone would have required two. She’d just gotten an inhaler and couldn’t wait to tell him all about it.
“It’s only for ’mergencies. Like this.” She made herself wheeze until her face turned red.
“Yikes. That’s pretty scary.”
“Uh huh. Weally scary. Scarier than a ghost or a . . . a vampire.”
“What do you know about vampires?”
“They have giant fangs like this!” She clenched her little hands into claws at her mouth. Bloodthirsty little thing.
Ryan drew the conversation back to more important matters. “Danielle, when we get to where we’re going, I need to talk to Katie about something kind of private. Do you think you can be quiet and play by yourself for a little bit?”
“What is it?”
“It’s a grown-up thing. I’ll tell you when you’re older, I promise.”
Danielle sulked and stuck her thumb in her mouth. Ryan eyed her warily. Kids were so unpredictable. Would she throw a tantrum and ruin his moment with Katie? Should he wait until after Danielle was gone? But he couldn’t. He had to share his feelings with Katie. He could hardly wait.
When they reached the Hair of the Dog, he whisked Danielle into his arms and carried her across the sidewalk with long strides. Katie liked the offbeat, he reminded himself. She liked Danielle. She wouldn’t mind if the little girl tagged along while he told her how much he loved her.
Chicks dug babies, after all, according to Double D.
The door was still locked. Damn. No Katie yet.
“Should we wait in the truck?” he asked aloud. Then he remembered the romantic red globe lanterns. “No. I can light some candles. It’ll be even better. Come on, Danielle.”
He unlocked the door and, hoisting Danielle further up on his hip, stepped into the darkness.
“Do vampires live here?” Danielle asked in a wavering voice.
“Nah. Vampires never come to San Gabriel, it’s too sunny.” He switched on a fluorescent light, which added illumination if not cheerfulness to the gloomy interior of the Hair of the Dog.
Danielle shielded her eyes. “Ow.”
“You know something, darlin’? You’re right.” He turned the light off. “Ambience. We need ambience. Let’s light some candles.”
He swung her down to the floor. She held tightly to the leg of his jeans, trotting behind him, as he went to the bar and found a box of matches. He lit one lantern and set it on the scuffed mahogany. A small pool of light lit up her wide-eyed face. The whiff of candle wax drifted into the air. He swung her up onto a bar stool.
“Don’t touch the lantern, okay, doll? They get hot.”
“I won’t,” she promised eagerly.
“And let’s be very quiet so Katie doesn’t know we’re here. We can surprise her.”
“Yeah! A surprise!” Danielle whispered. He smiled down at her little monkey face. What a cutie-pie. Two years ago, he’d never imagined the enigmatic Brody with such an adorable kid. It proved how quickly your life could change.
“You know, Danielle, your dad would probably kick my . . . patootie if he knew you were in here. As soon as Katie gets here, we’ll leave.”
“I don’t want to leave!” She stuck out her lower lip and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Did Katie teach you that trick?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Okay, more lanterns. What else? Maybe some incense. Hang on, sweetie pie. I gotta hunt down some incense. And remember, shhh.”
He put his finger to his lips, then bent down to rummage through the bins under the counter where they kept odds and ends of things that might be useful. A strange bang caught his attention. He straightened up. “Danielle, is that you?”
She blinked at him innocently. He peered over the bar and saw her little foot swinging against the metal legs of the bar stool.
That must have been it. He crouched down again. With his head stuck in the bin, he ignored the sound when he heard it again. Finally he found a long brown stick that must be either incense or a sparkler, though Lord knew how long it had been hanging out here in this bin. He sniffed it. A faint sweet smell still clung to it. And another smell too.
He sniffed again. This time it didn’t smell sweet at all. The other smell had taken over completely. A smoky scent, but the incense wasn’t even lit, so how could it smell smoky?
Oh my God. Smoke.
He surged to his feet. Danielle.
She was sniffing and scrunching up her face. “What’s that smell?”
The smoke seemed to be coming from the kitchen. In one swift move, he vaulted over the bar. “We have to get out of here, now.” He scooped her off the stool and dashed across the floor. A roaring sound caught his attention. He knew what that sound meant. This fire meant business. Someone must have used a highly flammable accelerant.
Goddamn it. Hadn’t Katie promised to make this insanity stop?
A rim of flickering red outlined the front door. Damn. He might be able to break through, but he couldn’t take a chance with Danielle in his arms. Maybe the kitchen would be better. He whirled around and headed that direction. Danielle was crying now, frightened shrieks that made his gut tighten.
“I’ll get us out, Danielle. Don’t cry. Stay calm, try to stay calm.” From his EMT training, he knew he had to keep her calm to avoid an asthma attack. She clung to him like a monkey, her body trembling.
“Nine-one-one,” he said out loud, yanking his cell phone from his pocket. “Gotta call 911.” He punched the numbers into his phone, but before he could complete the call, Danielle flung out her hand and knocked it to the floor. It went skittering into the dark corner somewhere.
Horrified, he looked down at her little face, lit only by the growing light of the flames at the door. Her screams sounded different now. Short, wheezing, frantic. She looked like she was choking. Her breath came in fast little pants, and seemed to squeeze out of her throat as though she were breathing out of a straw. Her eyes went wild with terror.
The smoke was triggering an attack. Shit. He had to stop it before it got worse. Keep her calm. He ran her to the bar and sat her down on a bar stool.
“Danielle,” he said, with all the reassuring firmness he could manage. “Everything will be all right. Take deep, slow breaths. That’s good, sweetie. Now where is your inhaler? Your inhaler,” he repeated, when she looked at him wildly. “Your Albuterol. The puffer. Where is it?”
But she was too panicked to answer. He patted her pockets, but felt nothing. If he left Danielle to look for it, she might freak out even more. And it would be precious moments lost. What the hell had she done with her inhaler?
“I need you to do something for me, Dani,” he said in his calmest voice. “Take a nice, deep breath, that’s right, nice and slow. Perfect, just like that. Keep breathing, in, out, in out . . . I’m going to get us out of here, don’t worry.”
He cast a desperate glance around the bar. Which was the greater danger, her asthma attack or the fire? The globe lanterns caught his eye. He’d lit four, but he’d left the others alone. And Dani had been playing with them . . .
He jumped up and plunged his hand into each globe until he found a white plastic object. Thank God.
“Here, sweetie. Breathe into this. You know how to do it.” He put the inhaler up to her mouth. She scrabbled for it and latched her lips to the mouthpiece. He waited what seemed like forever as she took a puff. He took it away, then gave her another puff. After four puffs the wild, panicked look in her eyes had gone. The Albuterol had bought them some time. He stuck the inhaler in his pocket and gave her a kiss on her cheek.
But in the meantime, the roar of the fire had gotten even more intense. They had to get out. No time to look for his cell phone.
He bent down and took Dani’s head in both his hands. He fixed her with his calmest, most commanding
look. “Danielle, we’re going to get out of here. All you have to do is keep breathing and stay calm. Okay? No matter what, keep breathing. Just relax now and don’t worry about a thing. I’m going to take care of it. Ready?”
Finally her eyes seemed to focus on him and she nodded. He gave her a quick hug and lifted her back into his arms.
The kitchen. The only other exit was the kitchen. He yanked off his T-shirt and wrapped it around Danielle’s head to keep the smoke away. Then he ran to the other side of the bar. One look inside the swinging door had him backing quickly away. Another fierce line of flames was attacking the rear of the building. Multiple points of origin. This firebug meant business.
Neither exit was usable. He had to get Danielle out. Desperately he scanned the interior. The Hair of the Dog wasn’t big on windows. The only one he knew of was a little dormer window hidden behind a black curtain on the wall facing the side street. He ran to the wall and felt the plaster. Warm, but not hot the way it would be if the fire was running the walls.
Thank God.
The window was placed high on the wall, a few feet over his head. “Danielle, I have to put you down for a second.”
Her arms tightened around his neck. “It’ll just take a second, honey.” He peeled her arms off and set her down near him. “This is going to be so much fun, Dani. I’m going to kick a hole through the plasterboard and we can crawl out like it’s a tunnel. What do you think of that?”
She clapped her hands together and nodded eagerly.
“Okay, here goes.” He swiveled and aimed a hard kick at the wall. The plasterboard dented. Another kick made the hole deeper, deep enough to see that the wall was unexpectedly thick. This was going to take a little longer than he’d hoped.
He glanced at Dani and knew with sudden finality that they didn’t have any more time. Her face had turned pale except for the black soot around her nostrils and mouth. Smoke inhalation. On top of her asthma. If he didn’t get her out, now, she would die.
They’d have to go out the window.
He ran to a table and dragged it under the window. “Okay, Dani, change of plans. I’m going to give you a piggyback ride instead. How does that sound? I’m going to slide you around to my back. All you have to do is hold tight to my shoulders. Not my neck, my shoulders. Got it?”
She managed a nod. “Good girl.” He gave her his biggest smile, the one that made women of all ages swoon. “Your dad and your mom would be really proud of you right now. Really proud. Here we go now.”
He shifted her to his back and felt her arms come around him. He heard her frantic little breaths in his ear. The sound scared the crap out of him. Just keep breathing, keep breathing.
With the little girl clinging to his back, he climbed onto the table. He pulled aside the black curtain. Dim and coated with grease, the window had no obvious latch.
“Duck your head behind my back, sweetie!” he shouted. When he felt her snuggle her head against his back, he wrapped the black fabric around his fist and slammed it against the window. It shattered in a shower of glass. One shard landed in his forearm. He brushed it away, then knocked out the remaining pieces of glass still lodged in the window frame.
He stuck his head out the window. The street was empty. He looked right, then left. Fire licked around both corners of the building. He didn’t have much time. It was roughly a ten-foot drop to the ground. A slight down slope led away from the building. He could squeeze Danielle out the window, but he couldn’t just toss her onto the ground. He needed someone to catch her.
“Help!” he shouted, but his voice came out hoarse and weak from the smoke. “Got a little girl here!” he tried again.
Nothing. Where were the rubberneckers, the civilians who loved to watch fires? People must be keeping their distance. Or maybe they were all gathered out front.
Only one option. He spoke over his shoulder. “Here’s what we’re going to do, Danielle. You need to be super brave, okay? I’m going to pull you up so you’re sitting on this window frame. I want you to hold tight to the frame the whole time. Don’t let go, no matter what. Then I’m going to pull myself up, I’m going to give you a big hug, and we’re going to fly to the ground. After that, we’re going to run for help. All you have to do is hug me tight. Got it?”
Tears streamed from her reddened eyes. Damn smoke. He didn’t wait for a yes, just hoisted her up and clamped her shaking hands onto the window frame. He pinned her with his gaze while he pulled himself up, willing her to stay put. Pieces of glass dug into his palms. At least they’d gotten him, not her. When he was sitting on the frame, he pulled her into his lap then lifted his legs to squeeze them through the window so he faced the street.
He hugged her close and felt her cling tightly to him. If only he had his padded firefighter’s coat, he could have wrapped her in it and cushioned her fall. But he didn’t. All he had was himself. Please God, let it be enough. “That’s good, darlin’. Squeeze me tight, like your favorite teddy bear. Or do you like those Uglydolls? They’re pretty cute, if you ask me . . .” And he launched himself into nothingness. He had one goal. Keep his body beneath hers. Let her land on top of him.
And she did. Right after his back slammed into the ground and the world went as black as the inside of the Hair of the Dog.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Even unconscious, Ryan was the best-looking man in the intensive care unit. It didn’t bother Katie that all the nurses kept making excuses to come in and change his pillow or adjust his bed. Some of them had treated him before. Apparently he was no stranger to the Good Samaritan. As long as they let her sit next to him, holding his hand and sobbing into his blanket when no one was looking, she didn’t care what they did.
Anyway, they all thought she was his sister. For once, a lie had been absolutely mandatory.
“Ryan,” she whispered as soon as the busty blonde nurse had left. “I need to tell you something again. Maybe you can’t hear me. Or maybe you can. Doctors don’t know everything. Just in case you can, Ryan.” She cleared her throat. This was hard, even if he was in a coma. “I love you.”
His eyelids didn’t so much as flicker.
“This is all my fault, and when you wake up you’re probably going to hate me. But I’ll still love you. Forever.”
The tall nurse with the French twist pulled aside the curtain separating Ryan’s bed from the neighboring one. She wore pretty sapphire earrings. Had she been wearing them earlier? It suddenly occurred to Katie that if all the nurses were trying to look good for Ryan, that must mean they believed he’d come out of the coma. Katie gave her a huge, relieved smile.
“How’s he doing?” the nurse asked, picking up the chart at the foot of his bed.
“Seems about the same.”
“Hm.” She checked his pulse. “He’s hanging in there. Dr. Kinder says he’s in good health, especially considering his history. He’s been in here a few times before. That leg should heal quickly. His ribs too.”
Katie winced. His fall from the window had broken four of Ryan’s ribs and his right tibia. He’d also suffered a small fracture on the back of his skull, since he’d landed backward to cushion Dani’s fall. The resulting small bleed in his brain had the doctors worried. They’d put him into a chemically induced coma so they could evaluate him and fix his tibia. They kept mentioning things like ICP and potential damage to his optic nerve. When they talked that way, Katie wanted to scream.
“Quite a hero, your brother. That little girl didn’t get a single scratch.”
“Yes.” Katie managed a smile.
“Ella Joy from Channel Six keeps calling the hospital to see if she can interview your brother. What should I tell her?”
“That it might be kind of boring to interview a guy in a coma.”
The nurse smiled at that. “Can I get you anything?”
Katie shook her head. She suspected the nurse’s kindness stemmed from a desire to ingratiate herself with Ryan’s “sister,” but she appreciated it nonetheles
s. “I just want him to be okay.”
“We’re doing everything we can. He’s in great physical shape, which should help. Is anyone else . . . um . . . planning to visit him?”
“I don’t know,” Katie said absently. Would his father come? He’d never mentioned any other family members. It made her sad. If she were in a hospital bed, her entire family would be shuttling in and out, day and night.
The nurse gave a satisfied smile and put the chart back. “He’s in good hands, don’t worry.”
“Thanks.”
“Sorry about the Hair of the Dog,” the nurse said as she slipped through the opening in the curtain. “I went there with my dad once, a long time ago.”
“Thanks.”
Alone again with Ryan, Katie rested her cheek on the firm muscle of his upper arm. Warmth radiated from his skin. She touched his bandaged hand. The doctors had taken out dozens of slivers of glass. The thought of his hands, so tender, so knowledgeable, shredded by glass made her want to rip her own skin off.
“I should have been there,” she whispered to his silent form. “It should have been me. All of this is because of me.”
The sight of his still, damaged body had shocked her into a state of crystal-clear comprehension. Not about the fact that she loved him. That was old news, even though it had taken her a while to admit it. But she suddenly understood that her failure to do something very basic, very normal, and very necessary had put Ryan in the hospital.
She’d been doing things all wrong.
The Dane family gathered at the smoking, blackened wreckage of what had been the Hair of the Dog. It stank. Katie covered her nose to shield it from the stale smoke and strange chemical scents that floated from the debris. Jake and Todd kicked at the edges of the Dog’s remains, as if the crime scene tape were a personal challenge. Some things had survived, like the nonfunctioning jukebox and a few bar stools.
The office was a total loss, as was the kitchen. The fire had consumed the back part of the building as though it were the devil’s candy.
Frank Dane seemed mesmerized. “Never woulda thought it. The Dog, gone.”
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