Second Chances (Eternal Flames Maddox Book 8)

by Maggie Walsh

  “Hello? We need help,” a small female voice said.

  “That’s why we’re here. My name is Tobias and with me is Onyx, we’re firemen, ma’am. How many of you are there? I can sense three, are there others?”

  “No, it’s just me and my kids.”

  “Is anyone injured?” Onyx asked.

  “Yes, my son Brent. He has a gash on his head and is unconscious. I know you’re not supposed to take the elevator during a fire, but he’s too heavy for me to carry. I thought we could make it down before the fire got too out of hand. But then the power went out and we got trapped.”

  “How old is your son?”

  “Seventeen. I’m so sorry to have caused this trouble.”

  "It’s okay…What’s your name?” Tobias asked.

  “Sara.”

  “Okay, Sara. Everything’s going to be okay. Who else is there with you?”

  “My daughter, Rose. She’s only two.”

  “Okay, Sara. Just hold on, we’re gonna get you out of there,” Tobias called back.

  Loud pounding footsteps came from behind them and Tobias turned to find the others approaching. He was so relieved to see Brax, Dallas, and Sutton coming their way. But the two angry looking figures behind them had Tobias swallowing thickly. Nick and Wyndingo moved around the others as they came closer, then they all stopped and looked at him.

  “Tobias, you have a lot of explaining to do. Are you out of your fuck―”

  “I’m really sorry, Chief, Nick, but we have three souls trapped in this elevator, two females. One is the mother, the other is only two. We also have a seventeen-year-old male, unconscious with a head injury. And from what I can tell, his breathing is shallow, and his heart rate is dropping,” Tobias interrupted Wyndingo, and whispered the last sentence so Sara wouldn’t hear him.

  “Shit. Okay, men, let’s get them out of there. Who has the elevator drop key?” Wyndingo asked.

  “We used it earlier to get someone out of the front elevator, but when we thought the building was clear, I gave it back to Devonte,” Sutton answered.

  “Damn it. We don’t have time for someone to run for it. Start putting pressure on that door and get it open,” Wyn ordered, then grabbed the mic on his shoulder. “Logan, we need you on standby. We have a head injury and possible smoke inhalation.”

  “Ten-four, Chief,” Logan replied.

  Tobias turned back to watch as Onyx and Brax used their axes to try to pry the doors open. After a few moments, Onyx turned his head to look over his shoulder. “It’s not giving an inch, Chief. Dallas, do you have the tapered claw?”

  Dallas stepped forward as he pulled the tool from his back and handed it to Onyx, who pressed the tip into the seam, then Brax used the back of his ax to hit the other side of the tool, hammering it in between the doors.

  Once the claw was secure, Onyx pushed against the tool, his jaw clenching from the force. After a minute, the doors gave, and Brax reached in grabbing one side as Onyx grabbed the other and they opened the outer doors.

  “Shit,” was the collective chorus.

  Once the doors were opened, they were able to see that the elevator had been stopped between floors and all they could see of the inner doors was about eighteen inches of the bottom.

  “We need to get above it and see if we can open it from that floor,” Wyndingo said.

  Just then Devonte’s voice came over the mic’s. “We have a flareup on level three! You all need to get the hell out of there.”

  Tobias knew it was now or never. He could hear Brent’s heartbeat getting weaker and knew it was only a matter of minutes. They had no time to hike up to the next floor, then hopefully pry those doors open. He knew what he had to do. Tobias turned toward Wyndingo and looked at him imploringly. “Chief, they don’t have that kind of time. I can shift and make my way up to the top of the car as you all get above us. Once I’m on top, I can get the hatch open and start getting those people out.”

  “There is no way, Tobias. That’s a suicide mission. I know you’re on the small side, but there’s not enough room in there for you to squeeze through,” Brax replied.

  Tobias turned to look at his friend. “Thanks for your concern, Brax, but I promise, in my shifted form I won’t have a problem. Then once I’m on top, I can shift back.” He looked at Wyndingo. “Please, Chief. I know you’re worried, but if we don’t stop discussing this and get to them now, they’re all going to die and so will we. I can do this.”

  Just then there was a snapping sound and a loud ping and they all watched in horror as the elevator car flinched and shook. Sara cried out in fear from inside and the baby started to cry.

  “Tobias? Are you still there?” Sara called out.

  He moved to the car and placed his hand on it. “Yes, I’m here, Sara. Just hold on. You’re trapped between floors and we’re trying to come up with the safest way to get you out. It’s okay.”

  “Okay, Tobias, but please hurry. Brent doesn’t look good and he feels so cold.”

  Tobias swung around to face Wyn and Nick. “We don’t have much of a choice, Chief. Some of you need to run up to the next floor and get those doors open for me,” Tobias declared, and didn’t wait for an answer. He immediately shifted into his ferret and scurried into the opening between the elevator car and the shaft.

  As he went, he heard Nick ordering Onyx, Brax, and Dallas to the fifth floor and Sutton to head down to the basement to check on whether the hydraulics were safe. If it was safe, Sutton would be able to use that to slowly lower the elevator to the fourth floor, so Sara and her children could be extracted that way.

  But until that time came, Tobias needed to go with his plan. Once inside, Tobias grabbed onto rungs on the outside of the elevator car and began his climb. After two feet it got a little tricky where the metal rungs weren’t present anymore and Tobias was left with a metal sheet. He quickly took in his surroundings and saw that there were three sheets, held together by rivets and each joint had a flange. If he could get to one of those he might possibly be able to hold onto the flange, using the rivets to push himself up.

  Tobias looked up at the top of the car and noticed a sort of block running around the top. Shit, that could cause a problem. He then looked to the shaft itself and let out a sigh. On the wall sat tracks that guided the car up and down. He could use those tracks like a ladder and they would take him right up and over the top without hinderance.

  Tobias balanced on the edge of the car then rose up on his hind legs and reached out with his front paws. Just as he was about to grab hold of the track, the car jolted again, and Sara cried out. Tobias lost his balance and fell over the edge, plummeting about four feet before he was able to get a hold of the track on the shaft wall. Shit, the fire below must be affecting the hydraulics or the piston. We need to get them out of there.

  He held on tight as he tried to control his panicked heart and his breathing. For a moment there, Tobias had thought he was a goner, and his heart hurt thinking he would never see his mates again. As much as he wanted to be a firefighter, he could understand Destrain’s worry about him and the fear of losing Tobias on the job. With him being let go in the near future, maybe it really was time for him to give up his pipe dream and find another occupation. But right now, that wasn’t an option. Right now, he had people counting on him. Tobias took a deep breath, then gripped the track tighter as he began to climb.

  Finally, he reached the top and jumped from the wall to the elevator car, landing without a problem. He was happy to see that there were no obstacles in his way, such as power lines or debris, so the hatch was clear.

  CHAPTER 14

  ‘

  Noise came from the side of the shaft and Tobias looked over the edge. He saw the doors to the upper floor opening and Onyx and Brax leaning in. “Tobias, we can use the pike pole to reach the manual switch on the wall and get these doors open. There should be enough room for Sara and her kids to fit through.”

  Tobias shifted so he could speak. “O
kay, but what about Brent? Sara said he’s unconscious. Can either of you fit through the opening and help him out?”

  “Hell, he’s got a point, we may be too big to fit,” Onyx said.

  “I doubt there’s enough room for that. We may have to go with an emergency exit through the hatch,” Nick said.

  “Let me jump down into the car while you open the doors. If there’s enough clearance, I may be able to help get him out. Any word on those hydraulics yet?” Tobias asked.

  “Negative. Sutton can’t get near the door to the basement,” Brax answered.

  “Okay, so we go with this.”

  “Be careful, Tobias. If anything happens to you, your mates will set my ass on fire,” Wyndingo called to him.

  “Okay, Chief.”

  Tobias went back to the hatch and pulled it open. It was dark inside and even though he was nearsighted in his animal form, thanks to his shifter genes, Tobias was still able to see. “Hi, Sara.”

  “Tobias!” She cried out as their gazes met, and a big smile spread across her lips.

  “I shifted to get up here to you, so I apologize, but I’m naked. I need to get down there so when the guys open the doors, I can assist you.”

  Sara giggled. “That’s okay, Tobias. I have kids so it’s not like I haven’t seen a…well, you know, before.”

  Just then Onyx called out, “Sara, we’re about to open the doors, stand clear.”

  Sara moved back against the far wall, she had a little one in her arms who was covered with a blanket. Brent lay on the floor unmoving and Tobias could see he was safely away as well.

  The doors opened, and Tobias watched as Onyx stuck his head in.

  “Hi Sara, I’m Onyx.” Then he looked up and met Tobias’s gaze, giving him a smile. “It’s all good, Tobias. There’s plenty of room for Sara and the others to get out. Come on down.”

  Tobias was relieved. What could have been even more harrowing by having to extract the humans from the elevator through the top of the car and into the shaft was now not a problem.

  Onyx sat on the edge of the floor and lowered himself the few feet into the car, then took the small child from Sara. He turned and handed the baby off to Wyndingo, then turned back to Sara. He held onto her as Brax and Dallas reached in and hoisted her up and out of the car, then Dallas jumped in, joining Onyx.

  “Come on down now, Tobias,” Dallas said.

  Tobias sat on the ledge, dangling his feet into the space. Dallas raised his arms to him and Tobias leaned in, being careful of his dangly bits, he grabbed Dallas’s hands. “Keep that bat and balls out of my face, dude,” Dallas bitched. Once he was balanced, he jumped. With Dallas’s help Tobias landed smoothly.

  “How’s he doing?” Tobias asked as he moved to stand beside Onyx who was now kneeling beside Brent.

  “He’s still breathing, but his pulse is very weak. We need to get him out of here. Chief, we need a neck brace and a backboard. With his head injury, I want to stabilize him.”

  A paramedic kit and duffle bag were dropped into the elevator, then Logan jumped in, surprising Tobias. Once inside, Logan tossed the duffle bag at Tobias. “There’s gear in there. Cover up, would ya? Your mates are pissed off enough without you showing the world your balls,” Logan grumbled, then immediately went to work on Brent.

  * * * *

  They all made their way out of the building with Tobias helping them carry the backboard which had Brent lying on it. He grew nervous when he saw his mates standing on the sidewalk, holding hands, their faces pale and eyes full of worry. Clove and Destrain spotted him at the same time and he saw relief fill their eyes, but it was quickly replaced with anger.

  Shit, he was in for it now.

  Once they had Brent secured on the stretcher and Sutton moved in to help Logan, Tobias stepped back and right into a hard wall. He gulped, then slowly turned to face his fate.

  Wyndingo and Nick stood there, with Destrain and Clove not far behind, but when his gaze shifted over their shoulders and he spotted the angry face of his mother, Tobias knew he was in for a world of hurt.

  “Have you lost your damn mind to go in a burning building with no gear?” Wyndingo said, at the same time as Nick said, “Are you fucking crazy? You could have died in there, Tobias. I know we trained you better than that.”

  He didn’t know where the burst of bravado came from. Maybe it was being dressed down in front of his mates, or the fact that his mother was there to witness yet another moment of humiliation, but suddenly Tobias couldn’t take it anymore and he exploded. “Look, I know I never should have gone in there without gear. Yes, you all have trained me amazingly, but even if I were on duty and in gear, I would have needed to shift to locate those humans anyway, so me being without my gear is a moot point. As for running in there, no one knew they were there. You all said the building was cleared, but obviously it wasn’t. And I know that both of you would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes. If either of you had sensed their presence, you would have been the first ones in there. I went in my animal form, so I would be closer to the ground and under the smoke. It also allowed me to get into small spaces. So, if you want to yell at me, then go ahead. If you want to suspend me, then I’ll take it, and if you’re going to fire me, then get it over with so I can get back to my mates.”

  Wyndingo and Nick both stood stone still just staring at him, but Tobias could see the wheels turning in their heads. The anger slid from Wyndingo’s face and was replaced with pride and…respect? Wow.

  Wyndingo stepped closer and placed a hand on Tobias’s shoulder. “I have never been prouder of you than I am right now, Tobias. It’s about time you stood up for yourself. You have always had the right stuff to be a firefighter. Your enthusiasm for the job was enough to prove to me, Nick, and Day, that this is where you belong.”

  Tobias’s heart filled with happiness hearing what the Chief was saying. They wanted him. They really wanted him and they thought he could do the job. He was so elated, Tobias thought for sure he could fly if he tried.

  “But hold on one minute before you go running around in celebration,” Nick said, his words crushing Tobias’s hopes.

  Wyndingo chuckled as he squeezed Tobias’s shoulder. “Before I go on, I need to ask you a question. How did you know they were there, when all our men checked that building from top to bottom and didn’t locate them?”

  Tobias swallowed, then took a breath and met Wyn’s gaze as he answered nervously, “It’s a ferret thing. Our vision sucks when in shifted form, but our other senses make up for it. Have you ever heard of when a human is blind their other senses are better? They can hear, smell, and taste better? Well, it’s the same thing for me. In shifted form, when my ferret can hardly see, my senses of hearing and smell increase immensely.”

  “But you were in human form when you approached the scene,” Devonte added as he joined them.

  Tobias turned his head to look at the captain. “Yes, but once I shift back to human form, my eyesight gets better, but my other senses don’t diminish. They stay the same,” Tobias explained.

  “That’s one of the many good reasons for having a ferret around. We can sniff out anything better than a wolf or one of those old bloodhounds,” Dolly exclaimed from where she stood.

  Wyndingo turned to face Nick and they shared a look that confused Tobias, but also made his gut clench at the same time. Wyndingo nodded, then turned back to face him. “Tobias, I know we had a meeting today to discuss your future with the Fire Department, but with the change of information and recent events, Tobias, I won’t be letting you go.”

  Tobias’s eyes opened wide as his brows rose into his hairline. “You won’t?”

  Wyndingo smiled. “No. In fact, Nick, Day, and I have been searching for another Arson Investigator to help Dallas here in Maddox and confer with Angelo over in Crystal. And after this little stunt you pulled today, we’d like to offer you that job.”

  Tobias was so shocked he couldn’t breathe, forget trying to speak
. They wanted him to be an Arson Investigator? That meant he could still be a firefighter but hardly ever have to go into danger, so Destrain would be happier. Most of his responsibility would be after the fire was put out, then leg work and desk work. Shit, first he helped rescue three people and now a perfect job for him. Could this day get any better?

  “We understand you need to talk it over with your mates, so we’ll give you a few days before you tell us your decision. But if what you say about your senses is true, and I do believe you, then the job will be perfect for you,” Wyn said.

  “Toby, sweetie, are you okay?” Clove asked as he and Destrain moved to either side of him and held him.

  He blinked a few times, then looked first to Clove, then Destrain, giving them each a smile. As his gaze met Destrain’s he said, “I know me being a firefighter worries you, Dezzy, but I know you would never ask me to give it up. This could be what we’re both looking for, mate. I can still be a firefighter, but I won’t be in danger all the time, like the other guys are.”

  Destrain gave him a loving smile as he leaned in and tenderly kissed his forehead. “You’re right, sweets, I would never ask you to give up your dream. But you’re also right that I think this will be the perfect job for you. With your wicked senses, you would be very beneficial to the Fire Department. If this is what you want, mate, then I’ll stand by you.”

  “That goes for me too, Toby. If this is what you want, then I say you should grab it with both hands,” Clove whispered into his ear from behind him, then kissed his neck.

  Tobias’s heart filled with love. He really was the luckiest man in the world to have these two wonderful men as his mates. Tobias nodded at each of them, then turned to face Wyndingo. “Thank you, Chief, for this honorable offer. I accept, and I promise to do the job to the best of my ability and to make you proud.”

  “I know you will, Tobias. Stop by Nick’s office in the morning and he’ll give you everything you need, as well as your new shield. Oh, and one more thing. Maybe once in a while, we can borrow you for our search and rescue team? You might be able to help us locate who we’re looking for just a tad quicker.”