LITMIR.BIZ

       TWO

      Adam was ready to catch her if his frankness made her faint. It impressed him when she stayed firmly on her feet.

      “What? What gives you that idea?”

      “Logic. If somebody had had it in for police or fire they’d have aimed at our trucks and cars. You were standing behind this tree and nobody else was close by. Am I right?”

      The fact that she simply nodded instead of arguing with him was telling. Hopefully, his sensible reasoning was getting through to her.

      Her lips parted slightly and her fair complexion paled even more than usual, yet she was adamant. “Wait a second. I know what a rifle shot sounds like, the way it echoes and kind of whines. I did not hear anything like that.”

      “Then maybe the bullet was from a pistol. I don’t know. I’ll report it so the cops can dig it out for evidence.”

      As he spoke, Adam continued to scan their surroundings. His crews and engines were out of danger from the anticipated explosion. The telescoping snorkel was still pumping water on the rear of the building to cool it and protect nearby structures. There remained only one serious concern not taken care of. Sara Southerland. And a sniper.

      Adam knew he could continue to physically block her if he had to but that left his own back exposed. Clearly, they needed better cover.

      “We’ll make a run for Engine One and hunker down behind it. You go first,” Adam ordered.

      “I’m not going anywhere without you,” she said hoarsely.

      That was all it took to push him to the edge of his patience. “Somebody took a shot at you. You can’t stay here.”

      “Then neither should you.”

      “I said I was coming.” Adam knew he was shouting at her but it was for her own good. He stepped slightly to the side and gave her a push. “Move!”

      This time there was no doubt he heard it. The bang. The whine. The thunk when the projectile imbedded in the sycamore mere inches from his head.

      Instinct took over. Adam threw Sara to the ground behind a cluster of low-growing bushes, pinning her beneath him and ignoring her indignant sputtering. This was combat. In his mind he was back in the desert, under fire. Unprotected. Vulnerable. And unarmed.

      Reaching for his radio he shouted, “Shots fired! Take cover!”

      Seconds later his radio crackled a response in his earbud. “I’ve alerted the sheriff,” his dispatcher said. “That’s not your only problem, Captain. Miz Alt has a prescription for two H tanks like you thought. One was refilled and returned a few days ago.”

      “Copy.”

      Adam shifted, raising himself slightly to give Sara relief. She immediately tried to wiggle away but he stopped her. “No. Stay put.”

      “I thought we were making a run for it.”

      “Not now that we know the shooter is still active. There’s no way to get to the truck without showing ourselves. We’ll have to keep our heads down until the cops catch him or scare him off.”

      Adam knew they’d also need to wait until something happened inside the burning building. Either the tanks would vent or explode or act like horizontal rockets and take out walls. Maybe they’d do all of the above, depending on when the fire reached them and how they were supported inside Bessie’s apartment. It was too much to hope they’d fall gently and withstand the spreading flames.

      “Initial explosive hazard confirmed,” Adam broadcast on an open channel. “All units hold your positions. Nobody goes near this structure again until I give the all clear.”

      Sara nudged him. “I was right?”

      “Yes. Unfortunately, you were. As soon as...”

      A muted crash was followed milliseconds later by a whoosh and sounds of cracking and shattering. A flaming, rolling, expanding ball of gas filled the duplex to bursting and sent splintered windows and walls outward while the roof rose, fell and disappeared.

      Adam ducked instinctively. So did Sara. He covered her as best he could and stayed hunched over her until smoldering pieces of the destroyed building stopped falling around them.

      A cloud of acrid black and gray smoke boiled from the site of the explosion, filling the atmosphere and stealing breathable air. It rolled over the scene like a malevolent entity that was bent on hiding the carnage and claiming more victims.

      Adam’s ears were ringing. “Don’t inhale deeply,” he cautioned Sara. “Fumes from burning synthetics can kill you.”

      “Or you!” she replied, coughing and choking.

      “I’ll be okay. There’s plenty of O2 on the engines. Wait a minute more, then keep low while you head for the squad. This smoke will hide you. Get in with Forrester. Stay there and keep your head down, just in case.”

      “No. I can help out here. There may be injuries.”

      “There will be for sure if you keep being so stubborn,” he countered. “I can only do so much to protect you.”

      “I never asked you to.”

      “You didn’t have to,” Adam said soberly. “It’s what I do.”

      * * *

      Everyone’s adrenaline had dissipated to the point of exhaustion by the time all the firefighters except the mop-up crew had returned to the station. Disappointingly, the duplex was on the ground and no sniper had been located.

      Sara had given her statement about the deceased victim to police officers on scene, then ridden back with the rescue squad. The crews were done debriefing for the night, although their chief would later go over the primary attack on the fire and their coordinated efforts.

      On-duty firefighters were cleaning and restocking the equipment and the other volunteers had left for home. Sara would have been among them if Adam hadn’t specifically asked her to stay so they could speak in private.

      Weariness made her mood less than affable. “Well? What’s so important that we can’t let everybody in on it?”

      “You must know that better than I do. Talk. I’m waiting,” he said flatly.

      “For what? I’m as in the dark as you are about what happened tonight. Even if you’re right about those shots, I can’t lock myself in a closet and stay there to make it safe for the rest of the folks in Paradise.”

      “There’s a lot more to consider than that and you know it,” Adam argued. “I just want you to take reasonable precautions. The police agree. Nobody accidentally shoots the same tree twice in a row—while you happen to be standing under it.”

      Sara could picture Adam’s larger frame physically shielding hers. By the time the second bullet was fired he might have been in the way. Therefore, the assailant had little concern for which victim fell.

      “How do you know they weren’t shooting at you?”

      “Because I wasn’t there the first time.”

      “You were the second time,” she argued.

      He grimaced. “Don’t remind me.”

      Judging by his expression and the abrupt retort, he meant it. Well, fine. Sara chewed on her lower lip. She

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