I wasn’t about to argue. Instead, I pushed aside my displeasure of having to wait until later that day or that night to meet up with Aaron and our security firm. As much as I needed to find out what was going on with Michelle and this Gabriel Garcia, it would have to wait.
****
I’ve got a bad feeling about this one.Those were my thoughts as soon as our rig pulled up in front of the row home. The third home in was on fire and that presented the risk of engulfing the surrounding homes. Rescue Four was the first on the scene.
“Anyone inside?” Captain Waverly asked the police officers who’d arrived first at the scene.
“Got an anonymous tip that said there was a woman and two kids inside.”
A boulder felt like it’d settled in my stomach. I made eye contact with Don, who was now scowling having overheard the officer’s words.
“A fucking tip?” Don questioned.
The officer nodded. “Yeah, caller said there was a house on fire and a woman and her kids were inside, then hung up.”
This didn’t sound right at all.
“We need to get inside,” Captain stated.
By then Corey, myself, and Don were all moving to the back of the truck, picking up our gear.
“I need to remain out here to direct the next truck when it arrives,” Captain informed us, but we were already aware of that.
“We can move a line in on the front door. We’ll need to check downstairs, too. All of these homes have basements,” I stated. I glanced over my shoulder to see Corey right behind me and Don close to him. I nodded and we all lowered our masks to cover our faces and began making our way to the door. I held the nozzle of the hose in my hand and pulled it along with each step. Even though water wasn’t flowing through the hose just yet, it was still heavy.
I touched the door handle and it felt warm to the touch but not too hot. I twisted and to my surprise the door easily opened. A nagging feeling moved down my spine. One that I didn’t like.
“Stay on my ass!” I told Corey and Don behind me. Both men nodded.
We pushed through the door and the entire first floor was engulfed in thick, black smoke. It was damn near impossible to make out even a few inches in front of me, let alone a few feet. I had to resort to feeling around for the layout of the house. If this was anything like the previous fires where there were a mother and her children, they would likely be upstairs in one of the bedrooms.
“The stairs!” I yelled through my mask. I felt a tap on my shoulder, letting me know they’d heard me and were following. Using my free hand as my eyes, I felt along the wall of the living room until I reached what felt like a bannister. Moving my hand upwards and taking a step in front of me, I realized I had reached the staircase. I didn’t waste any time as I rushed up the stairs, tugging the nozzle of the firehose, hearing the loud footsteps of the two guys behind me.
“Fire department!” I yelled as we ascended. “Anybody in here! Call out!” I continued to repeat, along with Don and Corey.
We reached the top of the stairs and I turned right while I directed Corey to go left. There were closed doors in either direction. It looked like at least two bedrooms and possibly a bathroom that needed to be checked. Don made his way to the bathroom that was close to the entrance of the stairway.
“Shit!” he cursed when flames shot out of the door. “Anything that’s in there isn’t making it out,” he informed solemnly, shutting the door.
I glanced up, seeing fire blaze across the wooden beams of the house. We needed to make this quick as I didn’t know how long we had until the entire roof collapsed.
“Fire department!” I yelled again, banging on the door to my right. It was unlocked and I pushed through, glad to see flames weren’t waiting on the other side of this door. It was filled with smoke, however. I searched the room, again using my hands as guideposts.
“Rescue Four, I think I go–AHH!”
I stood. “Corey! Come in! Rescue Four to Corey!” I immediately backtracked out of the room I’d just been in to head down the hall in the opposite direction where Corey had gone. The yell he’d just let out into our intercom had made every hair on my body stand on end.
“Don! Where’s Corey?” I questioned when my hand in front of me hit Don’s shoulder.
“He entered the second room on the left. Corey!” Don called as we ran down the hallway.
We reached the door at the same time, and to my horror, I could make out Corey sprawled on the floor.
“Rescue Four to the captain. Come in! Rescue Four to Captain Waverly!” I yelled into the intercom.
“Captain Waverly to Rescue Four.”
“Cap, Corey’s hurt.” I paused, looking up and seeing where the wooden beam that now rested on top of Corey’s right leg had fallen from. “Beam fell on him.”
