“There’s another fire up ahead. I can see the faint glow, and if I’m judging it right, it’s damn close to my house,” I told her. “I just called dispatch, and they said someone had reported a very large fire and they had sent several crews.”
She paused for a moment before what I had said sank in. “The other fire wasn’t just a distraction to get you away from the house.”
“It was also to divert resources,” I confirmed.
“I’ll call it in and have the crews move to your house ASAP,” she said. “Do not go too close to the house, Hector. Wait until crews can get there.”
“I gotta go,” I told her, hanging up the phone.
There was no way I was standing by if my house was on fire.
25
“Murphy’s Law of fire alarms: they only happen in the middle of the night and when you are wearing your ugliest pajamas.”
—It’s science
Iris
“Hey, Ann. How are—” I started to say, but she shoved her way in and interrupted me.
“Are you alone? Where’s Hector?” she asked, very jittery and clearly on edge.
Before I could answer, a second person slid in through the front door and closed it quickly.
Sarge barked at the newcomer and then began to sniff him up and down as though he held a thousand snacks in his pants.
“Iris, this is Steve Stanton, the podcaster who wrote you the letter.” Ann waved her hand to point at him quickly.
I felt my eyes bug out of my sockets as she introducedhim. “Who…What…” I started to speak, but Ann cut me off again.
“Where is Hector? Did he already leave?”
Now was about when my Spidey-senses started to go off. How did she know Hector was leaving? And why did she come here if she knew he might not be here? And why was the weirdo podcaster here?
“Ann, what’s going on?” I asked her.
“Please, I promise I will tell you everything, but I need to know how long ago Hector left,” she begged.
“About ten, maybe fifteen minutes ago for the fire,” I told her, although I was a bit confused because she would have known that if she had answered her phone.
She had brushed past me in her quest to search the house for Hector, and Steve was standing just inside the door. I was going to ask him what was going on, but Ann had quickly returned and was now facing me.
“Where?” she asked, both unsettled and a bit distracted.
“Ranger Jennings called to tell him there was a fire somewhere on the north side, up near the campgrounds,” I told her. “It must be new because they hadn’t called it in yet.”
“How do you know they hadn’t called it in yet?” she asked anxiously.
“I was just on the phone with my colleague Christine at the weather service, and she said no one had reported it yet. She was going to call Hector as soon as she got off the phone with me.”
She stood there staring off into the living room instead of responding. Her breathing was very fast, and she seemed flushed. I started to get a little worried. Even Sarge was a bit apprehensive. He normally went up to anyone who came in the house to see if he could get some free belly rubs out of them, but he had chosen to return to my side instead, watching warily as the scene in front of me unfolded.
“Okay, this is good,” she said, nodding, and then she turned to Steve. “We all need to go. Now. And bring your phone because mine died.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, starting to get a little scared.
“It’s Jennings,” she said, looking around the kitchen like she was searching for something. “Where is Sarge’s leash? We need to go and get you somewhere safe.”
