Bear’s already halfway into his bunker gear. “That’s your sister’s street, Chief.”
“Yeah, I know.” I growl, yanking my turnout coat from the rack. “Drake, where’s Ember?”
“She’s at mine, Chief, with my daughter.”
I nod with a small sigh of relief, knowing my sister’s safe, but fear grips me by the throat knowing Sera could be inside the burning building.
The adrenaline hits like a freight train. Boots. Pants. Coat. Hood. Helmet. Gloves. In seconds, I’m climbing into the command vehicle, radio crackling in my ear.
As I pull out of the station with the lights on the command truck flashing, the guys are suited up and already in the fire engine following behind me.
I speak into the radio, “Dispatch, Engine One en route to Harbour Lane. Confirm possible entrapment?”
A voice crackles through the radio. “Affirmative, Chief. Caller reports flames visible from the front window. Unsure if occupant is still inside.”
Occupant.
The word sticks at the back of my throat, heavy and suffocating.
That occupant is Sera. My firecracker.
“Copy,” I manage, my throat tight. “ETA three minutes.” My siren wails as I race through town, weaving through traffic. Engine One hot on my tail with the rest of the crew.
“Call Seraphina,” I say to my phone.
“Calling Seraphina,” the monotone voice says, then the phone rings. And rings.
“Answer your phone, baby.”
Lights paint the road ahead with flashes of red and blue. Sirens scream in unison as we tear through the streets, but the ringing of her phone is the loudest as panic squeezes my lungs.
It goes to voicemail as we reach Harbour Lane.
I press the button for the radio. “Dispatch, Engine One on scene. Single-storey residential. Heavy smoke showing. We’re going in.”
The smell of acrid smoke and melted plastic filters through the vents. Through the haze, an orange glow flickers in the night.
Her bungalow. A silver car in the driveway.
My gut twists as I slam the command vehicle into park and jump out of the truck.
The fire engine screeches to a stop behind me. Drake’s boots hit the ground before the truck stops.
Bear jogs up beside me, hauling hose off the engine. “Sera’s home?”
“Yeah. Her car’s on the drive.” I shove my helmet on, clipping my chin strap. “She’s home.”
Flames glow through the living room window like a giant furnace.
“Lord have mercy,” Bear says.
“Kill the siren!” I bark. “Let’s move!”
“Charge that line!” I yell, dragging the hose towards the front door.
“Chief—”
I ignore the voice. I can’t think. Can’t breathe.
