ONE
Samantha Williams pulled the fire hood over her head, slid her arms into the self-contained breathing apparatus harness, adjusted the shoulder straps, and fastened the belt as Ciaran “Murph” Murphy cut the siren of Engine 4 and eased it to the curb. Once they were stationary, everyone deployed from the truck without a word about Sam’s phone call just now.
The vibration from her elderly, busybody neighbor’s call still tingled against her palm. If her crew saw the tension in her face, they might ask what was wrong. Normal people wouldn’t be thrown by something as simple as running late; they’d wonder why it affected her so much.
Greer slammed the door shut. “Ready?”
“Am I ever not?” Sam tried to find a smile and go back to being their teammate rather than the guardian of a teenage girl. Right now they had a fire to fight. There was nothing she could do about the fact that Isabella had left for school later than usual. Harmless, really—what teenager didn’t oversleep on occasion? But Sam’s pulse spiked anyway. In their world, even small details could draw attention, and attention led to questions—questions she could never answer. Isabella relied onher to keep her safe, and Sam knew any slip could put them both at risk.
Sam donned her fire helmet, leaving the mask unsecured for now, and shook out her gloves before she jogged around to the hose compartment, grabbed a section, and let the roughly twenty pounds fall onto her shoulder.
This was always when she found her focus. When the weight ofthisjob—and not motherhood—hit her. If she wasn’t all-in, nothing-else-matters with the job of being a firefighter, someone could die.
Sam used her left hand to grab a loop of the hose behind her and maintain control. It would let her know if there was resistance because someone stepped on the line, if it got snagged, or if she’d reached the end. Then she could start dropping line from her shoulder.
She focused on running the line perpendicular to the engine and up to the front of the old commercial building. Was this another arson or just faulty wiring?
Mason Greer followed behind her, making sure the line wouldn’t kink once the water flowed. Then he’d help advance the line into the building.
Captain Cole Bennett and Zachary Holt had already forced entry through the front door, giving her and Greer access to the fire.
She laid the nozzle on the ground long enough to put on her mask. Sweat had already started to form across her brow from the fire’s heat. Once the mask was on, the flow of oxygen replaced the thick smell of smoke. All she needed now was the?—
“Water!” Murph yelled over the radio.
Time to put out the flames.
Sam led the attack line through the building, dousing the flames while Greer supported the hose from behind. The fire grew in intensity as they neared the center of the building. As ifsomeone had started the main fire as well as little ones on their way out. Another one for the Renegade arsonist.
If someone had asked her years ago where she would be right now, fighting fires in Renegade, Colorado, with a new identity would not have been her answer. No. She’d still be Madison Johanson the nurse. Probably working twelve-hour shifts in a hospital somewhere. Making sure her little sister had a better life than she’d had—three meals a day, weather-appropriate clothing, shoes that fit and weren’t falling apart. Things the average person would consider necessities but which had been luxuries for Madison. No one else was going to do it for Anna—now Isabella.
Samantha shoved thoughts of her neglected childhood from her mind. No use bringing up the past when it was as dead as Madison. There was a job to be done—a job that meant saving lives and using her training to stay safe so she could get home, where her real job began. The one where she raised her sister better than their mother had raised Madison.
She’d done a bang-up job of that, considering they were in WITSEC now. One traumatic childhood traded for a slightly less traumatic childhood. At least Isabella had someone to fight for her.
Her teammates shouted out their progress as they pushed deep into the bowels of the abandoned building until the flames were extinguished.
“Keep the line charged while we do the overhaul. Williams, get ready to hit it if it lights back up,” Captain Bennett ordered before inspecting the largest burn area. “This where it was the heaviest?” He pointed to a heap of debris in the middle of the open space.
“Yes,” she responded.
He held the thermal imaging camera up to the area and then ran it around the room. “Thermal’s clear.”
Sam followed the crew as Captain Bennett thoroughly inspected the rest of the structure.
“Building’s cold. Let’s clean it up.”
They filed out of the structure and started cleanup.
Sweat rolled down her back as she folded the hose. She couldn’t wait to get back to the station and shed her turnout gear.
“Excuse me.” A small voice sounded from behind Sam as she rolled the hose.
Sam turned and found a little girl with blonde pigtails and tear stains on her cheeks. She knelt down. “Are you okay?”
The little girl shook her head, sending her pigtails swinging. “My mommy said if I ever need help, to find a policeman or a fireman.”
“Your mommy is very smart. Are you lost?” Sam looked up as a woman in khaki capris and a green T-shirt jogged up.
