Kristine was just about to hang up when she heard the tones ring out on the other side of the phone.
“Gotta go,” Jayce said, and the call disconnected.
* * *
The fire was along Charlestown’s waterfront. Trucks rolled out, with Jayce and Drake in the back of Ladder 9. Jayce didn’t recognize the address they’d been given. It could’ve been anything from a brand-new high-rise waterfront condo to one of the remaining warehouses. He just knew it wasn’t the naval shipyard. The Navy took care of its own.
The firefighters spotted plumes of smoke before they arrived. The fire appeared to be near the docks…probably one of the old warehouses. The brick building was only four stories high, but as they pulled up, Jayce saw smoke pouring out of some broken windows on the second and third floors. Flames shot out of the first-floor windows.
As soon as the firefighters jumped out of the truck, they began grabbing their gear, anticipating Captain Madigan’s shouted orders. The ladder truck’s aerial was being raised, and all the firefighters who were planning to go in were putting on their air masks and tugging on their gloves.
Drake was directed to the roof with the big K12 saw, along with another two firefighters. Jayce and two others were told to check the upper floors while staying in constant communication. They needed to locate the seat of the fire and relate their findings over the radio.
“I can check four, and you guys check two. We’ll meet on three.” Jayce charged up two floors and was on the top story before the other two finished the lower level. He moved lightning-fast across the large expanse, smoke filling the area so quickly and so densely that even with his superior vision he was having a hard time seeing much more than his hand in front of his face. He picked his way along the floor. Having not found signs of any fire yet, he turned a corner and moved along in that direction until he had to turn again. He kept picking his way across the long warehouse floor, which was filled with large boxes. Shelving was about the only differentiation. The windows were high, and as a result barely any light reached him.
The air was getting hotter, and he knew he must be getting closer to the area of the fire, but he still didn’t see any flames. The smoke may have been coming up through grates or the stairwell, but there was so much of it. He kept going, hoping there wasn’t any fire on this top floor yet.
Jayce listened for the captain’s voice over the radio. At last, the captain asked, “Fierro, have you got anything?”
“No, Captain. Just a lot of smoke.”
Captain Madigan barked the same question to the other two firefighters. One of them on the third floor, Walters, had found flames. He was approximating his location at fifty yards in, but Jayce knew that with smoke clouding everything, it was difficult to precisely calculate where you were in a building. The heat grew more intense as Jayce crept forward, zigzagging his way through the various paths created by stacked boxes and shelving.
If he didn’t find fire soon, he would guess that perhaps there had been a smoke bomb—or several—set off to cover the area and perhaps give the fire a chance to burn whatever evidence might be there. He had seen this once before in an arson case. It was a bitch to find anything when all you saw was smoke.
But since Walters found something Jayce decided he would backtrack and go help his buddy.
He bumped into the end wall of the building—how the hell had he gotten so turned around? Thankfully there was no fire on his floor, but the smoke was, if anything, worse than before. Then he spotted the vents and the floor grates that allowed smoke in from below. Smoke was pouring out of the grate near him. At least he knew where he was now.
It was time to lend his buddy a hand. He lifted the radio to his mouth. “Walters, are you on the third floor?”
The radio crackled. “Yes, third floor. Flames spreading fast here.”
“Second floor too, Fierro,” a firefighter named Harmon added. “It looks like it started on two and spread up to the third floor.”
“Fourth floor is secure. For now.” Jayce said. “I’m working my way back to the stairs, and I’ll meet you on the second floor, Harmon.”
The captain called out, “No, Fierro. I’m sending hoses to the second floor. You go to the third floor with Walters. The workers are accounted for, but you may find a visitor. They think someone made a delivery on the third without signing in.”
“You got it, Captain.” Jayce rushed across the floor, thinking he was retracing his steps. Suddenly he was bumping into another wall.Shit. Where did that come from?
One of the worst mistakes a firefighter could make was getting turned around in a building full of smoke. As he realized he had made that mistake and was in very real danger of not being able to find his way out, he thought about Kristine. What if she and her mother arrived to find no one waiting for them? What would she think? He doubted her first thought would be that he had been reduced to ash and reincarnated. Then he would have to spend the next several weeks in phoenix form until he reached maturity so he could shift into his adult body.Fuck.If he shifted tomorrow, he’d be an infant and unable to tell anybody anything.
He stuck close to the wall and moved in the direction he thought would lead him back to the stairs. But after a couple of minutes, when he came to the adjoining wall, he realized to his horror he had gone further into the building and not toward the entrance at all.
“Goddamn it!” As much as he didn’t want to admit he had made a mistake, he knew he should let his fellow firefighters know he wasn’t coming—at least not as quickly as he would have liked to. He hoped they wouldn’t panic and try to find him. They were mortal and would be putting their own lives in danger.
He bumbled his way along the other wall, seriously not knowing which way he was going. He figured he must be against the long wall. If he just moved away from the short one, then he would be heading back the way he had come. Thick smoke surrounding him made it impossible to see anything. The floor had heated to a point where he imagined it wouldn’t be much longer before it reached its flashpoint.
He moved faster and hugged the wall, hoping he would find an opening quickly.
“Fierro, where are you?” It was Harmon speaking.
Jayce should have joined him by now. As much as Jayce hated to do it, he had to tell the truth. “I got turned around. I’m finding my way out against the long wall.”
He heard the captain swear.
“Is there fire where you’re at, or is it just smoke, Fierro?”
