Page 47 of Tempting Fire

“No,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Cut yourself some slack.” Drake came up from behind and picked up two of the cups they had poured. “I don’t tell Karen a lot of what goes on at work. Work is work, and home is home. If the guys come over, then we talk about it. The same will be for you and Zarek.”

Chloe bit her bottom lip. It was a pretty big assumption that there would be a future for her and Zarek. Hell, they’d only shared a couple of kisses.

An older man strode into the room. “Listen up.” Everyone left their tables and gathered around him.

Mrs. Leonard sidled up to Chloe and said, “he’s Gus.” Chloe remembered that was the man who had taught Zarek how to cook.

“They haven’t been able to contain the fire to just one warehouse, it jumped to the adjacent building. People were inside despite orders to evacuate.”

“Mother of God,” one woman gasped.

“Are they stupid?” Another man said angrily.

“We have multiple stations working the fire.”

“I found it! It’s right here on Channel Six!” Everyone turned away from Gus and rushed to the television that was now showing the out of control fire that was being filmed from a helicopter.

“Jesus.”

“That’s our guys! Look!”

Chloe frantically scanned the scene in front of her, but she couldn’t tell who any of the miniscule personnel were. What she could see is that ladders were pressed up against the three-story warehouse building and men were climbing them. She reached out both hands, Drake grabbed one, and Evie grabbed the other.

Before her very eyes, one of the sections of the roof collapsed. Please God. Please God. Please God. Say that no one was in the building. There was a hush in the station house.

One of the people on the ladders went into the third-floor window. She heard someone behind her gasp.

“Turn that off.”

“Leave it on.”

Chloe couldn’t move a muscle. The helicopter shifted and then they were seeing the two warehouses. So many firetrucks, so much fire. How could anybody be expected to survive. She must have cried out or something. The next thing she knew, Drake had his arms around her, but her eyes never left the television.

“People, these men and women are the best of the best,” Gus’ voice boomed out. “I am getting up-to-the minute information. Not one Dallas fire fighter has gotten so much as a hangnail. I don’t want to have to do blood pressure checks on all of you because you got upset about a little video. Let’s move away from the television and sit back down.”

Drake’s voice rumbled, “I like him.”

“What about the fools they have to rescue?” one man shouted out.

“Mr. O’Hearn, they aren’t fools,” Gus said. “According to sources at the scene they were doing inventory at the second warehouse and they didn’t get the notification about the evacuation.”

“The sirens didn’t give it away?” another woman asked sarcastically.

“Gus, do they have a headcount of how many people who need rescuing?” Drake asked.

“There’s eight still unaccounted for,” Gus answered.

Chloe blocked out the grumbling and instead focused on the screen. She saw another person on one of the ladders climb into a window. That had to be the reason they were going inside, they must be trying to rescue the workers.

Please God, let everyone be safe.

She heard someone whispering the words to ‘Hail Mary’ behind her. Then she thought she caught the same prayer being uttered in Spanish, but she wasn’t sure.

“People, this is going to be at least another hour or two. I made some chili, who wants some?”

Gus’s offer was met with dead silence.