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I hope wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, that you’re happy and fulfilled. I think I can survive being apart if I can think of you happy somewhere in the world.
My love forever,
Otto
(Unsent)
It was the middle of the night when I got the call about the house fire at Bill and Shelby’s old place. I was dead asleep at the lake house, and Otto was at his little cabin on the ranch. It was a rare night the two of us had ended up sleeping apart. The dispatcher’s tone pealed through my quiet house, and I was up dressing within seconds.
“Walker,” I grumbled into the phone, expecting an auto accident or domestic disturbance that needed extra hands. But what I hadn’t expected was to be told about a massive inferno between the Wilde ranch and my parents’ place.
“Where? Say again?” I barked.
The overnight dispatcher repeated the address, and I felt a momentary relief it was an abandoned house on fire rather than one with people sleeping in it. But then I realized it was only separated by some woods from the house where my girl lay sleeping in her bed.
“I’m on my way,” I told the woman before clicking off and dialing Jolie. The phone rang and rang while I finished dressing and grabbed my things before racing to my vehicle. No answer.
I hung up and tried again. Still no answer. Next I tried my parents’ house phone and heard my father’s voice pick up on the fourth ring. He sounded surprisingly awake for the middle of the night.
“Hello?”
“Dad, it’s me. Bill and Shelby’s old house is on fire and it’s serious. I can’t get a hold of Jolie, so I need you to go over there and move them to your place please in case the fire spreads through the trees.”
“Oh, wait… hold on a minute, Seth.”
I heard muffled noises before my father came back on, and I assumed he was getting dressed. “Got it. I’m headed there now. I’ll get them. Don’t you worry.”
On the way to Bill and Shelby’s I thought about how selfishly thankful I was Otto wasn’t on duty, but I realized he needed to know what was going on. I dialed his number but got no answer. I tried again with the same result. It wasn’t like him to mute his phone. The Hobie Fire Department was small enough that if extra hands were needed, they’d call him in on his days off. For that reason alone, both of us slept near our phones at night.
I tried one more time.
When I got to the scene, I realized he’d already learned of the fire and responded to join his crew in fighting the blaze. I spotted him pulling on turnout gear as fast as he could before grabbing an SCBA with a tank from the truck. What the fuck was he doing with breathing gear when he wasn’t going into the dwelling?
As soon as the mask was on his face, he raced toward the house.
“No!” I shouted, running for him at top speed as soon as I figured out what he was up to. “Otto, stop!”
Either he didn’t hear me or he ignored me on purpose. His single-minded purpose was apparent in the way his legs ate up the ground. Several of his crew tried to stop him, but he entered the side door by the kitchen before anyone could get to him.
“Otto!” I screamed again. I got almost to the door before someone practically tackled me to keep me from entering the place. “Stop. We need to stop him,” I said in complete panic mode. The house was already partially engulfed and walking into it was a suicide mission.
My heart hammered with fear, and my lungs were quickly filling with smoke. I realized the person holding me back was Daevon. “You have to go in there and get him,” I said. “You have gear on, Dae, you can get him.”
He shook his head. “Chief is on the radio chewing his ass out but said no one goes in after him. It’s too dangerous.”
I scrambled out of his arms and raced for the truck. I knew where they kept the extra sets of gear. I’d fucking go in there myself and get him if I had to. What if he got hurt? What if a beam fell and brought him down again like the branch had during the Amarillo fire?
Chief Paige grabbed my arm. “Sheriff, I can’t let you do that.”
“Someone has to go get him. If you won’t, I will.” My voice was hoarse and begging, my throat scorched raw from the thick smoke on the scene and my screaming at Otto to stop. “Why did he do that? There’s no one in there.”
Suddenly, Otto’s figure appeared in the doorway again and he stumbled out onto the driveway. I raced for him and noticed he was carrying something in one of his hands. A photo album maybe.
