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“Not you, Taylor. You need to sit this one out. Go with Rescue 31 to the ER with their patient. You’re too close to this.”
“She’s not here. You said it yourself. Her SUV isn’t even here.” I want to stay and help. It’s what I do; what I’m trained for.
The Chief puts his hand on my shoulder. “Hudson,” He never calls me by my first name, “… the Fire Marshal is calling this arson. You can’t be involved. It’s a crime scene.”
“What? Arson?” I turn back to what’s left of Kate’s house as this sinks in. Arson?
“Where’s Kate right now?” he asks me.
I shake my head. “I don’t know. She told me this morning she was going to go pick up Pepper from Mom’s house and then stay the night at her place. Here.” I point to the smoldering pile of what’s left of her house.
“Call her. Text her. Find her. I know what happened when she was a little girl. You don’t want her to find out about this from a stranger. She’s going to need you, and honestly, we need to make sure she’s safe.”
I nod and pull out my phone and call Kate, but it just goes straight to voicemail. I text her to call me, but those three little dots never pop up.
“Rescue 31 is ready. Go to the ER and they’ll take you back to the station when they’re done. You stay away from here and just be with Kate. Okay?” He tells me and I nod.
As I’m looking for Rescue 31 among all the other vehicles on scene, I hear something familiar.
“Honk!”
I look around and see Betty standing next to the other bystanders, holding Wilbur in her arms. He’s flapping his wings, trying to get away from her. I can see the tears in Betty’s eyes.
“Are you okay, Betty?” I ask her as I pet Wilbur’s chest and he settles down.
“She’s not in there, right?” The fear in her voice is clear.
I shake my head, “No. She’s not here.”
She gives me a small smile. “Thank God for small miracles.”
“Are you and Wilbur going to be okay?”
“Yes. Go. Do what you need to do.” She shoos me off. “I’ve got him. He’s safe.”
“Damit! Let me go, you barbarians!” I hear from the back of Rescue 31.
I wave at Betty and Wilbur as I run over to help when I see Gladys sitting on the stretcher with her arms and legs flailing about. “What’s going on, Gladys?” I ask as I climb into the back of the truck.
“You! Tell these people I’m fine.” Gladys coughs. “I don’t need to go to the hospital. I need to talk to the cops!” She coughs again as she’s trying to pull the oxygen mask off her face.
“Ma’am. You have smoke inhalation. You need to go to the hospital to get checked out and you have to keep the mask on your face,” Janet, the paramedic from Rescue 31, says as she fights with Gladys.
“Let me.” I take the mask from Janet’s hands.
“Good luck.” She mumbles as she hands over the mask.
“Look, Gladys. There’s a cop following us to the hospital. You can talk to him there once the doctors check you out. I’m coming with you. Okay?” I hand her the mask, but she gives it a dirty look.
“Here we go.” Janet’s partner from the driver’s seat calls back to us, warning us we’re about to move.
I grab onto the overhead railing. “Come on, Gladys. Do it for Kate. You know she’d be pissed if you got sick because of all this.”
Gladys coughs, but resigns to my reasoning and takes the mask from me and puts it over her mouth and nose.
“Thank you.”
“I still want to talk to the cops.” Gladys says from under the oxygen mask. “I saw what that little creep did. I want to tell them about it.”
