Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46257 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
In a second, I feel the sting of the outside air. Fresh air mixed with the smoke now. And without even giving it a second thought, I’m out on the ledge.
Looking down, I watch the whole view of the street and the smoke starting to spin.
I grip the pillar next to me, frozen with regular old fear now.
That instinct? It got me to the ledge, away from flames. But I need to rely on common sense now.
Whatever went bang has done its thing, and although the office is lit up behind me, I can see real flames and smoke jetting from the old warehouse next door.
Slowly, I try to edge my way around the stone pillar on the ledge, but I can’t.
I’m just freezing up from the height I’m at and not even knowing what’s around the corner out here.
The sounds of people calling out make me look down again.
They’re out! I spend a second or two counting them off in my mind. Doing my duty but distracting myself from screaming out loud again.
One missing? Oh. That would be you, Bridget.
Shit.
Whoever else was in the building had all filed out, Naomi being dragged back by someone as she calls out to me.
Shouting she’s sorry.
Not as sorry as I’m gonna be in a minute.
I gulp hard, choking back tears and a lungful of hot smoke.
Now would be a great time for that hero of mine, like in the books?
Any minute now…
I tell myself that, over and over.
Thinking of whoever was watching me this morning. Wishing I’d actually seen them. Waved or something.
I scream again, gripping the pillar for dear life now once there’s another explosion from next door.
A ball of flames shoots up the side of the building.
The sound of the fire bell still ringing is the only thing I can really hear.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ash
It feels wrong.
Not just because she’s a younger girl and I’m an older guy.
And not because I haven’t even met her, not officially.
I mean, it just feels wrong to be driving in the other direction from her.
Although, I have been driving pretty aimlessly.
And is every other store a bridal boutique, jeweler, or baby outlet, or is it just me?
My aching cock in my uniform pants and the fresh memory of my mystery girl are intense enough.
But there’s something else….
That firefighter’s instinct that tells me something isn’t right by the time I’m almost out of the city center.
I’ve never ignored you once, gut. And I’m not about to start now.
I switch directions, peeling my truck on the slippery roads, back to the old bank.
Back to her.
I dunno. Something just says to go back.
A few miles in, I can already feel my heart pounding. That feeling we all get when we get the call for an emergency.
The scanner crackles, and I feel my stomach drop when I hear the call.
Buildings alight, evacuated. Except for one.
“…Uh. There’s a girl on the third story ledge, east….”
My knuckles tighten on the wheel, and I feel my jaw flex as I start to weave through traffic picking up speed.
Before I even hear the location, I know.
I just fucking know.
Old bank. The same damned street I saw her dropped off at this morning. And if that’s my fucking girl on that ledge?
Don’t even think it, Ash. Just drive. Get there and assess the situation.
But the channel has sprung to life. Every station, truck, and free hand is ready to respond.
But still, I’m closer.
“Uhh… Unit 249, we can get the pump truck in, E.T.A about…five minutes. But the lift? We got a fifteen-minute delay on that one…damned roadwork. Someone get their ass in there. Go get that girl.”
Chief!? I’ll take that as a direct order.
Stack's gruff tone over the airwaves is good to hear, even if his news isn’t.
I feel my years of experience on the job more than ever the closer I get. I’ll do what it takes if it’s my girl up there.
If it’s anyone else up there? I’ll still do what it takes. It’s not just my job. It’s who I am as a person.
It’s why I do what I do.
Seeing the smoke long before I see the flames and it feels like too long as I end up cutting through alleys and even hopping the occasional empty sidewalk to get to her sooner. I can hear the familiar wail of sirens, and if the traffic I had to deal with just now is anything to go by, the Chief’s right.
They’re gonna be too late.
“This is why I don’t like days off, Stack,” I growl even though he’s not here, honking my way through the crowd of onlookers. Sensible enough to stay well back from what I can see, it’s a shitfight, and the fire’s winning.
There’s a dull thud of an explosion from what I assume is the fire’s cause. An old warehouse, almost gutted already by the looks of it.