the rest of her life.
Well, once was enough. If Adam wouldn’t back off on his own she was going to drag him to safety, just the way she should have dragged Vicki.
Bolting from cover, Sara heard a distant pop and felt tiny, bothersome bits of tree bark raining down on her head. She absently swatted them from her hair. Her one and only mission right now was getting to her friend and convincing him to flee.
Screaming “Adam!” she dodged equipment and jumped fat, wet fire hoses that coiled on the muddy ground like seeping, writhing snakes. “Adaaaaam!”
He whirled. Sara crashed into him. “You have to leave. Fall back.”
He grabbed her upper arms through the heavy canvas-like turnout coat she wore. “What do you think you’re doing? Get out of here!”
“I’m saving your life!” Hearing herself screeching she decided he wasn’t going to heed her warning unless she made it more specific. “The oxy tanks. If they fall and the valves break off they’ll turn into rockets.”
“With a fireball on the other end. Yeah, I know.” Taking one last look he pushed her ahead of him in a joint dash for cover.
Sara pointed. “That tree. Come on.”
Rounding it, she flattened her back against the trunk. Adam joined her. Her heart was already pounding from the scare he’d given her. Now, it took off at a gallop. This was one of those extraordinary moments when she wasn’t sure whether to weep or laugh. His handsome face was dotted with ash, smudged with smoke and his warm brown eyes were reddened. Nevertheless, the way he was staring at her was more than disconcerting.
His focus left her face to concentrate on a spot on the tree trunk directly above her head. When he removed one of his heavy gloves and touched the bark, more powdery bits and slivers rained down.
Sara brushed them away. “Stop that. You’re making a worse mess than the first time I hid here.”
His eyes were wide beneath the brim and clear faceplate of his helmet. “What first time? When did you notice this damage?”
“What damage? What are you talking about?”
Grasping her shoulders he turned her in place, still keeping within the shelter of the broad trunk. “This. See the hole?”
“We have worse things to worry about than a wormhole in a sycamore, Adam.”
He was shaking his head and glancing from side to side as if searching for someone or something. Finally, he said, “This is no wormhole, Sara. The damage is fresh. And judging by the wood that’s been displaced, the hole was probably made by a rifle bullet.”
“Why would anybody go deer hunting in town?”
When he placed both hands on the tree, trapping her, covering her, she began to feel surrounded even though he was only one man.
Adam raised his clear visor and leaned in to bring his lips closer to her ear.
Sara was so nervous, so unhinged by his nearness, she almost missed hearing him say, “They weren’t shooting at whitetails, Sara. They were shooting at you.”
Adam was ready to catch her if his frankness made her faint. It impressed him when she stayed firmly on her feet.
“What? What gives you that idea?”
“Logic. If somebody had had it in for police or fire they’d have aimed at our trucks and cars. You were standing behind this tree and nobody else was close by. Am I right?”
The fact that she simply nodded instead of arguing with him was telling. Hopefully, his sensible reasoning was getting through to her.
Her lips parted slightly and her fair complexion paled even more than usual, yet she was adamant. “Wait a second. I know what a rifle shot sounds like, the way it echoes and kind of whines. I did not hear anything like that.”
“Then maybe the bullet was from a pistol. I don’t know. I’ll report it so the cops can dig it out for evidence.”
As he spoke, Adam continued to scan their surroundings. His crews and engines were out of danger from the anticipated explosion. The telescoping snorkel was still pumping water on the rear of the building to cool it and protect nearby structures. There remained only one serious concern not taken care of. Sara Southerland. And a sniper.
Adam knew he could continue to physically block her if he had to but that left his own back exposed. Clearly, they needed better cover.
“We’ll make a run for Engine One and hunker down behind it. You go first,” Adam ordered.
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” she said hoarsely.
That was all it took to push him to the edge of his patience. “Somebody took a shot at you. You can’t stay here.”
“Then neither should you.”
“I said I was coming.” Adam knew he was shouting at her but it was for her own good. He stepped slightly to the side and gave her a push. “Move!”
This time there was no doubt he heard it. The bang. The whine. The thunk when the projectile imbedded in the sycamore mere inches from his head.
Instinct took over. Adam threw Sara to the ground behind a cluster of low-growing bushes, pinning her beneath him and ignoring her indignant sputtering. This was combat. In his mind he was back in the desert, under fire. Unprotected. Vulnerable. And unarmed.
Reaching for his radio he shouted, “Shots fired! Take cover!”
Seconds later his radio crackled a response in his earbud. “I’ve alerted the sheriff,” his dispatcher said. “That’s not your only problem, Captain. Miz Alt has a prescription for two H tanks like you thought. One was refilled and returned a few days ago.”
“Copy.”
Adam shifted, raising himself slightly to give Sara relief. She immediately tried to wiggle away but he stopped her. “No. Stay put.”
“I thought we were making a run for it.”
“Not now that we know the shooter is still active. There’s no way to get to the truck without showing ourselves. We’ll have to keep our heads down until the cops catch him or scare him off.”
Adam knew they’d also need to wait until something happened inside the burning building. Either the tanks would vent or explode or act like horizontal rockets and take out walls. Maybe they’d do all of the above, depending on when the fire reached them and how they were supported inside Bessie’s apartment. It was too much to hope they’d fall gently and withstand the spreading flames.
“Initial explosive hazard confirmed,” Adam broadcast on an open channel. “All units hold your positions. Nobody goes near this structure again until I give the all clear.”
Sara
