Someone to Trust. Ginny Aiken

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      He heard her sob, watched her bring a fist to her mouth. Her misery drew him.

      As he approached, his steps slow and tired, he ran a hand down his sweat-dampened face. A glance at his hand showed traces of soot—a common job hazard. He swiped it against his tan gear, then realized the action might have made matters worse.

      The closer Rand went, the more intently he watched her. With her tangled hair, long-sleeved Tarheel Basketball T-shirt, drawstring flannel pants and running shoes with a hole in the right toe, she looked appealing in a true girl-next-door way. She’d obviously changed into sleepwear before she’d received Neal’s call and had rushed out to her father’s side. It seemed Cate loved her father as much as Rand knew Joe loved her.

      “Hey,” he said. “I just spoke to one of the EMTs. They don’t mind if you ride with Joe in the ambulance. I figured you’d want to.”

      The breath she drew sounded ragged, rough and heavy, maybe with the dissipating smoke. “To be honest, I didn’t get so far as to think about that. I’m kind of numb. All I could think about was that Dad had survived. Thanks for getting him out.”

      “No problem—and I didn’t do it single-handed.” He glanced toward the ambulance. “I’d like to go see how he’s doing, but I have to stay here and step into his shoes—an impossible challenge—but he hired me to be his number two, and I owe him my best on the job. That, and to make sure he gets to the hospital as soon as possible. With you at his side.”

      A strange undercurrent flew between them. Cate stood taller. “I’m sure you’ll get a chance to visit him soon enough.”

      He shrugged. “Yeah. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

      “Well, thanks. Again.” As she started toward the ambulance, she gave him a last look over her shoulder, a slight smile on her lips. “I’m sure I’ll see you around the hospital.”

      She hurried off to the ambulance, and Rand stood still for a second or two. What had she seen when she’d turned to look at him? It had made her smile…sort of. For a moment, he wished he still looked like the popular football team captain and Honor Society member he’d once been, the guy she probably remembered from high school.

      On the other hand, maybe when she looked at him, Cate saw the arson investigator for the Charlotte Fire Department he’d been in the years between high school and his recent return. He wondered if she’d heard all the stories that seemed to have mushroomed in town. Winnie Zook, the town’s most avid gossip, had been heard telling those who’d listen that Rand had come back to the slower-paced Loganton Fire Department not just to put out fires, but to follow in his father’s footsteps and sell books on his own time. As soon as he’d started knocking around in his father’s old bookstore, tearing down walls and sawing at all hours—when not on duty, of course—Winnie had taken to stopping by to chat. She’d also made a point of strolling past the plate glass window and peeking in every so often, since the former Reading Corner sat next to her knitting goods store.

      Rand had no idea what he was going to do with his father’s old store, but remodeling the space gave him something to do in his downtime. He sure wasn’t going to bother arguing with Winnie, much less those others who insisted he’d come home to write the Great American Novel, based on his experiences. Or even with those Logantonians who just knew he was hiding out from the mob—he had helped put away a number of organized crime types who torched property for the insurance pay-off, after all.

      The multiple theories, creative as they were, made Rand laugh. He’d come back home because it was home. He knew everyone in town, and he wanted to make a difference in their lives. True, he’d left all those years ago for practically the same reason. A family tragedy had turned his life upside down. His cousin Ross’s death had been hard to take, especially since it had been Rand’s first call as a rookie volunteer firefighter. He hadn’t wanted to face the loss of another person he loved, or even knew.

      In time, he’d realized he was lonely in Charlotte. So he’d come back. Now, he’d faced the very issue that had sent him running in the first place. And he’d dealt with it. He hoped it grew easier as he went along. He’d have to ask Joe for advice once the older man was well enough.

      But he sure couldn’t tell the citizens he’d been hired to protect why he’d left as a young man. Or why he’d come back. It might make him sound pathetic, certainly not strong enough to keep them safe.

      The ambulance door slammed shut behind Cate. He wondered which of the lurid tales about him she’d heard, what she’d thought of him. Had she seen a competent firefighter, her father’s second in command, a successful professional concerned about a man who’d been there for him when Rand had needed comfort and guidance after his father died?

      He and Cate had never had much in common. She’d been a flake; he’d been serious, studious, driven. But tonight, those differences didn’t matter.

      Rand glanced back at the burnt building. The moonlight highlighted the shell that remained of the vintage structure against the smoky sky. What a loss. Buildings like the theater were vanishing treasures. He hated seeing them like this.

      At least no lives had been lost. Joe and Wilma should, with good medical care, recover.

      As he headed back toward his clustered men, the image of Cate’s face flashed through his thoughts. He felt the sudden urge to hurry to the hospital, to tell her Joe would be fine, to comfort her in her time of need.

      He had no earthly idea why the urge was so strong. He just knew he wanted to see Cate again.

      The ambulance pulled away from the scene, siren blaring, the EMTs working on her father. Cate shrank into herself, tried to take up the least amount of the limited space. As random medical equipment bleeped and flashed, she watched her dad’s face.

      He’d open his eyes for a moment, then, obviously drained, he’d surrender and his eyelids would droop back down. The next time he opened them again, she saw him look around, work to focus and when he spotted her, struggle to raise his head.

      Ann Davies, one of the EMTs, turned to Cate. “He’s trying to say something, but the mask is in the way. He needs the oxygen right now, though.”

      Her father’s urge to communicate encouraged Cate. “Can you lift the mask for a second? Just enough for him to talk.”

      Tethered to the narrow gurney, Joe Caldwell, a huge bear of a man, dwarfed the tight confines of the ambulance. As Ann considered Cate’s request, he grew more agitated.

      Cate tried again. “He’s upset. Let him tell us what he wants and then he’ll probably settle back down. He’s a pretty stubborn guy.”

      With a final measuring glance at Joe, Ann gave Cate a nod. “Come closer, right down here so he can whisper.”

      Cate couldn’t have imagined what her father finally said.

      “Not just fire…” he said in a wheezy, scratchy whisper. “Explosion…meth lab in the front of the basement…”

      “Meth lab!” In the last year and a half, Loganton had seen the drug make inroads into the community. True, a meth lab had been found and a couple of dealers jailed, but not before the drug had claimed its victims.

      Hopefully, it wouldn’t claim an additional two tonight.

      Dad was a fighter and СКАЧАТЬ