Where There's Smoke.... Barbara McCauley

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СКАЧАТЬ we’re outta here pronto.”

      “No heroics, Cummings,” Griffin barked. “That’s a command, dammit. Get your ass out of there now.”

      “Two minutes,” Shane negotiated. “Get a ladder at the window and we’ll come through there.”

      While Chief Griffin erupted into a litany of expletives and threats, Shane hunkered down under the cloud of smoke and pressed forward. Matt moved with him.

      Adrenaline pumped through Shane’s blood as he edged around a wall of flames, then spotted the windows across the rows of desks in the office. Between the rubble and the smoke, it was impossible to see if anyone was lying on the floor. He made his way across the room, then spotted a pair of long, bare legs protruding from under a pile of ceiling tiles.

      “Found her,” Shane yelled back to Matt, then spoke into his headset again. “This is Cummings. I’ve located the female approximately six feet from the east window. She may be unconscious. Do you copy?”

      The hiss of static came back, then Griffin said, “We copy, Cummings. Get her and get the hell out of there.”

      “My plan exactly. Over.”

      Dropping to the pile of rubble on the floor, he pitched broken tiles and chunks of plaster until he finally uncovered the woman’s still body.

      She was young, probably early twenties, Shane noted as he scooped her up into his arms, and he doubted she tipped the scales past a hundred pounds. Though dust and soot covered her, he saw no evidence of burns on her clothes or her bare arms and legs.

      When he stood, her hair fell away from her face and her eyelids fluttered open. He saw the confusion and fear in her eyes as she looked up at him.

      “I’ve got you,” he yelled. “Is there anyone else in here?”

      He couldn’t hear what she said, but he hoped like hell her answer was no. Another explosion from somewhere overhead made him stumble backward. Shane gritted his teeth and held the woman close while debris rained down on them. She buried her head against his chest.

      “We have to go out through the window,” he yelled over the thunderous roar of the fire. “Can you hang on?”

      She nodded, then slid her arms up and circled his neck tightly.

      Holding the woman in his arms, Shane stepped to the window and opened it, felt his own lungs burn from the cloud of smoke that poured out into the crisp night air. He heard the din of men and women working below, saw the flash of red lights spinning from the trucks. There were shouts, then the ladder appeared.

      “Here we go.” Shane shifted the woman to one arm so the upper part of her body draped over his shoulder. He held her tight, then backed out of the window. Matt was right behind him.

      Shane had barely stepped off the ladder when another explosion blasted through the second story, blowing out the windows. He dropped to the ground, shielding the woman’s body with his own. She shuddered against him, held tightly to his jacket while glass and pieces of brick crashed down on them.

      Shane quickly glanced behind him to make sure Matt was all right, then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of his partner picking himself up off the sidewalk and giving him a thumbs-up.

      None too gently, Shane scooped the woman back up into his arms and made a dash to the waiting paramedics, who slid her onto a gurney and slipped an oxygen mask over her face. As they carried her away, Shane watched the woman lift her head and hold his gaze. She looked so small lying there, shivering. The sight of blood trickling down her soot-smudged forehead made Shane’s stomach constrict. He started to follow her, but was stopped short at the sound of Chief Griffin’s bellow.

      “Cummings!”

      Griffin, five foot ten and built like a bull, came charging at him. “I told you to get the hell out of there,” the chief roared. “I oughta suspend your ass for such a stupid stunt.”

      Shane removed his helmet and wiped the sweat on his brow. “I didn’t have a—”

      “Save it,” Griffin barked. “You’re bleeding, dammit. Go with the ambulance, then get your butt back to the station to file a report.”

      “Yes, sir.”

      The camera crews had already converged on the ambulance like spring locusts. Ignoring the microphones shoved in his face, Shane pushed his way through the crowd and climbed into the ambulance. The woman seemed to relax when he sat beside her. When he covered her slender fingers with his own and smiled down at her, she smiled weakly back, then closed her eyes and slipped into unconsciousness.

      Five seconds later, with the siren wailing and the lights flashing, they were headed for Brookline Hospital.

      “Emily…Emily…”

      The distant sound of a man’s voice pulled her out of the thick blanket of fog surrounding her, worsened the ache in her head and the burning in her chest. She felt as if she were floating somewhere, disembodied….

      “Emily, can you hear me?”

      Go away, she wanted to say, but couldn’t make her mouth move. Couldn’t make any part of her body move. She heard the ring of a telephone…a man calling for a nurse…the squish-squish-squish of rubber soles on a tile floor.

      Where am I? she wondered. And why did she smell smoke? Smoke and antiseptic…and a man’s cologne?

      “Emily, wake up. It’s Derrick.”

      Derrick? She didn’t know anyone named Derrick. But the voice was closer now, persistent. She tried to open her eyes, but they were so heavy and she was so tired. She didn’t know who Emily was and she didn’t care. She just wanted to sleep.

      “I called Mom and Dad,” the man said, “but they’re at the opera and I had to leave a message. Emily, for God’s sake, open your eyes and talk to me.”

      I don’t want to talk, she thought, and rolled her head away. The sheets underneath her were cool and crisp, the blanket covering her soft and warm. She felt soft and warm, she realized. And sleepy. So very sleepy…

      “What were you doing at the plant?” The man’s voice turned to a harsh whisper. “You’d already left before me, why did you go back?”

      She had no idea who was speaking to her or what he was talking about. She felt the moan vibrate deep in her throat, then the pounding in her head increased.

      Slowly she opened her eyes, saw the blurred outline of a man standing over her. He was tall and thin, his hair and eyes dark brown. She blinked against the light and the pain, watched the image take shape. His features were sharp, his mouth pressed into a thin line. The black suit he wore was tailored, his tie a shimmering silver against his white dress shirt. The strong spicy scent of his cologne made her cough.

      He leaned in closer and took her hand in his. She wanted to pull away but hadn’t the strength.

      “Talk to me,” he said, still keeping his voice low. “Tell me why you were at the plant.”

      I’m in a hospital, she realized as she saw the tube running from her arm up to the hanging IV bag beside her bed. СКАЧАТЬ