but Smoke as I took off toward the building. A fireman blocked me immediately.
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there,” he said, but I was pushing past him before he’d finished the sentence.
He screamed something along the lines of crazy bitch after me, but I ignored him and ran for the stairs that led to my floor. He didn’t know what crazy was if my cat wasn’t okay.
I barged through my door, flames creeping closer as the fire burned through the cedar siding like it was a book of matches. “Smoke!” I screamed.
A howling preceded Smoke leaping into my arms and digging into me with a clawed death grip. I ignored the discomfort as I hugged her closer, feeling utter relief. The overhang in front of the door fell, blocking the way. The deck was in flames at the back.
I turned, with Smoke in my arms and howling up a tirade like I’d never heard before. Both doors were burning flames. And then sheet rock started crumbling from above. I thought the ceiling was collapsing until I looked up to see Fate leaning over the new hole in the ceiling. That’s where he’d gone.
I reached up toward him before he had to ask and was quickly pulled up through the hole in the ceiling he’d made that went through the rafters of the attic to the roof.
There was only one clear path but it led to a deck on the side and we were able to climb down. We hit the beach where a different fireman thought we’d escaped the fire.
“You okay?” he yelled after us as we gained some distance from the burning building.
“Fine,” Fate yelled back.
I wasn’t sure what the guy would’ve done if we’d said no. There wasn’t an ambulance to be seen.
Standing on the beach with Smoke safe in my arms, as a crowd gathered to watch my home burn to the ground, the impact of what happened hit. “My stuff.”
“Is all replaceable. Nothing in there would be salvageable anyway.”
He was right. Even if something did survive, which was becoming more and more doubtful, it would all be smoke damaged.
For the second time in less than six months, I’d lost all my possessions, and it felt every bit as bad as the first, maybe even worse. Smoke let out a howl and I loosened my grip.
It hadn’t taken long for the truce to fall apart and the gloves to come off.
***
Morning light had just started to disrupt the dark sky as we met in the office for an impromptu meeting to discuss the latest development. My fingers pushed the hair from my face and a fluttering of ashes floated to the floor. Then there was the smell of eau d’ ashtray that permeated the air in a ten foot radius around where I sat in the middle of the office, Smoke on my lap, even stinker than I was.
Fate was leaning on the desk in front of me, Murphy standing to his right and Luck to his left. The Jinxes were doing laps around the room on their skateboards, each go around punctuated at the sharp turns with skidding sounds.
Knox—who was looking pretty good in another high end suit of navy blue, bought with an obviously much higher salary than I received—followed them with his eyes in a way that confirmed they’d managed to irritate the new guy.
“Don’t tell me the agency doesn’t have another condo,” I said to Knox. I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about this little get together, since I was certain it wasn’t from Fate. Still, maybe I could make use of him.
“No, nothing,” he replied, still not turning away from the Jinxes like a housecat staring at an annoying fly it couldn’t reach. Wow, they’d really gotten under his skin.
“You aren’t staying alone.” Fate crossed his arms in front of his chest and the muscles in his forearms looked like they were geared up for a fistfight. His eyes stared hard and his mouth was tense. It was what I thought of as his emotional lockdown face. It was the look he gave when he was unmovable; I’d come to know it well.
Luck edged back to sit on the desk, crossed her shapely legs and trim ankles, all the more
“Ma’am, you can’t go in there,” he said, but I was pushing past him before he’d finished the sentence.
He screamed something along the lines of crazy bitch after me, but I ignored him and ran for the stairs that led to my floor. He didn’t know what crazy was if my cat wasn’t okay.
I barged through my door, flames creeping closer as the fire burned through the cedar siding like it was a book of matches. “Smoke!” I screamed.
A howling preceded Smoke leaping into my arms and digging into me with a clawed death grip. I ignored the discomfort as I hugged her closer, feeling utter relief. The overhang in front of the door fell, blocking the way. The deck was in flames at the back.
I turned, with Smoke in my arms and howling up a tirade like I’d never heard before. Both doors were burning flames. And then sheet rock started crumbling from above. I thought the ceiling was collapsing until I looked up to see Fate leaning over the new hole in the ceiling. That’s where he’d gone.
I reached up toward him before he had to ask and was quickly pulled up through the hole in the ceiling he’d made that went through the rafters of the attic to the roof.
There was only one clear path but it led to a deck on the side and we were able to climb down. We hit the beach where a different fireman thought we’d escaped the fire.
“You okay?” he yelled after us as we gained some distance from the burning building.
“Fine,” Fate yelled back.
I wasn’t sure what the guy would’ve done if we’d said no. There wasn’t an ambulance to be seen.
Standing on the beach with Smoke safe in my arms, as a crowd gathered to watch my home burn to the ground, the impact of what happened hit. “My stuff.”
“Is all replaceable. Nothing in there would be salvageable anyway.”
He was right. Even if something did survive, which was becoming more and more doubtful, it would all be smoke damaged.
For the second time in less than six months, I’d lost all my possessions, and it felt every bit as bad as the first, maybe even worse. Smoke let out a howl and I loosened my grip.
It hadn’t taken long for the truce to fall apart and the gloves to come off.
***
Morning light had just started to disrupt the dark sky as we met in the office for an impromptu meeting to discuss the latest development. My fingers pushed the hair from my face and a fluttering of ashes floated to the floor. Then there was the smell of eau d’ ashtray that permeated the air in a ten foot radius around where I sat in the middle of the office, Smoke on my lap, even stinker than I was.
Fate was leaning on the desk in front of me, Murphy standing to his right and Luck to his left. The Jinxes were doing laps around the room on their skateboards, each go around punctuated at the sharp turns with skidding sounds.
Knox—who was looking pretty good in another high end suit of navy blue, bought with an obviously much higher salary than I received—followed them with his eyes in a way that confirmed they’d managed to irritate the new guy.
“Don’t tell me the agency doesn’t have another condo,” I said to Knox. I wasn’t sure how he’d found out about this little get together, since I was certain it wasn’t from Fate. Still, maybe I could make use of him.
“No, nothing,” he replied, still not turning away from the Jinxes like a housecat staring at an annoying fly it couldn’t reach. Wow, they’d really gotten under his skin.
“You aren’t staying alone.” Fate crossed his arms in front of his chest and the muscles in his forearms looked like they were geared up for a fistfight. His eyes stared hard and his mouth was tense. It was what I thought of as his emotional lockdown face. It was the look he gave when he was unmovable; I’d come to know it well.
Luck edged back to sit on the desk, crossed her shapely legs and trim ankles, all the more
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