Forever Burn

Forever Burn

Adrian J. Smith

Smashwords Edition

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2013 Adrian J. Smith

Published in the United States.

Supposed Crimes LLC

ISBN: 978-1-938108-06-8

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Prologue

It was hot in the house. James struggled to breathe even though the tank strapped to her back was supposed to provide her fresh air. She glanced around, her eyes scanning everything that was being lit up by the eerie glow of flames. Taking a step forward, she realized her feet were bare. A hot coal popped next to her ear, and the sound resonated. Looking at where the noise came from, she saw only the shadows of embers flicker off the walls.

The smoke filled her lungs and forced the air to leave her body in a wracking hack. James gasped. There was no tank. No fire suit. She was in her pajamas: shorts and a tank-top. Her arms radiated pain from the heat that slowly consumed her. Glaring, she made for the ground to crawl on her hands and knees, looking for the exit to the house that was a maze of flames. Her hands burned from the hot floorboards sizzling around her.

Sitting back on her heels, James took deep heavy breaths, trying to calm her racing heart. She was a firefighter for God’s sake; she should be fine, not panicked. She would be fine if she had all the right equipment and knew where she was.

Her eyes were dry. She was having problems seeing. Reaching her hand out, she started to move in the only direction she knew. Forward.

Shuffling along the ground, she risked a glance back. The floor was caving in, burning as the fire ate through it. Hurrying, she went toward the stairs, using her fingers to feel the change in angle. She groaned and looked back again to see the door that was so far away. Flames surrounded it and licked wildly at the wood; the paint curled and fell into the vast darkness below. Swinging to face forward, she looked at the stairs, raising her palm to begin her climb.

It seemed to take forever to make it to the top. Twisting onto her back, she rested, staring at the ceiling, her heart pounding in her chest, and her stomach rising and falling with each breath she attempted to take. Every time she drew air into her lungs, the ash and smoke filled her body and forced its way out violently. Her throat was sore and burning, her eyes dry and hot, and the hair on her arms and legs were singed and they smelt of burning flesh: there was little hope remaining.

Looking down at her toes, she saw skin sloughing off her foot and onto the hardwood below. Screaming, she sat up and tried to shake the fire that was struggling to grasp hold of her. Bringing her foot closer, she saw bone and burned flesh. Ignoring it and the hurt from the injury, she made for the room closest to where she was sprawled. Crawling once more, her feet pressed into the hardwood of the floor to push her body along at a faster pace. James ignored the sharp slices of pain from the burn that drove up from her toes and into her knee with each slide she made.

She only gave a moment’s thought to touching the metal doorknob before she wrenched it open. Her hand tugged back. The scorched skin stuck to the metal as she pulled away and pressed her fist to her stomach, grimacing. Looking down at her feet, she realized the fire was creeping nearer. She needed to move.

Her head was spinning from the heat and lack of oxygen. The smoke and ash were overwhelming all her senses. She made it two feet into the room before her body fell heavily on the floor, and she panted for air. Her eyes looked wildly around as breathing became a chore.

She was giving up.

Licking her lips, she tried to drag her body further, but her arms gave out. Her head collided roughly with the floor, and when she looked up there were dark eyes staring back at her.

James spoke to the child before her, You—you shouldn’t be here.

Her voice was raspy as she made the effort to form words.

You need… to get out.

James struggled to sit up. The child remained unmoving; her face looked at James as if the woman didn’t exist, staring right through her.

Hey! James tried speaking louder. You need to leave.

James was yelling, but the dark eyes remained steady and true, locking with James’.

She pulled on the child’s hand, drawing her down to the same level she was at. The kid bent down, her long blonde curls touching her knees as she knelt.

James tried again, her voice pleading, You have to get out.

The child’s mouth moved, but no sound emerged as James struggled to listen. Again, she spoke and nothing was heard.

What are you saying?

James!

The woman shot straight up in her bed. Her eyes were wide with fear, and sweat forced her tank to cling to her body. Air dragged into her lungs with each strained breath and made her chest rise and fall unevenly.

The woman next to her moved slightly and mumbled. What’s wrong?

Nothing, just a nightmare, go back to sleep.

James took another long, deep breath and slipped from the bed to grab a glass of water and a cool shower. She was only gone two seconds before she padded back into the room, leaning on the bed with one knee and pressing her lips heavily against the sleepy, warm ones. The woman under her groaned and writhed as she started to wake up.

Okay, now I’m good. Go back to sleep.

Pecking the woman’s lips once more, James vacated the room.

Chapter One

The red engine pulled into the fire station. A wave of relief washed over every fire and rescue employee that was on shift and returning from the call. It wasn’t as if it had been a large fire, actually it was rather benign, but it was a fire nonetheless.

James whipped out of the truck and pulled her helmet off, glancing at her crew. She wasn’t in charge by any standards, but they were still her people. No one seemed worse for wear, which she had been expecting. She was riding on the quiet buzz of excitement and adrenaline she got by seeing the flames doused.

Stepping onto the cement, her boot squished lightly. One of the trainees had managed to hit her with the stream of water, and she would be airing out the offending article of clothing, hoping it dried before their next call. She would also be talking to the new guy about his mishap.

She was taking off her gear and setting it on the posts in the metal locker that held her name on it, grateful that the material could be shucked because the heat of the day and the heat of the clothes were starting to get to her. It was a hot summer and even though it was just past four in the afternoon it was well over a hundred degrees in Norwich—rarely did the extreme heat last longer than a week; it had been three. There was a trickle of sweat that slid over her brow as she slipped on tennis shoes over dry socks and bent to deal with her boots.

Damn noob, she muttered and flipped her boots over to dry.

Turning sharply away from her locker, searching for the trainee, James growled. She didn’t see him immediately and clenched her teeth.

Horace!

Her voice echoed in the room as her honeyed eyes scanned for the man her frustration was aimed at. He came right at her beck and call, knowing that even though she wasn’t the boss she definitely held a great deal of power in the family system at Station Seven in Norwich. They might not be the smallest town, or the biggest, but the essence of the small town feel that traversed throughout the northwest had taken root there and was not likely to let go.

Yeah?

He was nervous. She could see it in the way that he walked over and the way he twisted his gloves.

Watch where the water goes next time. I don’t want to be slogging around like a sop for the rest of your extended stay here.

Yes, Captain… ugh… ma’am.

At the normal sign of respect and stutter from the man, James narrowed her eyes in a glare.

Uhh. Yes… James. He answered, his head nodding with the satisfaction of remembering not to call her ma’am.

That’s better. Heaving a breath, she looked him over. Get changed, dinner should be cooking soon. Know what the Chief’s making?

Horace shook his head.

She jerked hers to the side, allowing him to go to his own locker.

Resting her back against the thin aluminum, she waited for the man beside her to finish changing. They didn’t normally have to wear everything, but they were training new recruits and it had been an actual fire.

Some emergency. Horace grinned, the wide space between his two front teeth catching her off guard like it always did.

Yeah, we don’t get many like those anymore. Mostly it’s just medical calls and car crashes.

Her voice softened, and her eyes closed. It wasn’t that she was physically weary, but she was tired of the same mundane calls happening over and over again. It was as if life was set on a continuous play back loop. New recruits in, trained, set up before they moved on to greater and bigger cities or they went off to become doctors or paramedics. Then new recruits would come in, be trained, and everything would just start over. Rarely did people stay in her field for long, and rarely was her field utilized for what it was created for. Damn fire suppression systems being built into any and every new building. Her pale lips upturned at the cynical thought, and she finally glanced over to Horace, who was watching her.

James spouted, That fire was nothing, some hobo just trying to eat a hot meal and getting into things that he shouldn’t.

Have you been to any real fires?

James pulled a face: her brow scrunching, cheeks swelling, and her nose creasing with lines.

Of course I’ve been to a real fire.

The image that flashed in her mind shattered the facade of strength that James always tried to show.

A little girl stood in the middle of mindless flames that licked at everything in sight. She was two, blonde haired, but with the darkest chocolate eyes that James had ever seen. She was standing there, in the middle of the three story house with fire all around and staring at her as if James was going to teleport her away into a star-filled sky full of dreams and wonders.

James blinked rapidly and brought her mind back to Horace, who was giving her an odd look.

Two years ago there was a house that burned down on Bancroft and Palmer.

Yeah, I remember reading about that.

She nodded. The only survivor was a little girl named Lily. Her mother and father died—suffocated before being burned—and she was put into the system. Swallowing harshly, she pushed off the locker with her foot and glanced around changing the topic. Dinner?

Horace’s sweet voice answered her with a grin, revealing is gapped teeth. Yeah, just got to clean up first.

And fill the tank. James added as a gentle but forward reminder.

Right, and fill the tank.

James made her way up the stairs into the lounge. Nice plush and gray couches graced a large portion of the room where they ate the majority of their meals: breakfast and lunch, at least. They always had dinner at the long table with dark wooden chairs that surrounded it. The Chief always had them pray. It gave James the heebie-jeebies at first, but many months later she was used to the ritual and actually quite enjoyed it. She chalked it up to living in a religious town; after all, the city was named after Julian of Norwich and had boasted a mission before its inception.

She sat next to Max on the couch. They had been best friends through high school, so it wasn’t odd when she rested her head on his shoulder and felt the motions as he hit the buttons on the video game controller he was playing. It was the privilege of having seniority, while the three trainees were downstairs cleaning all the equipment on the newly returned engine, the seasoned employees went upstairs and rested for a bit. It was only if someone did something to piss the Chief off that they would get stuck down there, or when training was over. It was a respite that James took advantage of.

The race on the large screen in front of the room was coming to an end. The red car had just smashed into the guard rail. The blue one sped by. She knew the blue one was Max. He was always blue. She rolled her eyes slightly before closing them and waited for the cheering of his success to start. When he jumped up it caught her unaware, and she fell onto the couch beside him.

Max!

Whining, her voice slipped from high to low before she pinned him sharply with serious look.

Sorry, babe, but look!

He pointed excitedly at the screen, and she saw his name with the high score flashing across it.

Smiling, James shook her head, bit her lip and gave him a pat on his back.

Max was lost in bargaining with the rest of the boys, and James was left on her own as the white board across the way was erased. Max cheekily walked up to it and took the black marker and started to write names in the boxes along the edges of the board. It looked like the ‘March Madness’ board, only smaller and with far less names. James always shook her head with the boys’ giddiness when a new game was started.

Max had everyone’s names locked in, and he ran through the list again.

Horace, JJ, Devon, Luke, Andrews, Collins, Chief, Mike…James?

He turned and pinned her with a hopeful look. She never joined in the games, but that didn’t stop him from asking every time a new round started.

James started to shake her head. Her hair that was still in the braided bun at her neck came loose with the movement.

Max lifted his body up on his toes. If I make it interesting?

And what can you do to make it interesting?

James rethought the question far too late; the gleam in Max’s eye told her that he knew exactly how to make her play.

Well, I’m sure you don’t want them finding out about that thing that happened at the bar—

All right, jeeze Max. I’ll play the damn game.

Her eyes lifted to the roof, and she let out a huge breath. He was only threatening her with a minor embarrassment, which was far better than what he could embarrass her with. That was the downside of being in the same city for so long, and the disadvantage of working with people she grew up with. Oh well, she did love Max, so she would put up with his antics.

He scrawled her name on the board as the recruits came up from cleaning downstairs.

Horace looked at what was happening and groaned. We missed it.

Yup, and it was damned brilliant if I do say so myself.

Max was still grinning like an idiot, and James couldn’t help but smile back. It was fun to tease the kids every once in a while. She was handed a controller tethered to the game system since, apparently, the wireless batteries had worn low. Before she knew it, the game was kicked into high gear. Her entire body swung to the side as the car she was driving on the screen made a right turn.

You know, Max leaned over and whispered in her ear. Moving your body doesn’t make the car move. It’s not a Wii.

Shut it, Max.

Her jaw was clenched, and her eyes were completely focused on the monitor as her car crossed the finished line. She jumped up and shot her hands in the air shouting, Yes!

Two milliseconds later, the game console crashed onto the floor in front of everyone. Her cheeks turned a bright red and her molars pressed against each other as she hissed.

Shit.

Dropping the controller, she started toward the system to check for damage. The guys were already surrounding it and pushing her hands away as she reached forward.

We got it. Collins called to her.

Pouting from embarrassment of not being able to fix her blunder, James went to the dining table and set it for the meal. The Chief was almost finished cooking, and she wasn’t about to waste time when they wouldn’t let her help anyway. She received a pitied look from her boss when she reached to grab the plates out of the cabinet. They were having a real sit down meal, like they did every supper. The dishes were set on the place mats, and she glanced over at the guys once more.

It’s okay! Collins’ high-pitched voice sounded throughout the room.

He was the resident geek, but the fact that it had taken him ten minutes to decide if the PS3 was dead or alive didn’t put her at ease. Next time, she would be sure the controllers were fully charged when she played. That way, no cords were involved. Relaxing slightly, she glanced at the Chief who was standing over the center stove and smirked.

Knew it wasn’t broken.

James shook her head and went back to the kitchen to grab the utensils. Seventy-two hour shifts could be long and hard, but there was always excitement, more often than not a few calls and lots of community to be built. Anyone at the fire station knew that each member was inducted as a family, no matter who they were or what had happened before. As soon as they earned their title, the induction was complete and forever.

Slowly each man made their way to the table and took up a spot. They never had assigned chairs—officially or unofficially—as everything was rotated frequently enough that there was too much change to have the consistency. A large blue bowl was set in the middle of the table, and all eyes were feasting on it. Not one hand moved to touch it. Two more bowls were set down, salad and sauce, along with a large platter filled with freshly toasted garlic bread that James had baked.

Spaghetti. The Chief said with lips curving at the looks of utter satisfaction that crossed each man’s features.

It looks amazing, Chief.

You can thank James for part of it. The pasta and the bread.

The trainees gaped, but the regular crew grinned and waited until their boss was seated. Each lifted their hands and grasped the fingers that were outstretched next to them.

Drawing in a deep breath, the Chief started. Lord, thank you for the food, for the safety of this town, for the strength and family we have here. Let us be blessed with grace and courage as the day closes and a new day begins. Amen.

Finishing the prayer, there was a rush to the bowls. They were grabbed and passed to the right. James finished her salad last. Her eyes slid over the table to see where everyone else was in the process of eating and found she wasn’t the only one who was done.

The Chief locked eyes with hers, and she fell into the green orbs as they softened. A shiver ran down her spine, and she quirked her lips before reaching to grab her water. No one knew. Not even Max. Her glass was drained, and she stood to bring her dishes to the sink. The recruits had to clean up, so she was in luck. She went to the couch and sat down heavily closing her eyes and debating on a nap. They’d had a call early that morning—baby had stopped breathing—and she had been unable to get back to sleep. The Chief sat next to her, closer than she should have, but no one was around and James certainly didn’t mind. A warm palm was pressed to James’ thigh and those green eyes were focused in on her.

The baby lived you know, she didn’t die.

James shook her head. It’s not that.

Addison’s hand slipped down to the thin fingers. She gripped them tightly, squeezing before releasing.

I just haven’t been sleeping well.

Well, I could help with that.

Smooth, hushed tones washed over James’ body and she had to work hard to suppress the chills that ran up her arms. Addy.

The woman across from her blinked at the warning. Then her eyes smiled.

That was mean. James protested. You’re such a damn tease sometimes.

Of course I am; I love to get you riled up.

Addison was grinning when the boys started to make their way back toward the couch. The hair in her short pony was bouncing, and she removed her hand and scooted away from James’ warm body.

Turning to Max, James dropped the topic at hand, Is it my game yet?

One more round before you.

Max winked and turned to the TV to start the game. James stayed for one round where she watched Horace beat Collins, but her eyes were starting to droop and she was having a hard time keeping her head up. The Chief reached over and tugged James’ chin up the last time before nodding her head towards the racks and issuing a silent order. James pushed herself up and stretched her muscles being sure to stand right in front of her Chief. She smirked to herself, knowing that the woman was ogling her ass. Trekking over to Max, she tapped his arm lightly.

I’m going to catch a catnap, wake me up in an hour? I want to work out.

Yeah. His eyes slid over