Page 6 of Special Agent Anastacia

Not wasting the time they didn’t have and with his last ounce of strength, he heaved JC over his shoulders in a firefighter carry and turned back in the direction he’d come. Except now, the opening had become an impenetrable wall of a glowing, orange inferno.

Swiveling to look in other directions, he spotted a very small window that might work. He’d have to run through the flames, but he prayed it could be their way to escape. There might be enough of an opening on the other side… a pathway to escape the worst of the blaze.

No time left to ponder, he dove through, running hard, balancing his burden. Under his breath, he again called on his partner above… the God he always kept close in times like this. Suddenly, he felt a spray of water and knew his men had flagged down one the of the pumpers, an engine they sometimes used to help with a rescue.

Heading towards safety, he barely made it out before collapsing, allowing his men to carry both him and JC the rest of the way. His second in command, Chuck Ono, flung his hand around Nash’s back, holding his arm over his shoulder, guiding him as far away from the smoke as possible.

All during his assist, he nagged, making Nash smile. “Stupid son of a bitchin’ hero. You could have been killed; you know that? Christ, youshouldhave been killed. It was pure luck we aimed that hose in the right direction. Pure fucking luck… you hear me?”

Voice thready, he whispered, “Man, the folks in the next county heard you. I’m weak, not deaf.” Nash grinned before he sipped on some water and accepted the oxygen mask passed to him. But before he used it, he croaked, “What’s our status?”

Chuck grunted but replied. “We’re relieved for now. They want us back at base camp.”

“Good. We need to get JC there for sure. I imagine the fire load has doubled from that wind shift.”

Gloomy, Chuck shoved his grimy hands into his sweaty hair. “Yeah… looks like the South ridge is gonna be another long fight, and we’ve been at it for sixteen hours already.”

“You know… I doubt I’ve ever seen the beast flip so fast and turn so deadly. Man, there’s a lot of structures and homes in them hills. At least around here, most of what burned was forest lands away from civilization. I think we’re gonna be in for a whole different kind of battle from now on.”

Spitting to the side, then blocking one nostril and clearing his nose, Chuck followed up with a bout of coughing before he finally grumbled, “I agree. No rest for the wicked.”

“Yeah? Speak for yourself.”

Chapter Five

Anastacia wouldn’t succumb to the little voice inside her head that made excuses for Hanna’s behavior. The kid was being the worst version of herself, and Ana had no intention of allowing the behavior to continue. Not having any idea of how teens acted in Ukraine or what kind of conduct might be acceptable, especially for a fifteen-year-old newly orphaned girl, she had no time for sulks, sniffling, and loud sighs.

Ever since they’d backed out of her mother’s driveway, Hanna had become the best actress of a girl who didn’t get her way and wanted everyone in her vicinity to know about her peeves and grievances. Thing is, Ana had a lot of experience with this type of thing. It’s not that she didn’t have sympathy for what Hanna had experienced in the past… of course she did. But mollycoddling the girl wouldn’t help in the long run. It would just give her permission to stay weak and defenseless.

With that in mind, Ana broke the silence. “Hanna, the place where we’re heading is off the beaten track. There are afew other cabins around, but the closest neighbors would be approximately a mile, and the others even farther. My father loved this log house, grew up as a boy spending a lot of his summers with his own father here. I guess you could say, he put up with city life, built a good home for me and my mom, but he came alive when he spent time in isolation.”

She looked over at the huddled figure, nestling as close to the door as possible… meaning, of course, she was as far away from Ana as she could get. Unable to ignore Ana’s words, the kid slowly loosened her crossed arms. Finally she asked, “What was your father like?”

Happy to get a response, Ana answered. “As I said, he loved the solitary and simplicity of life in the cabin. I guess having to deal with the underworld in his job as Chief of Police for the last ten years of his career, he’d seen too much of the ugliness in the world. One time, he confided to me that he’d followed in his own father’s footsteps as a policeman to help others, you know – save the world kind of thing. He wanted to feel that he made a difference, and the city would be a better place because Police Chief Danilo Marchenko had lived.”

“Did he make a difference?” Ana had Hanna’s complete attention now.

“Well, they do say he was one of the best ever to hold down that position. Unfortunately, a year before retirement, he died unexpectantly in the performance of his duty. He’d gone to the bank during his day off and became involved in a holdup taking place. Of course, being the man he was, he couldn’t ignore what was happening.”

“Wow! That must have been terrifying.” Hanna’s voice rang with conviction.

“Being Dad, he’d talked the bank robber down, almost had him handing over his gun. Until the security guard thought that gave him the opportunity to take a shot and be a hero. Let’s justsay, the fool made a stupid decision and left two people injured, one mortally. He killed my father who stepped in front to take the bullet, saving the criminal who then shot the guard in self-defense. Bad day for everyone.”

“You must have been so angry, you and your mother. That’s a horrible story.”

“You think so? See, the way I figure, my dad got to die doing exactly what he most wanted… saving people. The young Mexican man holding up the bank… he had a wife he loved being eaten away by cancer, and they couldn’t buy medical insurance because they were poor illegals. Since he had no money to pay for her pills, he’d been forced to watch the woman he loved slowly perish, and he couldn’t stand it. Seems to me, he’d made the wrong choice but for a good reason. Can’t fault a guy for loving his woman.”

“But he shot the guard.”

“Yeah, in the leg. In self-defense. Then he’d thrown his gun down and tried to stop the blood flowing from my dad’s wound.”

Completely invested in the story now, Hanna turned to face Ana, her expression open and interested. “Can you tell me what happened to him? Did his wife die?”

“Well, his lawyer got him to accept a plea deal which involved a shorter sentence and then sending him back to Mexico with no chance of ever returning. Considering he’d intended to rob a bank; he got off lightly.”

“And his wife? Did she die?”

“Oh, no, she was given a clean bill of health after her chemo treatments. And she recently gave birth to their first child.”

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