Page 70 of I'll Be There
The air whooshed in, and fire ignited the panel. Flames washed across the ceiling in a rush of heat and blaze that exploded in a roar.
Grace screamed.
Pete dropped to the floor. “Fire extinguisher!” He found one attached to the wall, ripped it off. But the flames had ignited the entire ceiling, popping, crackling.
In seconds, he aimed it and deployed foam onto the flames.
“Get out of here!” Conner yelled to Liza.
She turned and nearly ran into Jed, who kept her from going down by grabbing her shoulders.
Darek pushed past them.
She turned, for a moment caught almost hypnotically by the blaze. Roaring heat, the fire nearly doubled in twenty seconds as Pete fought it with the extinguisher.
She’d seen a grease fire demonstration once. How throwing water on the fire only spread the fire, the evaporating water carrying grease particles as they expanded and flashed throughout the kitchen. In less than two minutes the fire had engulfed the entire kitchen.
Conner, Jed, Pete, Darek, and even Reuben fought it with towels, the fire extinguisher, and even the broom, pulling down panels, stomping out the flames.
The hiss of the fire turned feral as the flames washed out over the ceiling into the studs, turning the wood black.
Liza viced a hand over her mouth.
Conner caught a glimpse of her. “Liza—get everyone out!Right now!”
Right. Yes.Move.
She turned, but Ivy and Ingrid had already started to grab the children, heading toward the door.
Liza ran ahead of them to push it open.
She grabbed the handle. The door didn’t move. She threw her hip into it.
No.
“We’re locked in!”
John Christiansen came up next to her, and she stepped aside as he threw his weight into the door. Smoke clouded against the ceiling of the dining room.
A fire alarm sounded from the kitchen, a piercing whine that made Liza press a hand to her ear. “Get us out of here!” Screams, and not just hers as John rounded.
“The back door!” He grabbed Ingrid’s hand, who in turn had a hold of baby Joy, and headed toward the back. Kyle and Emma, however, met them in the middle of the room. “It’s locked!”
Locked?
From behind them, something exploded, and Jed and Darek came through the door, followed fast by Reuben. Pete barreled out, black-faced, holding a now-spent canister.
“Conner!”
He appeared. And for a second, he stood in the doorway of the kitchen, the fire aglow behind him, soot staining his face.
His expression reached out and ripped her heart from her chest.
The man wasn’t afraid. Just fiercely determined.
And, enraged. “We’relocked in?” He directed his question to John, or maybe Kyle. “Okay, everybody get on the floor.Now.”
Liza dropped to her knees as Conner and Reuben walked over to one of the tables. Together they lifted it, swung it, and as if with one mind, flung it through the plate glass window.
