Page 49 of Christmas Homecoming Secrets
“Working on it.”
“Stay with me.”
Jade darted to the closet, eyes and throat burning, and reached for the emergency fire escape rope ladder. Her hands fell on empty space. What? Confused, but with no time to figure out where the ladder had disappeared to, she sprinted back to the window and looked down. The jump probably wouldn’t kill her, but it would hurt.
Her bedroom was on the opposite side of her parents’ house, so she couldn’t see the state of their home. Where had the fire started? How far had it spread? She looked back over her shoulder. With her bedroom near the kitchen, the flames had already eaten their way into the hallway, blocking her door, the smoke growing thicker, barreling toward her.
“Jade! Jade! Are you in there?”
“Dad!” He rounded the corner of the house and looked up, his gaze frantic. Bryce appeared behind him. “The ladder’s gone and my door is jammed,” she cried. “I can’t get out!”
“Can you wait for me to get the ladder out of the barn?”
“Yes. Hurry!” Jade swung a leg over the sill and scrambled onto the roof, smoke pouring out after her. She coughed and paused to drag in a lungful of the fresh, cold air.
“I’ve got it,” Bryce said. He took off. In less than a minute, he was back, leaning the tall ladder against the gutter.
“What about your side?” she asked. “Mom and the kids?”
“Already got them out and down near the barn. Fire trucks are on the way.”
“Where’s the cop who’s supposed to be guarding this place?” Bryce called.
Good question.
Bryce held the ladder still, and she stepped out onto the first rung. “Careful!”
Sirens reached her, and she could see flashing red-and-blue lights in the distance. They’d be here within a couple more minutes. The flames licked into her bedroom, and all she could think was that she was so grateful Mia hadn’t been there.
Eyes, lungs, throat burning, she scrambled down the ladder and into Bryce’s waiting arms. He hugged her, then pushed her away while her dad grabbed the ladder. She checked her parents’ place and saw that the flames had worked their way to the middle of their shared covered walkway, but hadn’t yet reached their house.
“Hurry,” she whispered to the truck not yet there. “Please.”
Her phone squawked, and she lifted it to her ear. Dispatch. She’d forgotten about her. “It’s okay, Darlene, I’m out.”
“Trucks should be there in less than a minute.”
Bryce led her over to the barn, where she found Mia, Jessica, Gage and her mother waiting and watching the flames. Her mother grabbed her in a hug. “I was so scared.”
“I know, Mom, but I’m okay.” Mia reached for Jade, and she swung the child into her arms. Where’s Travis?” she asked. “The officer watching the house?”
Her mother shook her head. “I don’t know.” Tears tracked her dusty cheeks, and she gathered the children closer to her. They all appeared shell-shocked, and Jade’s anger burned hotter than the fire in front of her.
The fire trucks arrived and had hoses going wide open within less than a minute.Please save my parents’ home, Lord, please.
TEN
Standing next to a shivering Jade, Bryce kept an arm around her while Dylan Fitzgerald wrote notes in his little black notebook as fast as Jade could talk. Someone settled a blanket around her shoulders, and he helped wrap it around her before tucking her up against his side again. In spite of the circumstances, he couldn’t help but note that she felt right being there. He could keep her next to him for the rest of his life and he didn’t think that would change. The thought sent chills that had nothing to do with the weather down his spine.Keep your distance, Kingsley. She deserves better than you.
Like someone with two good legs and a whole lot less emotional baggage. Someone who wanted kids and could be the kind of father they deserved. Mia reached for him. Surprised, he took the little girl from Jade and settled her against him. The feel of her slight weight in his arms had his throat closing. When she laid her head in the crook between his neck and shoulder, his heart filled with a tenderness he’d never be able to put into words. He had to look away from her while he processed the fact that someone had put her in danger tonight. Her and Jade and the entire family.
His gaze landed on Sasha, who stared at him from the front seat of his SUV, where he’d left her during all the chaos. Her displeasure at being separated from him was clear in her brown eyes. He sighed and made a mental note to slip her an extra treat a little later.
“Jade!”
The shout snapped Bryce’s gaze around to the man climbing out of his vehicle.
Jade stopped midsentence and turned. “Captain?”
