Page 74 of Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope
She pointed to his left, which was the same direction he’d thought.
“Is there a door we can go out?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yes. A metal one that leads out to a picnic table.” Andrew knew roughly where she meant.
“How far are we?”
She gave him a blank look. “I don’t know. A hundred yards? Maybe more.”
A hundred yards? Safety was a football field’s length away. Andrew winced again. He’d been hoping she’d say just around that smoky turn.
He glanced toward Ben, Cole, and Jules. “Can you manage Bob?”
“Piece of cake,” Cole assured him, already wrapping a special webbing around Bob that they’d use to drag him.
“This is embarrassing,” Bob muttered. “I should have started that diet last year. Y’all are going to break your backs pulling me.”
“Save your breath,” Jules warned.
After warning her about what he was going to do, Andrew hoisted Missy over his shoulders. She cried out in pain. “Sorry, ma’am.”
As long as the fire allowed, he’d carry her. If the smoke and heat got to be too much, he’d drag her, but he hoped he wouldn’t have to and that the exit was closer than it seemed right now.
As he said a prayer that their exit plan wasn’t blocked off by flames or debris, he also prayed that Morgan and Greyson wouldn’t hear about this until he and crew were safely outside the building.
He hadn’t wanted to worry her.
At the moment, he was pretty worried himself.
And, yet, he’d never felt more alive than as he made his way through the treacherous dark building.
Fighting fires really was who he was.
Chapter Thirteen
Worn out from a twelve-hour shift that had run over when her replacement was late, Morgan let herself into her grandparents’ home.
“Hey, Sophie, Isabelle, and Aunt Darlene,” she said, surprised to see all three there. She’d recognized Isabelle’s car in the driveway but hadn’t been expecting to see them all in the living room with her grandparents. Nor had she expected to see Sophie pacing across the living room floor. “Where’s Greyson?”
“Already down for the night, dear,” Grammy said. “Sorry. I know you prefer to be the one to put him to bed, but when you called and said you were running late, I went ahead and bathed him and put him to bed. He might still be awake, if you want to pop your head in.”
“I’ll go say goodnight.” But she paused, Sophie’s agitation too much to ignore. Anxiety hit as she realized something was wrong. “What’s going on?”
“Sit down, dear,” her Grammy said.
Fear filled Morgan. People only told you to sit down when something bad had happened. If Greyson was in bed asleep, then...
“Tell me what’s happened.”
“There’s been a fire at a local factory.”
A fire...that meant Andrew.
Oh God, please let him be okay.
“A malfunctioning boiler blew,” Isabelle said, her concerned gaze jumping back and forth between her pacing sister and Morgan. “The explosion triggered an electrical fire in another part of the building and then that spread before anyone realized because everyone was distracted with the explosion. Crews from all over the county are trying to get the fire under control, but apparently it’s a doozy and people were trapped inside.”
Morgan’s legs buckled and she collapsed onto the sofa. No wonder Sophie was in such a tizzy. Cole and Andrew were there, fighting the fire and no doubt doing everything they could to get to whomever was still inside the burning building.
