Run to Ground(84)

“You should move farther away from the fire,” Theo said from where he was standing a few feet away. Viggy sat next to him.

As they climbed to their feet, Jules smiled at Theo, trying to show him the heaping piles of gratitude filling her heart. His face was sober as he moved forward to help her stand on shaky legs. Now that she knew the kids were safe, her body felt limp and heavy, and she knew she was one what-if away from bursting into tears again.

The kids rushed toward the house, staying well away from the fire even as they watched it in fascination. Theo and Jules followed more slowly. When Jules tripped for the third time, Theo wrapped an arm around her back, and she leaned into him, grateful for the support…and for so many other things.

“Thank you,” she said quietly enough that the chattering kids couldn’t hear. “If you—and Viggy—hadn’t stopped me, I’d have run right into that fire.”

He pulled her even more tightly against him, and she felt the pressure of his lips on her hair.

“I’m just glad you got here in time.” The nightmarish thought of what would’ve happened if he hadn’t arrived in time made her shiver.

“Me too.” His voice was raw, hoarse, and he kissed her head again. “Me too.”

The sound of sirens caught her attention, and she looked up at him. “Did you call for help?”

“Yeah. I heard the explosion as I was pulling up in front of your house. I told dispatch to send Fire here and send everyone else to track down that bastard Rounds. Then I dropped the radio mic and ran.”

A fire truck circled around the side of the house, driving across the lawn and stopping a safe distance from the still-burning barn. Another truck joined it.

“Firemen!” Dee squealed.

When Theo grumbled something under his breath, Jules looked at him curiously. He grimaced. “Fire can be a pain in the ass.”

“But firemen are so hot.”

That just made his frown turn ferocious. “Pain in the ass.”

Squashing a smile, amazed that she could even think about smiling after the past agonizing minutes, Jules leaned against Theo and watched the firemen extinguish the remains of the barn.

* * *

Dee stood next to her as an EMT cleaned up Jules’s arm and covered the two shallow puncture wounds with Band-Aids. The three boys were sitting on the back porch, watching as the firemen put away their equipment. Theo was across the yard, examining the soggy, blackened remains of the barn with some other cops and a tall woman who’d introduced herself as the county fire marshal. Other officers were searching for Norman Rounds, but he’d disappeared. Theo’s lieutenant was working on getting a warrant to search Gordon Schwartz’s place, since they figured Norman was most likely hiding out at the militia leader’s compound.

One of the firemen approached, giving Jules a small, but friendly, smile. He was a big, burly guy, and despite Jules’s fascination with Theo, she had to admit he looked really good in his bunker gear.

“Hi,” she said. “Thank you for putting out the fire.” Her words sounded inane to her own ears, but it had been a long, hard, stressful day already, so small talk was beyond her at the moment.

“You’re welcome.” He nodded at Dee. “Want to see the fire trucks up close?” Turning back to Jules, he added, “If it’s okay with you, that is.”

When Dee turned to her with wide, hopeful eyes, Jules smiled. “Of course. Thank you…?”

“Steve Springfield.”

“I’m Jules, and this is Dee.” The EMT had finished, so Jules was able to stand and wrap an arm around Dee.

“Nice to meet you. I have a daughter about your age, Dee. Do you go to Cottonwood Elementary?”

“Yes. What’s her name?”

“Maya.”

“She’s in my class. We’re both new this year,” Dee said in her serious way. “I like Maya. She’s nice.”

He gave Dee a kind smile that made Jules love him a little. “Thank you for being friends with her. The move’s been hard for the kids.”

“Where’d you move from?” Jules asked, and immediately wanted to retract the question. She didn’t need to be exchanging life stories with anyone. Every time she talked about their made-up history was a chance to screw up and make someone suspicious.

“Simpson. It’s a small mountain town a couple of hours away. We liked it there, but things just got too…well, dangerous.”

As much as Jules wanted to ask about what he meant by dangerous, she swallowed her questions and just said, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Steve escorted a happily chattering Dee toward the fire trucks, and Jules watched them until her view was blocked by Theo.