by B.J. McCall
Red Sage Publishing
eBook ISBN: 9781603102742
Firefighter Colin Callahan is having a brush with the supernatural. Not only is a tiny light leading him to female victims trapped in burning houses, he’s having erotic dreams about an angel.
Chapter One
The smell snaked through Ella Lansing’s nostrils, then registered.
Smoke!
Stark fear speared her brain. Adrenalin rushed to her muscles. Her heart pounded.
Eyes stinging, she jerked upright in her bed and stared into the thick, smoke-filled darkness. Nostrils burning and lungs screaming, Ella’s chest was racked by coughs.
She fumbled in the dark for the bedside lamp and turned the switch. Nothing. She couldn’t see, couldn’t breath. Fear clawed through her.
Don’t panic! Think!
911!
Heart thumping wildly in her aching chest, Ella searched for her cell phone, knocking over an empty glass and scattering a shallow bowl of mints with shaking hands. She pushed a paperback and her reading glasses aside, then her hand closed over the familiar metallic square. She flipped open the phone and spoke her sister’s name.
Pick up. Please, pick up.
Gasping, Ella dropped to the floor. If she didn’t get air, she’d pass out.
Stay low!
Praying, she crawled for the door. The ringing stopped.
No voice mail, please, God.
“Hello.”
Thank God!
“Help,” was all she managed. A spasm of coughing stole her words.
“Ella! What’s wrong?”
“Can’t breath.” She gasped. “Smoke! Fire!”
“Fire? Where?”
In the hallway, heat seared Ella’s face, bare arms and legs. Red flames and black smoke whipped wildly in the stairwell. She was trapped. “Fire!”
“The house is on fire?”
Ella closed her eyes against the scorching heat. “Call 911!”
The swirling smoke forced Ella onto her belly. Coughing and choking, she slithered along the polished oak floor.
Water.
Ella dragged herself into the bathroom and kicked the door shut to block the fierce heat. The tile floor was cooler, but the small room was filled with smoke.
Acrid air filled her nostrils and lungs. Choking, Ella grabbed at the lip of the claw-footed tub, dropping the cell phone as she climbed inside. Surrounded by smoke and darkness, she ran her hand along the smooth edge of the bathtub to the faucets and turned on the cold water full blast. Grabbing a towel off the rack, she soaked the thick material and pulled it over her head.
Huddled in the filling bathtub, Ella breathed through the wet towel and prayed for help. Would she die in her bathtub, alone and trembling in fear? Images of her sister, Kelli, and her parents came to mind.
The cold water soaked her sweat shorts and T-shirt. Beyond the bathroom door, the flames crackled and hissed.
Please. Please. I don’t want to die.
The wail of sirens rent the air, the sweet shrill coming closer with each passing second. Ella prayed for the firemen to find her. She yanked off the towel and tried to scream, but her lungs burned.
Shouts, thumps and bangs mingled with the roar of the fire. Glass shattered.
“Help!”
Ella barely heard herself over the din. Footsteps pounded outside the bathroom, and the door banged opened. Hot air blasted into the room, stealing her breath.
Her prayers were answered. A fireman stood over her in a swirl of black smoke. He scooped her into his strong arms and tossed her over his broad shoulder. Tears of joy poured from Ella’s eyes as he carried her down the hallway, away from the flames and the smoke, through the window and down a ladder.
Surrounded by flashing lights, Ella was lifted off the fireman’s shoulder. Her savior’s beautiful blue eyes met hers. The lights faded, and the darkness claimed her.
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