12-Alarm Cowboys (13 page)

“Send one go to refill at a time, Chief. If we don’t keep the hoses going, that fire will creep to the property next door and burn up the fields. That crop looked really dry, so that field will go up fast. We’ll try to nurse the hydrant to keep the well going until they get back.” Less pressure, meant less control, more chance of the fire spreading, but no water was worse.

Sunny walked by him and rammed her shoulder into his, and it was no accident. “You could always
spit
on the fire,
Captain
. There’s probably enough bullshit in your saliva to snuff out the fire.”

Austin spun to blast her, but all he saw was her stiff back as she took ground-eating strides toward the hose crew. His back was just as stiff as he followed her surveying the fire as he walked. A gust of wind raised the hair on the back of his neck, and Austin stopped.

The wind had been blowing toward them before. Looking up, he saw the smoke direction verified the change. His eyes streaked to the right end of the fire line and he saw the tanker truck there reverse, then turn and head toward the roadway. One of the grass trucks followed, which meant they were now short a crew for at least thirty minutes, an hour if you counted the time it would take the second brush to refill.

With the wind change, that fire break they dug wasn’t going to do them a damned bit of good and this fire was officially out of control, or would be very soon. So much for proving himself, he thought, as he started walking again. The most he would hope for this night was not to come out looking like an incompetent idiot, which was very likely.

Wouldn’t Sunny Gleason get a laugh out of that? He was sure tomorrow morning she’d be crowing and armchair quarterbacking.

Not if Austin could help it.

“Shane, let Sunny take your position and come here,” he shouted, when he saw her just standing beside the men on the hose observing. She cut him a look, but took over for Shane and he jogged over to Austin.

“Yeah, Cap?” he asked, breathing hard.

It was a long shot, but Austin had to try something. It was getting darker by the second, and that would make fighting this fire doubly difficult.

“I need you to take the Suburban and go to that farmhouse at the next ranch. Tell them the fire is about to reach their field, and ask them if they have a well or pond we could use to refill a grass truck to fight this fire.” Austin stopped, thought about it, then added, “Or irrigation equipment. If they have crop sprayers tell them to get them going to saturate the field.” Austin handed him the keys, and Shane nodded then ran to the truck.

The radio on Austin’s hip toned. “Fire is on the other side of the fence now, and the crop is burning,” a firefighter from the second crew informed.

Unclipping the radio, Austin pressed the button. “Turn your hoses and fill up the first three rows.”

“We’re running low on water, Cap. Trying to conserve until the other truck is back.”

Fuck, he’d forgotten about that. “Just hold steady then,” Austin replied.
And hold your breath that Shane can find someone at that farm who can help us.

Austin waited and watched while the crew worked for twenty minutes, until the sun disappeared behind the tree line and the thickening smoke occluded the rising moon, leaving only the bright orange flames to light the area. He still hadn’t heard a peep from Shane, and was getting worried. Suddenly, Sunny turned and she and the crew ran, dragging the hose away from the fire, as another man worked at the truck reeling it in.

Running over to them, Austin demanded, “What the
hell
are you doing?!?”

“Going to help the other crew dig another trench,” she replied, fighting for breaths.

“I didn’t tell you to do that!” Austin shouted. “Keep water on that fire!”

“Pressure is too low now—just a dribble,” Sunny huffed, her steps slowing until she staggered, then stopped. “Damn, I’m dizzy.”

“Go to the medic truck and get some oxygen,” Austin growled.
And get a damned pedicure while you’re there princess.

She pushed her fire helmet back and ran her wrist over her forehead.

“No—something el—sa—something else is um wrong.” Sunny giggled, and her eyes widened. Austin’s did too, because that was the last sound he would’ve expected to come out of Sunny Gleason. “My brain feels…
soggy
.” Laughter bubbled from her lips, as she dropped the hose to sit down and shove off her helmet.

“Mine is soggier,” Braden said with a bark of laughter. “Damn, I haven’t felt like this since…” His eyes widened sending his eyebrows up under the brim of his fire helmet.

“Since
when
? What the hell is wrong with y’all?” Austin demanded, glancing back at the fire which was definitely out of control now. They needed to move their equipment fast and reposition. And Shane needed to get back.

“Um, since high school,” Braden replied with a sheepish grin.

Looking at the engine where the other crewmembers were ineptly winding hose, laughing while they unwound it to try again, Austin wondered if the whole damned crew had been hitting the gin before they responded to this call.

Sunny Gleason let out a long-winded sigh and a goofy grin spread across her pretty, soot-smeared face. “I’ve never felt like this before…like my insides are…” She stopped, and seemed to be searching for the right word. “Floating.” Wiggling her fingers over her head, she began singing, or wailing as it were. “Have you ever been mell—
loooow
…” When she ran out of air, she erupted into laughter, wrapping her arms around her stomach.

Austin turned his nose toward the smoke-filled night sky and inhaled deeply. His heart skidded to a stop as he recognized the scent from the many bonfires he’d attended as a teenager.

Marijuana
. What he’d thought was corn growing in that field must be
pot
!

And Good
God—
his whole damned fire crew, including Sunny Gleason, was high as a kite from inhaling the smoke. Ice water ran through his veins as another thought struck him. He’d sent Shane over there into the dealer’s den!

Hand shaking, Austin unclipped his radio. “Shane, get back here. Don’t go to that house!” he shouted into the radio.

“Nobody’s home, Cap. The place is a little scary, looks abandoned, but I did see a cattle pond behind the house. Not sure about the well,” he replied.

“Just get out of there!” Austin yelled, then keyed the radio again. “Chief you there?”

“Uh, huh—I’m here,” Chief Gleason replied groggily.

“Is the crew over there okay?” Austin asked.

“We’re just
peachy
. Why do you ask?” The calmness, as Sunny said—
mellowness
—in the Chief’s voice told Austin the other crew was equally messed up, and fear sliced through him.

“Chief, that crop in that adjacent field is
pot
—not corn. Y’all need to put on your respirators fast!”

“Oh, it’s too late for that, young man. We moved back across the road, because we’re out of water. I called the Sheriff, but it could be a while before they get here. Y’all just come over here and join the party.”

A strange lethargy washed away Austin’s adrenaline, and by the time it reached his toes they tingled. His blood carbonated and laughter tickled his sternum. He realized right then it wasn’t only the crew who was high, he was high too!

But Austin had to keep his wits, because nobody else had a scrap left.

Fighting through the euphoria, he keyed the mic again. “Brush Two—have your men put on their repsir—respires—
SCBA
s when you get back! And call for backup, our whole damned crew is high!”

‡

S
unny sat on
the bumper of the medic unit taking her turn at inhaling fresh oxygen. They were almost out, because the whole crew had been taking their turn over here for hours. It was a hopeless cause anyway, this wasn’t helping a damned thing. As soon as she took the mask off the thick, herby smoke would surround her again. Every man and woman out there was stoned, except those with SCBAs, and the fresh crew from the two not-so-nearby stations who were able to don their gear before they arrived.

At least the fire was more in control than it had been, because they’d found a well and a pond on the pot farm. The tankers could refill quickly there so they could keep the grass trucks supplied. Someone sat down beside her and nudged her with an elbow.

“Stop bogarting the oxygen, Sunshine,” Austin said with a lopsided grin that reminded her of Billy’s grin when he was trying to charm her to get out of trouble. Something inside of her warmed then flowed downward, and Sunny inhaled deeply. She did not need any warm, flowy feelings toward her nemesis. He was an asshole, and if it took emptying this canister of oxygen for her to remember that, Sunny would suck it dry.

“Get your own,
Captain
,” she growled, fogging the mask as she exhaled.

Austin’s jaw worked a second. “I’m sorry for stepping on your toes. The tones were for a five-alarm fire and I was just trying to help out.”

“Help yourself
into
a job you mean,” she snapped back. This man hadn’t just stepped on her toes, he’d crushed them under his boots by ingratiating himself to her uncle.

“It was instinct and I was halfway to the fire by the time I thought maybe I should go back and get you. I apologize for that.”

“You’re not even one of our firefighters and you took over my command!” Sunny shouted, her voice muffled behind the mask.

“I hadn’t realized how much I missed it,” Austin said sadly, looking down at the toes of his boots. “I just—”

Sunny sucked up her first instinct which was to feel sorry for him. “Wanted to show off,” she finished for him. “Well you have a job—you’re a
cowboy,
so leave mine the hell alone.”

“I was a part-time Captain for ten years in Gladewater, would have been full-time if it paid enough,” he announced, as if he hadn’t even heard a word she said. Maybe he hadn’t—his voice sounded to her like it was coming down a long fuzzy tunnel. The oxygen definitely wasn’t helping enough, because the more he talked the less she hated him. “My whole family—my brothers, my dad, uncles, cousins, are firefighters. Yeah, they have a small ranch and I learned everything I need to know about ranching from them too, but firefighting is in my blood.”

“Why the hell aren’t you doing that then?” Sunny asked shortly. “Go back to Gladewater and join the fire department. We have a Chief and a Captain here—
me
—we don’t need you at our department.”

His eyes slowly slid up the front of her body, then met hers. “But I need your department. I can’t earn enough at the department back home without hiring out as a cowboy too. It’s a city-funded station and they have too many men as it is. Those guys are lifers, and the Chief is young. He’s not going anywhere for a long time.”

And that was her problem how?
Fear formed a tight band around Sunny’s ribs, but then loosened. He had other options, he was experienced so his sob story didn’t wash. “Why can’t you hire on at a department in a bigger city?”

“I’m thirty-four and a half years old. Thirty five is the cutoff at most departments for new hires. It’s the same as the military. Even at my age, they are hesitant to hire me, which is ridiculous, but just the way it goes.”

“Our cutoff is thirty-five for new hires too,” Sunny informed. Damn, he was thirty-four, almost thirty five? Austin McBride looked to be in his late twenties, her age.

“But your uncle didn’t seem to care,” Austin said, adding a lazy wink. “He evidently appreciates experienced older men like most women.”

Like Sunny did
. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, fighting to remember she didn’t like this man and she was mad at him. “My uncle didn’t follow protocol. I do the hiring for the station.”

“He’s the Chief,” Austin countered. “He can do what he damn well pleases.”

Irritation prickled at the back of her neck. “
I’ll
be the Chief before long. My uncle is retiring,” she fired back. “And I have one of my men in mind to promote to Captain. So, sorry cowboy, you’re not even in the running.”

Austin reached up to snatch the oxygen mask from her hand. He covered his nose and mouth. “Inhale deeply, sweet cheeks. You’re much more pleasant when you’re high,” he said with a short bark of laughter.

Sunny ground her back teeth and stood to glare at him. “If you think you’re going to mess this up for me, you’re wrong. My uncle—the Chief,” she corrected.

“Is asleep in the back of his car. As soon as I clear my head, we are heading out.”

“Who died and left you in charge?” Sunny spat, putting her hands on her hips. “We need to stay here until the fire is out.”

“No, the other stations have it under control. We’re not a damned bit useful here and the Chief needs to go home. One of the crew from the other station is going to drive him home, and I’m driving the Suburban.” Austin’s lips stretched inside the mask to form a wide smile. “But we’re stopping somewhere to eat, because I have the munchies.”

Sunny didn’t want to go anywhere with this man. Where she needed to go was home to check on Billy. She glanced at her watch and saw it was nearly one in the morning. “I have to get home too. You can drop me off and drive the truck to your ranch. I’ll pick it up tomorrow.”