Dead Man District by Julie Miller

Author:Julie Miller
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-08T19:52:56+00:00

Chapter Nine

Matt pulled the steering wheel and hung a sharp left at just the right distance to avoid the cars parked against the curb, guiding the big fire engine onto the skinny side street beside the dubiously named KC’s Best automotive repair shop off McGee Street. Talk about a dead man district. This was their third job of the day, and each fire had been bigger than the last. Counting the five medical calls to back up their EMTs, the cat that was stuck in a drainpipe and the two false alarms, Firehouse 13 was way above its daily call average.

After the engine hissed and squealed to a stop, Matt set the brakes and killed the siren. The red and blue flashing lights bounced off nearby shop windows and windshields but seemed to be absorbed by the swirling orange and yellow flames shooting out of the repair shop’s garage doors. Inky smoke billowed skyward, staining the snow on the branches of the ancient oaks that lined the sidewalk and bringing an early night to the evening sky.

“Nice driving, Taylor.” Captain Redding put on his white scene commander’s helmet. “Mark, Jackson—priority one is to make sure we don’t have gas tanks, oxyacetylene canisters or other flammables on site that haven’t already gone up. Remove them if we can. Clear a perimeter if we can’t.”

“Yes, sir,” they answered, fastening up their gear and securing their air tanks in the back seat.

Redding glanced across the cab to Matt. “You coordinate with the utility crew to make sure we’ve got all the gas lines cut off. I’ll track down the owner and talk to whoever reported it.” He studied the fully engulfed building. “This was burning awhile before anyone called it in. As far as I know, Friday’s still a workday. Why didn’t anyone call sooner?”

“You think we’ve got casualties?” Matt asked.

“I’m thinking I don’t want to send any more men in there than I have to. Something’s off with this one.” Redding made a quick scan of the police cars blocking traffic and the local residents hanging out at a relatively safe distance from the fire scene. “Where are all the mechanics?” There was one nondescript guy with muscles and an aversion to holding his head up huddled inside his grimy insulated coveralls, talking with an older man in a suit and tie and long dress coat. “He’s the only one in this crowd wearing a uniform of any kind.”

Twenty-plus years of service gave Kyle Redding almost a sixth sense about fires. Hell. Matt hadn’t been with KCFD for half that long, and he had a feeling there was nothing accidental about this blaze. Matt nodded toward the line of tow trucks and trailers on the far side of the building holding expensive cars and souped-up trucks in various states of repair. “Looks like they got most of their vehicles out.”

“The ones worth some real money.” Redding nodded. “Which is what I would do if I was going to torch my own place.”

Matt followed up on Kyle’s suspicion.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.