Every Now and Then by Karen Kingsbury

Author:Karen Kingsbury
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: General, Christian, Fiction
ISBN: 9780310296232
Publisher: Zondervan
Published: 2008-11-01T22:00:00+00:00

Seventeen

Alex had to will himself to slow down, because if the rush of urgency in his veins had its way, he’d be flying a hundred miles an hour. He’d done what he set out to do today. He’d gone to the Oak Canyon Estates to check out for himself the danger and layout of the property.

What he’d found had shot terror straight through him. He and Bo weren’t there long, just enough time to drive to the end of the street and back down again.

But that’s all it took to tell him what a fire would do this high up in the hills. It wouldn’t work its way down the street .. it would explode through it.

The wood-framed homes and construction materials would go up like so many fireworks, and the hillside would be instantly on fire. Alex didn’t need fire training to understand that such an inferno would roar down the steep, sloping brush and become a firestorm in minutes.

“It’d be a fire like nothing LA’s ever seen.” He spoke the words out loud, and from the back Bo whined. “It’s okay, Bo … we won’t let it happen. We’ll get the bad guys.”

At that, Bo released a single sharp bark .. the way he was trained to do on command whenever Alex mentioned bad guys. It was one more thing that set Bo apart. He shared Alex’s passion for getting the job done. At the base of the hill, Alex made two quick rights into a housing tract literally carved into the mountain. The homes sat on lots barely larger than the footprints of the houses, with maybe ten feet between them. At this afternoon hour, the neighborhood had kids everywhere .. riding bikes

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along the narrow street, playing basketball in the driveway of a house that backed up to the hillside, and walking with their parents along the neatly manicured sidewalks.

Alex took the road through the development, driving slowly enough that he could see a handful of cul-de-sacs that branched off on either side of the street. He was stunned at the danger the place posed. There were tons of homes bunched together on maybe six or seven acres, and there were only two ways out. Two exits for the entire neighborhood.

He pulled out of the development and realized his hands were shaking. Sure the homes had tile roofs, but roofing wouldn’t stop a tidal wave of fire barreling down the hillside. Add winds to the formula, and a neighborhood like the one at the base of the mountain could be swallowed whole .. taking dozens of lives with it. Hundreds, even. He rolled down all four windows so he could breathe. From the backseat, he heard Bo walk to the window and stick his face out .. the way he loved to do.

The faces of Owl and the other two came to mind, and he felt the anger again, felt it driving him to do something. Anything but sit back and let Oak Canyon Estates become victim to the REA.

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