Round and Round (24 page)

Tristan, Jeremy, and Zach rushed over, and the four of them shared a group hug.

“Have you seen Bull?” Zach asked.

Kevin looked toward the door as two firefighters came out with Bull between them. Zach broke away and hurried to where they were laying Bull on the ground. By Kevin’s count there was still one firefighter unaccounted for, and the thought had him coughing again.

“It’s too dangerous,” he heard the fire captain say, holding his men back.

Flames leaped high into the air as parts of the club collapsed. Kevin found it hard to breathe as he watched the door. In his heart he knew the man who’d first helped him was Angus. He hadn’t been able to see his face, but he just knew it was him. And he knew where he was now.

A figure appeared in the doorway, lumbering out of the wrecked club. He took a few steps and went down onto his knees. Men scrambled to help him as water was poured onto the dying nightclub, steam and smoke rising high into the air.

Zach hurried over to where Kevin waited with Jeremy and Tristan. He threw his arms around Kevin. “You saved Bull. He’s going to be okay,” Zach sobbed. Kevin wasn’t going to argue. He hugged Zach back and let him release the fear and panic that had obviously gripped him.

After a minute Zach calmed slightly and went back to where Bull was being loaded onto a stretcher. Zach got into the ambulance with him. Kevin stayed with the other guys as the outside walls of Bronco’s, their home away from home for years, collapsed in on themselves. Kevin held the other two and did his best to keep the tears from falling.

“It’s gone,” Jeremy said softly.

Harry and Spook joined their group. Soon the only one not being comforted was Kevin. But finally he saw Angus looking around, searching for someone. Kevin realized it was him as soon as Angus looked his way.

“Don’t you ever do that again,” Angus yelled, but Kevin didn’t get to find out what he’d done because his arms were filled with firefighter and then Angus was kissing him, hard, right there in front of everyone. “You scared the shit out of me when I saw you in that building,” Angus said when he broke away.

“You should have gotten out earlier.” Kevin whacked him on the shoulder. “I knew it was you inside the building. I saw the roof collapse and thought you were gone. Then they got Bull out, but….” Kevin closed his eyes. “Fuck, I’m not going to cry like a baby.”

“I’m fine,” Angus said.

“I know that. But I’m angry with you.” Kevin shook and he wasn’t sure why. He only knew he was angry and totally overwhelmed.

“Come with me. They need to check you out and make sure you’re okay.” Angus gently guided him toward an ambulance.

“I don’t need to be checked out. All I need is to know that this is over and that I’m not going to have anything else burned out from under me—the club, my home, my work, now the club again.” The trembling got worse. “He was here. I talked to him.”

Angus stopped. “You what?” he asked in disbelief.

“He was in the office. He doused it with gasoline and set the place on fire. I hit him and got out. Bull was getting people out of the club when the arsonist opened the door. I think everyone got out but Bull and me. The flames roared through the place, and Bull got knocked to the floor, so I was trying to pull him out.” Kevin coughed and reached into his pocket. Fuck… no inhaler.

“I saw. I would have told you it was me, but all I could think about was getting you out of the fire. When I got in there and saw it was you, it was all I could do to stick to my job and not carry you out of there right away.”

“I think the arsonist probably died in his own fire, unless he went out through the back exit, but I doubt it. That’s past Harry and Bull’s office, and that’s where he started the fire,” Kevin explained and began coughing once again. “That’s from last time. I wasn’t in there long enough to hurt.”

Angus was having none of it. He got Kevin over to an ambulance.

“What happened?” one of the EMTs asked. “Oh, it’s you… again. What is it with you and fires?”

Kevin looked into a familiar face. He didn’t know his name, but he was the man who helped him at the fire Mrs. V had started. As soon as that thought entered his mind, Kevin put his hands over his face and did his best not to cry. He failed, and the tears came quickly.

“Not a good question,” Angus said. “Our fire starter fixated on him after the last incident at the club. So he lost his apartment building as well as a friend, and now another friend’s club, so he’s been through a lot.” Angus gently stroked the back of his neck, and Kevin leaned in, needing the touch. “Captain,” Angus called.

Kevin didn’t lift his gaze. He just soaked in the comfort as the EMT put an oxygen mask over his mouth. Then he leaned against Angus and breathed.

“Did you find a note?” Angus asked.

“Not this time.”

“Kevin here said the arsonist confronted him in the office area and he doesn’t think he made it out. We’ll need to look for a body when the heat dies.” Angus turned to him. “Just nod. Were you and Bull the last people in the club?”

Kevin nodded. “I think so. We were trying to get people out.”

“Dang it, kid,” the captain said to him. “Have you ever thought of being a firefighter? You sure have the guts for it.”

Kevin smiled and shook his head. He was all through with fires for the rest of his life.

“I got a call from the unit at your house. There was no real damage,” the captain said.

Kevin pulled off the mask. “Your house?”

“Put the mask back on. Yeah, he set a fire at my house, probably as a diversion. We were there fast and put it right out. Basically my garden shed in the back is a total loss. This was obviously his main target.” Angus turned to the captain, and Kevin put his mask back on. “I wonder how he got into the office.”

“According to the owners, it uses a numeric code to get in, and he probably watched until he had the code, maybe over the last few days.”

Kevin nodded his agreement. “What I really want to know is how he got gasoline inside and past security.”

“Gasoline?” Angus said.

“Yeah. I could smell it, and he said he’d coated the office with it.” Kevin handed the mask back to the EMT. “I’m okay now. Thank you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I wish I had my inhaler, but other than that I’ll be fine.”
As long as people quit burning things down around me.
“Maybe someone helped him,” Kevin offered.

“These guys generally work alone. We’ll sift through everything and see what we can find once the fire is out. It’s too early for speculation. But thank you for all your help.” Angus’s captain came closer. “I know you’ve been through a lot lately, but you really were brave and cool under fire. Most people would have run screaming from the building, but you stayed and tried to help.”

“I brought Bull partway,” Kevin said.

“And that could very well have saved his life. I’m told the roof at the back of the club went first. So you have something to be proud of. I know you lost a lot, especially in the fire that took your apartment.”

“And cost my friend her life,” Kevin said, sniffling and wishing he had a tissue.

“Yes. I hope all this is over now.” The captain turned toward where his team was still pouring water on the pile of rubble and partial walls that had once been Bronco’s.

“Is Bull okay?” Kevin asked Angus.

“Yes. They transported him because he was knocked out and we aren’t sure if he has a concussion or not, but he was awake and talking when I saw him last. Everyone else seems to have made it out. The police are double-checking, but it looks like the only possible loss of life is the one who started it all.”

“He was sick,” Kevin whispered.

“How do you mean?”

“He got off on setting fires. Like, it turned him on.” Kevin sighed.

“That happens. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why they do what they do, but sexual gratification is a powerful motivator.” Angus gently stroked his hair. “I hate to say this, but I have to go back to work. I don’t really want to leave you alone.” Angus strode away, and Kevin saw him talking to his captain, then he returned.

“What’s going on?” Kevin asked when Angus began herding him away.

“I’m taking you home. He said we’ve had enough excitement.”

“You don’t have to do that for me. I can stay with Jeremy or Tristan.”

“You’re coming home with me. My shift was over this morning, and the captain said he can get someone to cover for me tonight. We have each other’s backs, and I’ve helped out the other guys plenty. I just have to get back to the station to get my gear.”

“I can take you,” Kevin said hopefully.

“Meet me there in an hour. I have to help get this wrapped up and make sure the fire marshal and the police have my statement.”

“They’re going to want mine too,” Kevin said and yawned. It had been a long day, so he sat on a tiny patch of grass and waited. He stifled a groan when Antonio came over to him. “Are you going to be civil?”

“I’m always civil,” Antonio said. He stood as though he expected Kevin to get up. That wasn’t going to happen. Antonio could either sit or stand; Kevin was beyond caring. “I understand you saw him.”

“He was in the office area when I went back there. I was planning a benefit, and I wanted to ask Bull some questions, so he said to wait for him there. The same guy who had posed as the gas man before my building burned down was back there, and he was pretty crazy.” Kevin told him everything as close to word for word as he could. “I think he may still be in the building, but I’m not sure. The fire captain said they’d check once the fire was out.”

“Okay. Is there anything else?”

“This whole thing has ripped my life apart, and I want a chance to put it back together.” A new apartment, an opportunity to lay Mrs. V to rest, time to take a chance on Angus and see what happened, maybe get a chance to see him in a kilt and find out just how little was under it. “I’m tired and I’ve been through a lot.” Kevin had cried enough, and he wasn’t going to do it again. “Angus said a fire was set at his house as a decoy or something. Apparently his shed is gone, but the house is okay. I just hope it’s over.”

“We’ll check once we can get in what’s left of the building.”

“I hope he’s in there, and I hope he’s fried completely,” Kevin said acidly. “And I hope if he is, that it was miserable and that he died painfully, writhing and choking. And I hope now that he is dead that he’s in hell and it’s even hotter and more miserable than I could ever imagine.”

“Not in a forgiving mood?”

“He tried to kill me, and all my friends. He did kill Mrs. V, and that guy who got trampled the first time he set a fire in the club. I think forgiveness is something that’s long beyond him. None of us deserved the hell he heaped at all our doorsteps. Bull and Harry didn’t deserve to lose their club, and I didn’t deserve to lose my home and my friend, so don’t try to mention the word forgiveness in the same breath with that asshole. If he’s dead, the world is better off,” Kevin spat and then coughed. Another reminder of the piece of shit.

“He’s not likely to get any sympathy from me,” Antonio said, and Kevin nodded. “I understand you were venting and you can do that all you want. But are there any facts you haven’t shared with me?”

“I don’t think so,” Kevin said.

“Okay. Will you call me if you remember anything else?”

Kevin nodded. “You know sometimes you sound like one of those guys on television. Maybe you should try to come up with a different shtick.” Antonio grunted at him, and Kevin got to his feet. “Thanks for everything. I know I give you a hard time because of what happened that first time we met, but I appreciate everything you did.”

“I honestly didn’t do much. I like to think that in the end, we might have put enough pressure on him that he finally made a mistake.”

Kevin turned toward what was left of the club. “I hope so.” The cost had been so high, though. He yawned and stumbled when he took his first step, but righted himself.

“Have you been drinking?” Antonio asked.

“I had one hours ago. I’m just tired. Thank you, though.” Kevin pushed the fatigue from his mind and went to find the others. Jeremy and Tristan were standing with Harry and Spook. “Is there anything I can do?”

“No,” Harry answered. “There’s a lot to go through, and then Bull and I can decide what we want to do. But for now, you might as well go home. They’re going to be here for a while because they need to see if there are any bodies.” He sounded as tired and drawn as Kevin felt.

“I’ll be at Angus’s if anyone needs me.” Kevin shared hugs with each of them, clinging to Harry the longest because he needed it the most right now. “It will be okay. You can rebuild.”

“I know. Not sure I want to,” Harry said, and Kevin realized in that instant that a part of Harry’s gayhood, his coming of age and realizing the person he truly was, had been taken away forever. Even if it was rebuilt, Bronco’s would never be the same. Kevin held Harry a minute longer, keeping his eyes closed so he could remember the club the way it was.

“Is he okay?” Angus asked from behind him.

Kevin released Harry, and Tristan took his place, comforting his partner while Kevin stepped away.

“He’ll be okay. We all will,” Kevin said and took Angus’s hand. “Can you go?”

“Yeah. I’m done here.” Angus walked with Kevin to his car. “I’ll meet you at the house.”

“What about the station?”

“I’ll pick up my stuff and go home. Just meet me there.” Angus patted the car lightly and then stepped back. Kevin pulled out and drove slowly through town to Angus’s house.

When he parked and got out, the scent of wet and charred wood hung in the air. He walked around the side of the house and peered into the backyard. The scent was stronger, coming from the small pile of burned wreckage that filled the back corner of the yard. This all had to be over. That was all there was to it.

Kevin heard the garage doors open and walked back around to see Angus getting out of his car. Kevin helped him with his gear, which Angus left in the garage because of the smell. Then they went up into the house. Kevin honestly expected to be led right up to the bedroom, but Angus motioned to the living room. “I’m going to take a shower, and then I’ll be right back.”