The Firefighter's Girl (6 page)

But a few cuts were better than dying.

He went through the window, keeping one hand on her and taking hold of the fire escape ladder with the other. The building was up to code and he was grateful for that because as he descended the stairs with her in his arms, he knew if he had not arrived when he had, she would be gone. Once he was on the ground and a medical crew came to retrieve her, he realized he had been just in time to save her and when they laid her down on a stretcher and she just blinked her eyes open, he met hers and touched her face. She smiled a small smile, but her eyelids fluttered closed again.

“Chief!” someone called out. He turned and ran to help his crew as part of the building came falling away.

* * *

When Rebecca woke up the next day, she was staring up at a cold fluorescent light in a hospital bed. The smell of the place was one she remembered from when Amelia had been ill and it still brought back terrible memories and all the emotions they still held.

There was movement in the room and she turned her head in that direction to find Sawyer coming toward her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, smiling down at her.

She did a mental scan of her body. “Sore and I’ve got a headache,” she said, reaching to touch an especially tender spot on her leg and finding it bandaged.

“That was my fault. You got cut when I carried you through the window.”

“Oh, God.” The memory of that came back. “I guess I owe you a pretty huge thank you.”

He shook his head. “You don’t owe me anything. I was just glad to be on time.”

She smiled a weak, tired smile. “How bad was it?” she asked, not sure she wanted to know. “Jeff and those guys, are they hurt?”

“No,” he said, his expression hardening. “None of them, in fact. They were out.”

“The other residents?”

“Only one casualty, remarkably. Mr. Coleman died of smoke inhalation before we could get to him.”

“Oh, no,” she said. “He was such a sweet old man.” He was also seventy-two and in a wheelchair. She still remembered when she’d had a cup of tea with him the week prior. How he had complained that his kids wanted to move him to an old folks’ home and he wouldn’t budge.

“There were more injuries, nothing critical though. The alarms went off to alert the residents and the building was up to code. Your building is a total loss and there was some damage to the next one over. I’d say given the circumstances, you were all lucky.”

“Lucky?” she asked.

“It could have been a lot worse.”

“What caused it?” she asked.

He seemed to be studying her and his expression made her nervous. “A meth lab was being operated on a ground floor apartment in the building, Rebecca.”

She felt the color drain from her face and her heart seemed to stop. “No.”

“I’m afraid so. Jeff, his brother, and his brother’s girlfriend have all been arrested.”

“Oh, my God,” she managed, turning to look at the ceiling.

Just then the door opened and two uniformed policemen entered. She turned to look at them, as did Sawyer.

“Chief,” one of them said, nodding in greeting to Sawyer.

“What’s going on, Jeremy?” Sawyer asked.

Rebecca looked at his face, at his worried expression, and then at the men who looked back at her. The one named Jeremy nodded in her direction, but spoke to Sawyer. “We’re here to place Ms. Banks under arrest. She’s been implicated in the fire.”

“What?” Rebecca asked, shooting up in bed and flinching with the pain all over her body.

“Hold on there,” Sawyer said, putting up his hands and stepping between her and the officers who approached as soon as she had made that move. “What are you talking about, Jeremy? I know Rebecca… Ms. Banks. She’s not a part of this.”

“I’m sorry, Chief,” Jeremy said. “Please step aside.”

“I will not.”‘

“I didn’t do anything,” Rebecca said from behind him. “Sawyer?”

“Please, Chief Hayes,” Jeremy began, then took a deep breath in before continuing. “Sawyer, I don’t want to have to remove you.”

“Who implicated her?” Sawyer asked.

Jeremy nodded to the other officer who went to stand on the other side of Jessica’s bed. Jeremy turned away and spoke with Sawyer quietly. They both then turned and the look Sawyer gave Rebecca filled her with anxiety.

“Read her rights to her,” Jeremy told the other officer.

“Sawyer?” she asked.

“Jeff and the others are blaming you. They say you were the finances and the brains behind the operation.”

“What? I never… it’s not true!”

“Calm down, ma’am,” the one officer said as he circled her wrist with a handcuff and attached it to her bed. She looked at it, feeling the cool weight of it.

“Get that off me! Sawyer… help me.”

“Rebecca,” Sawyer said, coming to her, taking her shoulder. “I’ll find out what’s going on. Try to relax, you’re not going anywhere just yet.”

“Try to relax?” she asked, tugging at her arm that was bound to the bed. “I’m being arrested for something I had nothing to do with!” Tears threatened. She hated them, hated that she cried when she felt overwhelmed.

“You have to go, Sawyer,” Jeremy said.

“Can you just give us a minute?” Sawyer asked.

Jeremy hesitated, but then nodded and the two officers stepped away, but did not leave the room.

“I’ll call a lawyer, Rebecca,” Sawyer said. “There’s nothing we can do besides that at the moment. I will be back as soon as I can.”

She grabbed his arm with her free hand. “I didn’t have anything to do with it. You believe me, don’t you?”

He nodded and squeezed her hand. “I know that, Rebecca. I know you’re innocent.”

She was relieved and even managed to nod, exhaling. But when the officers began to move in again, panic had her gripping Sawyer’s arm. He took her shoulders. “Look at me,” he said to her.

She somehow dragged her eyes away from the uniformed officers and looked at him, feeling his hands on her, wanting only to feel that.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t say anything, don’t talk to anyone. Do you understand?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“Do you understand, Rebecca?” he asked, squeezing.

She nodded, searching his face, not wanting him to go. “Don’t go. Please don’t leave me alone.”

He didn’t answer for a moment, seeming torn, his forehead creased with worry. “I’ll make some calls and be back as soon as I can. I won’t leave you alone any longer than I have to. I promise.”

He had made that promise once before and back then, it was she who had run. His words reassured her, soothed her, and she nodded, lying back down. He tucked her blanket around her and gave the officer who stood nearest a warning look before turning to go.

Chapter Five

Rebecca was arraigned, the charges against her read aloud that same week. Once she had been discharged from the hospital, she had been led shamefaced out to the waiting cruiser, taken to the local jail, and processed like a criminal: fingerprinted, photographed, and searched, her few remaining possessions taken. She had spent the next three nights in a small jail cell. She had cried herself to sleep each of the previous nights, feeling overwhelmed, as if this was a mountain she would never get out from under. Tonight she lay wide awake, all cried out and unable to sleep.

She had been accused of being the funding as well as the mastermind behind the operation Jeff, Andy, and Shannon had been running. She! And the evidence against her was pathetic. It was their word of mouth and her credit card records which showed various purchases of items that were obviously used for the lab. All of those purchases were made online and not a single one was hers!

She had no money for a lawyer—she hadn’t realized how much of her already meager savings Jeff had depleted. Sawyer’s friend was an attorney, but he was out of town on another case. She’d had to use a public defender who only looked over her file minutes before her arraignment. Sawyer had been there, but she’d only glimpsed him over the reporters. She almost wished he hadn’t come; she was so ashamed at him seeing her like this.

Bail had been set high. The lawyer had half-heartedly tried to argue it down, but that gavel had come down quickly and the cameras had started flashing photos of her, the captions to which she could only imagine.

That was three days ago and it already felt like three years. She rubbed her face and turned onto her side, feeling tears of frustration building. How was she ever going to get out of this mess?

Just then a door opened and a light went on. “Hope you weren’t sleeping,” the woman said. She was the night guard, a friendly enough older woman. One thing she was grateful for was that as this was a small town and they knew the fire chief, he had put in a good word for her and she was being treated all right.

Rebecca turned to watch her enter, followed by Sawyer who looked tired and worried. Seeing him again made her eyes water and she averted her gaze, ashamed of him seeing her like this even if she was innocent.

“Hey,” he said as the guard slipped a key into the lock and opened her cell door.

Rebecca sat there, the blanket on her lap, staring at him when he walked into the cell.

“Give us a few minutes, please,” he said to the guard.

“You got it, Chief.”

Sawyer stepped into the cell and the guard locked it behind him then left them alone.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked, looking down at herself, embarrassed at him seeing her like this and confused by his presence this time of night.

“I talked to some people and managed to get bail together,” he said.

“What do you mean?” Bail was set high, he couldn’t have the money to pay it, she knew that.

“John, the attorney I told you about, is back in town. He helped out,” he said. “You’re being released into my custody. You will spend your time until the trial at my house, with me, rather than in a jail cell.”

“What? How did you do that?”

“I called in a lot of favors, Rebecca.”

“Sawyer…” She almost smiled, but his expression was grave.

“There is one condition, however.”

She leaned backward. “What sort of condition?”

“It’s pretty straightforward. You will do as I say, just as you would do what you were told if you remained here, and if you do not, you’ll deal with
my
consequences. That’s all.”

“Do as you say?” she asked, although after the last few days, she really didn’t want to spend any more time in this or any other cell and the trial could take months.

“Here’s the thing, Rebecca. You didn’t have to be in this mess. If you had done as I’d advised, as
you yourself
knew was best, and gotten away from Jeff a few months ago, you wouldn’t be sitting in a jail cell with some pretty serious charges hanging over your head. Given as how your decision-making ability, or lack thereof, has led you where you are today, I’m helping you the only way I can think of at this point. I’m taking away your power to make any more damaging decisions until I am confident you’re not going to destroy your future.”

Well, he was right. There was no denying it. And he was, from the look on his face and the tone of his voice, upset with her.

“What sort of consequences?” she asked, knowing already.

“Do you need me to spell it out?” When she didn’t reply, he continued. “When you disobey, you’ll be spanked. When I feel you need it, you’ll be spanked. Clear enough?”

“But…”

“I’ll help you, Rebecca, but we’re doing this my way this time.”

She looked at him, contemplating.

“Your choice, Rebecca. Stay here or come home with me?”

Home with him.
Those words felt good, they felt like home already, even as her bottom twitched with the memory of her last trip over his lap. “As far as those consequences…”

“I won’t be making any compromises. You agree, here and now, and we’ll be on our way. I’ll still help you if you decide you’d rather spend the time between now and the trial here in jail, but I think you’ll be more comfortable at home. With me.”

By comfortable she had the idea he wasn’t talking about her bottom. But she had little choice and the thought of going home with him—even considering those spankings—well, it seemed like an easy one to make, honestly. “I want to go home with you.”

“Good,” he said, smiling. “Let’s get out of here.”

Sawyer called for the guard and she came back, opening the door.

“Here are some clothes,” the woman said. “You’ll need to leave the jumpsuit here.”

As if she would take it? “Thank you,” she said, taking the package she handed her, still unsure what to do, wanting to get out of there, but at the same time, too embarrassed to even have Sawyer see her as she was.

“Get up, Rebecca. You can use the bathroom to get changed, then I’ll take you home.”

* * *

Sawyer hadn’t been able to get her face or her words to him at the hospital out of his mind. For days, they had echoed, her pleas not to leave her alone, to help her, breaking his heart.

Sawyer blamed himself, at least partially, for the mess she was in. After the night he had spanked her while he was still undergoing therapy, she had rescheduled his last appointment with another therapist. He had given her space at first, but when he had tried to contact her after some weeks had passed, she had refused to speak with him. She had been impossible to get a hold of, refusing to answer her phone and he had been on the verge of showing up on her doorstep, but had held back.

Looking at her sitting there now, however, in that oversized jumpsuit, she looked lost and so afraid and he knew he had made a mistake. It wasn’t space she needed. It was firm guidance, and, even more important, loving care. This was twice now that he had made a mistake when it came to Rebecca and he determined not to make one a third time.

“Sawyer, I…” she began.

Time to let her know how things were changing. “Up. Now. Get changed so we can go home.”

She searched his face for a moment, opened her mouth, but then closed it again and rose to her feet, looking just beyond him to the female officer.