Angel In Blue Read online

  *****

  Mack checked the roster sheet at the firehouse the next morning. Five men had signed in and none of the signatures looked like the one on his note. He’d have to wait until he could compare all the men in the company.

  After a brush fire and one house fire, Mack had put in a hard twelve-hour shift. By the time he unlocked his door at home, he was ready for a shower and a little sack time. Today had been a strain on his nervous system catching some of his fellow workers secretly watching him. As soon as he looked their way, they dropped their gaze and pretended they hadn’t been watching him. He dismissed them from his thoughts and crawled naked beneath the covers.

  Five

  Mack and his company were preparing for lunch when the alarm sounded. It was a serious fire, and companies from around the city were responding. He heard the police and ambulance sirens and saw the news helicopters hovering overhead as they arrived at the scene. The lower floors of the apartment building were engulfed in flames, thick black smoke rolling into the sky. The flames leaped out and threatened similar buildings on either side. A ladder company was already preparing to pluck frantic people from windows.

  Mack’s captain yelled orders into a radio and quickly turned to his men. “Mack, you, Joe and Hotchkiss go in through the back, there’s supposed to a stairwell. We’ve got reports of possible people on the fourth floor. Carter’s men are trying to contain the fire on two and three, but I don’t know how much time you’ve got.”

  The three men grabbed their gear and made their way to the back. Flames were bursting through windows on the second and third floors of the building. The building was old, not up to code; it was obviously a race against time.

  Mack and the others made their way up the stairwell, already beginning to fill with smoke. Frightened residents passed them on the stairs and Mack urged them to continue down and out, telling them someone at the bottom would show them where to go. When he asked if there were others, still inside, they told him there might be.

  At the fourth floor, they checked the door and found it safe to enter. From the main hallway windows, they could see the flames from the lower floors, licking their way up. Smoke and heat were beginning to fill the hallway. They quickly started a search, banging on doors, kicking them in when they found them locked. The radio buzzed in Mack’s ear; it was Hotchkiss, two apartments behind him, ‘Mack, I’ve got a woman in a wheelchair, I’m gonna have to carry her out.”

  Mack and Joe were nearly at the end of the hallway, the last apartments, “Go, get her out, Joe and I will finish up here.”

  Joe opened the door to the last apartment and found a small girl huddled in the corner. “Mack, got a small girl, conscious, but scared.”

  “Take her,” Mack said, “I don’t see anyone else, let’s go, we need to move.”

  Joe grabbed the girl in his arms, “It’s OK, we’re gonna get you out of here; it’s alright.” They started down the hall.

  “My puppy!” the girl screamed, “my puppy.”

  “What?” Joe said.

  “My puppy, he’s under the bed, he’s scared.”

  Joe thrust the girl into Mack’s arms, turned around and ran back down the hallway.

  “Shit!” Mack turned to see a yellow figure emerge through the smoke filled hall.

  “The woman’s OK, paramedics got her,” Hotchkiss said. “Where’s Joe?”

  Mack shoved the girl in Hotchkiss’ arms, “Puppy rescue, get her out, we’re right behind you.” At least I hope we’re right behind you. If everybody goes home alive, it was a good day on the job.

  As Mack got to the apartment, Joe came out the door. Mack couldn’t tell if he had a puppy, only that there was something furry bundled in his arms.

  “We need to go – NOW,” Mack said.

  Mack’s radio crackled and he heard his captain, “Mack, put a move on; the fire is spreading, don’t know how much longer that back stairwell will be safe.”

  The men felt the growing heat from the inferno as they worked their way down to floor three - where they encountered hell.

  “No good,” Joe said. The men retraced their steps back to the fourth floor. The smoke was getting thicker.

  At the end of the hall, Mack found an old fire hose coiled into its alcove in the wall.

  “That’s fuckin’ useless,” Joe said.

  “For fighting fires, yea,” Mack nodded to the nearby window, “but for getting out?” He broke the window and threw out the hose nozzle, letting its weight uncoil the hose, stopping ten feet short of the ground.

  Joe shook his head, “Sort of Errol Flynn, swashbuckling, ya think?”

  “Not if it saves our ass. You and your dog go first. I’ll anchor the rope.”

  A silent few seconds passed as the two men looked each other in the eye, the smoke and their grim visages distorted by their facemasks making it a surreal moment.

  Joe nodded, stuffed the dog in his fireman’s suit, grabbed the hose and clambered out the window. “See you on the bottom.”

  Mack braced the end of the ancient hose, providing a solid anchor and hoping it didn’t tear or break. He could now see smoke rising from the floor beneath his feet, the entire third floor must be on fire. He heard Joe on the radio, “I’m down, get out now.”

  Mack turned to make sure that the hose was secure so he could make his descent, but something wasn’t right. The floor felt – different…

  He fell, through flames, fire, searing heat and a hell of red and yellow - and then black…

  *****

  He woke in a world of white and pale green; it was cool and smelled clean. When his eyes began to focus, he saw beautiful flowers. Did I die?

  He blinked, and saw Joe.

  “Had us all worried there buddy,” Joe said.

  Mack closed his eyes, squinted and tried to remember. “You – went out a window…”

  “That’s right,” Joe said. “And you took another way. Floor gave way and you fell straight through the fire on the third floor and right into a group of guys from company 16 who were fighting the fire on the second floor. Scared the shit out of ‘em. Hell, they thought it was raining firemen. Busted up your arm,” Joe nodded at Mack’s right arm, in a cast from his wrist to his shoulder, “knocked you out good.” He paused, “But you saved my ass.”

  Mack looked at the flowers, “From you?”

  “The guys sent ‘em over.”

  Mack chuckled, “Never figured they were the flowers type.”

  Joe leaned in, his voice a whisper as he looked to the door, “There’s six mini bottles of Glenlivet inside the flowers.”

  “Ahhh,” Mack nodded slowly, “flowers.”

  “Flowers.”

  Both men were silent. Mack was the first to speak, “Never figured you for a dog lover.”

  Joe shrugged, “Everybody loves something.”

  Mack nodded, “They do.”

  Joe stood and paced the room, stopping to look out the window. “You know, if I was makin’ a list of the guys that I’d go into a burning building with, you’d be one of ‘em. Doesn’t matter what the guy thinks or feels, only that I can depend on him, know he’ll have my back.” He turned to face Mack. “You’d be on that list, and I’d say that to anybody.”

  “Same here.”

  Joe walked to the bed and looked around the room. “Shit! Are we good?” He stuck out his right hand then laughed and offered his left. “Are we OK?”

  Mack offered his left hand to Joe, “We are.”

  “Listen, I’m gonna square things, make it OK, I owe you that, and more,” Joe said. “I gotta go, and you have a visitor.”

  Moments later Ike sauntered into the room, “We need to stop meeting like this.”

  Mack smiled, “I missed you at the fire.”

  “I was there buddy, traffic and crowd control. Have to admit I was worried about you.” Ike nodded at the door, “Everything OK?”

  “It is,” Mack said, “I think it is.” Mack nodded to his arm, “Other than
being a little busted up.”

  “Care and recuperation, just what the doctor ordered, a nice relaxing convalescence,” Ike said.

  “And you’re here to see to that?”

  Ike pulled out his handcuffs, “Who’s your daddy?”

  END

  Other Romance Divine LLC Books By Mary Suzanne

  Rekindled Love

  The glamorous life of a fashion model was not without perils…of the heart. For Cassie, it meant an erotic photo shoot with an old lover. Had Antonio forgotten her? Could she hide her feelings, even as his body meshed with hers while the cameras clicked? In the ruins of an old castle, Cassie finds a REKINDLED LOVE.

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  Loving Katie

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  Double Your Pleasure

  The night her car broke down and she wandered lost in the woods was something Jenny Logan would have liked to have forgotten. Instead, she forgot who she was - a fall in the forest and she awakes in a cabin, but not alone. Two handsome strangers tend to her in ways she couldn’t have imagined. When Jenny’s memory returns, the men in her life are gone, but not forgotten. Will she see them again? And when she does, will she experience that night of lust again?

  Partners

  Josh Braslet was a regular at the Corral Bar, but he wasn’t out to rope and tame a peroxide filly. He was after a stallion in denim, Jake Talbot. Both Josh and Jake know what they want, but will family – and fate – get in the way of their happily ever after?

  Secrets

  Cade McKenna was a man who couldn’t make up his mind. He wasn’t sure what he wanted – or didn’t want. His wife Maddie, did he want her, and did she want him? It took a special stranger, one Bailey Kingston, to stir desire in Cade and to let him summon the courage to rid himself of his: Secrets.

  Angel In Blue

  Fireman Mack Baird was fearless – about going into a burning building. A relationship, a special kind of relationship, was something else altogether. He knew what he wanted, but was unsure about how and who. Policeman Isaiah “Ike” Madison would turn out to be who and he’d also show him the how. The action is hot, and it’s not simply burning buildings that are turning up the heat.

  Just Not Into Me

  Case O’Brien wanted nothing more than a relationship, someone to care about – and someone to care about him. Could colleague Rob Nelson be that special someone? Were their Master/slave games only that – games? Or will this turn out to be the real thing? Case needs to find out if Rob is the one, or if he is Just Not Into Me.

  Darling Rebel

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  Private Dancer

  Casey was bumping and grinding his way through college, a sexy male stripper who turned on the ladies, but didn’t feel quite the same about their affections. While screaming women stuffed his g-string with dollars, Casey’s eyes were on the dark mysterious stranger in the back of the club. Could Mathew be the one? Casey didn’t know, but he’d like nothing better than to audition as his - Private Dancer.

  Marooned

  Hunter McBride was ready to take off, both into the sky, and in his personal life. Little did he know his heart would soar when he met flight instructor Sage Anderson. Some flight time, drinks in a bar, and a night-time beach rendezvous all lead to more than he hoped for-until they were-Marooned.

  Guess Who’s Watching You?

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  My Cowboys

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  Ride ‘Em Cowboy

  Beth and Wendy had a plan to pay off the ranch—enter the barrel riding competition at the rodeo and win the money. Capturing hunky bull rider Casey Sanders would also be a nice consolation prize, one the women were more than willing to share. Casey proves more than up for the challenge, ready to Ride ‘Em Cowboy, but the question is – who is going to live happily ever after?

  Sexual Knead

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  The Christmas Gift

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  Jade

  Jade saw the man of her dreams across a crowded restaurant while married to what proved to be a philandering husband. A divorce and career change leads her to true love, but not without its share of problems. The emerald eyed stranger, the new modeling career, and her ex’s ability to bring chaos to her door all challenge her future in...Jade.

  Drifter

  Hot-shot New York financier Ethan Anderson wanted to learn about life – and about Ethan Anderson. He left the corporate world behind, traveling west in his old pick-up truck, looking for odd jobs, and trying to discover who he was and where he belonged. Fate and appetite bring him to a Texas diner, where Chrissie and Mellie, two hot-blooded and sultry waitresses, are working to earn the money to save their friend’s ranch. It’s a sexy threesome romp when a Drifter rolls into town.

  Spanish Rose

  Josie Lopez was an outsider to the powerful Cantrell family. Her late mother, Maria, had been the Mistress to Cantrell patriarch Jim Cantrell. Jim Cantrell put Josie through Law School and helped her begin a career as an attorney, but kept her distant from his family. At Jim’s funeral, Josie came face-to-face with the Cantrell clan, especially his step-son Jace. When Jim leaves Josie one of his ranches, Whispering Pines, she inherits more than land and buildings; she gains the attention of the Cantrells, and the sexy and irresistible Jace Cantrell. Will Josie succeed as a career woman and ranch owner, and will Jace be able to bring this Spanish Rose to bloom.

  Now Available in Paperback

  SEXY

  Mary Suzanne’s

  Erotic Romance Collection

  ISBN: 978-1-934446-49-2

  SEXY is the first short story collection from erotic author Mary Suzanne. Within these pages are four hot male-male stories and a sensual male-female-male threesome.

  SEXY goes beyond the bedroom and takes the daring reader into another realm of erotic romance.

  Mary Suzanne has enjoyed hundreds of sales of her works. Partners, Secrets, Angel In Blue and Just Not Into Me were all on the "What's Hot" list at AllRomanceeBooks.com. Angel In Blue was number four and Partners number six on the AllRomanceeBooks.com Top-Ten bestseller list.

  You might lose sleep at bedtime, with your copy of SEXY, but that's not a bad thing - is it?

  About the Author

  Mary Suzan
ne writes from the heart, feeling the pain, happiness and joy of her hero and heroine. Her goal is to take her readers away from their daily existence to another time and place.

  [email protected]

  Also Available From Romance Divine LLC

  At: www.romancedivine.cm

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