Countdown to Death. Debby Giusti

she stepped aside and covered her face with her arms.

      Luke twisted his jacket around his right hand, raised his fist and jammed it against the window. The pane shattered.

      With a series of sweeps, he cleared away the remaining shards of glass.

      Fueled by the increased oxygen, the fire burned bright, the roar deafening.

      Luke grabbed the woman and guided her over the windowsill. She clung to him, her fingers digging into his flesh.

      “I’ve got you,” he assured her. “We jump on three.”

      She shook her head. “I…I can’t.”

      “You have to,” he insisted. “One…Two…”

      He wrapped his arm protectively around her waist.

      “Three.”

      They jumped just before the room exploded, spewing a ball of fire into the night.

      A clump of overgrown azalea bushes broke their fall. Together they rolled and came to rest on a mound of thick pine needles.

      Luke groaned as he pulled himself to a sitting position.

      Lights flashed. The fire chief appeared, yelling orders to his men. A scurry of activity surrounded them as hoses stretched toward the flames. Water hissed from the nozzles.

      The woman lay on the ground, eyes closed, golden hair streaming around a face pale as death.

      “Ma’am?” Luke nudged her shoulder. “Ma’am?”

      When she didn’t respond, he touched her neck. No pulse.

      “She needs help,” he shouted, hoping to attract attention.

      Knowing every second was critical, Luke tilted her head back. With swift, sure movements, he blew two quick puffs of air into her mouth, then, intertwining his fingers, he pressed down on her sternum.

      “And one, and two…” He counted the compressions.

      Where were the medical personnel?

      “And three, and—”

      “We’ll take it from here.” A team of EMTs scurried to his aid.

      Luke edged back to let them do their job.

      Bett raced toward him. “Someone said you went into the burning building.”

      “I’m fine,” he assured her as he stood and looked around. “Where’s Shelly?”

      “In the car. Mrs. Rogers heard the sirens and stopped by to help. She’s with Shelly. I was worried. They told me you pulled a person from the fire.”

      He pointed to where the EMTs clustered.

      Bett grabbed his arm. “You’re hurt, Luke.”

      For the first time, he noticed the gash on his forearm and the blood that matted his shirt.

      “It’s a small cut.” He shrugged off her concern while his eyes fixed once again on the woman he’d tried to save.

      The spotlights cutting through the night, the frantic rush of the emergency personnel and the acrid stench of the smoke took him back, and for a moment he saw Hilary’s lifeless body lying on the ground.

      A lump filled his throat. Lord, don’t let another woman die.

      Chaos. Allison felt the swell of confusion and panic surround her. She gasped for air.

      A mask covered her mouth and nose. She tried to push it aside.

      Someone restrained her hand.

      “Breathe, lady.”

      Her chest burned.

      “Come on, lady. You gotta breathe.”

      She pulled in a shallow breath, expecting smoke. Instead her lungs filled with life-giving oxygen. She gulped, sucking in the pure air.

      “She’s coming ’round,” the voice announced. “Tell Luke. Only way he’ll calm down is if he knows she’s okay.”

      A few moments later, a hand touched her shoulder.

      She blinked open her eyes and saw the man who’d saved her life.

      His cheeks were covered with soot. Blood streaked through his thick chestnut hair where he’d wiped his arm across his forehead.

      Dark eyes searched her face. “Are you okay?”

      “You saved my life,” she managed to whisper.

      “I thought…” Concern wrinkled his brow. “When you didn’t respond, I was worried you wouldn’t make it.”

      She smiled, or at least tried to smile through the oxygen mask.

      An EMT tapped his shoulder. “Sorry, Luke, but the county medical van just arrived. The doc wants to examine her.”

      Before she could say goodbye, the man who’d saved her disappeared into the crowd of onlookers.

      To Allison’s surprise, the medical van was state-of-the-art and the doctor’s exam thorough. Irritated lungs, which improved after the breathing treatments that the EMTs administered, and a strained back were her only injuries.

      “You’re one lucky lady,” the fire chief said to her later as she sat outside the medical van and watched the men roll up their hoses. The front of the house and kitchen had been saved. A gaping black hole was all that remained of the room where she’d been staying.

      She refused to think of what might have happened.

      “B and B’s the only place that rents rooms in this area,” the chief continued. “The gentleman who was staying downstairs plans to drive seventy miles to the next town where a motor lodge has vacancies. Younger couple moved in with someone they know in Sterling.”

      He stared at her, evidently waiting for an answer to a question she never heard him ask.

      “Are you telling me I need to find a place to stay?”

      “We’ve got an empty cabin.” A middle-aged woman with a weatherworn face, warm eyes and flaming red hair stepped forward from the group lingering close by. “Be happy to offer you lodging for as long as you’re in town.”

      The woman patted Allison’s hand. “Bet you’re worn-out after everything that’s happened. We’ll take good care of you, honey.”

      Hearing the compassion in the older woman’s voice, unexpected tears stung Allison’s eyes. She tried to blink them back.

      Must be letdown after all that had happened. Either that, or the meds the doctor had given her.

      “I thought you folks closed up the cabin.” The fire chief rubbed his hand over his chin. “After that boarder of yours—”

      “Don’t need to focus on the past, Chief.” The woman cut him off, her voice sharp. Then she dug in her pocket, pulled out a clean tissue and handed it to Allison.

      “The place is neat as a pin and ready for my new friend. My name’s Elizabeth Garrison. Folks call me Bett.”

      Allison blew her nose and tried to smile at the second person who had come to her aid that night. Then, remembering her car, she rummaged in the shoulder bag she’d had the presence of mind to wrap about her neck as soon as she’d smelled smoke.

      Keys in hand, she tried to stand and grimaced as the pulled muscles in her back responded to the shift in position.

      “I’ll take those,” a deep voice said behind her.

      She turned and looked into her rescuer’s eyes.

      “Did I overhear my aunt say you’re coming home with us?” He took the keys with his left hand and stuck out his right, a thick square of gauze taped to his forearm. “Seems we didn’t