“No, I’d better check it out.” Mac handed Luc the extinguisher. “Spray this at the fire right before you follow Priscilla.” Mac swung his legs over and jumped into the space. When he stood up in the opening, his shoulders and head were in the hallway. “It’s some sort of crawl space, not a real basement. Let’s go!”
Priscilla reached out and Mac put his hands around her waist to swing her down. Luc sprayed the fire extinguisher at the flames racing down the hallway, then joined them. The marshal closed the trapdoor behind him, shutting out the light, but not the smoke or roar of the fire.
As Mac shone his phone’s flashlight around the space, Luc saw that it was indeed a crawl space—a haven into which smoke was filtering at an alarming rate.
“Do you see an exit?” Luc focused his attention on examining the area as Mac illuminated their surroundings with a flashlight app.
Embers dropped down around them from the burning floor above, one of them singeing his cheek, but Luc’s attention fixated on the spot Mac’s light had just passed over. “Shine it to the right again.” Mac complied. “There’s a narrow opening to the left of us.”
“Let’s move.” Mac gestured for Luc to go first, then Priscilla.
In tandem, they crawled in that direction, still using the rapidly drying towels to screen out smoke. Above the roar of the fire, sirens wailed. Maybe they would survive this night after all.
At the opening, Mac turned to Luc. “You go first to make sure it’s safe. I need to stick close to Priscilla. Help is coming, but we can’t wait here until it arrives. Be careful. We don’t know how many might be out there waiting for us.”
Luc pushed aside a few vines that covered the entrance and wriggled out from under the house. The heat from the fire told him they didn’t have much time. He scanned the area but saw no movement. Fire trucks roared up to the house. “I think it’s okay. Come on, Priscilla.”
She reached out her hand and Luc grasped it to assist her exit from the crawl space. Soon she was hiding in the bushes with him, waiting for Mac to emerge.
Once Mac joined them, he pointed to the backyard of the neighboring house that had a thatch of bamboo growing along the border. “Over there.”
Mac led the way as Luc and Priscilla followed close behind him. Once standing just inside the bamboo stand, Mac pulled out his phone, shielding the bright light with his body to avoid tipping off anyone watching the house. “I sent a text to let headquarters know what happened.”
Luc evaluated the burning house about fifteen feet away. Firefighters swarmed in the front yard, hoses spraying the flames with little success.
“We need to get moving.” Mac slipped his phone back into a pocket. “We’ll go through the backyards to the street on the other side. My boss is sending a car to pick us up there.”
Luc grabbed Priscilla’s hand. He wasn’t sure why he wanted to hold on to her, but he had to. She didn’t say a word or look in his direction as they dashed after Mac through the backyards, then through a side alleyway.
Mac halted at the corner, checking his phone again. “Our ride’s here.” An SUV pulled up to the alleyway’s entrance. Mac motioned for them to precede him to the vehicle. “Get in the back.”
Luc reached it first and opened the door. Priscilla slid inside, Luc right behind her. Mac slammed the door on the passenger side and the vehicle took off before anyone had their seat belt buckled.
“You okay?” A woman in her early thirties drove.
“It was a close one, Ilene.” Mac fixed his attention on his phone.
“There’s bottled water in the cup holders,” Ilene said, heading down the street.
Luc uncapped one of the bottles and took a long draw to soothe his parched throat. “Thanks.” He leaned toward Priscilla, who was recapping her bottle. “Hey,” he said softly, “how are you holding up?”
She shrugged. “I’ve been better, but I don’t think I’m really hurt. You?”
“Smoky, but in one piece.” Luc wanted to recapture her hand in his, but decided to listen to Ilene’s update to Mac instead.