Adelle Laudan - Killer Scents

“Jacob?” A sickening feeling churned in the pit of her stomach. She pushed Jacob off of her, laying him on his back. The rise and fall of his chest she’d come to rely on rose and fell no more. Blood seeped out from beneath him. Becca inched her way back until she hit the wall and buried her face in her hands.

A burst of gunfire forced her to set aside her grief and prompted her to act.

Danny will not take my life today. Jacob’s sacrifice will not be in vain.

Becca worked at opening the window. Below, a number of officers in tactical gear ran single file to the back of the house.

“Argh!” She used her pent-up anger and frustration to force it open, rewarding her with layers of paint cracking until it finally gave way. She pushed out the screen and watched it tumble to the ground.

Becca wrestled with the mattress until she finally had it lain over the windowsill and slid it out, landing on the roof below like she’d hoped. She took one last look back at Jacob’s still form.

“Thank you.” The words stuck in her throat on her way through the opening. She jumped.

Pandemonium surrounded the farmhouse. Smoke and clouds of dirt and debris made it almost impossible for Randy to see what impact the onslaught of bullets had ensued.

Chief gave the order to cease fire. An eerie silence fell upon the acreage as the dust settled, giving them a better look at the back of the house where the clapboard had been shredded and the glass shattered. However, there was no sign of Danny.

“Do you think we got him?” Randy’s pulse raced as he scanned the ruins for signs of life.

“Let’s find out.” Chief spoke into his radio. “Send a couple of men in full gear to investigate.”

Almost immediately two men ran forward in sync. Out from the rubble staggered Danny with gun in hand, a huge smile plastered on his blackened face.

“Freeze! Drop your gun!” The bigger man shouted out. Both men went down on one knee and took aim. “Drop the gun and put your hands up.”

“It’s been fun, gentlemen.” Danny spun on his heel and shot into the house. An explosion rocked the ground, and everyone ran for cover.

Randy looked over the hood of Danny’s car to find the entire back engulfed in flames and Danny nowhere in sight. Surely he didn’t survive that one.

“Becca.” Randy jumped to his feet and set off running only to be manhandled to his knees.

“I can’t let you go in there. We did the best we could, my friend.”

Chief’s words did little to console him. After everything they’d been through, to lose her like this.... Randy buried his face in his hands and choked on a sob, a gaping hole in his heart.

Chief’s radio sounded. “We’ve got her. We need the EMT stat to the east side of the property.”Alan spoke hastily.

Randy ran with the EMT to a cluster of men by the tree line. A smoking mattress lay off to one side. He pushed his way through the growing crowd and stopped suddenly. A plethora of emotions battled within him to find Becca lying on the ground. A few wisps of her once luxurious red hair clung to a badly blistered scalp. The rain suit she wore was literally melted to her side. Men in white uniforms worked quickly, bandaging her wounds and monitoring vitals.

An ambulance with its lights flashing crossed the property and stopped a few feet shy of them. The emergency personnel carefully moved her to a stretcher and covered her with a silver, quilted blanket. Randy forced his way through to where they lifted her into the back. He tried to climb up inside only to be dragged back by fellow officers.

“Get off of me!” He struggled to break free. “Becca!”

“You got to give them room to do their job.”

The chief’s voice of reason ended his fight. He watched in horror as one of the attendants inside pressed his hands to Becca’s chest and started pumping. In the next instant, the doors closed and the truck sped away with lights flashing.

If there was any doubt in Randy’s mind that he loved her, there wasn’t now. Never in his life had he felt so helpless. Tears slid down his face unchecked as he turned to face the chief. “I can’t lose her.”

His friend put an arm across his back and ushered him back through the crowd. “Well then we best get to the hospital and make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Randy’s time in the burn unit had to be the most heart-wrenching experience of his life. He’d seen more than his fair share of trauma, but nothing remotely akin to what he’d witnessed over the past twenty-four hours.

The double doors to his right burst open. The scent of burnt flesh assaulted him. A child being whisked in cried out for his mother to make the pain stop. A shiny, insulated pad like they’d covered Becca with cocooned the small body. Within seconds they disappeared through the same set of doors they’d wheeled Becca through what seemed a lifetime ago.

The thought of her in that kind of pain was enough to bring him to his knees. Thankfully they were keeping her in an induced coma. The fabric of the rain suit had fused with her skin compounding the severity of her condition.

Dr. Swanson walked down the corridor toward him. The physician removed his surgical garments and passed them to a nurse keeping pace beside him. He sat heavily in the chair next to Randy and rubbed his eyes. His silver hair looked like he’d just gone for a ride on a motorcycle without a helmet.

“How is she, Doc?” Randy had fully intended on letting him speak first.

“We’re going to keep her induced for now. The dead tissue and fabric has been removed, and I’m pretty sure she’ll need skin grafts to her upper arm and thigh. Right now our biggest concerns are infection and dehydration, which is why we’ve put her in an isolation tent and are pumping fluids in her intravenously. She fractured her tibia, but luckily the bone structure isn’t displaced. We’ve got her leg in traction so there’s no chance of anything shifting.” The doctor put a hand to the back of his neck and rolled his head around. “She’s got a long and painful road ahead of her, if she makes it.”

Randy went rigid. “What do you mean, if she makes it?”

He sighed wearily. “Her body has been through severe trauma. We’ll keep a close eye on her tonight and, if all goes well, we can eliminate the threat of her going into shock.”

Randy blew out a long breath, blinking his burning eyes. “I want to see her.”

“You won’t be able to go inside the tent. She won’t know you’re there.”

“I don’t care. The last time I saw her someone was pumping on her chest, and now you’re telling me she might not make it through the night.” His voice cracked. “I just need to see her, to know she’s really here.”

Dr. Swanson nodded, and his nurse led Randy to wash up. Nobody could pass through the doors without doing so, despite the fact he wasn’t going in the tent. Once scrubbed, he put on a gown and followed the woman to a small, glass-encased room.

“Push that button if you need me or when you’re ready to leave.” The nurse left him alone, closing the door firmly behind her.

Becca lay in a tent-like structure hooked up to several machines. Her entire body seemed wrapped in stark white gauze, only her red face visible.

“What I wouldn’t give to see those beautiful green eyes of yours.” Randy splayed his hands on the glass, praying she’d somehow feel his energy.

“You’re not alone, Red. We’ll get through this together, baby, if you’ll let me.”

He hung his head. None of it mattered if she didn’t survive the night.

If you harm one hair on her head... “Oh, my God.” Did I say that one time too many and somehow aided in it coming true? An overwhelming sense of powerlessness consumed him and he fell back in a chair. For the first time since he was a child, he closed his eyes and prayed.