Firebreak: A Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

peak of the fire were now visible. The fire was within a mile of the mudflats. The smell of smoke was strong now and the smoke completely blotted out any evening light.
    Chester typically lay in the backseat and slept when he rode in a vehicle, but he was agitated now, whining, obviously alert to the danger they were facing. Josie was always amazed at the dog’s innate sense of natural dangers, such as approaching storms or fire.
    Lights were on in the last home to check, but the front door was locked. Dell ran from window to window to see if someone was inside. Josie finally found the man in his woodshop behind the house. He was sitting on a stool at his workbench, whittling a small piece of wood and listening to the radio announcer discuss the evacuation. She knew him as a cantankerous retiree from the local bank who was now in his late eighties.
    She told him, “Mr. Beeman, the fire is within a mile of your home. You are in extreme danger.”
    He ignored her, refusing to look up.
    Josie bent down, getting right next to him and speaking loudly. “You could die if you don’t leave.”
    He swatted her off with his hand. “Get out and leave me be.”
    Josie felt her face flush with anger. “Mr. Beeman, the flames are visible from here. It isn’t if the fire will burn your house, it’s when it will hit.”
    He looked up and glared at her. “I’m not going anywhere. I got a storm cellar. That’s where I’ll go.”
    “That cellar won’t do you any good if your burning house caves in on you!” She was furious at his unwillingness to help himself.
    He turned back to his workbench and drew his whittling knife down the side of the piece of wood. Josie looked more closely at the piece and saw that it was in the shape of a heart, and he was carving the initial B in the center. His deceased wife’s name was Beatrice.
    After pleading with him one more time, she choked back tears as she turned from the old man and left. Ultimately, it was a person’s right to choose death.

 
    FIVE
    After checking the most vulnerable houses in the mudflats area, Josie and Dell drove south to Lonesome Road, where a group of roughly sixty firefighters were spread across a three-mile span, widening the firebreak. Josie drove two miles toward downtown Artemis, down the side road that ran perpendicular to the firebreak, and found Doug’s fire truck. Another group of firemen were using a water tank from a brush truck to fight the flames from the fire’s flank, basically squeezing it in from the sides and preventing it from spreading any wider.
    They approached Doug who stood at the edge of the road, talking on his cell phone. Once he finished he walked toward them, shaking his head. “We’ve got every road between here and Mexico closed. I just hope everyone got out of the south central part of the county.”
    “I hate to add this to your worries, but I couldn’t get Mike Beeman to budge.”
    Doug shook his head, clearly angry. “He’ll put my firefighters in danger trying to save his sorry ass.” Doug ran his hands over his face as if trying to wipe away the thought. “I’ll do what I can.”
    “What about the firebreak?” said Dell.
    Doug held a hand in the air and tilted it. “The mudflats are in trouble up north, but this firebreak may save downtown. The guys have done a great job fighting this from the sides. Up north it was burning over eight miles wide. I just talked to the crew to the east of us. From where they’re stationed, I think the fire’s only burning about two miles wide. And it’s headed straight for the break. This might work.”
    “What about west of town?” Dell asked.
    Doug nodded, acknowledging that that was where their homes were located. “The fire across the river is contained. The wind direction up north is remaining constant. Anything west of the watchtower is currently out of the line of fire.”
    “What more can we do to help?” Josie asked.
    “Your next job starts tomorrow. Go home and get a