Beneath the Scars (Masters of the Shadowlands #13)(99)

Holt’s stomach twisted. He’d been knocked out. Woke to hear his dad groaning. Trying to talk. Struggling to breathe. He’d panicked, needing to help—only he couldn’t even get his door open. “Other cars stopped, but the grass under the pickup caught fire. It was fall. Everything was bone dry. Within minutes, the fire was spreading to the trees.”

Carson’s eyes were huge. “What happened?”

“A fire truck showed up, sirens screaming.” God, he still remembered the sense of awe when it appeared. The feeling of being rescued. He managed to smile. “They were amazing, and they got the fire out.”

“What about the drunk? His truck was on fire?”

Not everyone could be saved. Holt looked away from the kid’s big eyes. “Neither he nor his passenger made it. It wasn’t good.” The pickup’s tank had blown, killing the drunk and the young daughter. The girl’s voice was the first—and the most devastating—of the screams that haunted Holt’s dreams. Children and fire—dammit.

“Jeez. Was your dad okay?”

“The firefighters cut the door off and got him out.” Holt could still taste the smoke in the air, hear his dad’s groans. Memories…sucked.

Carson stared up into his face, and his lip quivered. “But was he o-okay?”

Holt shook his head. “No. The crash messed him up, and he died a couple of days later. But without the firefighters, he’d have died there, choking on his own blood.”

The boy turned pale.

Holt winced. Too blunt, dumbass. “Sorry, Carson. It’s not a good memory. But, yeah, that’s when I decided I wanted to be a firefighter.” They’d known what to do, moved as a team, had been gentle with his dad—and Holt, too.

The kid swallowed. “You had your mom though. Your mom was okay, right?”

“She’d died a couple of years earlier from a brain tumor.” During that last year, her ability to care for herself, to move, to eat had disappeared. Much of what he knew about compassion and caring for others had come from watching his father with her. The tenderness he had shown, the love.

An arm slipped around his waist, and Josie pressed against his side. When had she joined them?

She hugged him. “I’m so sorry, Holt. I know it was years ago—and I know it must still hurt.”

“What-what happened to you? With no parents?” Carson looked like he wanted to hug Holt, too. Angry with Holt or not, the kid had a big heart.

“My aunt took me in.”

Josie’s face turned hard. “But his aunt’s boyfriend beat him up. Made him run drugs.”

Carson’s mouth dropped open.

Josie growled. “You never said—is that jerk dead, or can I kill him?”

“I’ll help,” Carson muttered.

Their protectiveness sent warmth through Holt’s heart. Reaching out, he pulled Carson into a one-armed hug—and the boy hugged him back. Hard. “Thanks, you two. No worries, though. One of the guy’s rivals took him out.”

“You told me your aunt’s health failed.” Josie frowned. “Were you an adult by then?”

“Ah, no, I spent a couple of years in foster care.”

“Crap,” Carson muttered.

“I survived. And I like where I’m at now.” Especially with Josie against his side. He smiled at Carson who’d moved away and was trying to appear nonchalant. “Anyway, that’s how I got into firefighting.”

“Yeah. Uh, thanks.” Carson rubbed his shoe into the grass before looking at his mom. “I’m gonna go to Brandon’s now. Have a good time with pizza an’ stuff.”

As Carson headed for his bike, his mother gave a sigh.

“It’ll take him a while, pet. Most kids love change…if they’re the ones making it happen. Otherwise, not so much.” Holt rubbed his cheek against her hair. “How about I bribe him with a ride on the Harley?”

Josie stiffened. “No.”

“Even if I leave the drugs and loose biker chicks at home?”

Her frown remained…but he’d heard the laugh she’d tried to suppress.

*

Brandon’s house was huge. He even had a whole “family room” just for him and his friends. Coming back from getting Cokes from the kitchen, Carson handed one to Juan and dropped down on the floor.

In the center of the room, Ryan and Yukio were battling it out in the new Xbox game Brandon had scored.

On the TV screen, blood was everywhere. They’d turned the sound up, and there was yelling and screaming.

His stomach feeling pukey, Carson took a sip of the Coke. Mom never let him play adult games. Maybe he was kinda glad.

Seated on the couch, Brandon nudged him with his foot. “Hey, I looked up your old man, Cars.”

“Huh? How come?”

“Cuz it pisses me off the way the asshole dissed you. Like you’re nothing.” Brandon leaned forward. “We should do something about him…and I got a plan.”

Ol’ Everett was a douche. He really was. But… Carson frowned. Brandon’d said the same thing about the science teacher and having a plan. Only the plan’d gone from dumping bagged shit in a classroom to starting a fire. Kinda a big difference. Carson shook his head. “I don’t know, Brandon. It’s—”