Page 61 of A Perfect Target

His eyes fluttered open, and he looked at her in sleepy confusion. “Mrs. Michaels, is it morning?”

“No, baby, it’s not. But you need to get up and come quickly with me,” she replied.

The little boy got out of bed, and it was only then he realized what was happening. “It’s so smoky…are we on fire?”

“Yes, honey, we are, so I need to get you out of here as quickly as possible. Now, put your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist.”

Sammy complied and then she headed to his doorway, eager to escape and get the little boy out of danger’s way. “Wait,” Sammy exclaimed with alarm. “What about Lady? We have to get her, too.”

Of course. She couldn’t leave the sweet baby pup here to burn to death. Sammy would be inconsolable if that happened and so would she. “I’ll get Lady,” she replied. Lady seemed to understand, for the pup stopped dancing around and sat at Suzanna’s feet.

It took several moments for her to get Sammy situated on one hip and Lady in her arms. Then she stepped out into the scorching hot hallway.

The fire had formed a barrier between her room and Seth’s. The easiest way to get out would have been through Sammy’s bedroom window. However, she had heard horror stories about backdrafts and so was afraid to open the window.

The only way out was through the flames. If she ran fast enough through them then hopefully the three of them could escape without being burned.

However, she’d take whatever burns she needed just to see to it that the little boy she loved survived without being burned. She was terrified, but she couldn’t think about her fear right now. She had to be strong for Sammy’s sake.

Seth stood on the other side of the flames, yelling something to her that she couldn’t understand. However, above the din, she thought she heard the sound of approaching sirens.

But the fire engines wouldn’t get here fast enough for her and Sammy and Lady. She was going to have to run through the flames to reach Seth and safety on the other side.

She coughed from the smoke that swirled in the air. “Sammy, hide your face against me,” she said urgently. “And hold on tight.”

She drew in what breath she could, and then she ran forward. The flames licked her arms and legs as she hugged Sammy and Lady closer to her. The bottoms of her feet were hot against the burning carpet. Everything around her was scorching.

Even though it was a relatively short run, it felt as if it took hours to finally get to the other side of the fire line. She broke through the flames, and with a deep sob, she collapsed to the ground. Seth scooped up Sammy and held him tight.

He hurried to Suzanna, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back up to her feet. “Come on, we need to get out of here,” he yelled.

He led them through the living room and to the front door. “Wait here,” he instructed as he hurried into the kitchen. He returned a moment later, and she saw the butt of his gun peeking out of the waistband of his jeans.

“Let’s get outside and get into my car,” he said. He opened the door and at that moment two fire engines pulled up, along with several patrol cars.

He led the three of them and Lady directly to his car in the driveway, where she scooted into the driver seat. “Lock it,” he shouted to Suzanna through the closed window.

Sammy crawled into the back seat and brought Lady with him. He hugged the pup close to his chest as he stared out the window. The flames weren’t visible from here, letting her know that the fire had started at the back of the house.

The blood in her veins suddenly chilled. Had it been set as a ruse to get her out of the house? Had the person who wanted to kill her set the fire, hoping she’d come running out the front door alone and vulnerable? Or hoping that she would perish from smoke inhalation or in the flames?

As she watched the activity going on around her—firefighters rushing around the house dragging large hoses with them—the realization that she was what had caused all this stabbed into her heart.

Sammy could have been killed. Seth might have been killed, and she’d brought this danger to their doorstep. The very thought chilled her to her bones. She began to weep as quietly as possible, not wanting Sammy to hear her crying.

She wept with the fear she had felt the moment she had awakened to smoke filling her room. She cried with the terror that had swept through her as she’d run through the flames with Sammy and Lady in her arms. Finally, she cried because she was the cause of everything that was happening.

Her arms and legs and the bottoms of her feet still burned, but thankfully she didn’t believe she needed any medical help. A little lotion and maybe some over-the-counter burn aid would be all she needed.

By that time the paramedics had arrived. They saw Sammy first and pronounced him without any fire or smoke injuries. They saw Suzanna next and after listening to her lungs, checked out her feet and legs. They rubbed soothing lotion on the burns and then gave her the bottle of lotion to continue to use for relief and some comfort.

It took about an hour for the fire to be put out. By that time Sammy had fallen asleep with Lady in his arms. She looked back at him often, thanking God that he hadn’t been harmed.

The fire trucks left, but the fire marshal’s car remained, along with Dallas’s car and several other police cars. As all the men came around to the front of the house, Seth motioned for her to roll down the driver’s window.

“I’m going to see if I can grab some clothing for Sammy and myself, and I’ll also get some things for Lady, and then we all need to go to the motel. The fire marshal and Dallas and the other officials will be working through the night to figure out what exactly started the fire.”

“Why go to a motel? We can all go to my house, and I can wash whatever clothes you grab because I’m sure all of them will smell like smoke.”