Desire Me If You Can Chapter 33

He sneered at the thought of the fortune teller’s words, which had been the backdrop for him pulling off such a ridiculous stunt. There was nothing special about it. Fortune tellers always deceive people with nonsense.

“Fire, huh? Not entirely wrong.”

Grayson narrowed his eyes and thought, I’m going to burn that fortune teller to the ground.

∞ ∞ ∞

When they arrived at the scene, plumes of black smoke were rising high, blotting out the sky. As soon as the vehicle came to a stop, they scrambled out to ground level to assess the situation.

“Damn it.”

Someone spat out an oath like a sigh. It was understandable, as the fire had grown much larger since the very first report. The house where it started had already been completely razed, and the embers had spread, setting three more houses on either side ablaze. Wilkins shouted to the people who were gathered at a distance, watching the flames with worried expressions.

“Are the owners of these houses here? Is everyone accounted for?”

Since it was the time of day when most people would be at work, the chances of the houses being empty were high. Confirming that no one stepped forward, Wilkins busied himself by scanning the fire scene. Meanwhile, the firefighters under his command moved in perfect unison. Grayson watched as they took out and assembled firefighting equipment in the set order, as if it were someone else’s business. In fact, it was someone else’s business. He had absolutely no intention of getting involved in this and running around like a fool.

“Miller! Hey! Come over here!”

Wilkins, who had roughly grasped the situation and was issuing orders here and there, suddenly called Grayson. Standing idly by himself amidst the busy people, he didn’t even flinch at the call; he stood exactly where he was and asked back, “What is it?”

Wilkins felt a surge of rage, but he held it in, considering the reality of the situation. Putting out the fire was the top priority right now.

“We need to create a firebreak so the flames don’t spread any further. You take responsibility for everything from here to here.”

Grayson frowned instead of answering. “Firebreak”—it was the first time he had heard even the word. At Grayson’s reaction, standing silently and just staring, Wilkins let out a deep sigh instead of his anger, then stepped forward himself to grab Grayson’s arm and pull him back to the spot.

“Look, from here to here, you are to remove anything that could catch fire. That includes any electrical appliances or dangerous items. Do you understand?”

Explaining in the simplest terms possible, as if dealing with a preschooler, Wilkins asked, looking Grayson straight in the eyes. Grayson, who hadn’t said a word until then, glanced to the side once, then looked at the floor, scratched the back of his head, and sighed as if he were bothered. Fortunately, he moved without a word. Seeing that, Wilkins was able to breathe a sigh of relief. It was fortunate, at least, since they needed every extra hand they could get. He immediately turned around to monitor the situation.

The noise of houses collapsing, the sound of pouring water, the roar of the crowd, and the irritating vibrations of various machines were rampant on all sides. Passing by Diandre, who was holding a chainsaw and cutting through a garage door, he turned his body toward the next burning house and shouted continuously as he walked quickly.

“It’s too low! Get the hose higher! Spray the water higher! Raise it more, more!”

“Is the second floor fully burned? Damn, the whole roof is gone.”

“Who entered inside? …Good, no one has been found yet, right? Hmm, I see. Keep looking.”

Directing the scene, sometimes pointing out areas for improvement and sometimes offering encouragement, he made a full round and returned to Grayson.

“Oh.”

Unexpectedly, he had handled the job perfectly. One might think it was just moving and clearing things out, but as is the case with everything, it was common for people to fail at these tasks if it was their first time, so he had been somewhat prepared for that. But seeing the neatly organized firebreak, he saw this man in a new light.

“Good job. You’re actually pretty good.”

As he tapped his arm lightly and turned to leave, he spotted a staff member about to enter the house. At that moment, Wilkins frowned.

“Dane! Dane Striker!”

At the sound of his name, Dane, who had been about to head inside with a hose, paused and looked back at him. Wilkins approached him hurriedly and asked, “Are you going in alone? Is there no one else with you?”

“As you can see.”

He answered indifferently, as usual. In such a large fire, everyone was struggling to exert all their efforts on their own assigned tasks.

“Support will be here from another station soon. Why not wait and go in together? It’s dangerous to go in alone…”

It was right then.

“Aaaargh! Argh!”

Suddenly, a man screamed and tried to run into the house. Dane grabbed him quickly, but the man didn’t care and kept struggling.

“No, Charlie! Charlie!”

Watching him shed tears and call out the same name repeatedly, Wilkins hurried to ask, “What’s going on? Are you the owner of this house?”

At his calm yet fast tone, the man nodded while shedding continuous tears. Wilkins continued to ask:

“I am Darius Wilkins. What is your name? …I see, Mr. George Wright. Do you live alone? Are there any other family members?”

“Charlie, Charlie is inside, Charlie.”

“Please calm down, we will help you… Who is Charlie? Is she inside the house right now?”

The man sobbed and nodded his head up and down repeatedly.

“Charlie always waits for me alone, and she’ll be waiting for me in there right now. Let go, let go of me! I have to save Charlie! Charlie!”

“I understand, I said I understand! Please, just calm down!”

Wilkins restrained him with a voice firmer than before. After watching the man, who was just crying out of helplessness, for a moment, Wilkins asked again.

“How old is Charlie? Is she perhaps your wife? Or your partner?”

“Twelve years old… very pretty with blonde hair…”

“So, it’s your daughter.”

As Wilkins added this, assuming for the man who couldn’t finish his sentence due to his sobbing, the man shook his head while crying.

“She’s a dog, Charlie is a dog…”

Dane and Wilkins exchanged quick glances. They soon realized that the dog named Charlie was a Golden Retriever.

“And besides that? Is there any chance there might be other people inside?”

To Wilkins’ continued questioning, the man shook his head.

“Charlie is my only family. Please, save our Charlie, I only have Charlie… Please…”

The man collapsed as if breaking down and wailed. Wilkins patted his shoulder as if to comfort him and then immediately looked around. There was still no sight of any useful staff member nearby. Except for Grayson Miller, who seemed completely useless.

When his eyes met Wilkins’, Grayson gave him a bright smile. It was a smile that meant nothing, just a social skill he had learned by heart. Wilkins distorted his face and turned his head away immediately. He looked around again to see if there was anyone to go in with him, but there was no suitable person to be found.

“Damn, this is a big problem. I can’t let him go in alone.”

The fire had grown too large by now. If he were to inhale smoke or if any untoward incident occurred, the risk factor was too high to send him in alone without anyone to assist him.