Down in Flames (Wildfire Hearts Book 5)
DOWN IN FLAMES
SAVANNAH KADE
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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CONTENTS
Join Savannah
Also by Savannah Kade
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Afterword
About the Author
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Novels by Savannah Kade:
The WILDFIRE HEARTS Series
Crash & Burn
Catching Fire
Flash Point
Up in Smoke
Down in Flames
The WILDER Books:
Our Song
Heartstrings
Love Notes
Music & Lyrics
The Wilder Complete Book Set
That Night in Nashville
Georgia Grace
The TOUCH OF MAGICK Series:
WishCraft
DreamWalker
LoveSpelled
SoulFire
ShadowKiss
The Touch of Magick Series: Complete Set
The AGAINST ALL ODDS Series:
Steal My Heart
Call Me Yours
Ask Me to Stay
Promise Me Always
Against All Odds Complete Set
The BREATHLESS Series:
Gifted
Perfect
Ruined
Rebel
The DARK FALLS Series
Dark Falls - Lori Ryan
Dark Secrets - Savannah Kade
Dark Legacy - Trish McCallan
Dark Nightmares - Becca Jameson
Dark Terror - Sandra Owens
Dark Burning - Lori Ryan
Dark Echoes - Savannah Kade
Dark Memories - Sandra Owens
Dark Prison - Lori Ryan
Dark Tidings - Trish McCallan
PROLOGUE
5 years ago
Tierney tried to juggle everything as she stood at the front door.
Usually, her new mom came to pick her up if something went wrong. Instead, Tierney had to wrestle a sick four-year-old into the back of a cab.
Today, she’d had to leave early because Sean had a fever. When he came home sick, she missed the rest of her day, too. With an irritated huff, she struggled to get the key into the lock with one hand while balancing a cranky, too-heavy-to-hold-like-this kid on her hip with the other. It was a skill she’d not expected to have at twenty-one.
Raising a child on her own sucked, but it beat the alternative.
Inside, the house was blessedly quiet. She set Sean down and he immediately beelined for his toys, suddenly happy. Suddenly not sick? she wondered. But his daycare was strict. His temperature had been above ninety-nine. So, she’d had to come get him right away.
With another sigh, she headed down the hall to get the medical supplies from the closet. She was pawing through the bottles of baby cough syrup and teething medications looking for the child’s Tylenol drops when she heard the moan.
Jolted to action like any mom, she ran back to check on Sean. He’d found an old teething ring and was trying to put it over the head of a toy pony.
The moan came again.
Someone was in the house.
Grabbing one of the silver candlesticks off the mantle, Tierney headed toward the base of the stairs. She stopped at the bottom, the heavy piece choked up like a baseball bat, deciding whether to check it out or leave the house.
Was the sound even human?
It came again and she breathed out a disgusted sigh as the candlestick fell, swinging at her side in her now limp grasp.
Someone was upstairs having sex.
The house was supposed to be empty. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle—her “mom” and “dad”—were running errands or showing up to the bar to cover for the fact that she’d left early. Snafu was open far too much, Tierney thought, but she didn’t complain. This was a better outcome for her and Sean than any other option she’d had.
Had the folks come home for a nooner?
Did they do that a lot? Maybe. She wasn’t supposed to be here now either. When she called to see if they could pick her and Sean up at the daycare, they hadn’t answered. Maybe this was why. She had to get her own place.
Listening to the sounds from upstairs only made her more determined to save up faster!
She went back to the medicine box she’d left on the counter—thank God she hadn’t dropped it for Sean to play with the bottles. Being a mom was juggling a thousand moving pieces. Being a teen mom had meant doing it while everyone else went to parties and proms. Now, everyone else was in college, but that wasn’t an option for her either, not with her shitty ID.
Tierney picked out a fever reducer and turned on the TV so she didn’t have to listen. She told herself to act surprised when her parents came down.
Twenty minutes later, she heard steps on the staircase and turned around. She didn’t have to act surprised.
“You head out, I’m just going to get in the shower. We shouldn’t be seen together anyway.”
That wasn’t Mrs. Doyle.
Tierney felt her heart drop.
No.
No.
That was Siorse.
And that wasn’t Ronan.
Tierney turned around in time for her sister to let out a bloodcurdling scream.
“Jesus, Tierney! You’re not supposed to be home!”
Siorse didn’t even still live here. Apparently, she just showed up sometimes to shag … whoever. Tierney didn’t even kn
ow him.
“Sean got a fever. They sent him home.” She said it calmly, though her heart pounded. Her initial fear had turned to anger.
Siorse was fine most of the time, but … there were things Tierney knew, things she didn’t like. Things she couldn’t tell—or warn—anyone about. Especially Siorse’s husband Ronan.
This was the worst one yet.
Her older sister’s eyes narrowed at her. Her perfectly manicured fingers clutched the silk robe shut, as if Siorse had suddenly become modest. “You don’t say a word.”
Tierney knew there was only one answer here. She was screwed.
Eyes at the ground, she shook her head no. She wouldn’t say anything. She couldn’t.
But her older sister stalked over close, she leaned down, putting her mouth close to Tierney’s ear, but she wasn’t quiet. “I’ve kept your secret. You’ll keep mine.”
Tierney still looked at the old nubby carpet that had been here when they all moved in. The Doyles weren’t rich, they hadn’t been able to upgrade the house much. Tierney knew she was part of the reason why. So, she nodded.
If there was one thing in her life that mattered most, it was Sean. The secret Siorse kept for her protected him. So, Tierney would keep this one, even if it ate her inside out.
CHAPTER ONE
Present Day
Tierney laid the cash out on the bar, stacking and bank facing it, collecting it for the end-of-night drop.
“You done yet?” Carter asked her.
“Close, but stop interrupting me.” She kept her head down, but she had to start over on the stack she had. Counting didn't require any great intellect, but it did require focus.
Carter, who was also being bartender tonight was the only other worker left this late. The kitchen had closed a while ago and he headed into the back, but Tierney didn’t pay attention while she filled in the tallies on the tablet, glad it was all digitized.
She remembered when her dad was still using paper accounting. But when they collected paper money there was no way to digitize the bank drop. That part she still had to do by hand. It wasn't like a check where she could take a picture and the bank would acknowledge it.
With the counting done, she put it all into the drop bag, zipped it, and twisted the bolt at the end to lock it. There was no messing with it now, only the bank had the key to open it.
“Are you ready?” she called out to Carter.
“I’ve been ready!” He appeared at the end of the bar, right near the door, bag in hand. Together they headed out into the parking lot. It was standard protocol, the Doyles wouldn't have it any other way.
“You good?” Carter asked as she climbed into her car.
Tierney lied and said yes.
She was technically fine, but the hair prickled at the base of her neck.
What even was this?
It was long over. She was safe.
She told herself it was because the night was so dark with the new moon and everything.
Sean was at his grandparents’ and Tierney was grateful for all of it. She had a job that paid well enough for her to afford her own small rental for her and her child. She had built-in grandparents/babysitters which left enough spare money to have at least a little of a life. Then, once Sean had started school, it became clear her schedule didn’t mesh with her child’s, so the Doyles had given her only one weekend night shift.
She was able to keep her head down. She’d finished high school and eventually registered her child at the local elementary with no issues. She couldn’t complain.
Ignoring the prickle at the back of her neck, Tierney waved goodbye to Carter and pulled out of the lot. She aimed for the bank, which of course was exactly the opposite direction of her parents’ house. But, again, a small price for all she had.
Redemption, Nebraska wasn’t big. The fact that she zig-zagged back and forth across town one night a week was nothing. She waited at one of the few lights and made her turn. There was virtually no traffic. Without that concerning sensation, it would have been peaceful.
There was no one in the car with her. No child demanding snacks, no customers demanding drinks. She could just … be.
The thought flitted through her head—as it often did when she was left alone with her thoughts—Sean didn’t know they weren’t his real grandparents. If things went according to plan, he never would.
The drop off at the bank loomed before she expected it, and she cut a too-late turn into the lot. Had there been other cars around, she would have been that driver. But the streets were empty and she was glad she never had to get out of her car. Tierney pulled up to the drop, hit the button, and slid the cash bag in. She zipped away before the chill in her bones could catch up to her.
That sensation had saved her life in the past. But, she reminded herself, it was useless now, just an artifact of another time. Still, her eyes darted side to side, sweeping the still night for threats even as her brain told her she was being ridiculous.
Elliot wasn't here. Everything she saw, every glow under every streetlight, every dark nook and cranny that she could find, told her that he wasn't.
Pulling a normally impossible left onto the main road, Tierney headed back across town toward her parents’ house.
She knew every light and pothole by heart, so her thoughts floated away. How different would her life be with different choices? She’d made such bad ones. Even so, she’d been a kid and she’d long since forgiven herself. The problem was that it wasn’t one bad choice. It had been a series of them.
She hated keeping secrets, but she liked staying alive, so she’d gotten good at keeping them.
She’d come here with a family and a sister and her own baby on the way. When Siorse had died, Tierney had become the Doyles’ only child. Maybe it was fate.
Maybe it was—
Her thoughts were ripped away by the sound of sirens blasting past her. Just down the street, a cluster of strobing lights flashed blue, red, and white.
Sitting up straighter, she slowed the car, hoping to slip around the accident. In a small town like Redemption, she probably knew the person. But she wasn’t prepared.
Tierney was skidding to a stop before she’d made a conscious decision. She flew from the car forgetting to turn off the engine or even shut the door.
One of the police officers strode over to her as she rushed to the flipped car. She knew that car.
“Tierney, you need to stay back,” Officer Ramos held out a hand to stop her. But it didn’t work.
“No, no, I can’t!”
CHAPTER TWO
Ronan had the worst headache of his life. Was he hungover? He'd been at Snafu last night drinking with his friends.
The place always reminded him of Siorse working the bar, slipping him free drinks… and then everything else.
Had he had too many? He couldn't remember.
He hadn’t drunk to forget since a year after Siorse had died. Then, he'd been three steps away from needing AA. He'd managed to dial himself back through sheer force of will. Only in the last few years had he allowed himself to drink again. Only once the pain had receded enough to control it.
Had something gone wrong last night?
He reached out to touch his head, but his arm didn't move.
A voice came to him, “No, Honey don't.”
Tierney.
Siorse's little sister. That much he remembered, but why was she here?
“You were in a car accident,” she told him. The words soft and simple, as if she were informing him that his shirt wasn’t green but blue.
It didn’t work. His body reacted immediately, sitting up, eyes opening. Or trying to.
Why didn’t his eyes open?
Maybe because, with the first movement, everything twinged and shot fire straight up his side.
Hands touched his shoulders. Tierney tried to calm him. “Lay back. You’re in no shape to be sitting up. Put your arms down. You’ll yank your IVs.”
IVs?
Why weren't his eyes opening?
Lying still, breathing shallowly through the pain that continued to throb along his side, he tried to wait until it dissipated. Patience wasn’t his strong suit.
He slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Tierney was standing over him, her hands open and spread wide, ready to grab his shoulders and push him back down if he disobeyed orders. The room beyond her was white and glaring.
Only now did he notice the beeping.
“What?”
“It's five a.m.” She told him quietly, still hovering, still ready to push him back. “You were in a car accident last night. A truck ran the light and T’d your car. The doctor says you're going to be okay.”
Okay?
The memories flooded back. He remembered Siorse's accident instead. He remembered finding the car on the grass, it had been flung so far. The rear seat dented and crushed. Paddy had died instantly, the car seat not enough to save him from that.
Tierney wasn’t going to let him wallow, though. “Do you remember getting hit?”
He did, just not his own accident.
Reaching out, he grabbed Tierney by the wrist. “Wait.”