Dakota
“Aight, y’all, I know last night was a tough one. Tonight will be better,” I hyped them. “Let’s get the ole girl inspected so we can all chill out until duty calls.”
Zeke, Carter, Dedric, Ben, and Jace spread out to inspect the engine. While they checked off the truck, I inspected our air packs, cylinders, and PASS alarms to make sure everything was functioning properly.
Thirty minutes later, we were all inside the station, everybody busying themselves while waiting for the tones to drop. The station’s phone rang and Jace answered it, his expression changing as he listened to the person on the other end of the line.
Lena would call his cell phone…wouldn’t she?
After what seemed to be a fairly one-sided conversation, he hung the phone up on the wall. “DK?”
I walked over to the kitchen island. “What’s up?”
“That was the PD. They wanted to let us know that they’ve arrested a few juveniles down by the Waverly Mill for trying to start fires. Apparently, it’s part of some dumbass TikTok challenge. He recommended we stay on alert.”
I nodded. “Whatever happened to talkin’ someone’s big brother into buyin’ you a bottle of MD2020 and gettin’ shitfaced in somebody’s field? Teenagers these days are fuckin’ stupid.”
Jace nodded in agreement.
From the couch, Dedric piped up. “What’s the Waverly Mill?”
“An old paper mill that closed down in the late nineties,” I explained.
“And if that bitch ever catches fire, it will be a fuckin’ worker,” Jace added.
I gestured toward Jace. “What he said.”
I wandered into my office. Opening my desk drawer, I pulled out my phone.
I only had one text message, and it was from Cassie; I deleted it without even looking at it.
Get it through your damn head.
Frustrated, I sat my phone on the desk.
“Don’t know what to do with your hands, either, huh?” Jace spoke up from behind me.
What?
I spun my chair around to face him. “What do you mean?”
He leaned against the door frame. “Idle hands. I don’t know what to do with them, either.”
“Oh, I know what to do with my hands,” I informed him. “I just can’t do it right this minute.”
He didn’t respond and I knew I needed to bridge the gap.
“If you’re bored, go shoot pool,” I suggested. He stared down at his boots. “None of the guys like to play.”
Oh yeah, I’m his pool buddy.
I forgot that I knew that.
He and I had gotten the pool table years ago, before one of the guys on B-Shift was medically retired, forcing Jace to transfer to cover him. He has been on that shift ever since so the only time we played was if one of us came up here off- duty.
“I’ll let you get back to work, Lieutenant,” he told me, leaving the office without waiting for a response.
Two hours down, the rest of my career to go.