Red Flag Warning (Cupid Meets Crime Scene #1)

Chapter 1

“The probability of storms ruining your photo shoot is directly proportional to how much you paid your photographer.”

—It’s science

Iris

If eye rolls burned calories, I would be so skinny.

I’ve been told I have one of those faces that can’t hide my emotions—terrible poker face. People saw exactly what I was thinking without me saying a word.

Today was no different.

Part of me thought I should just say “yes, sir” and be the better person. But where was the fun in that?

I was on the phone with a man who was trying to convince me—poorly, I might add—that climate change was actually caused by government-triggered volcanoes and secret Russian nuclear submarines. Thankfully, he couldn’t see my annoyed face right now.

I had only picked up the phone in the first place because I was waiting on two of my coworkers, who were set to accompany me on a field trip.

“Sir,” I tried to politely interrupt the man ranting in my ear.

“No, you listen here, young lady,” he snapped right back, causing my eyes to roll yet again. “If you’re gonna be responsible for telling people about the weather, you gotta understand how it works.”

While most people got their weather forecast from an app or website, the weather service had always offered people the ability to call a number and have the forecast read to them.

This was really important for people who were blind, but we also had a few elderly people who liked to call for the forecast simply because that was what they were used to.

However, having the phone line also meant the crazies could call. Like this guy.

“Your forecasting sucks because you aren’t taking into account that the Russian subs are warming our oceans,” the man continued to rant.

“Ooooh,” I said loudly into the phone as though I was shocked. “So that’s why I’ve been wrong all these years. Thank you so much for letting me know. Have a great day!”

My last words were said in a high-pitched, overly chipper tone before I hung up the phone.

I was the Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in Las Vegas. It was my dream job, and I loved it.

I still got to forecast the weather like I had at my previous job, but now I also got to head up our public awareness programs.

That was my main job for today. Doing a photo shoot and taping some PSA videos on weather safety that we could post on our website and social media channels for our partners and community to watch. Ben and Christine—two of my co-workers—were going with me to help record these segments.

Our main goal was to shoot a video about pop-up thunderstorms on Lake Echo during monsoon season.

Many people didn’t realize those storms could pop up with little notice, leaving people in a sticky situation of being on the lake in a lightning storm.

See…lightning and water don’t mix. You are at a much bigger risk of being struck by lightning if you are out on the water.

What I didn’t normally do for my job was answer the phone, but since I was waiting for Christine and Ben to grab our equipment, I decided to help Calvin, one of our other meteorologists, who was off assisting with a weather balloon launch.

Normally it was a one-person job, but today was very windy, so our lead meteorologist, Leah, needed help.

That meant I got stuck answering the phone.

“Didn’t your mom ever tell you that if you roll your eyes too much, they’ll get stuck in the back of your head?” Calvin said, walking back over to the desk with a smile on his face.

“No,” I responded as I leaned against his desk.

“Mine either, but I feel like if it were true, you would be the one it would happen to,” he chuckled as he grabbed his drink and took a swig.

I snorted as I shook my head and started to walk away. “Let me go see if Ben and Christine are ready. Good luck if that man calls back,” I said as I walked down the hallway in search of the pair so we could all go on our field trip.

“If that man calls back while you’re gone, I’m giving him your personal email address!” Calvin yelled in warning.

I chuckled because I knew he wouldn’t actually do that…hopefully.

By noon, we were hauling our gear out to the lake, and it was already hotter than Satan’s armpit outside.

I lived in the desert, so I was used to heat, but it was only the first week of May, so it was entirely unfair to be this hot already.

I literally had sweat on my eyebrows. Super classy.

The good news was that we were finally out at Lake Echo. Hopefully, I could stick my feet in the water to cool off for a bit in between taping the videos.

Lake Echo was a large reservoir on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

The shoreline of the lake stretched for more than five hundred miles and was filled with beaches, coves, and steep cliffs, with beautiful desert mountains as the backdrop.

Granted, these mountains were mostly bare rock with some Joshua trees, yucca, cacti, and vast amounts of sagebrush.

Because this was situated in the middle of the desert, it was a popular place for people to go boating, hiking, camping, and even swimming.

The water levels at the lake were really low because we’d had a bad water year so far.

By that I meant we’d had very few storms to help fill our reservoirs up, so when the winter passed without many storms, we ended up with a very low lake.

In the desert, we relied on all the rain and snow that came through in the winter to replenish our lakes and reservoirs.

We also relied on neighboring states to have a good winter too, because when all their snow melted, it flowed down through the Colorado River and helped fill up the lake.

Still, low levels or not, I was thrilled to get in the water and cool off, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Christine was setting up our camera since she would be our photographer for this task, and we were just waiting for a park ranger and a member from the U.S. Coast Guard to join us.

While we waited, I dipped my toes in the water to cool off a bit.

The water in the shallow area was already getting warm thanks to the ongoing heat wave, but it was still cooler than the air temperature, so it felt very nice on my feet.

I looked up to take in the beauty around me.

The muted red, orange, and brown colors of the Anvil Mountains in the background provided a beautiful backdrop.

Alas, I only got to enjoy the refreshing feeling for a few moments before two new vehicles pulled into the parking lot, indicating our guests had likely arrived.

A few moments later, two men started walking up to the pier where we were set up to record. Slipping back into my socks and shoes, I made my way over to Ben and Christine, who were making introductions.

The newcomers had their backs to me as I walked up. Christine handed them wireless microphones to put on and asked them to say their full names and titles into the camera so we could credit them properly.

“Lieutenant Patrick Michaels with the U.S. Coast Guard,” the man on the left said.

Then the other man spoke and rocked my world.

“Chief Ranger Hector Madeira, U.S. Park Service,” he said in a gruff voice.

Hector? The same Hector Madeira that saved my sister’s life? The same one I flirted shamelessly with at her wedding, only for him to stare at me silently and then walk away? I’d only met the man twice, but he was not a man you forgot. Could it be the same person? I thought he was a cop…

“Hector?” I said, wondering if this was another man with the same name.

At my questioning voice, he turned around to face me. I swore I saw recognition dawn in his eyes just like mine when I noticed his gorgeously chiseled face staring back at me.

He looked similar to the first time I had met him. Short beard, gorgeous black hair, and deep-brown eyes, and yet somehow hotter, though I couldn’t quite put my finger on what made him hotter. Maybe I was just delirious from the heat.

But seriously…What were the odds he would be here today?

He just stared at me, and I realized that maybe he didn’t actually recognize me back.

“Iris,” I said like a total dork. “You met me at—”

“I know who you are,” he said, seemingly angry about it, if his irritable tone was anything to go by.

Well, okay, then. Clearly, he was not happy to see me. Wait…The park ranger who was supposed to join us today was a woman. Her name was Josie Jones, and she had helped with these videos several times in the past few years.

“Where’s Josie?” I asked, since she was who I had been told would be coming today.

“Ranger Jones broke her foot,” he answered gruffly, as if I was supposed to have known that fact.

I didn’t know what it was about this man, but the few times I had been around him he seemed so displeased to have me talk to him or even stand nearby.

Attempting to save myself any further embarrassment, I turned to the other man to introduce myself just as Christine and Ben introduced themselves as well.

“Hi, I’m Iris O’Hara,” I said, holding my hand out to him. “I’m the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the Las Vegas Weather Service office. Thank you so much for coming.”

This man had a totally different demeanor and even seemed excited to meet me. “Lieutenant Patrick Michaels, but please call me Patrick,” he responded with a smile on his face.

It was a good-looking face, too. He was very fit—something I was sure his job required.

He was also tall like Hector, but with blond hair and light-blue eyes, and had a sharp jawline and dimples that I was sure women fawned over.

But not this woman. Nope, I preferred my men to look more like Grumpy McThunderbolt, who was standing to my side glaring at me with the hatred of a hundred blazing suns.