Chapter 1
PRESENT
That was too fucking close.
My stride is steady as I exit Bakersfield Hospital, but my shoulders are tense, my mind heavy.
Scrubbing my hand over my face, I exhale as I step out into the warm May sunlight, crossing the parking lot to my truck. I reach up and spin the brim of my ball cap around on my head so that the brim is shading my eyes.
Goddamn, these motherfuckers are making me go prematurely gray.
We all know the risks of this job, but dammit, it doesn’t make seeing it with our own eyes any less terrifying. To watch your crewmate, your brother, writhing in pain or hooked up to machines and bandaged head to toe… it’s sobering. That Skykomish fire was brutal, and it will be a long time before I get the vision of King stuck in that ash pit out of my head.
Reminds us all that we’re not invincible, and the beasts we fight out there are stronger than we are, more ruthless, and far more diabolical .
King will be fine, though, even if he has some healing to do yet. Pulling out of the parking lot, I snort a laugh. If Violette Taylor has anything to say about it, that man will be just fine. She’s too stubborn to let him be anything less than okay, and King is too head over heels for the woman to disappoint her. Even if neither of them realizes it yet. They’re both whipped.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, so I fish it out and slide my finger across the screen to answer. “Yeah?” I’m not a man of many words. Sue me.
“Lunch at Shifty’s?” Callahan, my captain, asks without preamble.
I glance at the clock on the dashboard. It’s still early afternoon, but why not. Fuck it, I could use a drink after seeing King in the hospital. “Sure.”
“Ten minutes?” he asks.
“Yep.”
Twenty minutes later we’re seated shoulder to shoulder at Shifty’s Bar, our local watering hole that I’m a little ashamed to admit is more of a second home than my own house is. We each have a platter of hot wings and beers in front of us, and we’re quiet while we eat. He’s my brother in every sense of the word except for biologically, and we’ve been working on the same crew together for years.
“How’s King today?” he asks around a swallow of his beer.
“He’s fine. Getting discharged later,” I answer, taking a drink of my own beer. I rest my forearms against the edge of the bar and stare down at my plate. “Fucker is lucky.”
Cal sighs, licking the sauce off his fingers and nods. “Yeah, I know. Scared the shit out of all of us, man. It was like Jacob all over again.”
I nod without saying anything, because that’s exactly what it felt like.
Lou, our bartender, slides a couple fresh beers in front of us and we nod in thanks .
“Hey, thanks again for helping me get Teddy and the kids moved in,” he says then, tearing off a chunk of meat with his teeth and chewing. “It’s a whole lot easier checking in on her now that she’s not forty-five minutes away.”
I nod, popping a carrot stick in my mouth. “She doing alright?”
Cal snorts, shrugging and shaking his head at the same time. “She’s surviving, I guess?” he says, and my gut clenches as he continues. “I hate that I’m not here to help more. I can’t imagine what she’s going through; losing Logan, being pregnant. I worry about being out on a call now that she’s so close to her due date. But at least she’s got Scottie here while I’m gone. And I’m grateful that you’re right next door when we are home.”
I nod again, taking a long pull off my beer. Cal’s sister, Teddy, lost her husband about six months ago after finding out they were expecting their third baby together. Being the protective big brother, Cal had insisted that she move closer to him and his girlfriend so they could help. But it’s hard when we’re gone as often as we are. It helps that she’s my new neighbor, though.
“You know I’ll keep an eye out,” I offer gruffly. “She’s not alone, Cal.”
“I appreciate that more than you know,” he says quietly. “I uhh… I know you watch out for her, Xander.”
I swallow hard around a drink of my beer but keep my eyes trained ahead. We don’t talk about this. Not outloud, anyway.
“Always, man,” I admit on a gruff whisper, and he nods. Because he knows, even if I’ve never said the words, and possibly never will.