Chapter 6
SIX
T he fire station’s workout room lights seemed to scowl down at Eddie. If only the music thumping in his earbuds would drown out Bianca’s plea from the other night.
Just please take the time to reconsider the deal. My job kind of depends on it.
He’d thought his first practice as head coach had been destined for destruction when she’d tried to field in that dress. He never should have allowed her and the kids to talk him into letting her practice.
No, she hadn’t gotten hurt on his watch, but it hadn’t been beneficial to the team for him to falter in leadership. However, then she’d returned, dressed to practice, and her fakeness had disappeared too. More like someone the kids could look up to.
Like the woman who had mistaken him for someone else at the auction. The one he’d accidentally flirted with. He’d been the one to offer her a mutual deal the night of the fire. But a dance differed from a fake date. Or two.
And the email he’d received this morning proved that he couldn’t lose his team’s trust. Now he only needed to figure out a way to tell the kids the bad news.
He adjusted his shoulders on the bench beneath his back as Zack moved into position to be Eddie’s spotter. “Can you hit me with another ten pounds?”
With the bench press bar separating the two of them, Zack turned for the weight rack. “Two fives coming up.”
Eddie positioned his hands on the bar above his chest. “Make it tens for each side.”
Zack’s hands remained empty of the requested extra weights. “Is there a reason why you’re trying to outdo your max weight during today’s shift?”
Eddie kept his focus on the ceiling tile with a faint dark stain. “No better time to get stronger than the present.”
Zack simply crossed his arms. “What’s in the present that you need to get stronger for?”
Sometimes it wasn’t wise to spend so much time with the crew. They learned too much. Which reason did Zack want? The one where Bianca had yet again been in his dreams last night, and he’d only got a handful of hours of rest. Or that an even bigger nightmare had landed in his inbox this morning. One from the mayor’s assistant.
Eddie huffed. “The grant money’s not happening for the youth center.”
Zack relaxed his stance and then picked an additional ten-pound weight off the rack. “Sorry, man. I thought you were only moody because you somehow botched things with Bianca the other night.”
“There was nothing to botch. She’s a movie star.”
Zack secured one of the clips on the bar to keep the weights from sliding. “Pretty sure movie stars are still people. You might have more in common than you think. Naya showed me an interview where Bianca talks about her faith.”
Eddie loosened his grip on the bar. Did they share more than he realized?
He shook his head. Not what mattered at the moment. “The mayor didn’t even have the decency to tell me himself. Not that he even remembered me when I returned to his house after the fire.”
Zack slid the weight onto the left side of the bar. “Have you prayed for another way to raise the funds?”
Eddie froze. Not exactly.
Bianca’s beautiful face popped up in Eddie’s mind, followed by Scarlette’s pouty one.
Had God provided another way?
He rolled his shoulders, but the pressure remained, just like the truth. Fake dating a movie star was not an option. No matter if she’d looked like the perfect coaching assistant, with dirt on her cheek and her shirt half untucked from her oversized shorts when she’d returned.
If the woman under the facade had asked him to go have coffee with him, and if she served the Lord too, that might have been a different story.
But he’d finished being the casual dating guy.
Zack grabbed the second ten-pound weight and added it to the opposite side. Eddie inhaled slowly and then exhaled as he pushed the weight bar up.
“Come on, Rice.” Zack spotted his hands under the quaking bar. “A little more.”
Eddie gritted his teeth and willed his arms to give more. The bar lifted higher. Then another inch. At that exact moment, Bianca’s voice reentered his mind.
There’s no one else it can be except you.
The look in her gaze had been defeat. She hadn’t been pretending when she’d said that.
Sometimes his compassion felt like a weakness, allowing others to manipulate him. Yet it could be a strength…where he saw the true heart of the situation—the person.
The weights clanked against the safety bar, and Zack helped center the bar into its resting position.
Eddie wiped his palms on his shorts. Did her job really depend on him being in some pictures with her? “Give me a second. I want one more try.”
He needed something to go right today.
Zack stepped to the end of the weights. “Let me exchange the tens for fives. You’ll nail that and still get a new max-out number.”
Except at that moment, the fire alarm blared.
“Rescue Squad 5. Building collapse. Person trapped.” The dispatcher gave the address.
Zack barely beat Eddie out the door. They raced down the station’s hallway and into the open bay area where the fire truck awaited them. Ridge and Bryce sprinted right behind.
Eddie jumped into his turnout pants and then boots. He had his jacket on before any of his other crew members. He grabbed his helmet and gloves and hopped into his seat.
Once Bryce slammed his door shut, Ridge pulled the fire truck out of the station and flipped on the lights and sirens.
Zack bumped his fist against Eddie’s arm. “You ever gonna tell me what happened between you and Bianca at your truck?”
“Wait.” Ridge honked the horn and eased them through a crowded intersection. “Rice wasn’t here yesterday when she showed up. How’d he see her?”
Zack leaned closer to Ridge. “After the secretary gushed over how much she loved one of Bia Pearl’s movies, she mentioned that Eddie coached a youth baseball league on the south side of town. Bia Pearl showed up there. Twice.”
Ridge weaved the truck through a two-lane road lined with parked cars on each side. “Twice?”
Eddie watched as they zoomed through a stop sign. That was kind of how he felt about the current conversation—a little out of control. “Shouldn’t we focus on the rescue we’re heading into and not Bianca?”
It was Bryce’s turn to smirk. “ Bianca , not Bia Pearl, is it? No wonder you were trying to raise your max lift today.”
Eddie eyed his lieutenant, who shrugged and then added, “I overheard as I walked by the weight room.”
Eddie pulled his jacket away from his chest. “Do you use everyone’s first and last name when you talk about them now?”
Bryce widened his grin. “Don’t know. I haven’t known any movie stars.”
Ridge slowed the truck when he got to a gate across the road. “This says it’s our location.”
A boundary fence stretched on both sides of the gate. A row of picketers marched on the grassy sidewalk, sandwiched between the road and fence.
The gate arm lifted, and a man in a security uniform with a walkie-talkie pressed up near his mustached mouth ran out to them and pointed ahead. “Straight back toward the city scene.”
“The city scene?” Eddie stuck his head out the window. A parking lot stretched before them. Trees bordered a sidewalk, and through the branches there was a row of trailers. One of the doors had the word wardrobe on it.
Eddie swallowed. “Where are we exactly?”
Zack grimaced. “Pretty sure it’s Last Chance County’s new movie set.”
Eddie’s stomach ached like someone had punched him in the gut. Was Bianca hurt?
Another security guard held up his hands, and Ridge parked. Everyone jumped out of the truck.
“They’re this way.” The security guard heaved out a breath as he stood beside Bryce, wiping sweat off his brow. “But your truck’s not going to fit.”
“What do we have?” Bryce asked.
“Somehow a set building collapsed, and a woman’s leg is pinned.”
A woman. Like Bianca?
Eddie ran to the side of the truck and opened the correct compartment for the stored jack.
As Eddie followed the others down a sidewalk path skirted with trees, he came around the corner of four two-story buildings. A crowd stood around a heaping mess of downed wood and pieces of drywall. The dark-headed woman was half covered with a stack of broken boards. She had the same slender frame as Bianca. With all the dust covering her face, he couldn’t quite tell who lay trapped.
Eddie’s chest tightened. But then the woman squatting next to Bryce looked at him.
“Bianca.” Her name flew from his mouth.
She wasn’t trapped, but another woman was. One of the closest boards near the trapped woman’s thigh seemed to be connected by a cable or a thick wire.
“Lieutenant! We might have a live wire.” The last thing they needed was for anyone to get shocked on top of the already dangerous situation.
One end of the cable disappeared into the pile of wood above his head, and the other reached up to a telephone pole. He spun around. Zack and Ridge headed toward Bryce. A security officer in front of the formed crowd stepped forward.
Eddie pointed to the cable. “Can you find someone to make sure all the electricity is shut off?”
The security officer opened his mouth but then snapped it shut. “On it.”
Eddie carried the jack to Bryce, who knelt next to the pile of wood and debris that lay on top of the woman’s legs.
Bianca held the trapped woman’s hand. Her fearful gaze sank into his heart.
He set the jack into position under the leaning debris. “You’ve got to get out of here.”
Bianca squeezed the woman’s hand, resting in her palm. “I’m not leaving Heidi.”
The woman lying on the ground released a scream—one that Eddie would hear in his dreams for nights—but she didn’t move her legs.
Bryce met his gaze. “I noticed it.” He grabbed his radio. “I need a stretcher and a neck brace.” Then to Eddie, “First, let’s get the boards off her.”
“Want me to finish placing the jack or start throwing off the boards?” Eddie stepped over a section of wood with three nails sticking upward and broken glass covering the concrete to get to the other side of Heidi.
Bryce came directly over the trapped woman’s face. “Ma’am, we’re with Last Chance County Fire Department. I’m Lieutenant Crawford, and we’re going to get you out of here.”
Bianca patted the woman’s hand. “Her name’s Heidi.”
Bryce narrowed his gaze at Bianca. “And you need to?—”
“P-please don’t leave me, Bia.” Tears leaked out of Heidi’s eyes, and blood coated her hair.
Bianca wrapped her other hand around the woman’s elbow. “We won’t, Heidi. I’m so sorry.”
“I’ve got the stretcher and brace.” Ridge’s voice rattled back on the radio.
Then came Zack’s voice. “Trace and Kianna pulled in.”
Eddie eyed the pile of leaning wooden beams. “I need confirmation on that wire.”
Bryce pointed to the people crowding in. “Make sure everyone stands back.”
Eddie understood Bryce’s tone. Everyone included Bianca.
The security guard pushed through the crowd and stopped before the debris. “Wire is a prop.”
A prop? He’d take it. Eddie slid in the jack and pumped it upward. The pile of broken wood and drywall groaned, but not as much as Heidi.
Bryce dropped to his knees. “We’ve got a piece of wood refusing to lift off her shins.”
Eddie cranked the jack higher. A top piece of board slid off and angled straight for where Bianca knelt.
Eddie leaped in the direction of the falling board. “Bianca! Get out of here.”
The board stopped on an extended nail poking through a broken two-by-four.
Bianca clung to the woman’s hand. “I promised her I wouldn’t leave.”
Eddie shoved the piece of board to the ground. “And I promise you’ll make it harder for us if you’re in the way.”
Bianca’s eyes speared him, but then she released her grip and climbed through the jagged debris.
Eddie took the vacant spot beside Heidi, who breathed quick, shallow breaths. Her eyes closed and her fingers fisted the sides of her pants.
Bryce moved a splintered section of a two-by-four and wedged it under the gap beside the woman. But the heap didn’t move. “We need the other jack.”
Both Zack and Ridge raced toward them, the jack in hand along with the brace and stretcher.
Eddie placed his face in front of Heidi’s. Her coloring had paled even more.
Ridge adjusted a yellow backboard beside the woman. “What’s the plan?”
Zack set the other jack down.
Eddie took out his flashlight and shined it into the space the previous jack had lifted. “Her leg’s pinned farther back.”
Eddie took the other jack. “I’ll go in deeper and set the jack.”
Bryce shook his head. “The heap might cave in. It will be safer to do it from the outside.”
Bianca stepped into the debris, closer to the woman again. No. He had to get that woman out of here before she did something crazy, like go in the hole herself.
Eddie gritted his teeth. “Safer for me, but would it be quicker for her?”
Bryce held his gaze. Then nodded. “Get it done.”
Eddie shifted over the piece of wood that held the first jack. He pushed in the second jack, then quickly pumped it. Once. Twice. His heartbeat thumped at twice the rhythm.
Ridge readied the fasteners on the brace and lowered beside Heidi. “I’m going to place this around your neck.”
“Rice, I think we’re clear enough,” said Zack.
Eddie paused and glanced at the team.
Bryce leaned over the woman’s face. “Ma’am, we’re going to get you out of here on the count of three.”
Zack and Ridge took over the positions around Heidi as Eddie held the jack level.
“One. Two. Three!” Bryce yelled as they transferred Heidi over to the board.
Eddie eased down the second jack, but a section of wood on the ground made him stop. Deep V cuts had been sawn into the board.
“Foster and Stephens, get her to the ambulance,” Bryce commanded.
Eddie picked up the sawed board. “Lieutenant.”
Bryce turned.
Eddie shoved aside a section of smashed ceiling tile and grabbed another piece of wood that had identical cuts. “Please tell me I’m seeing things and these aren’t cuts to weaken the structure.”
Bryce’s shoulders sank as if he’d sighed internally. “We are on a movie set. Maybe, like the wire, those boards are props.” He lifted his gaze. Another security guard stood behind a woman wearing glasses next to Bianca.
As Bryce waved him over, the balding guard first pointed to his chest and then jogged over.
“Yes, sir?” He looked at Bryce and then flicked his gaze to Eddie.
Did the man know something?
“Who is in charge on the set?” Bryce asked.
The security guard wiped sweat off his forehead. “The director, Leo. Or actually, the producer, though he only calls. Leo is…” He pointed at the alley that led toward the parking lot. “He’s there with the police.”
Officer Olivia Tazwell, a toned blonde, stood beside Leo. She nodded as the director put his hands on his hips.
Bryce and Eddie neared the alley, and Olivia spoke first. “Leo’s the movie director, and he’s?—”
“Thankful that you rescued one of our stunt doubles, but…” His lips formed a tight line, and wrinkles morphed around his pointed nose. “Heidi’s now safe in the ambulance. I don’t want to sound uncaring, but how long will it take to get your crew out? If I don’t get this shot in tonight, it’s going to cost production another ten grand at least to reshoot.”
Eddie squeezed his fingers around the cut board in his grip. Was this guy serious?
Bryce stiffened next to Eddie. “Sir, was the collapse of the building part of the script?”
Leo’s phone buzzed in his palm. “It’s going to have to be now. There’s no way we have the time to rebuild this set.”
“Lieutenant,” came Ridge’s voice over the walkie. “We’ve got a situation here at the truck.”
Bryce eyed Olivia before responding to Ridge. “I’ll be right there.” He lowered his voice to Eddie. “I’m leaving you in charge.”
Once Bryce took off in a jog, Eddie moved one of the two-by-fours toward Olivia, who frowned. “Is this cut board a movie prop?”
Leo took the board. “If it is, it’s nothing that I’ve ordered within the last day or two.”
That wasn’t exactly conclusive. “Sir, I’m afraid the building may have been tampered with.”
Leo closed his eyes. “Thought we’d have one good day.”
Olivia pulled out a notebook. “What kinds of problems have you been running into?”
Leo typed on his phone. “Some props have gone missing. A fence lock was destroyed, and protesters have ruined more than one of our takes. Don’t get me started on the drainage issue on the honeywagon. It’s as if Last Chance County isn’t the perfect spot for my movie as promised.” The man dug his fingers into his hair. “How long are we shut down for?”
Olivia wrote something on her notepad. “I’m going to need any security footage and names of everyone that was here. I’ll need to interview all the witnesses.”
“That’s practically the entire crew,” Leo spat, and then closed his eyes again. “Sorry. We’ll help in any way we can.” He snapped his fingers, and the woman who had been standing beside Bianca jogged over. “Grace can print off a list of everyone who was on set.”
Grace unlocked her phone. “Do you need a hard copy, or will an emailed spreadsheet work?”
“Email will work,” Olivia replied, and then to Leo said, “Why don’t you head over to my car. I’ll take your formal statement first. We’ll let the fire department get a jump on their work so the movie won’t be held up longer than necessary.”
Eddie took a step back. “I’ve got to get everything taped off.”
Leo held up his hand. “If we’re at least fifty feet away from the roped-off area, could we resume filming?”
Before Eddie could give words that probably matched Olivia’s scowling facial expression, the balding security guard returned. He blew out a breath and extended a thumb drive. “My boss has all the footage of the week put on the zip drive. However, the camera—” He tilted his chin back behind Eddie.
Everyone turned to where a telephone pole stood between a tree planted in a huge pot and a building with a purple awning.
“—had been looped. Didn’t even capture the collapse.”
“I got the collapse from the backside, at least.” Leo shook his head. “I really am cursed. Or this film. Maybe both. I never should have agreed to a movie about the Valencia gem.”
Olivia took the thumb drive. “Thank you…”
“Thad. Thad Walker, ma’am,” the security guard stammered.
Another police officer, Junior Ramble, came up beside Olivia. “Ramble, could you take Leo to my car, and Mr. Walker, could you round up those who want to give their statements next?”
“Of course. Right away.” Thad answered with far more warmth than Leo, whose once-reddened face had become an ashen color.
But Grace didn’t move. She shifted on her feet until the men had walked in the direction of the cop car. Once they were out of earshot, she stole a glance at Eddie before squaring her shoulders up to Olivia.
“Leo’s worried about the timeline and the financial backing.” Grace nibbled on her bottom lip before checking over her shoulder to where Bianca listened to a woman who had tears streaming down her face.
“But without cameras to prove what happened…” There was another glance toward Eddie. Who was this woman exactly? “What if someone could be here on set undercover? Looking for clues.”
Olivia shook her head. “I don’t have that kind of authority to assign. With being short-staffed as is, an undercover stint would probably be difficult to arrange.”
Grace faced Eddie. “What about you, Eddie Rice?”
Him?
Eddie ran his finger along the collar of his turnout jacket. “I don’t think my crew offers that kind of help. But there are great private security options in town.”
“I think you’re exactly the man for this particular job. Especially after your daring rescue of Bia Pearl.”
Somehow, this wasn’t going to go well. “I believe the woman rescued is named Heidi.”
Grace lowered her voice. “It was supposed to be Bianca in that building, not Heidi.”
Olivia scowled. “You think someone’s after Ms. Pearl?”
“No one is after me.” Bianca stepped up beside Grace and whispered something. All Eddie caught was, “He said no, we need to leave it alone.”
She didn’t bat her lashes or twist her fingers through her hair. Maybe he’d misjudged her when she’d first arrived at the field yesterday.
Bryce jogged up behind them. “Sorry about that.”
Eddie widened his stance. “Everything good?”
Bryce sighed. “Nothing an accident report shouldn’t take care of. Now, what did I miss here? Need anything else from us, Officer? One of my guys is already taping off the area.”
Olivia tilted her head in Bianca’s direction. “It seems Bia Pearl was originally supposed to have been in the building.”
Bryce’s eyebrows lifted.
Grace spun toward Bryce. “Since the police are overloaded with cases, I’ve suggested Eddie Rice hang around the set.”
Eddie crossed his arms. That wasn’t how it’d gone down.
Bianca slid her arm around Grace’s. “Eddie’s got enough on his plate. I’m sure the police will find all the clues they need. Thank you so much for saving Heidi. We’d better go check on her.”
Grace did not budge. “The crews here will probably remember little details about the moments leading up to the collapse and are probably less likely to call the police to give an update; however, they might mention it in conversation to someone they view as a buddy.”
This needed to stop. He was all for solving this case, but this was a rehash of Bianca’s suggested deal at the baseball field.
Eddie squared his shoulders. “Lieutenant, they want me to pretend to be Bianca’s…date. This is a horrible idea. Rescue doesn’t need me out of rotation. If I’m gone from the station, then they’ll be a man down. Plus, I’m a youth mentor. The kids can’t catch me in a lie.”
Or he’d be a hypocrite.
Olivia’s phone dinged. Her expression puckered. She turned her screen toward Bryce and Eddie.
Eddie caught the mayor’s name and the words The movie must be able to keep filming.
Bryce dipped his chin. “Gotta love election year.”
Apparently, they were being strong-armed by Gregory.
Instead of supporting the movie, the mayor should support the kids of Last Chance County.
Eddie eyed Bianca, and Scarlette’s words popped into his head.
Could you still make a promise to help each other?
Zack might have been right. Maybe God had provided another way, and Eddie had dismissed it too quickly. What if Eddie, Bianca, and the mayor could all work together?
If Eddie was seen with Bianca, he could help protect her. If someone was actually after her. Assumptions and gossip over their relationship wouldn’t exactly be him lying.
Nothing like the empty promises his own mother had fed him growing up. The ones he refused to allow the kids he mentored to endure.
However, one thing was certain: he needed another way to raise money for the youth center. A movie star’s assistance with fundraising would provide more than he could do on his own.
Lord, is this Your plan? Or am I trying to make it the plan?
Bryce gave Eddie a look as if he could read his thoughts, but Eddie couldn’t decipher which way his lieutenant leaned.
Finally, Bryce said, “It’s up to you first. Then double-check it with the chief.”
Eddie glanced at Bianca before focusing on Grace. “Before I make a decision, I’d like to talk to the mayor.”
Grace’s thumbs flew against her phone’s screen. “No problem. Here.” She held out her phone to Eddie. “It’s calling his direct number. Leo practically has him on speed dial, which means I do too.” She shimmied the screen.
He took Grace’s phone and placed it to his ear just as Gregory’s voice said, “Is there still a problem with the police restrictions?”
Eddie stepped a few feet away from the others. “Sir, this is Eddie Rice. The firefighter?—”
“Yes, yes. Sounds like you’ve been a hero once again for our town.”
Eddie shifted the phone to his other ear. “Sir, just doing my job. Speaking of…Grace, the director’s assistant, wants me to hang around the film set as an extra set of eyes and ears.”
“That sounds fabulous. Yes. I’ll talk to your chief and make sure?—”
“Actually, sir, before you finalize anything, since surveillance isn’t part of my firefighter job, I thought we could discuss something.”
The mayor lowered his voice. “I’m listening.”
Olivia and Bryce spoke to one another, but both Grace and Bianca watched Eddie. By agreeing to hang around Bianca, he’d help make sure everyone on set was safe, and the youth might benefit too. Wouldn’t it be a win-win? “I’ll stay on the set and make sure the movie goes forward, and you?—”
“Son, you might need a reminder that I can’t be bought.”
Maybe Eddie needed a lesson on extortion like Scarlette. “Of course, sir. I…could you just take another look at the grant? A youth center would help give the kids of this town a safe place to play in the winter.”
“Listen, I can’t say yes to this for political reasons, but I promise the grant will be awarded fairly to a nonprofit in our town.”
Bianca ran the tip of her finger along one of the stitches at her hairline. The injury she’d gotten in the fire.
And that’s when Eddie knew his answer. Grant or not, wasn’t it his job to help the people of their community? No matter how long they resided in it. “Then, sir, I’ll do my best to keep Last Chance County safe.”
He only hoped this decision wouldn’t be one more thing in his life to regret.