Chapter 35
35
ASHER
We were well and truly late for work by the time Nate dismissed us from the police station—after a stern talking to about not disturbing the town’s peace again.
No one had filed charges. I wasn’t about to have James charged with anything when this whole thing had started because I’d been a bit too blase about confidentiality.
No matter my personal opinion, I should have kept my mouth shut. That was the job. But I’d let my emotions get the better of me and behaved unprofessionally.
I had to get my head on straight.
“Do you want to get a coffee?” Liam asked, walking alongside me.
I glanced at my watch. “We’d better not. Parks is going to be furious already.”
He winced. “I reckon it’s your job to tell him what happened.”
I groaned but didn’t disagree. If I hadn’t said anything to Tia, there’s a good chance no one would have, even if they’d secretly wanted to.
“You know there’s a possibility someone has already filled him in,” I said.
“Yeah.” He looked miserable.
“Hey, none of it was on you,” I told him. “It was my bad call. It’ll be fine.”
We arrived at the firehouse and all eyes were on us as we entered the staff room.
Maia winced. “He did a number on your pretty face, Ash.”
I tried to smile but couldn’t quite manage it. “You mind checking me out?”
“Of course not.” She rose and came over. “Let me take you out to the ambo, so we have all the supplies we need.”
“I hope the other guy looks worse!” Darcy called after us as Maia led me away.
“He doesn’t,” I muttered to Maia. “Not a bruise on his ugly mug.”
She tutted. “I didn’t expect anything else. You’re not a violent guy, even if you do have a temper on you.”
We entered the garage, and she rounded the ambulance and opened the back door.
“Sit on the bed,” she instructed.
I climbed in and perched on the edge of the bed, waiting while she sorted out supplies. With gentle, efficient movements, she cleaned the crusted blood off my face and inspected my nose.
“I don’t think it’s broken,” she said. “You can get an x-ray if you’d like though, just to be sure.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think it is, either, although it hurt like hell when he did it. Gave my brain a good rattle too.”
“Hmm.” She shone a flashlight in my eyes and asked me a few questions. “Pupils reactive, and your memory seems fine. Do you have a headache?”
“Not other than my nose throbbing.”
She nodded. “Unlikely you’ve got a concussion, but you know the precautions to take anyway.” She smeared white cream on my nose and then the skin under my eyes. “It’s probably too late for an ice pack to do much good, but this should help with the pain and swelling.”
“Thanks.” I was lucky to have her for a partner.
“Uh, Ash?”
I turned toward Zane, whose face was scrunched into an expression somewhere between sympathy and regret.
“Parks wants to see you in his office,” he said.
Oh, damn.
I’d known I’d have to debrief him. He wouldn’t be thrilled with my behavior.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” I told him.
He nodded and left us alone.
“Good luck with him,” Maia said, tidying away the wipes and ointment.
“I’ll need it.” Parks was a good guy. Solid. Dependable. No nonsense. But he also didn’t tolerate rule-breaking by members of his team, and I’d blatantly done that, even if I’d tried to be clever about it.
I stepped down from the ambulance and made my way out of the garage and along the corridor to Parks’s office. The door was ajar, and Liam was already seated opposite Parks, studying his hands.
Our boss looked at me and arched one dark eyebrow. “You’re a mess.”
“I know,” I replied. “I’ll change my pants soon. There’s not much I can do about my face.”
He harrumphed. “Can’t say you don’t deserve it.”
“I know. I’m sorry, sir.” I sat beside Liam and ducked my head apologetically.
Parks inhaled, his broad chest expanding. “Am I to understand that you were in a public fight as a result of sharing confidential information about a callout?”
I gulped. “Yes, sir.”
I wanted to defend myself. To tell Parks what an asshole James was, and how Tia deserved to know what kind of man she was with, but that wouldn’t help the situation, so I kept my lips firmly shut.
“Is it correct that you broke our confidentiality protocol?” His voice was deceptively soft. I knew better than to think that meant I was out of the woods.
“I didn’t outright say anything,” I mumbled, forcing myself to raise my eyes to his. “I suggested that someone ask more questions about how a particular situation came to be.”
“Uh-huh.” He stacked his hands on his desk, on the one small part not covered by paper. “Is that in keeping with the intention behind our code of conduct?”
“No, sir,” I ground out.
“I’m glad you recognize that.” He studied us, looking more like a disappointed father than anything else. I hated that. “You’re lucky I’m in a forgiving mood today. You’re both on cooking duty for the week, and Heaton, you’re cleaning the engine during your downtime today.”
Relief loosened my shoulders. “Yes, sir. Of course, sir.” I’d gotten off lightly. I could have been suspended for such a breach of protocol. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Just get out of here.” He flicked his fingers toward the door, dismissing us.
We bolted out and closed the door behind us.As the door clicked shut, I made a silent promise to do my best to focus on my job while I was at work from now on. No letting anything else distract me.
“He wasn’t too hard on you before I got there, was he?” I asked Liam.
“Nah.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Just asked if I’d known you’d said something to Tia.”
“Ugh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into trouble with me.”
He shrugged off my apology. “Not your fault. Let’s just keep the peace for a while before stirring the pot again.”
“Amen to that.” With all the messy complications in my job over the past few months, I was fully prepared to lay low.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. I checked it and frowned. Several missed calls, many of which were from Summer.
“Excuse me a minute,” I said to Liam, ducking into a storeroom off the corridor. I called Summer back and waited for her to answer.
“Ash,” she exclaimed, breathless as though she’d run to the phone. “What happened earlier? Nate didn’t arrest you, did he?”
“He didn’t,” I assured her, the note of concern in her voice warming me all the way through. I briefly explained my confrontation with James, and what had led to it. By the time I finished, she was cursing him more creatively than I would have expected.
“He shouldn’t have cheated if he wasn’t willing to risk his relationship,” she said, followed by a string of grumbling about cheaters, dirtbags, and jerks who gave men a bad name.
“I know.” I sighed. “I’ve got to be on my best behavior now though.”
“You did the right thing,” she said in consternation. “You shouldn’t be punished for it.”
“But I did break the rules,” I reminded her. “It’s fine. Parks will forget eventually.”
Someone spoke to her down the other end of the line.
“I’ve got to go,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”
I smiled. “I’d like that.”
I ended the call and left the storeroom. Liam had vanished, so instead of continuing on to the staff room, I backtracked to the garage. If I had to clean the engine, I might as well get started on it now. After all, I could use a distraction, and the manual labor would wear me out enough that it might calm my whirling thoughts.
I debated whether to change my pants but decided there was no point if I was only going to get them dirty and wet again anyway. I backed the engine out of the garage, hooked up a hose, and got to work.
Hours later, my muscles ached, and my fingers were numb, but unfortunately, the workout hadn’t cleared my mind as much as I’d hoped it would. The shift was over, having been thankfully uneventful after the drama of the morning, but I knew if I returned home, I wouldn’t get any peace.
Instead, I said my goodbyes and went home only long enough to collect my bike. I took it to the trails that began behind Destiny Fibers and cycled until my legs and lungs burned.
Darkness descended, and I switched on the lights attached to the front and rear frame of the bike. I stuck to the main trails as I pedaled, trying and failing to outrun my swirling thoughts.
Was the chaos from my personal life spilling over into my professional life?
Was Lionel Lowry right to call me out? Should I have done more to help him?
I’d done what I could, but what if that wasn’t enough?
Sometimes, it didn’t matter how hard you tried, only what you accomplished. My best efforts had landed him with a severely injured leg, and he wasn’t the only one I hadn’t been able to help as much as I’d have liked. There were so many.
Faces flashed through my mind. I pedaled harder, but I couldn’t outrun them.
Somehow, I found myself back outside my house. My subconscious had steered me home even though I was nowhere near ready to sleep.
Still, I got off the bike, and was putting it away in the garage when my phone rang. I withdrew it from my pocket.
“Hello?”
“Hey.” Summer’s voice warmed me inside. “I just wanted to see how you are.”
“As good as I can be.” It wouldn’t do either of us any good if I just dumped my problems on her.
“Have you eaten?” she asked as I closed the garage door and jogged up the front steps.
The porch light came on, driven by its movement sensor, and I froze.
“Holy shit.”
“What is it?” she demanded.
I didn’t answer immediately, too busy staring at the front window beside the door. It had been smashed, a jagged hole in the center, sharp glass edges ready to cut anyone stupid enough to touch them.