America's Bravest (60 page)

Sands rose and crossed to the counter. “I’ll
get you coffee. Nice blog the other day,” she called out.

Parker nodded. She didn’t know exactly what
possessed her to be kind to the department after the ugly trick Cal
played on her. She hoped it wasn’t because of his visit the next
day. Despite her determination not to, she’d been looking forward
to seeing him again all week.

“We’re gonna put you on KP right away,” Tony
told her with a genuine smile. “As a sort of sous chef.”

“I guess I can handle that. Who’s
cooking?”

“I am.” The deep voice came from behind her
and shivers skittered up her spine, literally. Uh-oh. She turned to
find Cal, his arms full of bags. Ramirez got up and relieved him of
part of the burden. “What are we having, Chief?”

“Shrimp cheese.”

“Zach Malvaso doesn’t like seafood.”

As if summoned, a group of four men and one
woman entered the kitchen from the outside door. They were covered
in sweat. Razzing each other. “Yeah, Zach. Keep tellin’ yourself
that. I didn’t foul.
You
lost the game.”

Zach slapped the woman’s butt. “Liar.”

Parker’s eyes widened.

“They’re married,” O’Malley announced,
catching her reaction.

Gabe Malvaso stood. “Now that you guys are
finished with the training field, we’re going to do some of our
own.”

As the whole group of them exited the
kitchen, Parker approached Cal, who was unpacking the brown bags.
“Where do they train?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “It appears they’re headed
to the basketball court to decimate each other.” His look was
intense. “It’s aerobic exercise, Parker.”

“I understand.”

“You wrote a blog once showing you
didn’t.”

“I guess being around them is changing me.”
She nodded to the stove. “What can I do?”

“Grate the Velveeta cheese.” Crossing to the
cupboard, he got out the grater and, on his way back, stopped to
switch on the radio. Some cool jazz drifted out from the
corner.

“You like jazz?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

He handed her the cheese but didn’t let go of
his end. “How you doing today?” His voice was pitched low. Sexy.
Like it might get after making love. Of its own volition, her hand
went to her middle. She discreetly drew it away.

“I’m better. Temporary insanity that
day.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.” He waved his hand
around the firehouse. “You sure you’re up for this?”

“You mean a sleepover?”

His eyes darkened, then lit with mischief.
“Yeah, I guess.”

“I am. It’ll be fun to witness their night
routine.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun.” He turned
to the stove.

They worked in companionable silence, broken
by comments about the shrimp, the cheese sauce, the rice. She took
a few loaves of bread out of the bag, and the scent of dough had
her breathing it in. “This smells wonderful. I don’t usually eat
carbs after two o’clock, but I can’t resist this.”

“Knock yourself out and break off an end
piece now.”

Her smile came naturally. “Sounds good. Want
some?”

“No thanks. I gotta watch my waistline.”

As she bit down on the thick crust, she
noticed the waistline he referred to was pretty damn nice. Trim.
His white shirt fit him well and tucked easily into his black
pants, which covered long and muscled legs.

Dinner was scheduled for six and the Rescue
Squad crew filed in, along with the Quint and Midi groups, who’d
just had gotten back from a run. They let her go first, then Cal,
and when they were all seated, the PA went off.

“Rescue 7, fire at 99 Cumberland Drive. Three
alarms.”

“Shit.”

“Damn.”

“Might have known.”

The five men and women swore but bolted
up.

“Ninety-nine Cumberland? Oh, my God.” This
from Sydney, who hadn’t moved.

Everybody froze.

“That’s Happy Time Day Care. Daisy goes there
sometimes.”

Cal crossed to her and touched her arm. “Is
she there now?”

“No, but they’re open at night. Cal, kids
will be in that building.”

“Then let’s go help.”

They raced to the truck, with Parker trailing
behind, and climbed onto the rig quicker than the last time; they
also drove faster. After a harrowing trip in complete silence
broken only by the siren and some radio instructions, they arrived
at the site.

Pulling up behind them in his red-and-white
Jeep, Cal hurried over to Incident Command. The others got tools
out, and she noticed three more trucks had arrived and were doing
the same.

Cal conferred with the other white-shirted
man and looked at the computer set up on his vehicle. They talked,
then the chief jogged over. “The fire was started by an explosion
in the back. That exit was immediately blocked. The day care
workers handed a few kids out a window, and the rest went for a
side entry. But the door stuck. By the time they headed to the
front, it was engulfed, too. Four’s got water on it now. You’re
going in.”

“How many kids trapped?” Sands asked.

“Six. And two workers.”

Suited up, they headed for the front door.
From the looks of it, the other company had put out that part of
the fire, but she noticed a stream going in the back.

Parker held her breath as she watched the
Rescue Squad firefighters enter the burning building like warriors
going into battle. She remembered last week when she’d been trapped
in opaqueness. They’d be in the same blinding darkness tonight.
Would they get the kids out? How on earth would they find them in a
big and unfamiliar building?

For long minutes, she stood there, arms
wrapped around her waist, biting her lip.
Please, God, let them
save the kids,
she prayed silently.
And keep
them
safe.

Finally, one firefighter approached the
doorway, but Parker was unable to tell who it was because she
couldn’t see the back of his coat. He carried a baby in his arms.
Next, another firefighter with a second baby. They filed out, each
with a child or a baby. She counted six.

But only one adult, who was over somebody’s
shoulder.

Paramedics and an ambulance crew swarmed the
group as soon as they reached safety. All six firefighters were
relieved of their treasures, and all fell to their knees on the
ground. Someone—it turned out to be Felicia White—wasn’t wearing
her air mask, and when she whipped off her helmet, she bent over
and vomited.

Cal approached Parker and tracked her gaze.
“She gave a little boy her air. Took in too much smoke
herself.”

“Will she be all right?”

“In a while. The headache will be the worst.
Carbon monoxide brings on a migraine-worthy bout.”

As she watched, another firefighter exited.
He held a charred body. Oh, no! Parker had to turn away from the
site.

After White and O’Malley were checked out by
medical staff, they all dragged themselves to the truck. Climbed
in. The total silence in the rig on the ride back, the acrid scent
of smoke and the
feel
of death was awful. When they
reached the firehouse, Cal was already there. Once again, they
climbed off the truck—slower this time—and entered the house. No
one went to the kitchen for food. Instead they dispersed.

“What will they do?”

“Clean up. Rest. Eventually, they’ll have to
eat.”

Her heart ached for them, for the family of
the person killed. How did firefighters routinely experience this
kind of terror and loss? “It must be tough when a victim dies.”

“More than you know. At least we saved he
kids. I lost a little girl once. It haunted me for months.”

Suddenly the PA sounded again. Parker
couldn’t believe it. Rescue 7, Quint and Midi 7 were called to
another fire. As she watched them dress in dirty gear and climb
onto the trucks, she couldn’t imagine how they’d mount yet another
daring rescue.

oOo

Cal heard Parker get up about three in the
morning. He was still awake himself. They’d had four calls tonight
and no one was interested in his shrimp cheese. All part of the
job, he knew. But he wondered what she thought of their odd hours
and crazy schedule, missing meals and, finally, exhaustion.

Throwing on sweatpants over the boxers he
wore with a navy T-shirt, he crept downstairs and found her
watching the coffee perk. She turned to him when he said, “Couldn’t
sleep?”

Her long dark hair was free around the cotton
top she wore with fleece shorts. The luscious locks were messy,
like a man had run his hands through them. For a brief instant, he
pictured that man as himself. “No, you either?”

“Nope. You’ll have to catch some during the
day.”

She poured from the pot—two cups—and handed
him one.

“You might be able to take a nap if you don’t
have that, Parker.”

“I won’t. Once I’m up, I’m up.”

I’d know how to put you to back to
sleep.

Damn it, where had that come from? He took a
sip and trained his thoughts on something less pleasant. “Since
you’re awake, I want to tell you something.”

Her face tightened. “Is it bad?”

“Yes. Someone rigged all the internal doors
in the training tower.”

“Excuse me?”

“The door that locked you in. The handle was
missing; somebody removed it on purpose.”

She took a seat at the table. “How do you
know this?”

He leaned against the counter. “I got a call
from Noah Callahan right before we went up to bed. Eve heard about
what I did to you, and after she got royally pissed at me, she
wondered about the closet. They drove out to the Academy and found
it—and a lot more—had been tampered with.”

Staring up at him with tumultuous eyes, she
swallowed hard. “Who would do that?”

“The arsonist who’s going after us.”

“How would he get access?”

“For one thing, the training tower isn’t
locked up. But Eve has wondered for a long time if the torch might
be a firefighter.”

“She’d incriminate her own?”

“First off, she came to us from the office of
investigation in Albany, so her job there was partly to investigate
fellow officers. But if one of our own is targeting us, yes, she’d
go after him. We’ve had some close calls.”

“I think I might like Eve Callahan.”

“She’s a wonder.” He scowled.

“What?”

“Well, you might as well hear it all. She
hooked up with Noah while she was investigating him.”

“I already knew that. Just like your captain
and his bride.”

Cal scowled. “Yeah, you wrote a blog about
them, and O’Malley and Felicia. But nothing about Noah and
Eve.”

“I didn’t want to go on speculation and
rumor. I only wrote about what happened on my watch.”

The light was dim and the sound of crickets
came through the open windows. Cal took a seat adjacent to her and
could immediately smell the scent of her. “Can I ask you
something?”

“Of course. Seems like there’s no secrets
between us anymore.”

“Are you changing your mind about us?”

“Hmm, I see now how hard you work. You
deserve your pay and downtime, after what I witnessed today. But I
have some trouble with closeness of people here. You’re like
family.”

“And that bothers you?”

“It should affect how you do your job.”

“Have you seen it hindering us?”

“Ramirez is very protective of Sands. And
he’s married.”

“To a wonderful woman. And Sydney’s happy as
a clam in a new relationship.”

“To your friend?” At his raised brows, she
added, “I heard you on the phone with him.”

Cal realized he’d better keep up his guard.
“Does that bother you?”

“Some. Can you treat her fairly as the
officer in charge?”

“I think so. But their relationship is
relatively new. We haven’t decided if she should stay at one of my
firehouses. There are other battalion chiefs she can work
under.”

Rising again, Parker walked back to the pot
to fill her cup. Her hips swayed in the soft cotton and he got
hard. Jesus!

She pivoted and stayed where she was, giving
him a bird’s-eye view of her long legs. “I don’t like these cross
connections. It’s too much.”

“For you.”

“What?”

“For you. Though Rescue 7, Group 3 seems more
interconnected than most, these kinds of ties bind firefighters in
ways laypeople can’t understand.”

“Like Malvaso and his wife. Who also hooked
up here.”

“Some of that is inevitable. Especially after
9/11.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve done some awful work together. It
makes us closer.”

She waited for a moment before she asked,
“Did you go down to Ground Zero?”

He felt for his wallet without thinking.
“Yes. It was horrific.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“No, not now.”

“You don’t trust me. But I swear, I wouldn’t
use it against you in any way. I’m just curious.”

“It’s not that. It’s too hard, is all.”
Something made him stand, cross to the pot and draw more coffee.
She moved down a few inches. He faced her. “Parker, when you work
in close quarters, when you experience life-and-death situations
together, feelings develop. And grow.”

She was so near, he could see her pupils were
dilated. Because he knew what that meant, he reached over and took
a strand of her hair and slid it between his fingers. “I’ve been
dying to see what this feels like.”

Her breath hitched. “W-what are you
doing?”

“Not what I’d like to.”

Her brow furrowed. “Th-this isn’t a good
idea, Chief.”

“I know.” He stepped back. His own breathing
had sped up. “Doesn’t make it any less than what it is.”

“What is it?”

The PA crackled again. “Rescue 7, go into
service.”

Cal blew out a heavy breath. “Saved by the
bell, I guess.”