Hotshots (Wildfires Book 1) (7 page)

The room was silent, Jez sat down in her chair and looked at her plate and waited. She knew why her godfather was taking her up. She had a call from her mother last night, her mother was moving here next weekend, and Jez had shared with her what was going on. So now Jeb wanted to talk to her and in private, since there was none here he was doing it in the air.

“Nope,” Jeb said and looked at Nix. “I need you to put the men through the obstacle course, timed this time and no partners. Jez as out pilot doesn’t need to do it, she needs to start her training in the air, I am taking care of that.”

Everyone in the room went silent; it was going to be the last cut. The obstacle course was brutal on a good day, which was why it would be the last test of the firefighters. Jez lifted her head up and waited, she didn’t think anyone but Nix knew of their connection but she could be wrong. No one said a word; they were more worried about what they were going to do today.

“Okay,” Nix shrugged and then looked back at the table and Jez took a deep breath. She would never have survived being in the close space with Nix. He sent so many mixed signals to her, she didn’t know which way was up with him.

One, he didn’t trust her skills. And two, he flirted with her. She was who she was and the trust of being a pilot ran over into her personal life, she wasn’t sure they were going to get past that. She wasn’t sure she could even get past the whole working with these men and having a personal relationship. She was going to have to wait and see what they said on Friday she guessed, shaking off her thoughts.

“The rest of you need to be ready in fifteen. We are leaving for the course in twenty, it gives you five minutes to get your packs ready,” Nix said and grabbed his half eaten plate of food.

Jez listened to her teammates groan and bitch while they shoveled their food in, then began to leave. Jeb sat silently with her finishing his coffee and listening to the people. She wondered if any of them would be docked off for what they were saying.

When the room was clear, Jeb put his arms on the table and leaned forward a little. “Jezzy?”

She grinned at the name, she hadn’t had any time at all to talk to him like this, so she figured that right now he was her godfather not her boss. When they were in the air, he was her boss.

“Jebby?” she said smartly like she had always done.

“How you settling in?” he asked and she shrugged.

“Pretty good, I mean I like Keely, she is an easy roommate. I can’t wait until training is over with so I can actually get out of the house for some real free time. Mom called and said she was moving, that you had found somewhere for her to rent for the first few months until she could find something to buy. But I won’t have any time to help her, which kinda sucks, I mean I won’t ask for special treatment or anything like that. It just sucks knowing she is this close and I can’t see her,” she said.

Jeb nodded. She knew early on she wouldn’t get cut, well only if she sucked at flying and she didn’t suck at flying so she was going to be staying. That was one thing she had been relieved about when she decided to become a firefighter pilot, they were scarce so there was always a need for them.

“She is gonna be fine, I am going to help her, which is why I wanted to talk to you today. I am leaving tonight, will not be back for a week or so, your ma has the truck rented, I just need to go and drive it back down. Get her moved in and then things will be set. However, before I leave, I need to see how you are dealing with all this. I mean you liking the team and everything?” Jez looked down at the table, she had no idea if her mother had told him anything, and seriously as shit, she didn’t know what the fuck to say, so she did the only thing she could think of and diverted the conversation saying the first thing that popped into her head.

“You need to have someone stock up the tampons, we are almost out,” she blurted out and Jeb leaned back fast.

“Oh well,” he sputtered and she closed her eyes and wanted to sink into the damn floor from embarrassment.

“Shit,” she muttered. “Sorry. Things are going good, Jeb. I like the people and am excited to get things rolling.”

He looked at her closely and then nodded. “Let’s get you in the air!”

“Right on!” she crowed and jumped up.

She loved her job, that was the only thing she could think of when she landed the copter and smiled at her godfather. He had put her through the paces and she knew she did well.

“Good job, girly!” Jeb said with a grin.

“Thanks,” she said softly and then she bit her lip and looked out the front windshield. She wanted to ask him a question but she wasn’t sure how the hell to bring it up.

“What?” Jeb asked softly and she turned and smiled at him. She should have known she didn’t have to say anything, he would know something was bothering her; he always knew when something was bothering her. It had been that way since she was small. Jeb and she had a special relationship, mostly because her father always made sure that Jeb was available when he was gone.

“The day Dad died,” she started and, Jeb growled and turned to her and interrupted.

“I know what you are going to say. I have been waiting for someone to say something to you about it.” Jeb sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Your father knew what he was doing, he also took risks, some of them were dangerous. Up until that day, all of them worked, and he saved lives. I guess what I am trying to say is that it is in the past. Your father was the best at what he did, he did everything in his power to save people. In the moment, none of us but the one who was sitting in the pilot’s seat can say a damn thing about what happened. Be proud of your father, just let the other shit go.”

Jez frowned and opened her mouth to say something but she could have saved her breath. Jeb opened the door and jumped out of the cockpit before she had a chance to respond. Shit, she really wanted to talk about that to Jeb. Since Nix had brought it up, it bothered her. What had he been talking about when it came to her father? Had he made a mistake? From what Jeb said it could go either way, of course, now she had more questions than answers. Fuck it all if she could let it go.

Jez walked into the large headquarters center that was set up for their crew. It held all the latest technology used to help aid in fighting fires. She skimmed the room though looking for Gibson, he would tell her the facts.

Gibson was one of her father’s best friends, aside from Jeb, he was probably the closest thing to a best friend Stryker had. Jeb was always number one with her father, but if there could be such a thing as a number two best friend, Gibson would be that guy. In fact, if she remembered correctly, the last year of her father’s life, she would say that Gibs was seen more often than Jeb had been.

She spied the computer wizard sitting on the edge of the desk of a pretty woman wearing a frilly white blouse and a wide smile on her face as she listened attentively to whatever he was saying. The woman that came toward her was shaking her head and rolling her eyes at the two in the corner.

When Jez offered her a friendly smile and her hand in greeting, she smiled back and shook hands briefly before asking “I’m Quinn, what can we do for you today.”

Jez pointed to the corner and said in a fairly loud tone, “I came to see Gibson, but if he is too busy to talk to me today, I can always come back another time.”

Quinn grinned at her and matched her tone. “Well I don’t know, he has been perched on that desk for almost an hour, I’m not sure I can interrupt such an intense meeting, but I will see if he has a minute to see you.”

By the time the words had left her mouth, she had to draw back while the bear of a man grabbed Jez and swung her around in a circle, smiling all the while. She was still grinning as she went back to her computer.

Jez was laughing before he set her back on her feet. “Hey, I missed you, and figured I should pay you a visit before the season gets too busy for some free time. I joined the team that Jeb is training. I brought the new chopper and plan to move up here soon.”

Gibs gave her another squish and pulled her into his office so they could have some privacy to talk. He hadn’t seen her since a week after the accident that had claimed his best friend. She was still in a coma at that time, but he had to leave to get back to headquarters, and they’d lost touch over the months.

“Jez, I am so sorry about the accident, and I stayed with you and your mom until I had no choice but to leave, others depended on me too, and I, well…I needed to do something at the time to keep my mind busy.”

She knew what he was trying to say, and she shook her head. “Gibs, you know Dad would have done the same thing you did. He would have gotten into the chopper and got the job done, so I understand and it’s all good.” She looked over the giant of a man and teased him a little about his ability to find a new woman wherever he landed. “I could see you’ve been up to your old tricks with the ladies too. Is Ms. Prim-and-Proper a wildcat after work? I almost turned around and let you work your magic uninterrupted, but I wanted some information and you are the first person that I knew would tell me what I need to know without trying to put me off.”

Shit, she was going to ask him questions and he didn’t want to answer them. She knew he was a man who never lied, even when it would be easier and better to keep his knowledge to himself, if she asked a question, he would answer her honestly. He could only hope she didn’t ask the right questions so he could honestly answer that he had no idea. He shrugged, “Go for it, what do you need from me?”

“I want to know what happened that day, when we went up, Dad said it was just a small fire that would easily be contained, when that tree blew, the entire area was flaming. Why didn’t he know about the fire being that extensive?”

Gibson turned his head away while she asked the question. Fuck, she got right to the meat of the matter. He knew she was going to be hurt or pissed, and he damned his moral code, but answered her honestly.

“When you two took off, that was the report he got. You must have been approaching the scene when he was told the extent of the fire had expanded and what happened after that I have no knowledge. All I have is the word of the team leader who was telling him directions from the middle of the fire. He was the same man who carried you out of the fire that day.

“He kept you alive until the medics could take over, and I heard he told them to keep you alive, that you had a mother that was going to need you. The support personnel said he turned around and walked back into the fire to help his crew. Jez, we all heard him telling Stryker to heave to the north for his approach over the com links. We heard him yelling, repeating himself, but he got no response from Stryker, the next thing we heard was the explosion from the tree and the team leader cursing and out of breath as he talked to you, he gave you mouth to mouth and oxygen so he could move you. If he hadn’t been there, well, I’m just glad he was and leave it at that. We lost two men on the ground that day, and Stryker, and somehow something good happened. You were alive.”

She was frowning, trying to remember if her father had said anything at the time, but she remembered him tapping his headset and frowning. She shook her head and told Gibs, “I remember him tapping on his headset, he was frowning, but he didn’t say anything. Within seconds, we came up on that tree looking like a giant torch. He tried to pull up, but it was too late.”

“Well that explains a lot to me, obviously something was screwed up with his com link and he didn’t hear Nix giving him instructions at the time.” Gibs was nodding as he finished his observation on her information. “I’ll tell him what you’ve said. I think it will make him understand what happened that day. It wasn’t the first time he packed someone out of a fire, but it was the first fire that he lost any of his team.”

She sat there speechless for a few seconds. Did he say the team leader’s name was Nix? She asked him to clarify. “I want to talk to him, when you said Nix, were you referring to Nixon Cayson?”

The nod of his head was unnecessary, but it confirmed she’d heard him correctly. The knowledge that Nix had reason, or she corrected her thoughts,
thought
he had reason, to worry about her following orders was explained.

Gibs began talking again. “Jez, Stryker was the best of the best, he was legendary, and he saved hundreds of lives and millions in property, he didn’t always follow the rules and yet he’d bring that chopper in when all hope was lost and save the day. He told me that he loved the drama and we both know he lived for that next flight.”