Page 11 of The Firefighter's Fate

He was the life of the family - the man everyone loved. He was the best of all of us. Arthur and I would have long talks about everything and nothing that went on all night. He had the best advice. I cherish those memories.

And now he’s gone. Permanently.

And a fucking thug at some shitty bar dared to speak about him...

I take a shower and clean off the blood. My joints ache as the hot water streams down my body. I take my time to wash myself down, cleansing myself of the shit I had to do today.

And then I am sliding into bed with a groan.

And I fall asleep dreaming of long, peaceful summer days with Arthur.

4

EMBER

Level ninety-eight.

Level ninety-nine.

Level one hundred.

Here I am.

Waylen Penmayne’s level... the highest in this skyscraper.

The billionaire’s office.

The scariest freaking place in the whole world.

Time to face the big dog.

With an ominous ding, the elevator doors slide open, and I can’t help to quash the dreaded feeling that my fate – and my future in the career I love – awaits me, and that it is set to blow to smithereens.

The first thing that I’m hit with is the word PENMAYNE in large glowing letters above the receptionist. Yes, Waylen is a man who doesn’t do anything half-hearted or with any level of subtlety. The woman sitting beneath it I recognize as being Waylen’s private secretary, and she’s facing the elevator doors so that when they open, she is staring right at me with icy blue eyes that burn through my body.

“Hello,” I say to her as I step out of the elevator.

The receptionist glowers behind her impressive desk with her platinum blonde hair and pursed lips.

“Name?” she asks me formally.

“I’m Ember Mortensen. I believe Mr. Penmayne is expecting to see me...”

“He is.”

She’s so very curt.

“Great,” I reply in my bubbliest tone. The secretary is unmoved.

She is emotionless. Cold. She is so very unlike Clarice all the way downstairs.

“Follow me,” she barks.

The receptionist rises from her chair and glides toward me, ushering me to the main doors with a tilt of her pretty head. She knocks only once and then swings the doors open, nodding at me again wordlessly to follow.

This is the moment...

I step into Waylen’s private office.

---