Page 84 of Enraged

From behind me, knuckles tapped against the doorframe.

“Busy?” Jace asked quietly. I sat my phone down but couldn’t be bothered to turn around.

“Not at all. Come on in.”

He walked cautiously into my office, shutting the door behind him. He sat down awkwardly across from my desk, clearly uncomfortable and unsure of what to say.

How many times have we sat in here just shootin’ the shit and fuckin’ off.

For the first time since all of this happened, the sadness felt stronger than the anger. Jace and I had been friends for two decades. He’s been there for every milestone, hard moment, and everything in between.

And I’m gonna miss my fuckin’ buddy.

The lump in my throat came out of nowhere but I was determined to choke it down.

“Sorry, I’m late. Lena came by the house,” he explained.

Okay, we are back to anger.

I did my best to keep my tone professional. “It’s no problem. You weren’t on a time clock. I just need you to sign your transfer paperwork.” I slid a piece of paper across the desk. Picking it up, he looked it over, knowing damn well what the fuck it said already.

“Gotta pen?” he asked.

No, dumbass, I like to chisel all my paperwork in stone.

I grabbed a pen from the jar on my desk and tossed it to him. He signed the paper with a flourish and slid it back across my desk.

“’Preciate it. Everything else will remain the same. Same locker, bunk, same everything. The only change is you work the opposite shift now, starting tomorrow.”

He nodded.

“Any questions?” I asked as I signed my own name on the form.

“Just one,” he began. “Are we gonna be able to do this without killin’ each other?

His straightforwardness caught me off guard. I cleared my throat.

“In this building, you are a brother. I’ve got your back no matter what and I hope you’ve got mine. No part of our personal problems will exist here. There will be no mention of it. We will come here, do the job that we vowed to do for this community, and go home.”

He nodded in agreement. “If there’s nothing else, Lieutenant, I’m gonna head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

We both stood. He extended his hand, and I shook it, doing my damndest to live up to the title the Chief thought I deserved.

And I thought the hardest part of this job would be the whole goin’ inside a burnin’ building thing.

Jolene

“We’ve been prayin’ for you, Doll Baby!” Mrs. Cheryl told me with a head tilt and a sympathetic smile. “How are you holdin’ up?”

I was already regretting my decision to stop by the bank, but I was trying to weasel my way out of the guilt of lying to my daddy and since the bank was open until 8PM today, I couldn’t resist stopping.

I’m just takin’ it one day at a time,” I told her.

Definitely stole that line from Dakota.

She pursed her lips together in disapproval. “We are all so disappointed in Jace,” she mused. “We weren’t all that surprised about Cassie, though.”

What? Why?

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