Page 89 of Enraged

I wanted to text him back but knowing that he was about to go home to Cassie was stopping me.

I’m sure she would jump at the chance to get naked, especially in the hot tub.

Grabbing my Roku remote, I switched on my tv. With Christmas only a little over a week away, it would be easy to find a good movie to watch. After a minute of scrolling, I settled on Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

A classic.

Kevin was just starting to explore Duncan’s Toy Chest when my phone started to vibrate. Picking it up, I read the name on the screen.

Dakota.

Curiosity got the best of me.

“Hello?”

“Are you awake?”

“Obviously.”

Silence…

“You didn’t answer my text.”

“Three’s a crowd,” I told him, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“What?”

“Nevermind, Dak.”

“No, explain what you are ta ?riiiiiiiiingggg! –fuck!”

Duty calls.

“Be safe.”

“Talk later.”

He hung up.

That was completely pointless.

Hearing from him and trying to play it cool made me feel exhausted. Like, can’t hold my eyes open, gotta go to sleep now, exhausted. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to sleep after hearing the tones drop until I knew all the guys were safe, back at the station. I opened the Follow 911 app on my phone.

“Battalion 1, engine 11 on scene.”

Damn, must have been pretty close to headquarters.

“Battalion 1, Engine 11, be advised – working structure fire – heavy smoke showing.”

“Battalion 1 – Command copies. Working structure fire – smoke showing.”

Fuck…

The fear that overtakes my veins whenever I learn that Jace, Dakota, or any of the guys have a working structure fire has been there since Jace and Dakota started at Creek’s Edge Fire Department, and it’s only grown over time. Once I got to know the other guys on the team and their families, I started worrying about them all.

Okay, give me some radio traffic so I can breathe.

“Battalion 1 to Command, be advised 1211, 1302, 1317, starting primary search.”

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