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“On it,” Abrams says. Pulling out his Halligan, he starts breaking the window.

“We need a ladder to the east second story bedroom window,” I say over the radio.

Moments later, the aerial ladder is positioned outside the window. Abrams climbs out first and turns around, extending his arms. I reach through the window and place the boy in his arms. He starts to climb backward down the ladder, cradling the boy in his arms.

“You first,” I tell the new candidate.

He climbs out the window and follows Abrams down the metal ladder, and I follow right behind him. Once we’re safely down off the ladder, Abrams lays the boy down on the paramedics’ stretcher and they get to work, hooking him up to oxygen.

Captain looks around to make sure everyone’s accounted for before yelling, “Alright. Let’s start the water.”

Water shoots onto the burning house as the mother of the boy cries by his side.

“He’ll be okay,” Hattie tells her. “He just took in a lot of smoke. Ride with us to the hospital.”

“You saved a kid’s life.” Tiny pats me on the shoulder. “Hell of a birthday present.”

“The best,” I admit with a smile. “Nothing better.”

CHAPTER2

BOSS

Walking into the bar, I take stock of my surroundings. It’s a simple, old-school bar consisting of wooden tables and chairs, a couple of pool tables, and dart boards. The light is dim, and the décor has vintage beer label signs. I dig it. The place is only a couple of blocks from the firehouse. I don’t know why we’ve never stopped in.

In truth, I had a more extravagant place in mind to celebrate turning three decades—a new club that just opened downtown. Our last call got us coming back later than expected, so we opted to keep it simple and come here.

The first thing I notice when I walk in is a blond woman wearing a barely-there mini-skirt and hot-pink tube top. She’s hot as hell, and I find myself walking toward the group of tables near hers. She’s sitting across from a couple who appear to be together, but I don’t see anyone else.

“This look good?” I ask the guys, stopping at the empty tables.

“Looks good to me, man,” Deacon says, the other guys nodding in approval.

“Is there a server coming or should we go up to the bar to order?” Pauly inquires.

I scan the area, hoping to see a server. “I’ll find out.”

Approaching the table with Dream Date Barbie, I ask. “Hi. This is our first time here. Do you guys know if a server comes by, or should we order from the bar?”

The blonde checks me out, not so subtly, and a wide grin comes to her face. “Cam will be around to get your drink orders. She’s the tall brunette behind the bar.” She motions toward the opposing wall, and I look back to see the girl she’s speaking of filling a tall glass with beer.

“Oh, good. Thanks. We weren’t sure.” I extend my hand. “I’m Boss…or Tony. Sorry, habit.”

“Ohh, Boss…I like that,” the woman coos, sliding her hand into mine. “I’m Lexi. This is Claire and Ben.”

I exchange greetings with the couple.

“The server, Cam, is actually Claire’s roommate and my lifelong bestie,” Lexi says.

“Oh, cool. So you all must come here often, then?”

Lexi shakes her head, her tongue peeking out to wet her lips. “Not really, no. I’m visiting for the week from Jacksonville, Florida.”

“Nice. I have a cousin who moved to St. Augustine. He works at one of the ghost tour places down there.”

“Really?” Lexi laughs. “Oh, that’s fun. Yeah, there are a lot of those touristy type tours in St. Augustine. It’s only a forty-five-minute drive from Jacksonville so I’ve been there a lot. The old downtown has a really cool vibe to it. Cam and I grew up in Jacksonville together before she moved up here for college. We loved to go surfing in St. Augustine. Okay, that’s a lie…we basically just paddled around on our surfboards while checking out all the hot tourist guys.”

I’m not entirely sure what to think of this chick quite yet. “Well, cool. Really nice to meet you all.” I raise my hand in a wave and turn to leave.

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