Page 60 of Saving Jared

"I swear I almost shit myself," Cord managed between chuckles while shaking his head.

The laughter felt good. It meant they were alive. But it didn’t last long—subsiding little by little—while the eyes from her teammates finally meeting hers again had lost their mirth. The gravity of it all hit her full force. They must have felt it too.

They’d come this close to dying.

"I mean it!"

They probably should have checked in with the captain already, but it was Kevin who grabbed his mic first. "Everyone’s safe. Just get us the hell down from here."

"Amen to that," Willa murmured, closing her eyes and knocking her helmeted head back.

The arm slowly retracted, taking them down, jerking with each new section, while she took deep, calming breaths. She’d probably just gone through the most harrowing thing she would ever face. After surviving that, the drama waiting for her when she reached the ground would be child’s play.

She snorted.

Right, Willa. You just keep telling yourself that.

A smattering of applause grew louder the closer they got to the street, and she glanced down to where quite a crowd still remained beyond the safety barricades. Surely that wasn’t for them. She pulled herself up and stood on shaky legs, the bemused smile she felt coming on faltering as she took in the devastation along Main Street.

Smoldering buildings lined the street—some still flaming up in spots. Firefighters from her station and four others continued their work to smother what remained of what had been a five-alarm fire. And with night falling, the strobe effect from the emergency vehicles’s lights bouncing off every surface gave it all a surreal effect.

"How did this happen?"

"Taggert, Posey, Pierce."

At her captain’s gruff yell of their names, Willa tore her gaze from the sights still going on and searched him out from behind her. It didn’t take but a second to see him rushing toward them in all his gear—all except for his SBCA mask and hood—with a relieved smile on his face. One he quickly masked to his usually stern expression.

She’d always suspected her captain was a teddy bear under all that bluster. But she wasn’t going to call him on it. For one thing, she was just too damned tired.

"You three go get checked out."

"I’m fine, sir." Willa did a quick glance over the desperate work still going on, while Cord gave his own insistent, "Don’t need to" and Kevin added his, "Nothing’s broken." She had to get back into the thick of things.

"Don’t argue with me. Get to one of the ambulances." She opened her mouth while turning back to him, but he cut her off before she could say anything. "Now."

She let out a huff. "Yes, sir."

Kevin jumped out first, followed by Cord shaking his head and grumbling something she couldn’t make out. She climbed over last and hopped down to the paved street. It felt good to be on solid ground.

"That way." Their captain pointed past the firetrucks toward where additional emergency vehicles, including several ambulances, had lined up near the barricades. Then he loudly cleared his throat, saying "Good job," before his frowning gaze landed beside her on Cord. "I still want to talk to you later."

"Yes, sir," Cord answered before the three of them headed toward where they’d been directed. Once they were far enough away, Willa took her helmet off, pushed her hood back, and pulled her mask away. Cool night air blew over her overheated skin, so she stopped, closed her eyes, and tilted her head back to enjoy it.

"That’s a relief."

She couldn’t have agreed with Cord more. After—

"Willa!"

"Jared?" She cast her gaze beyond the police cars and ambulances to a line of barriers strung across the street. It was Jared. Along with her family—old and new—and Jude and Kinsley. She found herself slowly moving toward them. Red, flashing lights from the ambulances kept them lit up. Had they been here this whole time?

If they had been, she had the sinking feeling her brothers would be stepping back into hyper-protection mode again. But then, of all things, Darin gave her a grin and a thumbs up, with Ben and Eric following suit. So, maybe not.

A loud, "Woot," drew her attention to Kinsley jumping up and down and waving. Willa laughed and waved back, before her gaze landed on her parents standing arm and arm. She gave them a small wave. Then her eyes fixed on a rigid Jared gripping the barrier in front of him—his Stetson covered head bowing and broad shoulders tensing.

What—

Her eyes widened as he bounded over the barrier and took off toward her. Behind him, a couple of deputies threw up their arms while shouting after him to stop but didn’t chase after him. Before she knew it, she was moving as fast as she could to get to him.

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