Page 68 of Memories with Fire

“Miss, I’m going to need to ask you to leave,” Nate informs her, satisfied, handing my phone back to me.

Her eyes dart from him back to me. They’re pleading with me, but I have nothing but disdain for her. She has no right to be here, showing up at my place of work.

“Luke, please. This is all a big misunderstanding.”

I would love nothing more than to snarl something at her, but my lawyer made it very clear I shouldn’t say anything that she might be able to use against me. Controlling myself and keeping my cool is something I’ve worked really hard for. I’m not about to screw that up now.

I cross my arms over my chest, hiding my shaking hands. “You have one minute to get out of here before I call the cops and have you arrested.”

“Luke, please. Don’t be like that,” she begs, trying to sidestep Brody.

Liam blocks the move without laying a hand on her, creating a two man barrier between her and me. I might smile in different circumstances since this is a big change from the way these two first treated me when I started at the firehouse.

“You’ve been asked to leave,” Liam reinforces.

Big, round eyes look him up and down. I swear she’s seeing him for the first time because her ginormous lips curl into a demure smile. “You want to show me out?”

Liam does a slow half-turn to look at me with eyes that question if she’s serious. I roll mine because this is nothing new for Priscylla. She spent plenty of time both trying to make me jealous and trying to find someone to give her attention when I wouldn’t. The former never happened, the latter usually found a victim in some schmuck.

“Thirty seconds, Priscylla,” I say, pulling up the keypad on my phone. “Or I’m pressing send.”

“Okay! Okay, fine. I’m leaving.” She knows from experience that I’ll do it. Her smile turns tight as she starts backing up to where Irene is still standing. “We’ll talk later then. I can see you’re not in the mood.”

Priscylla and Irene aren’t quite to the door that will lead them to reception when Liam turns to me. “Dude, I’m sorry. All I could think about was you fucking Hailey around.”

Damn it. Hailey.

“Hailey?” Priscylla whips around again. “Is she the plain redhead?”

I take a step forward, my hands dropping to clenched fists at my sides. This is one moment I’ll ignore the advice of my lawyer. Hailey’s name needs to stay out of her mouth. Lucky for me, Nate puts a hand on my chest, giving me a slight shove back.

“I’ll walk her out,” he tells me with a stern look. “Meet me in my office.”

He turns towards the two women, and I don’t spare him another glance as I head out the other door that will lead me to the rec and kitchen area. If Hailey is here, she’s probably there, waiting for me.

When I walk into the rec area that opens up to the kitchen behind it, my heart sinks towards my knees when I find it vacant. Turning, I meet Liam’s gaze as he comes up right behind me, Brody on his heels.

“Locker room,” Liam says.

I nod my agreement, but we come up empty handed there as well. My unease grows as we look at every place she could be, including the gym. When those are unoccupied, I head towards the front office area alone, hoping that Priscylla is gone. The only place left that Hailey could be is in with Captain Bernard, which means going through the reception.

The coast is clear, thank goodness.

When I get to Captain Bernard’s office, however, I find only Nate talking with him, and my stomach joins my heart in sinking. I can’t panic yet. I don’t know for sure that Hailey and Priscylla crossed paths. Maybe Priscylla was just guessing that Hailey was a redhead. Or maybe Angela has shown her the pictures from years ago that are still on my social media.

I give a light rap on the door to the Captain’s office. When both he and Nate look to me, I nod at them. “Captain, do you know where Hailey is?”

The Captain glances at his watch. “Left for an appointment about an hour ago.”

When I pulled my phone out to show Nate the paperwork, I didn’t have a single text from her. I wish I could say if that was weird, but I can’t. This thing between us just started. I know Hailey from ten years ago would have said something to me, but the Hailey of my present may not. Especially considering the circumstances of her disappearance at the accident scene. It didn’t escape me that the car we were working on looked exactly like hers.

“Cool,” I nod, trying to act more casual than I feel. I’m about to turn around when Captain Bernard says my name. I raise my eyebrows in question.

“Lieutenant Miller and I decided once Quinn and Shawn get back, you’ll ride with Quinn until we can find someone to fill in for Hailey. If we can find someone. Understood?”

I give him another nod, sliding my eyes to Nate. I might be the new guy, but I can read what he’s saying without words. Get to his office. Now. “Understood Captain. I’ll get ready.”

Without another word I disappear from the doorway before they can ask anything else of me. I’m pulling my phone out while walking back through reception, when I realize halfway through that my best bet to finding out if Hailey met Priscylla is standing right behind the long counter.

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