Page 1 of Single Mom for the Firemen

PROLOGUE

VANESSA

“Areyou sure you’re going to be okay out there?” Lara fusses, leaning against the doorframe and staring down at me as I cram the last few handfuls of clothes into my suitcase. Rising to my feet, I raise my eyebrows and take her by the shoulders.

“Lara, I’m going to be fine,” I promise her. “It’s like a vacation, yeah? A cabin in the woods, all the way through the summer…it’s the most relaxing thing I’ll ever do.”

“Yeah, well,” she mutters, frowning. “Not exactly under these circumstances…”

I don’t pay attention to that comment, just turn my attention back to making sure I have everything I need for this journey. I know she’s right, of course. Lara usually is—that’s how she ascended to the role of editor at the Journal by the time she was thirty. But the last thing I need is more stress piled on my shoulders, especially in the face of everything else that’s happening. I just need to pack my stuff, get my daughter, and drive out to the cabin that’s going to be our home for the next few months—and pray that by the time I get back, all of this bullshit will have died down and I can finally relax.

I knew when I took on the story that it could be a risk. Lara, when she was assigning it, had been reluctant to hand it over to me, worried that it could put Callie or me in danger.

“It’s a real crime beat,” she warned me. “And you know what that means. Even if we don’t attach your name to it, there’s a good chance they’ll figure out who wrote it, and…”

“Lara, I know,” I replied. “I’m not stupid. I’ve been in this industry for years. I’m aware of the risks, and I know I’m the best person to cover the cartel story. Please, I need this—just let me do it, okay?”

Reluctantly, she allowed me to take on the story—we had an informant who’d worked for the cartel for years who was willing to share his experiences with us, and I carried out months of interviews and investigation to pull together this really powerful piece on the impact of these kinds of organizations on both the individual and the communities they were a part of. Even now, looking back at it, I’m really proud of how it came out. I’m not saying I’m the greatest writer of all time, but I know how to put together a compelling emotional arc as part of my stories, and this one was one of my best.

But of course, it didn’t come without its risks. And sure enough, within a couple of weeks of the story coming out, I started to feel as though I was being watched—as though I couldn’t turn around without the sensation of someone’s gaze on me, or worse, Callie. At first, I thought it was just paranoia, but then my landlord reached out to let me know that some strange men had been caught on CCTV hanging out around my apartment block when I was working late. God only knows what would have happened if I had arrived back on time. When we took the images to the cops, they confirmed that at least one of the menwas connected with a gangland killing, and I could be next on the list if I wasn’t careful.

Which was when Lara stepped in and insisted I get out of the city for a while. It’s not like I have a huge amount of cash to throw around—being a single mom isn’t exactly conducive to savings—but Lara’s got some family money, and they have this cabin in the forest not too far from the city. In the winter, it’d probably be too cold for me, but during the summer, the heat’s intense, and I love the idea of spending a few months lounging with my daughter beneath some shady branches with a few good books.

Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself. Because if I have to face up to the truth—that I might have dragged my little girl into something she could never understand, and thrown her into the midst of danger she would never have agreed to—I’m not sure I’ll be able to take it.

“I’m going to miss you so much.” Lara sighs as she grabs some of the clothes from me and starts folding them neatly.

“I’m going to miss you too,” I murmur, and I feel a sudden stab of sadness in my chest as I look over at her. Lara has been my best friend, my rock, through so damn much. We met when she came in to do mentoring with some of the students in my journalism course, and though she was just a few years older than me, it felt like she had it made—she had this amazing career in her family newspaper, and had already won awards across the country for the stories her staff had put out there. From the moment I met her, I knew I wanted to work for her, but becoming her best friend to boot is the best kind of bonus.

“And I’ll miss you too, Callie!” she remarks, shooting a look over to my daughter, who is carefully piling up a stack of books to bring out to the car. Callie’s curly dark hair is falling into herface as she works, her brown eyes narrow as she tries to find what she’s looking for. Sometimes, when I catch a glimpse of her like this, it’s hard to believe she’s just five years old. She looks so grown-up, so much like her dad. I just wish he’d been around long enough to see the sweetheart his little girl grew up to be.

“You’re going to keep up with your reading while you’re away, yeah?” Lara continues, shifting on her knees to face my daughter. Callie finally looks up, a slightly toothy grin spreading over her face.

“Of course I am!” she replies, as though it should be obvious. Lara laughs, and leans over to give her a hug.

“Then you’re going to have so many books to tell me about when you get back,” she replies, squeezing her close. “I can’t wait to hear about them, sweetheart.”

I just sit there, staring at the two of them for a moment. There’s a part of me that hates that I have to take Callie away from all of this, from everything she’s known her whole life. She was only a few months old when her father, Johnny, passed in that car accident, and being surrounded by my friends has been her version of family. Lara has been like an aunt to her, constantly spoiling her, even when I tell her off for going overboard at Christmas and birthdays.

“It’s going to be so much fun,” I gush to Callie, trying to convince myself as much as her. “We’ve never been somewhere so rural before, have we, Callie?”

Callie shakes her head, smiling at me. She doesn’t know the truth of why we’re going out there, of course, and I don’t want her to. As far as she’s concerned, this is just an excitingadventure for the summer and we’re going to be back to normal before we know it.

Even if I’m not sure I’ll be able to guarantee anything close to that.

I push the thought aside as I lift the books from Callie’s hands and put them in the pile to bring to the car outside. We don’t have a whole lot of room, but Lara has assured me that this cabin has everything I could possibly want anyway. It’s got to be better than this little one-bedroom I’ve been living out of since I moved to the city to work for the Journal under Lara. Not that she didn’t offer to help me finance somewhere a little fancier, but I want to do it all on my own terms. If it’s going to get done, then I want to be the one to do it—it’s a lesson I’m determined to teach Callie, and one that I need to teach by showing, not telling.

“Okay, I think that’s everything!” I exclaim as I straighten up. I’m not sure if the excitement in my voice is real, or if it’s for Lara and Callie’s sake. The images of those men on CCTV are still burned into my brain, reminders of how close I came to landing in serious trouble. Or worse. If Callie hadn’t been staying with Lara that night, I don’t even want to think what could have happened…

“Then we’re ready to go,” Lara adds, standing up and smiling at me. It doesn’t reach her eyes. I can tell she’s still freaked about all of this. She’s my editor, sure, and she cares about me as an employee, but she’s also my best friend—and I can tell that those two things are overlapping with each other in a way she doesn’t entirely enjoy right now. She feels like she’s put me in the line of fire, and nothing I say about this will change her mind.

“Yeah, let’s bring everything down to the car and we can leave,” I reply. “It’s probably going to take me most of the rest of the dayto find this cabin, anyway. I’m no good with maps. You’re sure it’s not on any GPS…?”

Lara shakes her head. “No, that’s the beauty of it,” she replies, her smile widening. “It’s totally off-grid. Nobody will know where to find you, and?—”

She cuts herself off, glancing down at Callie as though she’s just realized how that sounds. “You’re going to have a great time,” she quickly finishes up. “And that’s all that matters. You won’t want to come back!”

“Oh, if you think you’re going to get rid of me that easily, you’ve got another thing coming,” I tease her as we head for the door. “You’re not kicking me off the staff without a fight.”

---