Page 74 of Tameron

“Two minutes ago,” he said, handing me a pair of wire cutters.

The flames were hot and a heavy boulder in my gut told me that no matter what I did, I was too late. We hadn’t been fast enough. That was the reality of the job—even more than the building fires where we rescued people with burn injuries and saved all their pets.

It was more than feeling a little down because we hadn’t prevented every wound.

Sometimes, it was this.

Sometimes, it was the worst possible outcome.

If it had been my first, I wouldn’t have been able to cope with it the way I could now. I felt every inch of ache and sorrow as I managed to cut the body free. The flames were out, but the fire had spread rapidly, and I knew that the arson investigators wouldn’t have to dig deep for evidence of an accelerant. I could still smell it lingering in the smoke.

The ambulance was nearby, with the stretcher a few feet from me and a sheet to throw over the body. We got them transferred over and away from the prying eyes of everyone who had gathered to watch. In the distance, I could hear someone throwing up.

Then, the call came on the radio that the suspect had been caught and was currently being transported to the station. Detectives would be on the scene after that, and my job would be over. Mostly.

Swallowing thickly, I glanced at the remaining EMTs, waiting to see if anyone else was in the car. None of them were Nash, and I was grateful for it. His burden was heavy right now, and I didn’t want this on his shoulders.

I gave them a quick nod, then stuck my head in to check the back seat. The last thing I needed was to find evidence of a car seat. But there was nothing. Some melted Styrofoam from fast food joints and a perfume bottle that had exploded from the heat. The scent was sickly, burned with a flowery undertone.

It was something I wouldn’t forget for a good, long while.

I felt a shiver go up my spine and breathed through it before turning away. It was my fault for testing the universe. My fault for assuming that it would all blow over and everything would be fine.

“You good, Chief?” I had no idea who was speaking to me and grabbing my arm, but I let them.

I pushed my mask up and looked over to see Rob, one of the guys who’d been around years longer than me. He’d turned down every offer of a promotion. He said he didn’t want the responsibility, and on nights like this, I got it.

“You’re pale.”

I took a breath. “I’ll be alright. You know how it is.”

The look in his eyes said that, yeah, he did. These moments were few and far between, but they happened often enough. I wasn’t desensitized yet, and god help me if that ever happened.

I wanted to feel the pain, regret, and bitterness.

It was what kept me human. It was what kept me good.

“See you at the station?” I told him.

He squeezed my arm again. “I’ve got it from here.”

That was my cue to go, a dismissal he had no right to order, but one I was going to listen to because I trusted my team and knew when I could take a step back.

BZZT! BZZT!

Fire! The alarm!

Except no. It wasn’t a fire, and there was no alarm. It was my phone because I’d been so wiped from being at the station all day that when I’d gotten home that afternoon, I’d forgotten to put it on Do Not Disturb. Knives was on my chest, ramming her little face into my jaw like she knew it was important, and on the second ring, I realized it wasn’t a call.

It was FaceTime.

That meant family or…shit, no. It was probably Tameron.

My fingers scrabbled on top of the nightstand until they came in contact with the phone, and with a single eye open and half-focused, I answered. “Hey. Hi.” My voice was a barely there rasp.

“Oh my god, I woke you. It’s six p.m.!” Tameron exclaimed.

I grabbed Knives off my chest and attempted to sit up. “Yeah. Uh…long night. Bad call. Got stuck at the station all day doing paperwork and talking to investigators.” I blinked a few times to clear the vision of Tam on my screen and felt my face break into a smile when I could see him clearly. “Hey, wait.You’re calling.”

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