Page 97 of Protected By West
The back door of the ambulance closed with a hard click.
West kept his gaze fixed on the ambulance, even when Fox turned to face him.
He knew how hard this was for Fox.
They'd had so many conversations about the responsibility of being a public servant.
"Her father had already been injured before we got to the house."
Fox was so still, Weston wasn't sure if his friend was breathing.
"You know as well as I do what her husband was capable of. You saw his history just like I did."
The man's criminal record was long, and they both knew that there had to be a long list of criminal offenses that hadn't made it onto his official record. Not every criminal got caught on the first offense. Most likely had committed a number of crimes beforethey were caught and prosecuted for something. It was usually that lead up to their first arrest that had emboldened him.
"You can't control people."
Fox looked at him with an eloquently raised brow. "I'm the team's negotiator."
"Then you know this better than everyone else. Sometimes the aim of a negotiator is to know that you can't change someone else's actions. Sometimes, your job is going to be giving us the time to fix things in other ways."
Fox closed his eyes and nodded.
Weston could see how upset his friend was. It wasn't easy. None of what they did was easy.
"There are going to be days where everything we do feels like we're trying to dig a deep hole at the beach with a plastic spoon. Doing what we do means that sometimes we're going to be digging that hole over and over and not have the success that we want."
"So, what happens when people ask why I'm on this team if it's not to save someone's life?"
"Is that how you see it?" He hated seeing his friend hurt, but worse than that he wanted his friend to have confidence in himself.
Fox shrugged and the movement of his shoulders was heavy.
"Today, everyone came out alive. A daughter was able to go with her father to the hospital where he's getting the best care. She got to walk out of that house with her life intact and we're putting an abuser behind bars." Weston didn't mention that it might be temporarily behind bars, that would be counterproductive. "What we did today was save lives."
"I didn't talk him out. I didn't even talk him into letting them go."
"But you did keep things going. You gave us the time we needed to do the job. And because of that, people lived, Fox."
There was something in his expression that changed. Nothing big or earth-shattering, but there was something lighter than it had been.
Something with an element of peace in it.
And when he took his next breath and let it out, there was an ease in his movements that felt more like the Fox he knew.
"Thanks, West." Fox smiled, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. "I needed that."
Weston nodded. "It's the truth."
Fox lifted a brow at that. "Are you sure you don't want this job?"
Weston knew that he was unsuited to the job of negotiator. "I let my temper go too hot when I'm talking to idiots. You're much better at talking folks down. I'd probably just kick their ass."
Fox thought about it and nodded. "Sounds good. I'd rather do what I do than have to ride roughshod over the children."
Weston smiled at the thought. "They are a handful."
"Come on," Fox clapped a hand down on Weston's shoulder. "Let's get back to the office so you can head over to see Tracy."
