Page 33 of Koa's Little Girl
Thank goodness.Wait, was Giana okay? He was typing an answer back to his teammate, when another message appeared.
Turn on the morning news.
He snatchedthe remote from the coffee table and navigated through the screens to find the local news station. Giana’s beautiful face filled his screen. Relief flooded through him as Koa sank down on the couch to listen.
“…firefighters are now able to battle the blaze without risk of being killed. The delay in dealing with the fire allowed the flames to jump to two other buildings. I have called in three other stations to assist us. This will be a total loss for all three structures, but if we’re lucky, we’ll contain it there.”
“Have the authorities identified the shooter or determined his motives?” a news reporter asked, shoving her mic into Giana’s face.
Giana put her hand over the device and pushed it away from her lips. Even from the video, Koa noted Giana’s lethal glare she used to target the offensive woman. “I will provide you with details as I address all the media sources. Do not jab this into my face.”
Focusing back on the group, she continued, “I do not have definitive information on the shooter at this point. The police will take the podium next. I would like to thank a Special Ops officer from the local base for assisting the officers and protecting the firefighters. His skill facilitated locating the culprit. Everyone will make it home to their families because of him.”
“What’s his name?” the same reporter asked again, rudely pushing her microphone too close to Giana.
His beloved fire captain plucked the device from the reporter’s hand and tossed it over her head to a fireman standing behind her. Koa recognized him. It was the one who’d glared daggers at him when Koa had appeared at the station. The man caught it easily and stuck it inside his protective gear.
Koa grinned at the screen.Take that, obnoxious reporter.He enjoyed seeing Giana in her official role and understood why she’d achieved her rank in the fire department at a younger age than most captains. She didn’t put up with any crap. It pleased him to see her firefighters supporting her without question.
“I understand you have a job to do, but I’m only going to warn you once before I eliminate the problem,” Giana said firmly. She continued with her briefing without skipping a beat.
He liked that his little girl was a badass at work. Koa watched the last of the program hoping to see Giana for an update. Now the live segments focused on the firefighters battling the blaze. He caught a glimpse of Giana coordinating from the sidelines several times.
A few minutes later, the footage brought him to his feet as he saw Giana scaling a ladder over a flare of fire. Koa paced along the width of the house, following the next segment to make sure she was fine. When the morning news coverage ended, he checked online to see if there was an update. Nothing.
The ringing of his doorbell made him jump. Koa shook his head as he walked to answer it. His nerves were usually rock steady.
“Hank?” Koa stared at his teammate. “What’s going on? Is something wrong with Giana?”
“She was fine when I left her. They’re going to be on scene for a long time, putting out that fire. We knew you’d be tense,” Hank said and waved a hand toward the rest of the team, who stood in his driveway. “Come on. We’re going on a run.”
“I thought we had the day off,” Koa said, staring at the group.
“We do. This is to save your sanity and for fun for the rest of us. You’ve got three minutes before we start, then you have to race to catch up to us.”
When Koa hesitated, Caden called, “Time starts now.”
Koa didn’t wait to see him click the timer on his watch. He raced toward the bedroom, yanking off his slouchy clothes to grab training gear like the others wore. He knelt on the doorstep, tying his shoelaces as Caden took off with the others falling into step behind him.
“Fuck!” Koa secured his other shoe and sped off to join his team. At about mile three, his body released the tension that had built from worrying about Giana. That didn’t mean he forgot to check his phone for messages.
Jerico turned into a parking lot, and the other guys cheered. Koa glanced up to read the name of a climbing gym he’d always wanted to check out. “We’re going in here?” Koa asked.
“Caden arranged for us to challenge ourselves in return for some shooting instruction for the owner and a few friends,” Hank explained. “It seemed like a good time to come.”
“This absolutely rocks,” Koa said, eagerly following the others to the door. Just as he walked in, his phone buzzed. He looked down at the screen to see his little girl’s photo.
“Giana,” he called and walked back outside. “Hey, Flame. Are you okay?”
“Sooty and buried in paperwork. I’ll be here for several hours talking to the higher-ups and filling in forms,” she reported.
“I can handle having my own s’more,” he teased, feeling the last of his worry subside. Koa kept his voice light, not wanting her to know how much the danger in her job affected him. “Did you ever give that microphone back?”
“That reporter always does that. This was the fourth microphone I’ve taken from her.”
Koa could hear the aggravation in her voice and guessed that a massive eye roll had accompanied it. “I’m glad you’re okay, Flame.”
“Hank was invaluable. Thank him for me.” She paused as a big group emerged from the climbing gym, talking animatedly. “Where are you?”
