Page 12 of Ink and Ashes
“Well, I had a quick question for you, actually.”
“This about Holland?”
My brows furrow. “How did you know?”
“Why, she mentioned she’s looking into the fires. I figured she would’ve come down to talk to someone there.”
“She did. Is she still here?”
Mary tears her gaze from mine briefly. “Not at the moment, but yes, she’s still checked in.”
“She say how long she plans to stay for?”
“She was originally only booked until today, but she extended her stay indefinitely.”
I grit my teeth.I fucking knew it.“Alright. Thanks, Mary.”
“Is she causing problems?”
I swallow. “Not yet, but I get the feeling she will soon.”
Mary’s brows pull together. “You say the word and we’ll kick her out.”
I force a smile through my frustration. No matter how badly I want Holland Rhodes gone, I would never ask the Montgomerys to turn away business, especially in a time when they’re getting so little.
Nonetheless, I thank her before heading back out to the truck.
It’s time to fill in the rest of the team. Holland may not have shown back up yet, but I want to get ahead of it before she does.
“Hey, Whitty,”I say as I knock on our fire chief’s door when we return to the station. “Can I talk to you about something?”
He looks up from his computer, gesturing for me to enter hisoffice. “What’s up, Caldwell?”
I take a seat across from him. “There’s a journalist sniffing around about the fires. She showed up last week after we got the fire controlled. I sent her away, but something about her rubbed me wrong. I hoped she would’ve left by now, but I checked with Mary at The Scarlet and she’s still here. I don’t think she’s going anywhere anytime soon.”
Normally, when we send the press away, they take the message pretty quickly. They all try to get information out of us, but once they find out we have nothing to give them, they move on.
Clearly, Holland Rhodes won’t be that easy.
“You tell the crew yet?” Chief Whitlock asks.
I shake my head. “I hoped I wouldn’t have to, but since it’s clear she’s not leaving, I wanted to fill you in first. How do you want me to go about this?”
He blows out a breath, leaning back in his chair. “Did she say what she wants to know?”
“She thinks there’smore to the story.”
Chief hums. “What does she mean by that?”
My jaw flexes. “Honestly, I’m not sure. Just that it probably isn’t good.”
“Alright.” Whitlock stands from his desk. “Call a meeting. I’ll be up in ten. We’ll just let them know the basics and tell them to keep an eye out and be careful what they say. We can’t do anything to stop them from talking to her, but we can at least give them the heads up. They don’t have anything to share anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Sounds good,” I say, then turn and leave Chief Whitlock’s office.
One thing about this department is it’s always been family-operated, so everyone who works here full time is either directly related to me or may as well be. The career firefighters include myself, Beau and Dom, my cousin Liv Campbell, and Chief Whitlock, who’s a close family friend. My sister Cass and her childhood best friend Sam are the two lead paramedics.
My grandfather was the fire chief of this station for decadesuntil he retired thirteen years ago. My dad had been the team’s engine lieutenant up until that point, then he took my grandpa’s place. Unfortunately, my dad’s career as Chief was cut short four years ago, after an on-the-job injury sent him into an early retirement.
