Page 1 of Forged in Steele

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Bristol Steele believed in perfect days. Today wasn’t one of them. Not even close.

She raced through the big Victorian house she shared with her sisters and cousins, trying hard not to topple over in the high heels she rarely wore. Today was the most important day of her adult life, and she’d failed to set an alarm.

But she had plenty of backup. Two sisters and three cousins, all knowing this was her big day with the family business. Why hadn’t one of them woken her before leaving for work?

Now she had just enough time to make it to the hospital for the press conference.

Barely.

She skidded to a stop by the back door and flung it open. She ran across the lawn, meticulously manicured by her sister Peyton. Bristol’s heels sank into the soil wet from morning watering, and she hoped her hair wouldn’t frizz up in the unusual morning humidity. She remotely clicked open the doors of her blue Chevy Bolt.

“No. Oh no. Not today.” She came to a stop, her heels threatening to unsettle her, and she grabbed onto a nearby cherry tree to keep from falling. She stared at her front tire.

Flat.Flat as the paper targets hanging at the end of the lanes at her favorite firing range.

This couldn’t be happening.

She continued on closer just to be certain. Yep. Flat. Totally flat. This car was going nowhere without a tire change, and she didn’t have a spare.

She could just hear her dad lecturing her about buying a spare for a car when the manufacturer didn’t provide one. She’d claimed her self-sealing tires would do the trick, but clearly she was wrong. She must’ve run over something beyond the tire’s limit to seal the leak.

Why, God? Why? I have to get to the hospital. Now!

Panic settled in, and she looked around for her next move.

“Get a ride. Quick. But who?”

She could call one of her sisters or cousins but their work locations were too far to get here in time. She dug out her phone and opened a rideshare app. She found a driver only five minutes away and booked the ride then tottered toward the front of the house for the pick-up.

Under the tall maple trees by the road and out of the bright sun on the warm August morning, she dialed her cousin Teagan who was the chief operating officer of the family business. For three more weeks, Bristol was still a full-time deputy with Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, but then she would join Steele Guardians as the sales and marketing manager.

“Where are you?” Teagan demanded. “The press conference starts in thirty minutes.”

“I know.” Bristol worked hard to keep sarcasm out of her tone. It wasn’t Teagan’s fault that Bristol was in this spot. “I overslept and no one thought to wake me up.”

“I didn’t have a clue,” Teagan said. “I parked out front last night, or I would’ve seen your car and come to your rescue. Not sure why everyone else let you sleep.”

“No matter now. But on top of being late, I have a flat tire. I called a rideshare, and I should be at the hospital within fifteen minutes.”

“That’s cutting it close, but you should be fine. I’ll update Mr. Coglin and then meet you in the lobby, so we can arrive at the conference together.” Teagan disconnected.

Bristol shoved her phone into her purse and scanned the road ahead for her ride. She tapped her foot and rehearsed her upcoming speech. After what felt like a lifetime, a small car pulled to the curb, the windshield holding a rideshare company sign.

She plunged into the backseat and rattled off the address for the hospital to confirm the driver had received it from when Bristol had booked the ride.

“I need to get there fast,” Bristol said, ignoring the strong smell of coffee in the car. She hadn’t gotten even one cup in her system this morning and craved the caffeine.

The driver looked over the seat, his dark eyes searching. “Are you sick or something?”

“No. I have the most important meeting of my life, and I overslept. Then I got a flat tire. So hurry. Please.”

“You got it.” He booked it out of the space. “You might want to try taking a few deep breaths.”

“I’ll breathe after I get there.” She looked at her watch. Twenty-three minutes and counting.

“What kind of meeting is it?”

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