Zach glanced over his shoulder at Mike standing behind him.He was a new guy to the team too.He’d started the same week Zach had.“I’m good.”
He had to get his head in the game.The last thing he needed was for the guys on his team to think he wasn’t up to the job.
Mike studied him for a few more seconds before nodding.“Good to hear.You ready for a big shift?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
They reached the common area, where the rest of the crew were already seated.Zach grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator as the captain called out to him.
“Langley, my office.”
A round of good-naturedOoh, you’re in troublecame from his teammates, and he laughed at their high school antics, while trying to cover up the ball of dread that was growing in his belly.
Zach mentally replayed the last shift he was on to see if there was anything he’d done that could’ve required him to have been written up or to receive a warning.There was nothing, except—the run-in with the mayor, but the captain knew he was going to the building to check things out, so it couldn’t be that.Unless the mayor was really upset about it.Although from everything he’d heard about Chelsea Flint, she was fair and a good person.
“Is there a problem, Captain?”he asked as he sat down.
“Depends on how you look at it,” his captain responded.
Well, that wasn’t cryptic at all.
“Okay.”What else could Zach say?
“I received an email this morning from the mayor’s office.”
“Look, I can explain,” Zach interjected.“I should’ve changed back into my uniform before I did the inspection.It won’t happen again.”
The captain’s brow furrowed.“What are you talking about?”
Now Zach was confused as well.“The email isn’t about me being caught doing the inspection of the fire equipment out of uniform?”
“No, but I knew you were going after your shift.I should’ve told you to put your uniform back on, but I was distracted getting the monthly budgets done.”
“Then what does the mayor want?”
“If you’d given me a chance instead of interrupting me, you’d know.”
“Sorry, sir.”Interrupting his superior officers wasn’t something Zach did.In his job, where lives were at stake, everyone listened first and asked questions later.
The captain waved away his apology.“The mayor has requested our assistance with a project that is being planned.”
Zach’s dread returned.He’d never considered himself psychic.There had been occasions where he’d anticipated what was going to happen with a fire before it did, but that came from experience, from working many fires and understanding how they moved with the wind.It wasn’t some second sight.But right this second, he knew that the project the mayor wanted their help with was the one Tilly was planning.
“I see.What for, exactly?”Zach responded, feeling like he needed to say something.
“I think it’s the mayor being overly cautious as it’s not taking place inside a venue where there is a limit to the number of people allowed to attend.It’s more about making sure that the person follows through on her promises.”
Now Zach was confused.“Why are we getting involved if it’s not a fire hazard concern?And how are we going to ensure this person does what she says she’s going to do?How is that our responsibility?”
The captain tapped his pen on his notepad.“Son, community is what makes Marietta special.What Chelsea wants us to do may not be part of our normal job descriptions, but when the mayor asks us to help, we do it.”
Maybe this wasn’t about Tilly’s project.“Okay, so what do we need to do, then?”
“It’s a one-night event, happening Christmas Eve.I believe it’s going to be”—he picked up a piece of paper to the right of him and scanned it—“a traveling Nativity play, culminating in a Carols by Candlelight event at the fairgrounds.”
Zach wanted to stand and walk out.He didn’t want to be in the office a moment longer because his gut had been right—it was Tilly’s project.
Yet, he couldn’t.He had to keep his ass firmly planted in the chair and finish listening.
