“He needs you to pick up those papers from the Fire Department.”
I sprang out of my seat. “Shit, I forgot.”
The clock on the wall told me I had enough time to make it to the fire department’s headquarters to get what my brother needed.
“On my way now,” I said, brushing past Hallease and starting for my jacket on the coat rack. “I’m going over to Mama’s after leaving HQ, so I won’t be back in the office tonight. I’ll have my cell on me if you need anything.”
“I know. You always have it on you.”
My stomach clenched. Ever since Corey’s accident six months earlier, I always made sure to have my cell turned on at all times. Guilt still ate at me for not receiving the call from my mother that night.
“Don’t stay here too late,” I warned. Hallease tended to overwork herself. We both did.
“I’m going to finish listening and transcribing this Jackson audio, and then I’m heading home.”
“Good. See ya’ tomorrow.”
Waving, I headed out the door for the fire department.
Chapter 5
Don
I madeit to headquarters ten minutes before it closed for the day.
“Hey, Don. How’s it going?” Drew Philippe asked as soon as I took two steps inside the door.
With a grin, I slapped fives with him. “How’s it going, Drew?” He’d been a member of Rescue Four before moving up into administration.
“Jake, look who it is,” Drew called, over his shoulder. From one of the offices down the hall stepped, Jake Wilkens, another former firefighter turned admin guy.
“What’s up, Don. Are you here to sign up for the WFD’s basketball intramurals? You know we miss having you around.”
“You miss me dropping thirty points on the both of you before I skated off with one of your daughters into the sunset?” I joked.
“Watch it,” Drew said, faking like he was about to jab me in the stomach.
I smirked, knowing that the truth was, Drew’s twenty-one year old daughter had attended more than one of those games, trying to catch my eye. But I had my limits.
“Not here about basketball, today. You know if Murray’s still around?” I asked, looking up the staircase.
Jake whistled. “With that guy, you never know.”
“I’m going to go check. Catch you guys later.”
“Yeah, think about signing up for intramurals again. All of the guys miss you down at the rec center.”
I threw my hand up over my shoulder, waving, without looking back. The truth was that while I missed playing ball with the guys from the department, it wasn’t the same without Corey around. I’d only recently gotten over Emanuel taking his place at the station. That was bad enough but even I recognized it was necessary. Playing intramurals without my right hand didn’t feel right.
I took the stairs two at a time to make my way to the fire investigator offices resided. I pounded on the door that read: Investigator Murray. Even though the door was closed, he was inside.
There was a startled grunt on the other side of the door. “Who is it?” an unfriendly voice demanded.
“Don Alvarez,” I answered, at the same time I barged inside.
“Alvarez,” Murray said, not looking too pleased to see me as he sat behind a large desk.
Tough shit. I’d been there a bunch of times since the night of Corey’s accident, and although I hadn’t made much progress, this guy was out of his mind if he thought I was giving up anytime soon.
