“Hey, are these for anyone to take?”
The rookie’s question pulled me from my thoughts as I entered the kitchen.
He pointed to a plate full of Oreos that sat on the table. I smothered the grin that tried to play out on my face.
“Sure are,” I said. “The earlier shift left them for us.”
“Sweet.”
He eagerly picked up a handful of Oreos. I stood there, waiting.
“Eww, what the fuck?”
I cracked up as I watched him run to the kitchen sink and spit out the entire cookie he’d just inhaled.
“Shit, he fell for that one?” one of the firefighters said, coming up behind me and clapping me on the shoulder.
“Who can turn down a plate full of free Oreos?” I sauntered over to the rookie and smacked him on the back. “I hope you brought your toothbrush to go with that toothpaste.”
A few more guys laughed louder behind me.
“Now me? When I was a rookie, I never fell for that shit,” I lied, chuckling as the rookie still spit out bits of the chewed cookie mixed with toothpaste.
I’d fallen for that trick and so many others.
I pushed through the back door of the station where Carter, Sean, Emanuel, and Eric stood. As soon as I spotted them a few yards from the exit, I sobered up. Playing jokes and silly games at the station was a way of life. A means of survival in a job that could be brutal. When it was time to get serious, I knew how to rein it in.
The guys got quiet as I approached, giving me expectant looks.
“This is taking too long,” Emanuel started, running his hand through his hair. He looked as pissed as I felt over this entire situation.
Emanuel and Eric commented that they could’ve lost the women they loved.
“I know. And I’m getting nowhere with the police or the brass in the department. They keep saying it was likely just a random attack.”
That comment caused an uproar among the guys.
“Keep it down,” I demanded. This was an unofficial meeting. I hadn’t even told Captain about it. So far, I’d played everything as close to the chest as I could. Aside from the men around me and Captain Waverly, not many others in our squad knew we suspected an arsonist was active in our city.
Guilt plagued me over it, but I felt it was best to keep it quiet to smoke this asshole out.
“I know it’s bullshit,” I told them. “Which is why I’m still looking into it. And why I’ve brought someone else from outside of the department to help us out.”
“Who?” Emanuel asked.
“Someone who has just as much incentive as you to get this son of a bitch.”
I groaned and dropped my head back at the sound of Jocelyn’s voice coming up behind me.
I cut my eye in her direction. “You were supposed to wait out front.”
She frowned, and that feeling in my stomach started happening again.
“Did you really think I was going to sit silently as the men talked?” she asked.
“Of fucking course not,” I grumbled.
Jocelyn smiled.
