As I stepped onto the porch, bag securely over my shoulder, the front door burst open, and a man three times the size of me stepped out, slamming the door behind him. I took a step back, nearly tripping over a jagged, uneven bump in the porch floor.
“Hello, sir,” I said, voice trembling. “My name is Paisley, and I’m with the Eagle River Fire Department. I’m here to help.”
He took one look at me, eyes wild and darting towards the ambulance behind me, and then he raised a gun, pointing it directly at my chest.
Chapter6
Hansen
“Jesus Christ, what’s going on?”
I poked my head out the truck’s window, popping it into park just behind Korbin’s rig. From where I sat, I could see Paisley heading by herself to the front porch, BLS bag over one shoulder, a determined strut to her walk. I cursed and looked around frantically for any sign of a police car before reaching for the radio.
“Korbin, what the hell is she doing?The scene is not secure.”
“She went up by herself, Cap,” the answer crackled back. I didn’t have time to figure out if the ploy was intentional, but just as I hopped out of the truck to stop her, the front door opened, and Paisley froze on the steps of the front porch.
I stopped where I was on the front lawn, spotting the weapon at once. The cool steel glistened under the sunlight. Paisley didn’t stray from her spot on the porch, but she tensed visibly, raising both hands in the air to be as non-threatening as possible, which probably didn’t matter much because if the guy was psycho, he’d shoot her anyway.
“Shit.”
My mind reeled as I considered the options. Approaching them might set the man off, but waiting for the police to get here could make it even worse. I wasn’t about to let Paisley stand by herself in a dangerous situation, not when she had a whole team who was supposed to be behind her.
“Cap?” Tanner called from the truck. “Where are you going? You can’t go up there!”
I ignored him and walked steadily towards the front porch, my hands raised in the air so the man wouldn’t feel even more threatened and shoot Paisley, me, or both of us.
“We’re only here to help,” I heard Paisley say. “We’re not here for you. Is someone inside injured?”
A branch snapped under my foot, and the man jerked his head to look at me. The gun followed, muzzle aimed suddenly at my head, and for some reason, I felt no real fear, only relief that his target was no longer one of my crew but me.
“Stay there!” he shouted, but the weapon trembled in his grip.
“My name is Erik Hansen.” I stopped where I was, holding my hands where he could see them. “That’s my EMT, Paisley. We were called here because someone might be hurt. We aren’t the police; we don’t care what you did. We’re only here to help.”
“I didn’t mean to do it,” the man said. He still held the gun steady in his grip, but his eyes darted as though trying to plan an escape route.
“I don’t care what you did or did not do. I just care about helping whoever is hurt. What’s your name?”
He hesitated. “Troy.”
“Troy, can you let us in?” Paisley asked kindly.
The wail of the police car next to our rig disturbed the tense moment. Fortunately, I heard the ambulance door slam and knew that Korbin would try his best to hold them off until the threat was defused … as much as it could be, anyway. I closed my eyes, hoping they wouldn’t set him off. Troy noticed them, too, and his grip on the gun tightened again.
“She’s hurt,” Troy said. “My girlfriend.” The gun trembled slightly in his grip, but he didn’t lower it. “I don’t wanna go to jail.”
“Troy, we’re only here to help,” Paisley pushed. “Can my Captain and I come in to help whoever is in there?”
“Just you.” The gun tilted towards Paisley. “No one else.”
“That’s not—” I started to say, but Paisley spoke up. She didn’t even look back at me.
“Fine,” she said, and I saw her eyes flicker towards me for a split second. “Just me.”
Chapter7
Paisley
