The closest I have ever felt something like what Heidi and Sandy have is... well, I’ve never felt that way. But I’ve been holding out for something so strong, so innate without being hard. Something, someone, who just fits. Irrevocably so.
An hour later, I sigh and start my way down the stairs. By the time I reach the bottom, I come to the realization that in my lineof work, something so ethereal would be a mistake. This life of mine is a risk.
It’s as fragile as that box I just annihilated.
Any callout could be my last.
Laws’s words find me. I can hear him telling me how much my service means to him and others. But the fact remains, my friends worry that every burning building I run into may be my last.
A knot winds tight in my gut. I can’t find my way to anything else for me in this life.
When I step off the last tread of the watchtower, I round the tall building to find London sitting on a pile of old hoses. She looks up when I stop in my tracks.
“I thought I sent you to your quarters.”
She stands, her brows dropping. “You did.”
I tilt my head, as if to askwell, why are you here?
She pushes up a soft, sad smile. “I thought you could use a friend.”
I grind my molars, tamping back a swell of emotion.
Nobody has ever been there, simply been there for me before. Laws, of course, is my go-to friend. However, he doesn’t live this life. It’s hard to understand the choices we make if you don’t live it yourself.
My nostrils flare.
My chest caves.
“Oh, Cap.”
London is wrapped around me a heartbeat later.
I haul in a breath as my vision blurs, and I sink my face into her hair, which I realize all too late was a mistake. The next breath is lined with her fragrance, still discernible beneath the smoke and dust.
I could unravel entirely with this reverent woman.
Chapter 12
LONDON
We could use a walk.
I could use a walk.
Petal trots beside me, her puppy daddy catching up on some well-deserved rest. After that disaster of a callout with Heidi’s old Cap lost, Miles spent hours in meetings, over the punch to the face Schmiddy absolutely deserved and the report about the incident that led to Kirwan’s death.
Schmiddy was calling his own shots, not cooperating with 41.
Shots that were lax and careless.
We all know it.
41 tried to argue them. They lost the argument, and Kirwan lost his life.
A huge reminder of what is at stake on every callout.
Tears prickle behind my eyes as I close in on the park bench alighted with my very best friend. Who I need so badly right now.
