Page 41 of Heat Advisory

That wasn’t cryptic at all.

Me:

I’m fine. I’m in the middle of checking some equipment. Can I call you in about 15 minutes?

Mom:

That’s fine. But don’t forget, because it’s kind of weird when people keep coming up to me congratulating me on my son getting engaged, and I didn’t even know he was dating anyone.

Oh shit.

As much as I needed to talk to her, I needed to talk with Trent first. I walked out into the kitchen and then the common area to find him, but no luck. After a few minutes of searching, I found him in the weight room with Nate and Blake, two of the other firefighters in our battalion.

“Hey Tannin, you got a minute?” I asked, not wanting to have this conversation—one that was already contentious—in front of the others.

“No,” he replied curtly.

“Trent, I was hoping…” I started to say, but he cut me off.

“This crap you’re trying to pull to steal this job from me is bullshit, and you know it, Rainer,” Trent shot back.

“You guys, why don’t—” Blake tried to interrupt.

Ignoring him, Trent lowered his voice, not in volume, but in tone, and continued. “There’s nothing about the arsons that’s a mystery to me. I know the ins and outs of every single one of these fires. There is no way you’re going to beat me when it comes to figuring this case out, and you know it, so you had to pull this stunt.”

“I’m not trying to beat you, dude,” I responded, shaking my head. “We’re a team. As long as the team solves the case, that’s all that matters.”

“Maybe that’s how it works once you’re on the team, but we aren’t, so this is absolutely a competition. One where I’m going to win and you’re going to lose.”

“What crawled up your ass, Tannin?” Nate said as he walked by. His voice was friendly, but you could tell he wasn’t thrilled with what he’d heard Trent say.

“Stay out of it,” Trent shot back tersely. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Like hell it doesn’t,” Nate replied, friendliness now gone from his voice. “We’re part of the same crew, and we need to have each other’s backs. We rely on each other in the field. Cohesion means safety and trust. Without it, it makes doing our job harder, so fuck yes, it concerns me.”

“Trent, leave it alone,” Blake added. “Why don’t you go wash that big fancy truck you just got a few weeks ago, and stop trying to start shit.”

“Everything all right?” Nicole Spice, our EMS Chief, said as she walked up, likely hearing the commotion.

“Did you hear Rainer got engaged?” Trent announced to everyone. “That’s right, the man who hasn’t been on a date since he got here suddenly has a fiancée. A fiancée, I might add, who now makes him look like the perfect candidate to Leavenworth for the job we’re both competing for.”

“Why would that matter?” Blake asked.

“Leavenworth said he was happy to see him settling down,” Trent argued.

“Just because he didn’t tell us about his dating life doesn’t mean he was single,” Nate pointed out. “Spurman separated from his wife and was practically signing divorce papers before any of us knew.”

“That’s because that’s bad news,” Trent shot back, and I knew what he meant. “Getting engaged is good news. News you would think he would want to share with us—that is…if it’s actually true.”

“You think he got catfished?” Blake chimed in.

“No, I think he made the whole thing up,” Trent said to Blake, though his gaze was on me as he said it. “Probably just hired a prostitute long enough to secure the job.”

I knew he didn’t know her, but just the thought of him calling Cora a prostitute—and after the last few interactions I’d had with him, I wouldn’t put it past him to say that to her face—had me seeing red.

I was about to fire off a warning to him, but Nicole beat me to it.

“That’s enough, Trent,” Nicole shot out. “Go outside and cool off.” Her voice was in full boss-mode, letting him know without a doubt this conversation was done.