Chapter 8

Darcy

“Had a briefing with the batt chief and the assistant chiefs.”

We all look towards Captain Slade, wondering what’s coming next. If he’s met with the chief of the battalion and the men reporting to the men at the top, what’s coming next needs our full attention.

“That fire the other day, well, we feel that’s just the start of it. Tinder box conditions out there. Reminds me of just before Aspen.”

“Like that a lot of years. And we always get fires,” Hammer comments.

“And put them out,” says Truck.

“Sooner or later,” Hammer comments dryly.

The captain looks around. “He wants everyone to be prepared. Hopefully when the monsoons start things will get dampened down.”

“Cancelling leave?” Truck asks.

“Don’t think any of us have got any booked.” Slade turns to each one of us, noting the shakes of our heads. “And it goes without saying, we’ll be there if there’s a need to come in during our rest days.” He sighs. “Probably don’t need to remind you that the national hot shot crews are all dealing with the wildland fires in California. Something happens here before they’re dealt with and we’ll be on our own.”

Not like we haven’t done it before, but it’s easier when we’ve a hot shot crew taking the lead.

There’s no predicting where or when a fire might hit. The summer storms can be dry storms bringing lightening with no rain. Then there’s our other adversary, fires often started by human hand, either accidentally or deliberately.

“Right. Well I just wanted to catch you before you went off shift.”

“We’ll be ready.” I know I speak for my companions as I reply to Slade.

After the captain’s pep talk, I go to my locker to collect my bag. As I take my phone out, I see I’ve got a couple of missed calls. Eager to catch up on the latest, I return the call.

“Hi. It’s Darcy Cavanaugh.”

It’s Grover. He politely enquires how I am.

“I’m fine, Detective. You?”

But Grover hasn’t been calling for chit chat. “What?” My hand goes out and clutches the door of my locker for support. “What do you mean Pete Mercer had another bail hearing? Why wasn’t I informed?”

“He’s out?”

“Yeah, I know there was nothing you could do. Yeah, thank you for calling. I appreciate the warning.”

Having come into the locker room while I was talking, Hammer comes up alongside. Leaning back against the lockers, he folds his arms. “What’s up?”

“Bastard who shot me has been let out on bail. His lawyer worked some magic. Some family connection or other.” I feel shaky, the thought of that man being free makes my face throb all over again.

“Whassup?” Now Slade’s here too.

Quickly Hammer fills him in.

“Well, only one thing for it. You need to get a restraining order, Flash. Make sure he stays away from you.”

“Like a piece of paper is going to keep him away. And he doesn’t need to get close if he gets his hands on a gun.”

“Oh, com’ere, sweetie.” Suddenly Hammer’s big strong arms come around me, and his meaty hand rubs up and down my back. “You keep a gun?”

“No, I don’t like them.” I hate the things and won’t have them in the house. Well, not knowingly anyway. I frown as I remember how Pete had brought one into my home, and look how that ended. I don’t like to think of it, but if that bullet had been a few inches over I might not be here.

Slade’s staring at me, but his eyes are shuttered so it’s impossible to see what he’s thinking. But after a moment he lets me in on his thoughts. “Don’t like the idea of you being alone with this fucker running around. Why don’t you come and stay with us?”

Him and his wife? Now that would be intruding, and Pete’s already interfered with enough of my life. I shake my head. “I can’t allow him to push me out of my home. I’ve got new locks and a good security system now.” I frown slightly before adding, “I should be safe.” Pete wouldn’t be coming straight back to my house. Would he? There’s no reason for him to, and surely he’s got enough sense to stay well away.

“What’s going on?” This from Truck. Hammer and Slade quickly update him, and now he looks concerned as well. His brow creases. “You’ve got a spare room, haven’t yer? I could come stay with you. At least for a few days until we know whether he’s going to bother you or not.”

Let another man into my guest room? Possibly to put down roots like the last one? Knocking the heel of my hand against my forehead, I wonder what’s best to do. I know Truck wouldn’t take advantage of me like Pete had done. Nevertheless… Eyeing my team, I’m certain if any of them were faced with a comparable situation they wouldn’t think of asking for help. Not in the same way. But because I’m a woman they’re being overprotective. No, I’ve got to stand up for myself.

“Truck, thank you. But as soon as I’m inside my house I’ll be fine. It’s like a fortress now. No one can get in, and if they try, alarms will go off. I’ll make sure I always have my phone at hand to call the police.” I pause and force a smile. “And there’s nothing to say Pete would have the nerve to come back. If he’s out on bail, he can’t risk getting close. And while he lied and told me he was on his own, he seems to have family enough to raise bail. He’ll go to them, I’m sure.” Yeah, telling me he had nowhere to go had clearly been a ploy. But for what reason I can’t imagine.

My colleagues are still looking worried. I put my hand on Truck’s arm, feeling his warm skin under my fingers. As his hand comes down and covers mine, he looks down and raises an eyebrow. I give him my answer. “Thank you, Truck, but I’m sure I’ll be fine on my own.”

Slade’s tapping his hand against his thigh, head tilted to one side. “Can’t be a man down when we’re on high alert. We’ve got your back, Flash. Truck, you’ll follow her home, make sure the fucker’s not hiding out waiting for her. Check it out at least.”

“I can’t ask you do to that.” I’m feeling like a weak little woman the way they’re all so willing to help. If I were a man they’d be shrugging their shoulders and wishing me good luck, expecting me to take care of things myself. I frown. I don’t want to be treated any differently. I’m able to do this job as well as any of them.

Seeing me looking doubtful, Slade pushes his point. “You’re not asking, I’m offering. Well, telling, really. Truck’s going your way anyway. Look, Flash, there’s no doubt you pull your weight, seen you put even more into it as if you’ve got something to prove. But while you’re equally as strong as a man when it comes to doing your job, from what you said, this Pete’s a big fucker, and you know nothing about self-defence.”

Shooting my eyes to his, I realise he can read me like a book, knowing exactly what to say to make me feel better. For a second, I bask in the compliments he just paid me.

“Think we could rectify that?” Hammer’s looking at me shrewdly. “We spend enough time working out, perhaps we can teach her some moves.”

Gently I put my fist to his shoulder. “I’m right here, you know.” Then I think about what he’s asked. “Perhaps it would be useful. I don’t seem to have the best taste in men.”

Looking thoughtful, Slade nods his head. “Good idea, Ham. But until you’ve learned how to protect yourself, we’ve got your back.”

When I first got that phone call, initial thoughts were to panic. But now, having spoken to my teammates, it’s put things into perspective. I’m certain I’m right. Pete wouldn’t take the risk of causing more trouble, but just in case I’ll let Truck help check my place out. If Pete is there waiting, he wouldn’t have a chance against the two of us.

My house looks exactly the same as I left it. I park on the driveway, Truck pulls up on the side of the street. I wait for him to come up beside me before putting my key in the lock. Gently he pushes me to one side and walks in. Peering around his huge bulk, nothing seems to be amiss.

“Stay here. Let me check everything out.”

Though it’s highly unlikely he’s managed to get inside without a key, I need to warn Truck. “What if he’s armed?” The memory of the bullet hitting my arm causes my healed wound to itch.

“I’ll be careful. But I doubt he’ll have a gun. He wouldn’t be able to get one legally.” He pauses, then suggests, “You really ought to have one yourself, you know?”

“No.” I shake my head adamantly. “I detest the things and wouldn’t know how to use a weapon if I did have one.”

“Then it’s lucky I do.” He slides his out of his pocket and expertly holds it in front of him as he disappears from sight.

I stand, biting my nails and waiting, feeling nervous for once in my life. I’ll tackle any fire, run into any burning building, but the thought that what I now know is a violent man might be staked out in my house is chilling. Perhaps I should move? Go somewhere he can’t find me? But why should I let him chase me out of my home?

Already it’s tainted, with memories of him in every room. I thought that time would have erased them, but that’s when I thought he’d stay locked up.

How did he get bail?

“I’ve checked everywhere. Nothing seems to be out of place—you’re a tidy freak, ain’cha?” Truck’s eyes are twinkling. “No windows look tampered with, and the security system you had installed is excellent. Nothing for you to worry about.”

Feeling relieved, I thank him. “Want a coffee or something now you’re here?”

“Yeah, could use a beer.”

Taking him into the kitchen, I get a couple out of the fridge. As I’m raising the bottle to my lips, I frown.

“What you thinking, Flash?”

“I’m sorry about this, Truck. You know I always pull my weight…”

He steps forward and gets into my face. “Now stop right there, Flashfire. We’re a team, you know that. You’ve been a firefighter for a few years now. Hell, you’ve got a lot more experience than me. I look up to you just as I do any of the others. You’ve got nothing to prove, you’ve done that already. We don’t make allowances for your sex, as we don’t have to.”

But he is, he wouldn’t be here otherwise. I go to open my mouth, but I don’t get a chance.

“This situation, it’s out of the ordinary. And if Hammer had an abusive woman after him, or fuck, if I did, then don’t think for a moment we wouldn’t be acting the same way. This guy who hurt you, he’s irrational. Up against a fire? We know what we’re dealing with. Him? Or anyone who threatens one of the team? It’s more than one person can take on, male or female.”

He pauses to take a gulp of his drink, then points the bottle toward me. “This doesn’t mean you’re weak, Flash. The way the team stood up to help you? That shows how valued a colleague you are, and that we don’t want to lose you.”

I hadn’t thought of it like that. Slowly my lips curve up, and then tension, and guilt, start to drift away. “Thanks for putting it into perspective, Truck.”

He nods. “And for the record, no one thinks you’re weak or that you can’t look after yourself. The only difference between us is that we’ve learned to fight back. Just a gap in your knowledge, Flash, and we’ll be seeing if we can’t rectify that. A few self-defence lessons and you’ll know how to handle yourself better.”

That’s something positive I can work with.

“Hey, I know you don’t need me to stay, but I could eat. How about you? Want pizza?”

Pizza? For breakfast? I laugh, then, finding I’ve got a taste for it too, I readily agree. Truck takes out his phone, I tell him what I want, then disappear to the bathroom while he calls in the order.

After I’ve freshened up it’s not long before there’s a loud knock on the front door. Truck indicates I should stay back, then goes and checks who’s there. When he returns he’s carrying three pizza boxes.

“Three?” My eyes open in disbelief.

“I’m a growing lad.”

My eyes widen as I snort a laugh. If he grows much more he won’t fit in my house.

Truck’s an easy companion. Taking our pizzas into the living room, we sit on the couch. The aroma of food gets my mouth watering, and I devour the half of the one he bought for me, my eyes widening as he manages to make two and a half disappear. I joke I can see how he grew into his name, even though I know his bulk’s all muscle. When we’ve finished he takes the boxes and puts them into the trash.

“You want to talk about it?” he asks when he comes back.

I know what he means. Maybe it will help to open up. “This is going to sound stupid, Truck, but I thought I liked Pete at first. Hell, I hadn’t had a good conversation with a man in ages. When he invited me for a coffee, I went like a shot. A man who I’d met when his house was on fire. Crazy, eh?”

“Nothing wrong with that. Fuck, the work that we do? Ain’t got no time to meet people the normal way.” He rubs his hand over his face. “It’s something I sometimes worry about. How do you meet the man or woman you want in your life? Not while we’re working, that’s for sure. Hardly see people at their best when they’ve had the shit scared out of them, or they’re injured and hurting. Can’t date someone on your team, would throw the dynamics right off. And who else do we meet? Cops? Hell, you’d never manage to synchronise your shifts, so you could even date.”

It’s probably the most he’s said at one time. What he has said makes sense and validates what I’ve come to regret as an unwise decision.

“He seemed normal. Nice.” My mind drifts back. “I was cautious. Even though he’d just lost everything he was pretty pragmatic about it. He didn’t seem to care about the possessions that had burned, just the fact he was homeless. He even that he tried to brush off. I was apologising that we hadn’t managed to save anything. It wasn’t what I expected. You know what most people are like.”

Truck’s meaty hand grasps mine and gives it a squeeze. Man or woman, some of the distress we see can be painful to watch.

“Anyway, so there we were in the coffee shop. Stayed longer than expected.” If he hadn’t wiped all my good memories away with that first slap to my face, I would have been smiling. “He did everything right, a perfect gentleman. His focus totally on me, I had to dig to get him to tell me much about himself.”

“That, right there,” Truck interrupts. “He was hiding something.”

“I know that now,” I agree. “But at the time I thought it was sweet. We stayed longer than I expected, ordered food. Our meal had been entertaining, and he was certainly easy on the eyes.”

“Was there a spark?”

I answer honestly. “No, he was a good companion and I told him that. Didn’t expect we’d be seeing each other again. But then he offered to pay. That’s when it all changed. His wallet and everything had gone. It suddenly got to him, what he’d lost, and he told me he had nowhere to go. It was an off-the-cuff remark that he supposed I didn’t have a spare room he could crash for the night….”

“And you said yes?”

I point down the hallway. Why, I’m not sure. “I’ve got a spare room. It was getting late by then. He would have needed money for a motel or something. Though he wasn’t my type, he seemed decent enough. Christ, I’m a bad judge of character, aren’t I? Yeah, I said yes.”

“And once he’d sorted himself out? You let him stay on?”

“After one night it seemed easy to agree that he could stay for a few days. And then, even longer until he got back on his feet. But he convinced me that was taking more time than it should.”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“I know, right? But when he was standing in front of me, his excuses sounded plausible.”

“Beer?” Standing, Truck waves his empty bottle at me.

“Thanks.” All this talking is making my throat dry.

When Truck returns with a couple of beers, I take a swallow and continue. “What you did then, getting me a drink, that’s what he did at first. He was so easy to live with. Did all the chores, made himself useful. But then he started hinting he wanted to share my bed.” I risk a glance at him to check I wasn’t sharing too much information, but Truck just nods for me to go on. “I even considered it. We’d slipped into an easy relationship, but I still didn’t see him that way, couldn’t force something that wasn’t right. But he seemed to accept it, and the company was quite nice. I got used to him being here, having someone to talk to.” Looking back now, he’d sucked me in. “I never led him on, Truck. But slowly he started to change, and his mask dropped. He became slovenly, unhelpful. Expecting me to clean up after him.”

“Why didn’t you show him the door at that point?”

I bite my lip, then admit, “I was going to, but looking back, I think I was nervous of him even then. It was easier to avoid confrontation. But I was trying to pluck up the courage to do it.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you come to us?”

I stare down at my beer, and then decide to be honest. “It was my problem to solve. I didn’t want to be the weak female who needed help.”

Truck turns to look at me, his eyes open wide. “You know we’d never measure you by a mess you got into in your private life. Fuck, Flash, it wouldn’t have made us think any differently of you.” He shakes his head before continuing, “What made him break?”

“I should have seen it. Rather than being supportive, when I started to come home after a long shift he’d talk about you guys. He wanted to know everything about the team. Hammer and Slade, he dismissed as they’re married. But you, well, he started asking about you. Were you on that day? Was I working out with you?

“That last evening was day of that fire at the warehouse. It had been a long shift.”

Nodding, his eyes look at nothing, as he remembers and adds, “That was a bad one. We stayed late there. Weren’t going to give up. I still remember that man’s screams, and that we couldn’t get to him in time.”

“And his poor pregnant wife. I wasn’t in a good place, Truck. Hell, I don’t need to tell you, I think it got to us all that day. But it was well into the evening by the time I got home.”

Truck fills in the blanks. “And he accused you of having an affair.”

“More or less, yes. I couldn’t understand, tried to reason with him. It wasn’t any business of his anyway. The first slap came out of the blue. I was in shock.”

“Oh, Flash.” His arm comes around me. “You got drawn in by a con.”

“I know that now.” I want to change the subject, feeling strangely reluctant to explain how bikers came to my aid that night. If Truck believes I make wrong choices, I don’t want to compound it by letting what the city thinks are criminals into my house.