America's Bravest (59 page)

He pulled out six different pints of Ben and
Jerry’s, making her smile. He said, “You pick first.”

“The most chocolate thing you have.” Maybe
the endorphins would lift her mood.

They were silent, staring out at the lake
while they ate. She couldn’t finish the whole pint, but he downed
all of the pistachio. Surreptitiously, she perused him. He didn’t
have an ounce of fat anywhere that she could see. He was long, lean
with world-class muscles. When he finished his treat, she stood and
took the extra pints to the fridge. Back in the room, she asked,
“Why did you come here, Chief?”

“Sit, please.” Leaning forward, he linked his
clasped hands in between his knees. “To give you my sincerest
apologies. I knew I was sending you in for a rude awakening. I
didn’t know…”

She was surprised at his candidness. “You got
more than you expected, didn’t you?”

“I’m afraid so. Parker, truly, I’m
sorry.”

Ignoring how much she liked hearing him use
her first name again, she sighed. “Who else did you tell?”

Eyebrows bleached by the sun rose. “Nobody. I
swear. And I won’t.”

“It’s not going to come out the next time you
get pissed off at me?”

He shook his head. “We never released your
background, and you’ve been pretty rough on us.”

Parker didn’t know what to say. Since her
father had been taken, she wasn’t used to consideration and
kindness from men. Her grandparents were as cold as her mother.
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t. That would be totally
humiliating.”

His face reddened.
“You’ve
got
nothing to be ashamed of. Whoever did that”—he gestured to her
torso—“should be crucified.”

“Well,” she said without thinking, “he burned
to a crisp in a fire, which was probably worse.” She gasped. “God,
I didn’t mean to say that. My defenses are down.”

“I figured out he must be a firefighter.
Mike, right?” At her surprise, he added, “You used his name. I put
the pieces together.”

She bit her lip, a nervous gesture. “It was a
long time ago, like I told you and Jack Harrison. I’ve dealt with
it.”

“But my sending you into that tower, knowing
you’d get disoriented, even trapped, brought the nightmare
back.”

She could only nod.

“Jesus, I’m an ass.”

Her head tilted. “Are you always
this…responsible? I mean, do you always take things on that you
have no control over?”

Easing back in the chair, he crossed his
ankle over his leg. He had muscles there, too, corded, with a light
sprinkling of hair. “I guess I do.” He stared past her shoulder out
at the lake. “I have my own demons, Parker.”

“Tell me some. Maybe I won’t feel so
self-conscious then. So exposed.”

He waited a long time and she thought he
might not answer.

Finally, he said, “The worst thing I did in
my life was neglect my son and wife in my quest for the white
helmet.”

She knew the term from her research. “You
want to be Chief of the Fire Department?”

“I did. In any case, my son acted out because
I wasn’t around and got his girlfriend pregnant at nineteen. The
good news is Peter and Sally have been married for years and I have
the best grandson in the world. My relationship with Tommy is good,
but I can’t say as much for my son.”

“What happened with your wife?”

“She had affairs.” His face turned incredibly
sad. “I didn’t know about them until the last one, after her best
friend died. Then she didn’t try to keep them a secret.”

Parker didn’t say anything.

“The divorce was nasty, even though I gave
her everything. She wanted a pound of flesh. She
deserved
a pound a flesh.”

“Affairs happen all the time. It’s never one
person’s fault.”

“Were you ever married?”

I have no man, no friends, nothing
.
“Ah, no. It’s hard for me to trust.”

“I can see why. What happened to you must
have been horrible.”

“I don’t want to talk about that, Cal.”

“All right. But know that some professional
help might make things better.”

“I’ve never had a flashback before. I don’t
intend to again.” She stood. “Thanks for coming over. And for
sharing. But I think you should leave now.”

He looked disappointed. “The truce is
over?”

“Yes.” She stared down at the shoulders she’d
clutched yesterday, remembering how gentle he’d been. “Again,
thanks for the sympathy and care yesterday.”

“You’re welcome.”

She led the way to the foyer. Opened the
door. He turned to face her. “Let me say one more thing before we
go back to being adversaries. Since I know about all this and not
many people do, if you’d like to talk more, I’m here.”

Banding her arms around her waist, she said,
“Thanks, but that’ll never happen.”

He reached out and squeezed her shoulder.
Didn’t let go right away. “Well, just in case.” His grip was strong
but not threatening. And very male. This close, she could smell his
woodsy scent.

Letting go, he turned and trundled down the
expansive steps to the driveway.

Parker watched him until he got into his Jeep
and drove away. Then she went back into the house, determined not
to think about him again. Instead, she climbed the stairs but
didn’t retreat to her room. Feeling buoyed, she crossed to her
computer to write her blog. Clicking into her email first, she
found one from her source in the fire department. For some reason,
she wasn’t thrilled to be hearing more negative things about the
people she’d come to know.

oOo

Parker Allen’s Blog—Another Day in the
Life of Rescue 7

Yesterday, on my second visit with
firefighters, the group was taken out of service to train at the
Anderson County Fire Academy—something that happens frequently and
they obviously need to do. But this begs the question, why are they
so against brownouts? A squad is regularly missing for
training.

In any case, the classroom session was
presented by Battalion Chief Ian Woodward, hurt in 9/11, on what to
do when a firefighter or anyone is trapped. His teaching was
stellar, his demeanor calm. Given what was done to him. I’ve rarely
admired anyone more.

The guys were typical. They joke, get
sarcastic with each other, have fun while training on such a
serious topic. I will never understand police and firefighter black
humor.

In the afternoon, the firefighters
implemented what they learned at the training tower. The building
was filled with white mist that was as blinding as dark black
smoke, I’m told. And they had a hell of a time rescuing a victim. I
was critical, thinking “This is their job, why can’t they do it
well? The Rescue Squad is the crème de la crème. If they can’t
execute this maneuver, who can?”

This was my attitude when I was sent in
on my own by Chief Cal Erikson. It was a dirty trick on his part,
as he knew I would have trouble finding my way. And I did. I got
lost, disoriented and panicked. I was terrified. The chief had to
come in and get me.

I’m trying to be unbiased here, so I’ll
just say it. Kudos to Rescue 7 for doing this in their professional
lives when no one will come in to save them.

oOo

“Can I talk to you a minute, Chief?”

In his office at the beginning of Rescue 7’s
night tour, Sydney Sands stood before Cal, tall and serious. She’d
made his best friend, Max, happier than he’d ever been, so Cal was
glad to see her.

“I only have a few before the mayor gets
here.” It was very odd that the mayor was coming to the firehouse.
Bob Johnson had called earlier and said he wanted to talk to Cal,
although Cal was usually summoned to his office. “Sit down,
Sands.”

Sydney sat and fidgeted. She’d become a lot
more relaxed around him since her relationship with Max, so he
wondered why the nervousness today.

“What’s on your mind?”

Her brown eyes were clear and her gaze
direct. “I read Parker Allen’s blog this morning. I have to
register a complaint.”

“Against Allen? I thought her blog was fair.”
And shocking. He’d expected a diatribe against him for sending her
into the tower alone and was inordinately pleased by what she wrote
instead.

“No, against you.” She moved to the edge of
her seat. “Cal, I’ve had a problem with confined spaces since I got
trapped in that well. It’s better, but it’s a hell of a thing.”

He knew all this. “As far as Gabe’s
concerned, this isn’t affecting your work.” Cal cocked his head.
“Or did you have problems in the tower?”

“No, I didn’t. But sending Parker Allen in
alone wasn’t right.”

“I know.”

“Even if you didn’t think she was… Wait, you
know?”

“Yes. It was petty. And had disastrous
results. If it’s any consolation, I apologized to her the next
day.”

Her face reddened. “Oh, good.”

“And I’m glad you feel free to tell me things
like this, Syd. I want all my men and women to be open with
me.”

Nervously, she tucked a strand of dark hair
behind her ear. It was a dark brown rather than Parker’s near
black. “You do?”

“Yes. Someday you’ll know me well enough to
realize that.”

She stood then. “Okay.”

Before she left, he said, “I’m running and
having dinner with Max later, since I had to come in early for a
meeting.” Battalion Chiefs took night tours, too.

“I know. Have fun.”

He smiled as she left. The woman was going to
go far in the department. He half expected her to be sitting in his
chair someday.

While he mused about Sands, a brief knock
sounded on the ajar door. Cal looked up to see the mayor of Hidden
Cove in the entryway. He stood. “Come on in, Bob.”

Noticing that Johnson closed the door, Cal
frowned. “Can I get you something? I’m sure there’s coffee out in
the kitchen.”

“No, thanks.” He sat at the conference table
off to the side and Cal joined him. “I want to talk to you about
Parker Allen.”

Cal nodded.

“I’m glad you went along with Noah about
having her visit the firehouse.” He fished a paper out of his suit
coat pocket. “Today’s blog is pretty good. Except for the brownouts
part.”

“I thought so, too.”

“Have any idea why she takes it easy on what
happened at the training tower?” Cal watched the mayor. Johnson
laughed. “You had to have sent her in alone on purpose. She could
have eviscerated you in the blog.”

“Well, I did apologize.”

“I was hoping that was why. I want you to
keep it up.”

“Keep what up?”

“Sweet-talking her.”

He took offense at that. “I didn’t say I
sweet-talked her.”

“You did something to sway her. Be nice to
her, Cal. Change her mind about us.”

The latter didn’t sound too bad. “I’m trying,
Mayor.”

“Make an extra effort.” He stared at a
Manwaring firefighter print on the wall, as if deciding what to say
next. “She’s a beautiful woman.”

What did that have to do with it? “I guess
she is.”

“Shouldn’t be so hard to…get her on our
side.”

When he realized the tenor of the comment,
Cal’s temper spiked, but he held his feelings back. Johnson was
tough and hard-nosed. But Cal had mostly respected him—before this.
“I’ll do my best.”

Standing, Johnson held his gaze. “Just so
we’re clear.” He turned to go, then pivoted back around. “It’s no
secret you’re on my short list for the deputy chief when Lincoln
retires. I like cooperation.”

As the mayor left, Cal’s mind whirled. What
the hell had the guy been suggesting?

He asked Max Delinsky the question as they
met to jog before they headed out to supper. They’d stopped running
consistently at six o’clock because, Max said, he was often
spending his mornings in bed. Cal filled in the blanks. And lately,
had been jealous as hell.

Max frowned when Cal told him the story.
“Jesus. That doesn’t sound good, whatever he meant. Like, what,
you’re supposed to seduce her?”

A flash of bare legs, slender shoulders and
violet eyes to get lost in ambushed Cal. “I don’t know, Max.
Christ, I hope not.”

“That would be totally unethical.”

“Of course it would.”

They ran a while, then Max asked, “You think
she’s pretty?”

“What? I’m not blind. Why?”

“I don’t know. That night at the Lakeside,
there were a lot of sparks between you two.”

“Of course there were. We were fighting.”

“Maybe. I sensed something else.”

Once in a while, Cal kidded himself. Most of
the time, he put up a front for others, but he rarely misled Max.
They were like brothers. Cal stopped running. “Truth be told, Max,
I do find her attractive. I went over there the day after the
incident.” He described what he’d said and how good it felt not to
fight with her.

Halting, too, Max faced him. “Ordinarily, I’d
tell you to act on an attraction like that. But if you want to be
deputy chief, my guess is any involvement with her could ruin that
chance.”

“Johnson mentioned the job.”

“Ah.”

Cal started running again. Faster. He didn’t
want to talk about this anymore. He didn’t want to think about
it—or Parker Allen.

And her beautiful violet eyes.

The kitchen was quiet and calm when Parker
walked into firehouse on the second night of the Rescue 7, Group
3’s, late-shift tour. She carried a small travel bag of things
she’d need to stay overnight. Cal had told her to come at five, the
official starting time; everyone had arrived and gathered around in
the table again. Even when they saw her, they didn’t stiffen up or
glare at her.

“Hey, there.”

“Hi, Ms. Allen.”

“Can I get you something?”

The comments flowed from their lips as if
they didn’t hate her. And for the life of her, she couldn’t imagine
why that meant something to her.