Lights to My Siren (2 page)

Just as I was about to change into a more sedate pair of shorts, I realized that the hair on my legs could rival Chewbacca’s, and decided that a quick shave was in order.

Thirty minutes later, I was newly showered, shaved, and coiffed. Oh, and not to mention thoroughly embarrassed. I’d never meant to spend that long in the shower, but just thinking about the man I’d walked in on made my blood run hot.

When I finally emerged from the bedroom after putting on a fresh Band-Aid, the crew of five men Winter had brought with her, were hard at work. On my deck.

“Shit.” I cursed and rushed out the door.

“I’m so sorry. I couldn’t get the bleeding to stop.” I lied, holding up my finger and showing the group at large.

Sure enough, my finger was bleeding through the second bandage, but that was entirely normal for me. It’d stop eventually. It always did; it just looked bad
until
it did.

Winter knew of my condition, and didn’t look the least bit concerned. The big surprise was the man I’d walked in on earlier. He looked downright horrified.

Oh, and his shirt was off.

The man looked damn fine in his jeans. Shirtless, he could rival just about any man in the fire department I worked with. Which was saying something, because to be a firefighter, you had to be in shape. If you weren’t, lives could be at stake. People depended on a firefighter to save their lives; if their bodies weren’t honed into a perfect tool, then that could mean the death of someone.

This man had abs on top of abs, if that were even possible. He also had scars. One on his right lower abdomen that most likely indicated he’d had an appendectomy. Then there was a thin long one that ran down his side from armpit to hip.

Oh, and did I mention he had tattoos? They were delicious on his defined chest, and muscled arms. The entire length of the top of his arm was covered. A beautiful American Flag dominated his upper chest and bicep.

That would also make it hard to find a vein on the man if he ever needed emergency attention.

“You’ll have to forgive her. Baylee has an obsession with veins. She stares at everyone to judge how easy they’d be to get an IV on.” Winter teased.

My face flamed. I did do that. Not intentionally or anything, but when three days a week you spend the majority of your time thinking about those types of things, one tends to carry those weird habits into their daily lives.

“Sorry,” I muttered and then turned to the activity of the other men.

Those I knew. Not well, but enough that I’d say hello and ask how the kids were doing if I passed by them at the local diner or the grocery store.

Jack, Winter’s husband, sidled up to his wife, slinging an arm around her shoulders. “How’s it going, Baylee?”

I smiled at the man. He sure was handsome. Tall and built, much the same as the rest of the men; he was very pleasing to the eye. I was never one to poach, but I sure could look at the men of Free all day long and never get bored. They were all
that
hot.

“I was doing okay until the man two doors down distracted me, causing me to slip and stab myself with the screw gun.” I explained.

“Why did he distract you?” Jack asked, tensing slightly.

“He took a picture of me. He watches me all the freaking time, but it’s only recently that he’s begun staring so openly like that. Today, he went above and beyond.” I sighed heavily.

The man I’d walked in on earlier tensed. “Which house?” He asked.

I pointed. “Two yards over. The one with the pool.”

He looked where I was pointing, noticing the man that was now using the pole to clean his pool, and came to a decision. “Be right back.”

Then he was gone.

“Uhh,” I said, confused. “What the heck?”

“Uh, oh. Sebastian’s got a crush.” Jack laughed.

Winter slapped him across the chest, but didn’t discredit his thought. “Okay, girl. I brought the manpower; they got directions from Luke, who’s paying them in Pizza and beer. Let’s lay back here and watch the show.”

I snickered. “No, that’s okay. I’ll buy the pizza and beer. It is my house, after all. I’ll be helping, too. This is my workout for the week.”

My eyes narrowed as I saw the bob of Sebastian’s head over the fence line as he made his way to my neighbor’s house. He didn’t go around though, instead deciding to use the gate, and walking straight inside without consent.

“Well you just have to go and make me feel bad, don’t you.” Winter teased, turning to watch as well.

“Fifty bucks says he beats the shit out of him.” James said, flexing his hands and popping the knuckles.

James was another member of Free. He also worked at the station with my brother, so I knew him better than I knew the others. James’ wife, Shiloh, and James came to Luke’s place every month or so, attending the ‘team morale’ meeting that Luke’s forced to hold as required by the department. Apparently, they needed stress relief, and team building. Luke chose to implement it, only they drank beer and ate like shit instead of having campouts and singing Kumbaya.

On those rare occasions I was able to make it, I’d bonded with Shiloh.

Raised voices brought my attention from James to two yards down, and I watched in glee as Sebastian hauled back and punched the man so hard his feet left the ground. He flopped backwards into the pool.

Once Sebastian was satisfied that he’d swim, he left and came back to my yard.

I couldn’t keep the smile of satisfaction off my face. “You, sir, deserve a beer!”

He laughed at my smile. “No thanks needed, but I’ll take the beer. You should put some sunscreen on when you head in there. You’re looking a little burned.”

I nodded, took orders for beers, and went into the house to grab them. I was in luck when I found a brand new twenty-four pack of Heineken, and thanked Luke, silently, for bringing some over on his last visit.

When I returned outside, I passed out the drinks and went to work helping them where I was able. Mostly, I continued to screw the deck, although much slower since my finger was still throbbing since my last fuck up.

I’d been keenly aware of exactly where Sebastian was the entire time I’d been working. Not once had he moved that I’d not been aware of him on some primal level. I watched out of the corner of my eye as his muscles flexed and bunched when he moved boards into place.

Fingers trailed across my shoulders about an hour later. I looked up, startled to see Sebastian leaning over me.

Of course, I’d seen him coming, but I didn’t actually think he was going to come towards me, or touch me for that matter.

Swiping the hair out of my face, I looked up, gazing into Sebastian’s honey brown eyes. He looked so fucking edible. I wanted to run my tongue down the length of his torso.

“Yes?” I questioned.

“You’re really burning. Did you put any sun screen on?” He asked.

I grimaced. I could feel my shoulders burning, but I didn’t have any sun tan lotion, and I’d have to go to the store to get some. “No, I don’t have any.”

He scowled. “That’s going to feel like shit in the morning.”

I knew it would. I’d experienced burns before. This wouldn’t be the first time. Nor the last. “Yeah, I’ll go in shortly and order pizza. When I go pick it up, I’ll get some.”

“Won’t do you any good by then. You won’t have a need for it. Sun’s going down in an hour and a half.” He mused.

I shrugged. There was no way I was leaving people here to work on my deck while I did nothing. That was pure laziness in all its finest.

“Stubborn.” He growled, removing his hat and placing it firmly on my head. “At least wear my hat. Your face is going to burn to a fucking crisp.”

I froze when he fixed the fastenings at the back, making it tighter to fit my head. Then he turned without another word and went back to cutting boards to the length that was called out to him.

“Y’all are so going to fuck.” Winter whispered into my ear, making my head whip around.

“Shut up!” I hissed at her, ignoring the knowing grin on her face.

I wore the hat way past sun down, and even into the night. Sebastian left the hat with me, and whether it was on purpose or not, I vowed that I’d keep the hat forever.

Chapter 2

Cute enough to stop your heart, skilled enough to restart it

-T-shirt

Baylee

I watched in amazement as Winter shoved the entire hot dog in her mouth in two bites, chased it down with a half a bottle of Mountain Dew, and ran with me to the medic. We’d just caught a home invasion call, with one patient who had major injuries due to a gunshot wound.

We’d been eating at Hot Dog Express when the call had come in, and Winter decided to eat her hot dog before she left. Since I wasn’t driving, I waited until we were on the way to the residence before I opened the bag and ate my chili cheese dog and fries.

Being a paramedic, I’d learned that it was best to eat, because if you waited, it was very possible you wouldn’t have the opportunity to for hours. Therefore, I’d practically sucked every single bit of chilidog down, finished off half my coke, and then wiped my hands with a baby wipe all in the three minutes it took Winter to drive to the patient’s house.

We arrived on scene to find the local PD, and engine three already on scene, which was good because it meant that the scene was secure and we could proceed inside without waiting for the okay to enter.

“I’ll grab the cot.” Winter said as she headed to the back of the medic.

I grabbed the bag and followed behind Winter as she entered the house.

The house itself was on the outskirts of Kilgore, just barely in the city limits. It was located off the Whispering Pines Golf course, and I could clearly see why someone would want to break in; the house was a fucking gold mine.

A young police officer met us at the house front of the house and his sunny smile made him look to be about the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I hadn’t actually seen this one before, but since I’d only been working a short while, there were always new people to meet.

“Officer Jones,” Winter said, nodding her head at him.

“Winter,” He said, nodding back. “Who’s this lovely young lady?”

Oh man, the young Officer Jones was a charmer. “I would be Baylee Roberts. Nice to meet you Officer Jones.”

His smile widened at my no-nonsense-tolerated tone. “Nice to meet you, too. Did you hear what you’d be responding to?”

Winter answered. “Gunshot wound. One victim. Why?”

“It wasn’t the home owner, but the burglar. Owner, a twenty nine year old female shot him in the stomach, chest, both legs, and foot.” Officer Jones explained.

“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Did she unload the whole clip?”

“Almost, more like the entire revolver. She has young kids in the house. She feared for her children’s life.” Officer Jones explained with a smile on his face.

Good for her. Home invasions were all the too real. I should know. I’d had one nearly kill my mother when I was fifteen. My mom had been in the kitchen at the time, and would’ve died if the dog hadn’t killed the burglar before he could shoot her.

My father was currently the Chief of Police in Casper, but, at the time, he’d just been a uniformed K-9 officer.

Drone, our family pet, was a retired K-9 officer. The year I turned fifteen, Drone had been a victim of a knife wound. The knife wielder had been aiming for my father, but the dog had jumped in front of my father, protecting his partner. He’d sustained injuries, and although he’d healed, they’d thought it best to retire him. So he’d come home to the Roberts’ family homestead after his recovery, and stayed.

The night we’d had our home invaded, it was because the thief had seen my father’s new TV box out by the trash. At the time, we didn’t have an alarm, and since my father had been on his way home, my mother had the front door open waiting for him to arrive home. In turn, it made the burglar’s entry exceptionally easy. When he’d arrived in the kitchen, he’d leveled his gun at my mother, but didn’t see Drone until it was too late.

He’d died of trauma to his throat, bleeding out before the ambulance could arrive to offer assistance.

“How bad is he?” Winter asked, bringing me out of my own childhood nightmare.

“Oh, he’s dead. Just need the confirmation.” Officer Jones explained.

“Well, that should be easy.” I muttered.

The City of Kilgore had a new policy in place that required an EKG to be performed due to a lawsuit two years prior. The woman who’d been presumed dead had revived over an hour after her wounds were deemed ‘incompatible with life’ by a paramedic. Although the woman hadn’t had a pulse, and the lower half of her body was missing, she’d somehow revived without medical intervention, recovered, and then sued due to delayed medical care.

She’d won the suit, and the new law of an EKG being performed became a new protocol. Hence why Winter and I were called to perform said task, and then transport.

“All right, where do we go?” Winter asked.

Officer Jones pointed us in the correct direction, and we arrived to find the dead man on his back, eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. A dead person gave off a particular stare paramedics liked to call the ‘thousand yard stare;’ where the dead person in question stared off into the distance, with none of the animation that alive people have.

The man that’d been shot was doing that very thing. When I’d seen my first dead person, the woman had had that same blank stare as well. Hundreds of dead people later, and the look had never changed.

Police officers had cordoned off the area, and the crime scene techs were waiting off at the side of the kitchen, waiting for the removal of the body.

My brother stood in the hallway, halfway in the kitchen, and halfway in the living room, keeping an eye on the scene. Luke didn’t normally fool with crimes such as this; it was a surprise to see Luke’s half smile directed towards me.

Disregarding my brother, I dropped down to my haunches, snapped gloves into place over my hands, and checked for a pulse on the victim. Finding none, I started hooking up the EKG while Winter dropped the cot to the lowest position, and turned on the monitor.

The EKG showed no electrical activity, so I called time of death. “Time of death, 0810 hours.”