Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“I’m a search and rescue specialist, and Gabe is a hazmat technician,” I told her.
“Maybe,” Zoe replied.
Maybe we could help her? Her tone was still unemotional and stiff, and I didn’t know if that was how she truly felt or if she was putting up a front. She didn’t do the same thing in high school. If she was pissed at us, which she typically was, she let us know that without holding back. We’d had quite a few bickering matches in the hallway before class.
A teacher even had to break up one of our fights. The fights were stupid too. One of our guys tore down one of her posters about an information meeting for her club, which led to a huge argument. She thought it was me or Gabe when it wasn’t, but we didn’t say that. We just liked getting a rise out of her.
“Anyway, we just wanted to apologize and let you know that we’re here if you need help with anything,” I told her, figuring that Gabe and I had rambled on long enough. She got the gist, and it was down to her whether or not she wanted to accept our apology. We couldn’t force her forgiveness.
Zoe’s eyes swept between us before she nodded.
“Well, thank you,” she said before falling silent. That didn’t sound all that great. Maybe she did forgive us, and that was her subtle way of saying it. Or maybe she didn’t forgive us at all. It was hard to tell.
I glanced over at Gabe, pitching him an unsure look that he returned. He didn’t know how to interpret her response either. Would we ever mend the rift between us?
Before anyone could say anything else, both mine and Gabe’s pagers suddenly went off, our eyes immediately meeting as a familiar tone hit our eyes. We knew what that meant. Everyone on our crew did.
“What’s going on?” Zoe asked as she watched us immediately get off the couch, her eyes gleaming with confusion.
“You said you wanted to go on calls with us, right?” I replied to her as Gabe took off running.
Zoe nodded, her eyes still remaining wide.
I reached my hand out to her, figuring we could settle our differences later. For both of us, the job had to come first.
“Then, come on. We’ve got a call,” I told her.
At first, Zoe looked nervous, her body tensing, but as our eyes locked, I noted that familiar glint of determination in them that I used to see all the time. She was nervous, but she was ready.
The moment she grabbed my hand, I pulled her off the couch, and we hit the ground running.
Chapter 10
Zoe
Adrenaline shot through me as I hurried after Gabe and Garrett, seeing Jae, Paolo, and Tobin putting their gear on by the fire truck. Was this really happening? Already?
Obviously, I was here for all this action, but as I was guided into the back of the fire truck, my head started to spin as so much controlled chaos went on around me. Every move each firefighter made was practiced and quick without a single hiccup.
“You okay?” Garrett asked as he hovered in front of me, snapping my seatbelt in place because I was too swept up in the moment to do it myself.
Snap out of it! I blinked and nodded, pushing past the tremor of nervousness that shuddered in my chest and fighting against the dissociating haze that clouded my mind before I passed out last time. I had to be present. Here and now!
Tightening my hands into fists, I narrowed my eyes, grounding myself to the moment and what was about to happen. We were heading to a fire incident, and I was going to do my job and not equate present destruction and pain to what I experienced in the past.
I repeated that mantra over and over again in my head until the words didn’t even sound like words anymore.
Garrett placed his hands on my knees as our eyes met. His gear was obviously heavy, but it didn’t seem to weigh him down in the slightest. Then again, he was definitely more muscular than that tall, lean kid I had known back in high school.
“Don’t get too close, okay?” he told me.
I nodded, knowing better than to piss any of the guys off on the first day. They were my best connection to information about this case, and I couldn’t risk losing that, especially as things kept heating up.
Garrett sat down next to me, while Gabe and Tobin sat across from us. Right as he buckled in, Jae hit the gas and drove out of the fire station, the truck’s sirens ringing out.
I dug around in my small crossbody bag, pulling out a notepad and pen so that I could jot down notes in the moment. I didn’t know what to expect from this call. I heard the guys calling out information, but their words were a muffled haze in my ears at the time. When we arrived at the scene, I had to get myself in the game or be left behind.