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Her mouth dropped open while her eyes widened. “Dude, Cap already has something against you; you’re lucky he didn’t catch ya sleeping and fire your ass.”
With a halfhearted chuckle, I shook my head. “I don’t know why he doesn’t like me.”
Titling her head and giving me a really look, she said, “Oh I don’t know. It might have something to do with you hooking up with that EMS chick in the back alley. You remember, his first day, when he caught y’all?”
I pointed to her and stated my defense. “Hey! We were off duty when he caught us.”
She laughed. “Still, I’d keep your nose as clean as you can.”
Starting to walk off, she turned back to me and added, “And I certainly wouldn’t let him know you were asking around about his daughter.”
Thud.
My mouth instantly went dry. “His…his…daughter?”
“Yeah. Rory Adams. She’s Captain Adams’s daughter.”
I nearly stumbled back as I reached for the wall to hold myself up.
With a stunned expression, I looked around. “No wonder everyone was telling me to let it go.”
Nikki busted out laughing. “Damn. If you value your life…and your job…I’d steer clear of her.”
Once I got my bearings again, I shot Nikki a cocky grin. “Now, Nik, have you ever known me to back down from a challenge?”
She slowly shook her head in disbelief. “When they find your body in the Boston Harbor, I just want you to know…I’ll be really sad. You’re one of the fun ones to have around.”
—
After cleaning up the dinner dishes, I made my way over to Chuck, our lieutenant. Giving him a slap on the back, I sat down next to him. He was reading the evening paper, his normal daily routine. Some of these guys had routines they never deviated from.
“How’s it going, Chuck?”
He lifted his eyes over the paper. Flash, the station dog, was lying at his feet. “It’s going, Ward.”
I nodded and squatted down to pet the dog. Still a puppy, he was a feisty son-of-a-bitch. “You need me to take Flash for a walk or anything?”
He lifted a brow. “Are you wanting to take Flash for a walk?”
“Sure!” I responded enthusiastically.
“Then by all means, knock yourself out, kid. Speaking of, you run every morning, right?”
I nodded. “Sure do.”
“Good. You have a new running partner.”
Oh fuck. “What?”
Chuck pointed to the six-month-old Dalmatian. “He’s got a lot of energy. Much more than our old girl had.”
Yeah, I’m sure he does. Our old firehouse dog was a ten-year-old golden retriever and this was a crazy-ass puppy.
Captain Adams walked by, and Chuck called him over. “Cap, get this. Ward here just volunteered to take on Flash. Full-time.”
“Wait. What?” I asked in a panicked state.
With a slap on my back, Captain Adams gave me his first real smile since taking over the position of captain. “That’s what I like to see from my guys—stepping up to the plate. I like that you’re not afraid of a challenge, Ward. I like that a lot.”
