The one person he still has a soft spot for. The one he’d do anything for.
We seem to understand each other on that level.
“What’s her name?” he asks, something softening in him tomake him resemble the man he used to be. “So I can tell your mom.”
“Bryn,” I say, softening a bit, too.
“This is such bullshit,” Liam bursts out the second I walk back into the kitchen.
Everyone is gathered around the table, plates and dishes already cleaned up. Clearly, I’ve walked into something that isn’t going over well. Liam is glaring at Nate; Luke has an arm around Hailey, who looks upset; Quinn’s arms are crossed firmly over her chest; and Brody shakes his head at the lieutenant.
“What did I miss?” I ask tentatively, eyes bouncing between everyone, though mostly Liam and Nate.
“The fuckin’ assholes at head office want to split us all up,” Liam says, his chair flying as he pushes away from the table.
Nate gives him more patience than I might have. “Only until the arsonist is caught. They decided it’s not a good idea to keep us all together if this guy is targeting us.”
“Except he’s targeting Wyatt,” Brody clarifies.
The patience is thinner for Brody when Nate looks at him, the slightest curl of his lip present until I blink and it’s gone. “We don’t know that for certain. He did light my fucking bar on fire, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Which has since been cleaned up and fixed, but Nate has a point.
“Because Wyatt was there,” Brody counters. “Whatever is going on, it’s tied to Wyatt.”
Nate’s hand slams down on the table and he jumps to his feet.It seems to take us all by surprise, except for Brody, who sits there and stares at the man now glaring at him.
“Are you the fucking arsonist? No? Give me some goddamn proof then, Brody. Show me how you’ve come to that conclusion. Make me believe it without doubt, like you.”
Brody’s jaw works, but he doesn’t back down. “Instinct. Try listening to it.”
Nate runs a hand roughly through his hair. “I can’t take your instincts to head office and tell them based on a hunch by my firefighter, this guy is only truly going after one of my other firefighters. They’ll think I’ve gone fucking mad.”
I’m starting to wonder if he has anyway. This is as stressed as I’ve seen him, though it’s been simmering beneath the surface for a while. I saw it the last time these two got into it.
“Why don’t we all take a breather?” Hailey suggests, ever the voice of reason. “It doesn’t matter who is being targeted—if this is what they want to happen, this is what’s going to happen.”
“Except if this guy is targeting Wyatt and we throw him into a new crew, the risk factor for him and the other crew goes up.” Liam scrubs his hands over his face, seeming to pick up on Brody’s line of thought. “The other crew won’t be familiar with Wyatt, or with the fires this asshole is setting. We know both.”
“You guys are all trained,” Hailey argues. “It doesn’t matter what shift you’re on, you can all do the job.”
A breath billows out of Nate at the head of the table. “It’s not the same bond, Hails.”
Uneasiness churns through my gut. Hell, I’d take the phone call with my dad again over this. I know shifts can change, and you can get thrown on different crews at any time—people come and go, get promoted, leave, whatever—but these six have become a fixture in my life, and I don’t want to lose that. Not right nowwhen things are vulnerable for all of us.
“Is there anything we can do to change their minds?” I ask.
“Sure,” Luke pipes up. “Catch the guy responsible.”
When the tones go a second later, announcing a structure fire, Quinn pops up from her chair. “Maybe that’s your chance.”
“91923 Berkley Avenue,” the voice over the speakers announces. “Structure fire.”
The address rings a bell. I know it. Why do I know it?
“Hey,” Brody says as we head to the truck. “Hey, that’s the strip mall off Lincoln.”
My gaze collides with his. The massage clinic.
