“You don’t need to tell me why. I know why. You need to cut the snake off at the head.”
“Yeah,” I agree with him, defeated, “but that snake has twelve heads and every single time I think I cut one off, another one grows.”
“Well, anyway, the good news is your car is ready. I’ll have one of the boys drop it off with the keys.”
“But I didn’t make a payment.”
“I told you, don’t worry about it, we’ll figure it out,” he assures me. He starts toward the bakery. “You deserve better,” he adds over his shoulder, a smile on his face.
“Hey,” Roman calls to me from the driver’s seat of the ambulance, “hurry your ass up and come and eat before we get another call.”
“Coming.” I climb into the passenger seat.
I finish my lunch in the nick of time. We get another call, and that leads to another call, and it’s just before three when we finally drive the rig back into the station. I open the door and practically crawl out. I’m walking up the steps when Burke comes in with the captain. “Collins, we need to see you in my office.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands up. Roman looks at me, confused. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I tell him, trying to ignore the way my heart is hammering in my chest.
I walk up the stairs and step into the office. Burke sits in the chair in front of the captain’s desk.
“Sit,” Scooter tells me, folding his hands together on the desk.
I take the other chair. My body feels like it’s going to collapse. “Is everything okay?” I ask him, then turn to Burke.
“You tell us,” Burke replies. “We heard someone slashed your tires yesterday.”
“Um, yeah, but?—”
“You didn’t come and tell me,” Scooter states.
“It’s not a big deal.” I try to get my voice not to tremble. I can’t break down and tell him it was my father. Who the fuck in their right mind would admit that fact out loud?
“Someone vandalized one of my paramedic’s cars, and you think it’s not a big deal? You are supposed to be safe doing your job.”
“Captain,” I say softly, “I am safe.”
“And I have to find out from Burke that three of your tires were slashed.” Burke nods his head slowly.
“Captain, honestly, I wasn’t keeping it from you. I just didn’t think anything of it. I figured that a couple of kids in town were up to some mischief.”
“Is that really what you thought?” Burke asks me.
I can feel my face flush, knowing I probably shouldn’t lie to a police officer, but I don’t have any fucking choice. “Yeah. It’s fine, though, I’ve got it covered with Brock.” I run my hands down the front of my work pants. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring it to your attention. I just . . .”
I can tell Scooter has other things to say to me, but he keeps them to himself. “You have other things on your mind.” He raises his eyebrows. “Let me know if you need anything.”
I take that as my cue to get up, and I fly out of the chair. “Will do.” I glance at Burke. “Have a good day.” I practically run out of the room.
I won’t ever do that again. The next time, I’m not hiding anything from them, no matter how they look at me afterward.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
THEO
I walk into Brock’s shop to an empty reception desk and the sound of tools from the back. Brock comes through the door from the garage bay, wiping his fingers with a gray rag.
“Hey,” I say, “I’m here to pay the bill.”
“What bill?”
