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Chapter Forty
Teague
I was rusty.
The alarm bell rang, and it took me a second to sprint into action. I threw on my gear and loaded in the truck, though I felt like I was behind everyone else. Things I used to do without thought weren’t so quick to come.
And I’d only been gone a couple weeks.
I put on my headphones.
The siren wailed as we raced from the station.
Oxygen. Helmet. Ax.
Hopefully this was just a small fire to ease back into the routine.
“Three alarm. Residential and commercial.” So much for a small fire. “West Seventeenth.”
I seized at the announcement over the comms.
Grey Paws was on West Seventeenth.
I tapped Burke. “What’s the exact address?” I yelled as we bumped down the street.
He looked at his phone and didn’t respond.
“What’s the address?” I repeated, panic setting in.
He shook his head.
This beast couldn’t get there fast enough. I fought the urge to throw Walsh from behind the wheel and take over. We were only a few blocks away and every bit of my training was forgotten.
All I could do was pray Pepper and Miss Adeline had taken the dogs somewhere on an adventure.
I checked my watch.
Almost six o’clock.
Suppertime.
Please be okay, Pepper.
That one thought was on repeat as images of smoke, dogs, and chaos invaded my brain.
“One minute out.”
A thousand lifetimes went by in that one minute. Flames blazed from the second story like an orange inferno in the night sky.
I’d seen this scenario more times than I could count. But this time was different.
The truck hadn’t quite rolled to a stop when I jumped out.I’m coming, Pepper.
Burke was on my heels. “You aren’t going in there.”
“The hell I’m not.” No one could stop me.
“Hollingsworth. You’re outside.” Captain Koker’s voice was somewhere far away in my ears.
