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A dopey grin stretches across my lips. “Moved them. Can I get back to work now?”
“Sorry, bud. You’re officially off duty for the night.”
Hannah
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DARK
“Hey, Raul.” I lean around the back door of the bakery’s delivery van, only to force a small grin when I catch sight of his co-driver. “Jenson.” I accept a clipboard from the first and scribble my name on the line that says I’ve handed over responsibility and a four-tier wedding cake to the guys for delivery.
They take it from us. They load it up in the refrigerated van and drive it into the city. And we—my boss and I—bask in the afterglow of money flowing through the business, and both of us being able to eat for another month.
“It’s all yours.” I scrawl my signature on each page, but my mind wanders to the wailing sirens tearing through town. The howling of an ambulance, which is not the same sound Axel’s truck makes.
I long ago learned to differentiate between each and every first responder vehicle in town, because if I didn’t, I’d be awake all night, every single night, worrying about where my friend is.
If he’s okay.
If he’s even working that shift.
“They’re busy today, huh?” Raul accepts his clipboard back and tucks the pen in his breast pocket. “Heard the trucks go out just ten minutes ago. They ordered more already?”
I shake my head and drop my hands into the pocket on the front of my apron. “That’s an ambulance, not a firetruck.” I hear a third distinct sound. “And that’s police. Guess it’s a big one.”
“Easy enough to see the smoke in the air.”
“Mmhm.”
Raul is a few years older than me. Possibly twenty-five, though I’ve never actually asked. He’s of Scandinavian descent, with a little Hispanic on the side. And his partner, Jenson, is his twin in many ways, though not in heritage. Both men stand at around five feet, ten inches, and have a little weight sitting around their stomachs.
Not a lot. Not even enough to consider themfluffy. But I’m so used to looking at Axel Feeney, the firefighter who trains daily and enjoys the way his stomach angles down into a sharp V and his shoulders stand out in broad lines, I can’t help but notice these two men are just… different.
Not even close to the same.
Reading the worry in my expression, or maybe the distraction in my non-answer, Raul sets his free hand on my shoulder and squeezes gently.
Everyone in this town knows everyone else. Which means he’s aware that my boss’ brother works at the firehouse. He’s observant enough to hear the phones ringing throughout the bakery, and see my need to go answer them.
“You shouldn’t worry so much, Ms. Sullivan. You’re giving yourself wrinkles between your eyes.”
“Heh.” I back up, since my job is done and the paperwork has been signed. “Be careful with that, okay?” I nod toward the cake in the van. “Nicole worked hard, and she’s gonna be pissed if you mess it up.”
“Do we ever?” Jenson slams the door shut and chuckles. “We get the same threat of death every single time we transport a cake, and to date, we haven’t messed up once.”
“And statistics prove that a one-hundred-percent record of perfection is simply impossible. Which means your inevitable screwup is surely on its way.” I continue backing up, though the ringing phone dies out as Nicole answers it. “Destiny is looming, gentlemen. The smashed cake is coming.”
“Oh god,what?” Nicole’s panicked tone has me spinning. Her white face, enough to have my stomach in my throat and my feet carrying me away from the guys at my back and toward my boss.
Seemingly terrified, she brings a hand up and covers her mouth. “Is he…” She swallows. “Is he okay?”
“What?” I stop by her tall silver prep desk and grab her wrist when she tries to turn and walk. “Nic?”
“I’m on my way,” she says instead. “I’m… right now. I’m coming.”
“What’s going on?”
The second she hangs up, I snatch up her phone and search her call log to find Nixon Rosa’s name at the top. But in doing so, I release her arm, and in her freedom, she dashes to the storage room and grabs her purse and keys.
“Nicole!” I lower her phone and study her pale face instead. “What the hell has happened?”
