A Firefighter's Ultimate Duty

by Beverly Long

  “That’s no trouble,” he said. “It does seem a bit odd that it wouldn’t start last night but immediately turned over this morning.”

  A bit odd. The phrase pulled at Blade’s gut. “Dad, here’s the thing. Daisy has reason to believe that somebody might be interested in causing her some trouble. If this is odd or off in any way, I want to know if there’s anything that we can do to figure that out.”

  His dad looked at him, as if waiting for more of an explanation. When it didn’t come, he turned to Daisy. “Drive it to the garage, Daisy. We’ll let Mrs. Savick take a look.”

  “I’ll follow you,” Blade said to her.

  Once they were at the garage, his dad took Daisy’s cell phone number and promised that he would give her a call. They did not see his mom. He assumed she was in the back, probably under some car. He and Daisy walked back to his SUV.

  “Maybe we’re making too big a deal out of this,” she said. “It started. I should be happy.”

  “Let my mom take a look. She’s really good.”

  “Your dad is very nice,” she said. “I wonder what he is thinking of me.”

  “He’s probably thinking you might have a secret, but really, he’s got no room to judge.”

  “Now what?” she asked.

  “I need to buy groceries.”

  “Blade, we need to talk about this, about Sophie and me staying at—”

  “My apartment,” he finished her sentence. “Yes, that’s where you’re staying. And we can talk about it. But right now, I want to stop and get some groceries. And I don’t want to leave you by yourself. So will you come with me?”

  “Of course,” she said.

  When he pulled into the grocery store lot, he found a spot near the door. They got in, grabbed a cart, and headed for the fruits and vegetables. “Pick out anything that you and Sophie like to eat,” he said.

  “How do you grocery shop if you don’t cook?” she asked.

  “I go for the basics.” To prove that, he added grapes and apples and raspberries to the cart. Then bags of romaine lettuce, yellow peppers, carrots and tomatoes.

  “I think you’re better at this than you let on,” she said.

  “I’m strong here and in dairy,” he said.

  She smiled. “I’ll make a deal with you. You buy that stuff, and I’ll focus on the ingredients for a few dinners. Fair?”

  “Exceedingly,” he said.

  They were in the checkout line fifteen minutes later. Too late he realized that Charlie was in the line next to him, paying for his groceries. That was the thing about small towns. Everybody shopped in the same place. “Savick,” Charlie said. “Ms. Rambler.”

  “Hi, Charlie,” Daisy said. If she was thrown off by his formality, she didn’t show it. She was being as pleasant as usual.

  “You two shopping together now?” Charlie asked.

  Daisy opened her mouth but no sound came out. She clearly didn’t know what to say.

  “She offered cooking lessons and I couldn’t turn her down,” Blade said easily. “There’s a payoff here for all of us.”

  Charlie picked up his sacks. “Right. Well, you two have a good morning.”

  Blade paid for the groceries and they carried the sacks to his SUV. “Did I do something to upset Charlie?” Daisy asked once they were inside.

  “I think he’s concerned about having you shadow me at work if there’s a personal relationship between the two of us. We’ve had engaged and married firefighters assigned to the same station, but they aren’t allowed to work the same shift. The concern is that they might put their personal feelings ahead of their professional judgment with negative consequences.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to do that. Or expect that,” she said. “I mean, if we had a personal relationship.”

  “It felt rather personal to me this morning,” Blade said, suddenly irritated.

  “We need to talk about that,” she said.

  Not if she was going to tell him that it had been a mistake. “You think we could table it until we at least get the ice cream put away?”

  “That’s fine,” she said, her own tone short.

  This was just great. When they got back to the apartment, he was relieved to see that the girls had left for play practice. He didn’t want to have to pretend that everything was just fine in front of them. However, the apartment seemed especially quiet. He methodically put the fruit and vegetables in the refrigerator, taking time to make sure they were arranged just right. The ice cream went in the freezer, and so did the bag of shrimp that Daisy had thrown in.

  There were boxes of pasta, cans of tomatoes and artichokes, fresh herbs. Strange things on his shelves. Just one of the very little ways she was changing or had changed his life. He’d met her exactly nine days ago. How could he feel so strongly about keeping her in his life?

  How could he not, was perhaps the better question.

  Jamie and Marcus had told him not to kiss her. They’d been right. He shut the cupboard door too hard, and the sound echoed through the apartment. He was not particularly skilled at these types of conversations, but he was not a coward. “Maybe we should talk,” he said, motioning to the living room.

  She nodded. Took a seat on the couch.

  He sat in the chair. She seemed like a practical person. He was going to start there. “Until we know for sure whether Jacob Posse has followed you to Knoware, you need to take steps to ensure your safety. This duplex has a security system, double-hung windows and bolt locks on every door. It is more secure than any hotel room.”

  “It’s very nice,” she said, looking around. “Your landlord keeps it very nice.”

  He smiled. “I’m the landlord. I own the building and rent out the other half. I sock away that check every month. It’s college money for Raven.”

  “Good plan.”

  “Speaking of Raven, she and Sophie seem to be getting along quite well.”

  “Agree.”

  Now it was time to go big or go home. “Things got a little heated in the kitchen this morning. I... I don’t know exactly what to say about that. You turn me on, Daisy. You are nice and smart and incredibly sexy. But I can control myself. If I made you uncomfortable in any way, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” It would kill him, but he could do it.

  She nodded. “I... I guess I appreciate you saying that.”

  “I’m not just saying it. It’ll happen. I mean, nothing will happen. Nothing,” he added, for emphasis.

  She stared at him, her blue eyes so very intense. And speaking of nothing, she said nothing. For a long minute. He forced himself to wait.

  “Then I reject the offer,” she said.

  * * *

  She held her breath. And realized that her hands were curled so tight that her fingernails were digging into her palms. She forced herself to relax.

  “I’m not sure I understand,” he said.

  “I’m not interested in nothing.” For a professional communicator, it was not one of her most grammatically correct sentences.

  But since the purpose of communication was to impart a message, she figured she was pretty successful when his eyes took on a gleam.

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he asked.

  She looked at her watch. “What time does play practice end?”

  “Two,” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse.

  She stood up. “I’d prefer a bed over the couch.”

  He practically vaulted out of his chair. And suddenly they were kissing again and it was as good, every bit as good as before. His tongue was in her mouth, his hands were cupping her face, and their legs were entwined.

  “A gentleman would ask you if you were sure?” he said when he came up for air.

  In response, she took his hand and led him down the hall to his big comfortable bed. She sat on t
he bed and started to unbutton her shirt.

  Standing before her, he stilled her hands. “Let me,” he said.

  With infinite patience he slid buttons through little holes and when done, he slipped her shirt over her shoulders and tossed it aside. He stared at her blue bra. “It matches your eyes,” he said.

  “So do my panties,” she said.

  He sucked in a breath. “So lovely,” he said, gently tracing the slope of her breasts with his index finger.

  She was pretty confident he wasn’t talking about lingerie any longer. She reached for the hem of his long-sleeved T-shirt. In one smooth motion, she pulled it over his head. Then she ran her hands down his bare chest. He was muscle and bone and heat. She leaned forward and licked a nipple.

  “Sweet God,” he said. He gently pressed her back, but she shook her head.

  “No.” She slipped her thumbs under the waistband of his jeans. She was pretty sure he wasn’t breathing. Inched her thumbs lower, caressing his skin.

  Then she very quickly unbuttoned his jeans and slid the zipper down. He was hard. Deliciously hard.

  “Daisy,” his said, his voice hoarse.

  She smiled and freed him from his boxers. Then she took him in her mouth.

  Chapter 16

  At one thirty, a naked Daisy slipped out of bed. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “We should get dressed,” she said. “In case play practice gets over early.” She was reaching for her bra and panties.

  Such a shame for someone with a body like hers to ever wear clothes. He stretched, his muscles feeling loose. “What are we going to tell our daughters?”

  She sat back down on the edge of the bed. The bed where he’d made her come not once but twice. He held back a smile. She’d been kind of noisy. It had been an incredible turn-on.

  “I don’t think we should tell them anything,” she said.

  He sat up straight. Was she sorry? Ashamed? “Why?” he asked, trying for casual.

  “Sophie has had to absorb a lot of change lately. I can’t introduce one more thing that is different.”

  “That’s the only reason? You’re not sorry?”

  She smiled. Leaned down and kissed him. “It was wonderful. As wonderful as I hoped.”

  He relaxed. “Just the girls? How about everybody else?”

  “Marcus will ask, won’t he? Since he told you not to take advantage?”

  “He’ll be concerned,” Blade admitted. “Not in an intrusive way. But he has the background information and knows that emotions have been volatile the last twenty-four hours.”

  “I think if we each have someone close to us we want to confide in, that’s fine. But they need to understand the importance of keeping the circle close. Neither of us want our daughters to find out through gossip.”

  “Agreed,” he said. He was generally a pretty private guy. But there was somebody who would need to be told something. “My ex-wife and I have an understanding. No big changes that impact Raven without giving the other one a heads-up. I need to tell her that you and Sophie are living here. I don’t have to give her details,” he added.

  “Good, that might make me blush,” she said with a smile. Then she looked more serious. “I get that and I respect that. Charlie?” she asked.

  He shook his head. He didn’t like the idea of not being forthcoming, but Charlie was acting very odd about things. “I think not.”

  “This could be difficult,” she said. “I’m not a good liar.”

  “That’s good,” he said. “I mean, I wouldn’t have wanted to have done what we just did with someone who was a very good liar.”

  “You are a glass half full kind of person,” she said. “I like that.” She put her shirt on and reached for her pants. “Now get your ass out of bed.”

  He found her ten minutes later sitting at his kitchen table. She had her laptop open. “You are not going to believe this,” she said. “We are getting hundreds of likes on our posts. And forty-two responses, and it looks as if most everybody is attaching a photo. You know what I think we should do?”

  “No, but I think it’s probably something sensational,” he said. She hadn’t had a bad idea yet. And her best had been taking his hand and leading him to the bedroom.

  “I think we should do a video to some cool music, featuring all the photos. We’ll run it in the background.”

  “Like they do at weddings when they show pictures of the bride and groom when they were two and naked in the bathtub,” he said.

  “Exactly like that, but G-rated. Maybe PG. Some of these dresses are pretty revealing. Which reminds me, I need to go shopping. It seems like a mundane task given everything else that is going on, but the dance is just two weeks from tonight.”

  “You want to go to Seattle tomorrow? We could take the girls. I know Raven would love that.”

  “It would give me a chance to check my post office box,” she said. Her cell phone rang. She picked it up, looked at the number and frowned.

  He glanced at her phone. “That’s the garage,” he said.

  “This is Daisy,” she answered. She put it on speaker.

  “Daisy, it’s Gemma Savick. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Mrs. Savick.”

  “Gemma, please,” she said. “Listen, I think your car is fine. I didn’t find anything wrong with it. You can pick it up anytime.”

  She shrugged in Blade’s direction. “Well, thank you for checking.”

  “Oh, sure. I do have a question, though.”

  “Of course,” Daisy said.

  “Your car is relatively new.”

  That didn’t sound like a question to Blade. His mom was going somewhere.

  “Yes, just a couple years old,” Daisy said.

  “I noticed something on two of your spark plugs that I thought was odd. There were signs that they’d been removed.”

  “What?” Blade said. “Sorry, Mom. I’m listening in.”

  “I didn’t realize the two of you were still together,” his mom said.

  He probably didn’t want his parents surprised by the news that Daisy and Sophie were staying with him. “Yeah, well, in addition to Daisy having some car trouble, somebody broke into her house. I offered her and her daughter a place to stay.”

  “Oh.”

  Such a tiny word. That said so much. His mom wouldn’t ask more questions now given that Daisy was on the line, but later, he better be prepared. “Tell me more about these spark plugs,” he said.

  “Right. Well, spark plugs don’t usually need to be replaced for several years. And generally, if two were getting replaced, the others would also be replaced, under the assumption that they would likely all go bad around the same time. But it’s pretty clear that just two have been monkeyed with.”

  Blade didn’t know much about cars, but he knew this. “A car won’t start without properly connecting spark plugs.”

  “Start. Run. You’ve got it. It’s a pretty good way to temporarily disable a vehicle if you know what you’re doing. Sometimes the spark plugs are hard to reach. In your vehicle, they’re relatively easy to get to.”

  Blade wanted to kick his own ass. If he’d known what to look for the night before, maybe he’d have seen it. “Mom, just so I’m clear. You’re saying that if Daisy drove to the ice cream store and her car was working fine, then somebody tampered with her car while she was inside. And then sometime after she left her car on the street for the night, they came back and replaced the plugs.”

  “I suspect that’s exactly what happened. I think your bigger question might be how they easily got access. Would whoever might be responsible have been able to get inside the vehicle in order to pop the hood release lever?”

  Blade looked at Daisy. “I don’t know,” she said. “I use a fob to unlock my doors. Can it be... I’m searching for the right word...
can it be copied?”

  “Definitely. I could give you the complicated explanation, but perhaps the easiest way to understand this is to picture Person A who has her fob and Person B who has a clone remote. Both are near the vehicle when Person A unlocks it. Person B takes a series of relatively simple actions allowing him to intercept the signal. Person B now has a fully functional remote to Person A’s car.”

  Daisy got so pale that he was afraid she might slip out of her chair. She didn’t have to respond to his mother’s explanation. He could see by the look on her face that she believed it was entirely possible that Jacob Posse now had access to her car.

  She was scared.

  He understood the feeling. He was pretty damn spooked himself.

  “Okay, Mom. I think we’ve got it. We’ll be by in a day or two to pick up Daisy’s car. Can you keep it parked inside until then?”

  “Of course.”

  “Great, thanks. Goodbye.” He reached over and disconnected Daisy’s phone.

  Daisy looked at him, her blue eyes wide. “This is a nightmare.”

  “It’s okay,” he reassured her. “We can handle it.”

  She stood up fast. “It’s not your problem, Blade. This is my problem.” She put her hands to her head. “I have to think. Oh, my God, I can’t think.” She started to pace around the room. “I need my car. I have to drive to work. I have to drive Sophie to school. I have...a life, damn it. That I need to take care of.”

  “Calm down,” he said gently. “You can rent a car. We’ll leave your car at the garage.”

  “I don’t want your parents sucked in to my troubles.”

  “Okay. We’ll ask Marcus if we can park it in his garage. He’s got a three-car garage and only his city-issued SUV and his personal vehicle. He has an extra space.”

  “This is not a good long-term solution,” she said, frustration evident.

  “It’s not meant to be. That’s not going to be necessary.”

  “How can you be so sure?” she asked.

  “Because we’re going to find Posse, and Marcus will either arrest him if he can successfully connect him to the crimes, or I will convince the bastard to leave and not come back.”