Hooked on a Phoenix

by Ashlyn Chase

  Misty had to get her head in the game. A customer stepped up to her window with a few different transactions, and she had to concentrate on more than just her own complicated life.

  Adam gave her some kind of hand signal from behind the customer.

  She glanced over at him and frowned. “Did you want to say something?”

  He cleared his throat and stepped a little closer. “Stop by my office later. I have a favor to ask.”

  “Sure.” Oh my freakin’ God. What kind of favor could my jealous boss want?

  * * *

  “What? Do I need to get down on my freaking knee?” Gabe was trying to keep his voice down as he spoke to his brother on the phone.

  “No, I just figured she would’ve said yes.” Dante pitched his voice high and silly as he mimicked, “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!”

  If Gabe could’ve punched him through the phone, he would have. Actually, he should’ve punched Jayce for telling everyone about his proposal. Without knowing her answer, it was getting a bit sticky.

  “Look, Gabe, I know you guys have had a bit of a weird history—”

  “Weird? What do you mean by weird?” Gabe kicked at the chunk of ice beside the fire station wall. The weather was starting to get to him. Long winters didn’t bother him when he was a kid, but now it must be a sign of his actually getting older. Twenty-six. Almost twenty-seven. Since when is that getting old?

  “Well, from what I understand, your being with Misty put your relationship with Parker in the toilet. He asked you to look after her because he thought you were his best friend, most trusted man on the planet.”

  “Yeah, yeah… So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying, Bro, that she still loves her brother, and now he hates you. That’s gotta be tough for her. Have you even asked how they are doing?”

  Gabe rubbed his forehead as he paced. “No. I figured it was none of my business. I’d just wait until Parker wanted to talk to me, and then we’d talk.”

  Dante made a sound that conveyed his disappointment. Well, tough. Gabe didn’t know what else to do. In truth, he’d expected the same thing. Misty would jump into his arms, and they would have that blissful moment of acceptance and mutual agreement.

  Now he not only didn’t feel accepted by his best friend, but it didn’t even seem like the person he most wanted to be accepted by was interested in him any longer. “Maybe she’s just getting back at me for being such a jerk in the first place. I didn’t know what I wanted, and during that time, I may have made her feel like she wasn’t that special.”

  “Damn. If that’s the case, you’ve got some backpedaling to do.”

  Gabe heard the tones go off in his brother’s fire station a moment before the tones rang out in his own.

  “Gotta go, Gabe.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” He shoved the phone into his pocket and strode through the open bay, meeting his buddies at the truck. He didn’t usually drive, but for some reason, he wanted to. He wanted to feel in control of something. “Mind if I drive, Captain?”

  The captain glanced over at the probie who usually drove for experience and said, “Sure. Think you can remember where you’re going?”

  Everyone snickered, because Gabe had grown up in that neighborhood, and now working in the South End, he could pretty much claim his whole life had been spent in it.

  “I think I can find my way around.” He jumped into the driver’s seat, and as soon as everyone was in, he pulled out onto Tremont Street and headed around the corner. The area they were heading to wasn’t the best, but it was far from the worst the city had to offer.

  “Might as well get the Narcan out now,” the captain said.

  “Did they say anything about a possible OD?” Gabe asked.

  “No. But we’re supposed to meet someone at a car, and it seems like more than half of our calls lately have been about overdoses, not fires.”

  “I wish they’d come to us. It would be a lot easier.” Only three minutes later, Gabe was pulling in between a gas station and a fast-food place. A car parked behind the restaurant had been identified as the location they had to investigate.

  An anxious woman strode up to the truck’s window. All of them except Gabe exited the vehicle while the captain spoke to the woman.

  “I tell you, we smelled gas. There’s some kind of gas leak.”

  Gabe almost groaned aloud.

  “Where?” the captain asked.

  “My husband and I are parked right over there.” She pointed at a parked car with a man in the driver’s seat.

  “Why is he just sitting in the car?”

  The woman made a sound of disgust. “He thinks I’m being ridiculous.”

  “It’s not ridiculous to investigate something that might be dangerous,” the captain said.

  The woman stuck her hands on her hips. “Thank you. That’s what I was thinking too. Would you mind coming over and telling that to my husband?”

  The captain smiled. “I should talk to him anyway, but not necessarily about how right you were.” He waved over the probie, and the two of them went to the car in the distance. Gabe couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but he saw some nodding and pointing. Eventually, they returned to the truck.

  Gabe rolled down his window. “What is it?”

  The rookie, a guy they called Fritz because his last name was German, said, “We have to poke around a while and make it look like we’re investigating a gas leak.”

  Gabe’s brows shot up. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  The guy shrugged. “The husband thinks it’s just the gas station smell and that his wife’s not used to it. She doesn’t even drive, never mind pump her own gas.”

  The captain added, “He said the odor smells no worse than any other gas station. But we’ll go and sniff around, just to make sure. Sit tight.”

  Gabe thought he’d take the opportunity to call Misty. Maybe he could get her to give him some kind of preliminary or tentative answer. Then he glanced at his watch and realized she’d still be at work. Damn. He didn’t want to get her in trouble with her douche bag boss.

  He sighed as he thought about who else he could call. Parker. His mother’s words were stuck in his head. He had thought about standing next to the pool while everyone else was in there splashing around and having a good time. That got him off his ass enough to propose.

  But there was more she got him thinking about. And that was how he just sort of let life happen to him, instead of deciding what he wanted to happen and making it so. Right now, he wanted Parker’s forgiveness, blessing, or whatever else would get them back into each other’s favor.

  “What the hell,” he muttered. A moment later, he dialed Parker.

  “I didn’t think I’d hear from you after the other day.” Parker hadn’t even bothered to say hello. Maybe he was anxious to talk too.

  “I’m extending an olive branch.” That was all Gabe could think of to say at this point. Hopefully, his friend would know where to take it from there.

  “Oh yeah? I’ll take your olive branch and raise you a beer.”

  Gabe grinned inwardly. “That sounds good, but will I be safe if we talk about your sister? Or are you going to break that beer bottle over my head?”

  Parker chuckled. “We’ll see.”

  That wasn’t exactly the answer Gabe had hoped for, but it was better than he’d expected. The two of them made plans to meet up the next day. Gabe wouldn’t get off until six, and he’d need a few minutes to make it home, shower, change clothes, and steel himself for whatever would follow.

  At least there would be an end to this. Just knowing that much gave him a sense of relief. Not that he would ever admit it to her, but maybe his mother was right. He needed to take the initiative a little more often.

  The guys returned to the truck and hopped in.

 
“Nothing?” Gabe asked.

  “Not that we could find,” the captain answered. “Let’s go.”

  Gabe put the truck in gear and began driving around the back of the gas station when he saw some familiar sparks and slammed on the brakes. “Fire.” He pointed to a small pile of wood and newspaper…and the backside of a fleeing arsonist.

  “Fuck. That must’ve been the gas the woman smelled.” All four of them jumped out. The captain addressed Gabe before he slammed his door. “You can put that puppy out with the fire extinguisher. I’m going after that bastard.”

  “I’ll go with ya, Captain,” yelled Donahue.

  Gabe grabbed the fire extinguisher and followed Fritz to the mini bonfire near the propane tanks. “It’s a damn good thing we saw this here… Stand back.”

  He had just started to aim it when the pile exploded. Fritz swore and jumped out of the way. Gabe felt like everything was happening in slow motion.

  The probie’s eyes rounded, and he lunged for Gabe, pushing him to the ground. It was about that time that a thousand bees were stinging his face—at least that’s what it felt like. He closed his eyes and covered them with his hands out of instinct. Soon, the smell of gas was joined by another horrible odor. Gabe smelled his own flesh frying.

  He heard two sets of voices yelling. Even as he was on fire, he was concerned about the probie who had dived right on top of him and was probably also getting burned. That was no ordinary bonfire. Something had to have been planted and set to explode as soon as the arsonist had cleared the scene.

  He heard the captain yelling instructions, saying he’d use the snow to smother the fire until Tom returned with the fireproof blanket. That’s the last thing Gabe remembered.

  * * *

  “Thanks for driving me to the dealership, Misty,” Adam said.

  She shrugged. “You’re the one driving. Why didn’t you pick up the neighbor whose car you borrowed this morning? She could have dropped you off and gone right home.”

  “Oh, I was going to, but she called and said one of her kids came home sick. She has to stay with him. You know how to drive, don’t you?”

  Misty laughed. “Yeah. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have gone much of anywhere when I lived in the ’burbs.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I forget you went from living in the city to the suburbs and then back. What was that like for you?”

  She shrugged. She didn’t really want to chitchat with her boss. Truthfully, she didn’t even want to be in a car with him. It seemed too personal. Where Adam was concerned, she’d rather keep things strictly business.

  After an uncomfortable silence, he cleared his throat. “Um, Misty. I wanted to talk to you alone. Outside work. Not as your boss, but as your friend.”

  She glanced over at him and raised her eyebrows. Friend? Since when? She didn’t interrupt him though. Part of her was curious about what he wanted to say.

  “It…well. It’s about that firefighter.”

  “Gabe?”

  “Yeah. I hope you’re not getting too involved with him. I mean, I know he proposed, but I was relieved to hear you didn’t accept. I hope you’ll say no altogether when you hear what I have to say.”

  What could he possibly have to say? Did he put a private investigator on Gabe who saw him shift into a bird and fly away? She remained quiet.

  Adam squirmed in his seat. “I just don’t think he can offer you much. He’s a firefighter. Probably didn’t go to college. Everyone knows they don’t make a lot of money…and they get hurt. Then what?”

  She felt her ire rise. Fortunately, she remembered who was talking and caught herself before she went off on her boss. When she could be civil, she simply said, “And?”

  “And…” He glanced over with a mixture of trepidation and hope. “And I know I could offer you more. I’m not always going to be just a branch manager. I finished my MBA last summer.”

  Online, Misty added to herself.

  “Anyway, you’re a girl with a good head on her shoulders. I think you’re classy as hell too. You’d be much happier as a bank president’s wife than some woman who barely exists above poverty level and whose main goal is to get all the soot out of her husband’s clothes.”

  “That’s it!” Misty shouted. “Stop the car.”

  “What? Why?” Adam glanced over at her with genuine astonishment and kept right on driving.

  “Because I said so. Now stop! If you want to fire me, go ahead. I’m not going to let you insult me, my boyfriend, and every other brave firefighter in the city. Hell, in the world! Where would people like you be without people like him? Even if your house never catches fire, other things can and do happen, every day. These are the brave first responders who run into danger while you’re running away.”

  “Now, Misty—”

  Just his patronizing tone of voice was enough to refuel her fire. “If you’re so concerned about the families of first responders not having enough money to live on, why don’t you do something about that?”

  He snorted. “Like what? What could I possibly do?”

  “Write to the mayor! Start a petition! Sheesh, you could even be an example to others by collecting funds for the widows and orphans of firefighters who are no longer with us.”

  “A drop in the bucket,” he muttered.

  “Yeah, with an attitude like that. Listen, my relationship with Gabe is none of your business. None!”

  “I realize that. And I was afraid of a reaction like this, but what kind of friend would I be if I said nothing?”

  “And that’s another thing.” In for a penny, in for a pound. “Since when are we friends? I haven’t encouraged your ‘friendship’ in the least.”

  “I know you haven’t. And I admire that about you. I know I can trust you around other men.”

  Misty couldn’t stand it any longer. She burst out laughing.

  He frowned at her, then focused on the road, his lips compressed into a thin line. When her laughter had bubbled down to tiny titters, he glared at her.

  “Look, Adam, it’s not that I’m not flattered. I am. But you don’t have the full picture. It’s not a matter of money or prestige.”

  “Oh, you mean because you’re pregnant?”

  He delivered the line with a tiny lift to the corner of his mouth. Like I know something you don’t know I know.

  “How did you… What makes you think…” she sputtered.

  “You think I’m stupid? A guy shows up who obviously wants you all to himself, so much that he locks you in a vault with him, which I will address later—”

  “Please don’t.”

  “Fine. Anyway, a couple months later, you start taking time off for doctor’s appointments, then he shows up with flowers and a proposal? Seriously? I mean, some relationships are quick, but that’s a little too quick—especially for a playboy like him.”

  “Playboy?” Misty was too confused to laugh.

  “Yeah. You know what they say about firefighters, don’t you?”

  She leaned away from him and studied his face. Smug. Arrogant. Whatever he had to say, it was going to be nasty. “You know what, Adam? I don’t care what ‘they’ say. I know my boyfriend and his whole family. Every one of them is above reproach. And every one of them is a firefighter. Well, except his mom and one sister-in-law. But his father was a captain, his oldest brother is a captain, and the next one down is a lieutenant. The rest will get there soon enough. They make good salaries. They live in nice homes. They go on vacations. Yup, the whole nine yards. I resent whatever you’re implying.”

  “Fine. Fine. It’s your life,” he muttered.

  “Damn right it is.” She was fuming. She had to shut up before she said anything about Adam’s character. She was apt to take nasty to a whole new level.

  Chapter 16

  Gabe heard the sirens and knew the ambulance
was coming. He was in and out of consciousness. Parts of his body were numb, but his face and hands were so painful, he figured he must be passing out from the agony.

  He came to for a short while as he was being loaded into the ambulance and then felt the jostling that meant they were getting his boots off. Then he heard a ripping sound followed by a stab—they were getting an IV into him. Was his femoral artery the only part of him untouched?

  After that, he must have been out for quite a while.

  He woke in the hospital. At least that’s what he figured, because there were monitors beeping, but he couldn’t see. He tried to move until a female voice said, “He’s awake.”

  Whose voice is that?

  “Gabe. You’re in the ICU. You had an accident.”

  Gabe tried to talk, and his throat was extremely sore, but he managed to eke out, “I can’t see.”

  “Your eyes are bandaged, honey.”

  Ah, his mother. A familiar voice was probably the most comforting thing he could hear at the moment.

  “Mom?”

  “Yes, honey?”

  “Is Misty okay?”

  “Yes, honey. Why wouldn’t she be?”

  “Someone said I was in an accident. Was she with me?”

  “Oh, it wasn’t a car accident, sweetheart. Do you remember a fire and getting hit with burning gasoline?”

  “Sort of.” Then after a short while, he said, “Yeah. Yeah, I remember now.”

  “Hang on. Your captain asked us to call him as soon as you were awake.”

  “Did they get the guy?”

  “You can ask him. Your father is talking to him in the hall.”

  “Oh? When you said you had to call him, I thought he was back at the station.”

  “No. He’s off duty. But he came in to see you, hoping you were awake. He’ll have to put on a mask and sterile gown. It may take a minute.”

  “Are you wearing all that sterile stuff?”

  “Yes, honey. Everyone who comes into your room has to. I’ll be right back.”

  He heard her little feet scurry off. He was groggy. He felt like going back to sleep, so they must’ve put some sort of pain medication in him. Considering he wasn’t feeling much of anything, that was a good bet.