by Claire Adams
"Me? It's my fault that a bunch of illegals are dead in the back room of a sweat shop?" he shouted. "I don't think so, Connor!"
"You slammed your axe into that door and set off the explosion!" I yelled. "You're careless and dangerous! You could have gotten us all killed!"
"But I didn't," he shot back. "I vented the heat and got us closer to the back room, so I'd be careful about how you go spinning the story, Connor."
"Oh, I'm going to tell the truth, Vangel," I said. "Unlike you, I still value it."
"You'd better be careful how you go about telling your truth, Connor," Victor snarled. "I've got enough ammunition to put you six feet under in no time."
"Try it, and I'll make sure you never work in this town again," I said in a cold voice that made Danny do a double take. I leaned down and lifted one of the moaning workers off the floor and headed out to the ambulance. "Now, let's get these people out of here. MOVE!"
I was furious at myself for losing my cool with Victor, but I was even angrier at him for costing these people their lives. He was irresponsible and reckless and he needed to be stopped before there were more deaths. I wasn't sure how I was going to approach Chief with the problem, but I knew that it couldn't wait.
"Chief, when we get back to the station, I need to talk to you," I said as I grabbed my axe and headed back in to help the guys make sure the fire was completely out before we rolled up the hoses and headed back to base. Chief gave me a funny look, then nodded as he spoke to dispatch over the radio.
I was going to keep Victor from doing any more damage, come hell or high water -- that much was absolutely certain.
#
Back at the station, I stepped into Chief's office and closed the door. It wasn't going to be easy having this conversation with him, but once it was over I wasn't going to have to worry about Victor outing me at the station anymore.
"You wanted to talk, Connor?" Chief Riley said as he looked over the schedules for the next month.
"Chief, I need to tell you something that I've been keeping to myself," I began.
"Shit, Connor, tell me this is not drug or alcohol related," Chief said as he stood up.
"No, no, nothing like that, sir," I said, shaking my head. "It's something outside of the department. Something I do on my own time, sir."
"Jesus, you're not coming out, are you?" Chief asked. "'Cause if you are, we're gonna need to bring in HR and get everyone into sensitivity training, and that's going to take scheduling."
"Chief, it's nothing like that," I said, trying to steer the conversation back to the issue at hand. "But a little sensitivity training never hurt anyone, you know."
"I know, I need to get it on the books anyway." He nodded as he bent down and made a note on his calendar. "I just didn't know how quickly I'd have to do it."
"See, sir," I said as I took a deep breath and blurted it out, "I am part owner of Chicago Security Company and we're taking on a contract to protect Richard Metzler during his upcoming run for office."
"Okay," Chief said as he stood looking at me with an expression that told me he wasn't particularly shocked or bothered by my revelation. "And you're telling me this because?"
"Because Victor Vangel has been trying to blackmail me into supporting his bid for the Lieutenant position in this station by threatening to tell everyone that I am part owner of a multi-million dollar corporation," I quickly said. "I'm tired of his threats."
"That sneaky little bastard," Chief said as he sat down in his chair and made another note on his calendar. "I'll take care of his sorry ass, don't you worry about that."
"That's just it, Chief; he's getting dangerous," I said. "Today at the fire, he didn't check the door before he opened it. I can't say if those people were still alive when he set off the explosion, but if they were..."
"I'll take care of it, Connor," Chief said with a determined look. "There's no reason to go spreading rumors or discussing this with anyone else, got it?"
"Yes, Chief." I nodded solemnly.
"And as far as your personal business goes, son, it's your personal business," he said, bracing himself on his desk. "If anyone has an issue with you doing something to better your situation outside of work, then tell them to come see me and I'll set them straight."
"Yes, sir." I smiled as I stood up and waited for him to end the meeting.
"You are free to go, Connor," Chief said as he began punching his keyboard.
I walked out of the office and back to the common room where Kelly was wrestling with Tesla as he tried to pull her stuffed elephant out of her mouth. She was wagging her tail and growling happily as he reached out and took a hold of one end of the stuffed animal and pulled. Tesla's only flaw was that when she got overly excited, she would bark. She barked, and Mike pulled the elephant away and held it over her head. Tesla crouched low and then sprang up and grabbed the toy, bringing it and Mike's arm back down to tugging level.
"Don't you ever get tired of that?" I laughed as I watched the two of them repeat the action over and over.
"Nah, she loves it!" Mike said as he growled back. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging a mile a minute.
"Where's Vangel?" I asked. Mike pointed out toward the bay where I could see Victor wiping down the trucks. I walked out and looked at him for a long time before speaking, "You can stop trying to blackmail me now."
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said, looking around nervously.
"You asshole, there's no one around, and even if there was, it doesn't matter anymore," I said. "Chief knows and he doesn't care."
"But the guys don't know," Victor said in a snooty tone. "What would they think if they knew one of their own was a multi-millionaire running a security firm on his off days?"
"They'd probably congratulate me and then ask for a job," I scoffed. "You're the only one who seems to have an issue with it, Vangel. So, now's the time for you to get over yourself."
"Does HQ know that you sunk your insurance check into the business?" Victor asked. "And does your little girlfriend? She's quite the hot piece of ass. If she’s got a friend, maybe we can do a double date some time and switch it up, eh?"
"What the fuck is wrong with you, Vangel?" I growled as I moved closer. "You're just a disgusting little troll who can't do anything right, so you have to tear everyone else down to make yourself feel tall? Is that it? No girl in her right mind would ever agree to go out with a loser like you.”
"Fuck you, Connor," he said, throwing the rag to the ground and stepping closer. "You're an arrogant prick who thinks his shit doesn't stink. I'm sick of watching you walk around here like you're holier than the rest of us. You're act like some kind of saint."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I laughed. "I've never acted like I'm better than anyone. Jesus, Vangel, who put that bug up your ass?"
"I've been watching you, Connor," he said menacingly. "You think you're above it all. You're not, you know. You're just like the rest of us. And one of these days, you're going to find that out the hard way."
"You're delusional, Vangel," I said, shaking my head as I walked back toward the common room. "We might have to work together, but I'm going to recommend you stay as far away from me as you can. We'll both be better for it."
"You're going to pay for your arrogance, Connor," Victor hissed as I walked away. "One of these days, you'll get what's coming to you. Just wait and see."
I shook my head and walked away, even though what I really wanted to do was pound some sense into that thick skull of his. Instead, I headed to the kitchen and began helping Danny get dinner started.
Half way through the preparations, my phone rang; it was Alex, but I was elbow deep in ground beef and couldn't answer it. I made a mental note to call her back as soon as we'd put the lasagna in the oven. We'd been apart less than twenty-four hours and I already missed her. I shook my head as I realized that if I wasn't careful, I was going to get soft.
And then I smiled at the thought.
&
nbsp; CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Alex
Around seven the next morning, we were sitting around the nurses’ station talking about the last patient who had come to the ER seeking treatment for a self-inflicted branding injury. He'd decided that it would be a good idea to brand his phone number on the inside of his forearm in case he was incapacitated for some reason. The heat and the metal had caused a bad burn and he'd let it go for days without treating it. The burn had developed into a nasty infection that threatened to turn into gangrene if left untreated.
The resident had nearly vomited into the trashcan when he'd seen the severity of the burn, but we'd kept him on track and treated the man. None of us had the heart to tell the patient that it would have probably been wiser to tattoo the number of someone other than himself on his arm in case of emergency.
I'd been checking out my phone waiting for a message from Cam, but when none came, I figured he was busy and didn't have time to be texting. I wanted to talk to him. We had unfinished business, and I wanted to discuss it with him. And then there was the constant ache I felt as I remembered what it had felt like to be curled up in his arms on the huge sofa in his living room. I'd wanted so much more, but I also knew that if I wasn't prepared to accept the fact that he had more money than I'd ever imagined, I couldn't go there with him anymore. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. The money scared me, but Cam seemed so level headed about it and didn't use it to get what he wanted or to pressure me. Maybe there was hope for us.
The phone at the nurses’ station rang several times before Leslie picked it up. She spoke briefly and then said, "Alex, phone for you," as she held out the receiver.
"This is Alex Pierce," I said in as professional a tone as I could.
"Ms. Pierce, is Ms. Baker down there with you?" Mrs. Rikka asked.
"No, ma'am, she is not," I said, looking at Leslie wide-eyed and worried.
"I see," Mrs. Rikka said, hesitating for a moment before adding, "If you see her, please tell her to come to my office. This does not bode well for her internship."
"Yes, ma'am, I will," I replied as my mind started racing. I hung up and looked at Leslie as I said, "Liz is missing. I have to find her."
"Get changed and go," Leslie said as she shooed me out of the nurses’ station.
"But I'm not off shift for another hour," I said. "I can't leave or Mrs. Rikka will have a fit!"
"I'll cover for you," Leslie said. "Go! Go find Liz!"
I made a run for the locker room where I quickly stripped out of my borrowed scrubs and tossed them in the laundry. I had just pulled my pants on when Violet, Jessica, and Lydia rounded the corner of the lockers and saw me.
"Oh, hello, Alex," Violet said in a voice dripping with distain. "I thought you'd be up in the ER until nine."
"I...I'm...Leslie told me to go," I stammered as I tried to avoid talking about what I was doing down in the locker room. "I'm going home."
"I see," Violet said, raising an eyebrow. "It wouldn't be because your druggie friend is missing, now would it be?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Violet?" I said, genuinely surprised that she'd have any knowledge of Liz or what was going on with her.
"Oh, I know all about Baker and her nasty little habit," Violet said, wrinkling her nose. "She's such trash. This just proves that you can take the girl out of the gutter, but you can't take the gutter out of the girl. Right, girls?"
Jessica and Lydia giggled nervously as they nodded and flipped their perfectly coiffed ponytails. I wanted to punch them all, but I knew better than to invite that mess into my world.
"I guess it takes one to know one, eh, Violet?" I said with a wide-eyed innocence that I certainly did not feel. Violet did a double take before narrowing her eyes and getting ready to pounce.
"I wouldn't know, Pierce," she said. "I've never had to deal with street trash before."
"No, of course you haven't," I said, feeling a little more angry by the minute. How dare she say such horrible things about Liz! "You've had someone to pick up after you and wipe your ass your whole life, haven't you?"
"You're so tacky, Pierce," Violet sniffed, but I could tell I'd gotten to her.
"Of course, I'm the tacky one," I said as I pulled on my top and grabbed my coat. "There you go, projecting your insecurities onto the closest target. I'm sure that when I'm not around, she uses one of you as her target, right?"
Violet's two shadows looked at me and then at each other before they stared at Violet and waited for her to tell them what to think.
"You look like you're doing the walk of shame, Pierce," Violet said, as she looked me up and down. "Where were you last night? Earning your tuition and rent money before you clocked in?"
"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," I said, shaking my head as I looked the three girls up and down. "God, you all are such mindless robots. Good luck, ladies! I've got someplace I need to be!"
I grabbed my bag and ran for the door. I didn't give a rat's ass what Violet and her posse thought of me; I had one thing on my mind and that was to find Liz and make sure she was safe.
I pulled out my phone and texted Cam asking him to call me before putting it back in my bag and heading out the door, wondering how I was going to find Liz.
The question was where would Liz be hanging out, and even more than that, would I find her in time to save her from herself?
Billionaire on Fire Volume 4
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Cam
When my shift was over the next morning, I loaded Tesla in the truck and headed out to help Alex find Liz. Leo was blowing up my phone trying to get me to commit to the press conference with Metzler.
"Not sure how we're going to juggle all of this, girl," I said to my canine companion as we drove toward Alex's apartment. I hadn't said anything about the rent payment I'd made to her landlord, nor was I going to. I knew that on Monday morning when the student accounts office opened up, I'd drive over and pay off her tuition, but I wasn't going to say anything about that, either. It was risky going behind Alex's back, but I figured that alleviating the financial stress was the least I could do to help her out, and that when push came to shove, Alex would understand that I'd had only the best of intentions.
I dialed Alex's number and waited for her to pick up, but her phone went straight to voicemail.
"Alex, it's Cam, call me," I said, wondering where she was and why she wasn't picking up. I looked down at Tesla and said, "No one's answering, so I think we need to go check things out."
Tesla wagged her tail as she looked out the front window, and I wondered what had happened to Liz. The last time I'd spoken to Liz, she'd sounded like she was getting herself together, although there was something strange about the fact that she kept denying her drug addiction. Anyone who looked at her could see that she was suffering, and I couldn't really blame her for drowning her sorrows in substances that would take away the pain.
The problem was that she said she wasn't addicted to anything. However, in my decade with the fire department, I'd seen countless addicts declare exactly the same thing when it wasn't true, so I was inclined to believe that Alex's assessment of the situation was correct. Liz had an addiction that was eating her up.
My phone rang, but when I looked at the screen and saw it was Leo not Alex, I let it go to voicemail. I'd get back to Leo as soon as we'd found Liz.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Alex
I'd searched every place on campus that I could think of, and by the time Cam arrived at my apartment, I was more than a little panicked about what had happened to Liz.
"Hey, did you find her yet?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against his chest as I wound my arms around his waist. It felt good to be in his arms again, and as worried as I was about Liz, there was something calming and reassuring about Cam. Tesla sat quietly at his feet waiting her turn for some attention and wagged her tail when I pulled away and bent down to pat
her head.
"You're such a good girl." I smiled as I knelt down and put my arms around her neck. The next thing I knew, tears were streaming down my face onto the dog's fur. Tesla sat quietly for a moment, then pulled her head back and began licking my face.
"Alex, what's wrong?" Cam asked. There was deep concern in his voice as he reached for my arm and pulled me back up to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm worried about Liz," I said, wiping the tears from my eyes before I looked up at him. "I think she's in real trouble, Cam. She's in denial about her problem and she won't accept help, and now she's run off and I can't find her!"
"Hey, hey, we'll find her," Cam said as he cupped my cheek with his strong hand. "I promise. We'll look and we'll alert everyone we can think of, and eventually we'll find her."
"What if we don't find her in time?" I asked quietly. The reality was that if Liz was using, she was likely to overdose at some point, and if I didn't know where she was, then I couldn't bring her back. "What if I can't save my best friend?"
Cam held me tightly, resting his chin on my head as he stroked my back. I cried harder than I could ever remember having cried, but it felt good to have him to lean on as I let out all the emotions from the past week. I told him what was going on with the cheating accusations and my fear of not graduating.
"And what if we find her and they kick her out of the nursing program?" I said, and then more quietly, "And what if they kick me out, too?"
"They're not going to kick you out, Alex," Cam said confidently.
"If they conclude that we cheated, they will," I said, shaking my head. "And if they don't make their decision soon, it won't matter. I'll be out anyway, and I won't have a place to live!"
"Yes, you will, don't you worry about that at all," Cam said as he squeezed me tighter. "You won't get dropped from the program and you won't get evicted from your apartment."
"It's nice that you're so sure about all of this," I said as I tried to focus on the task at hand. We needed to get out and look for Liz. With every hour that passed, we were losing the trail from the hospital. "We need to find her, Cam. We need to find Liz."
