“Good morning, Brighid.”
She jumped at the sound of Lenny’s voice as he came out of the office smiling. He placed a few folders down on her desk.
“You look beautiful this morning. Did you have a nice weekend?” he asked, smiling as he looked her over.
“Oh, yes, it was great.”
“Your friends enjoy visiting the town?” he asked, and she remembered telling him and Ray about it Friday morning because she had planned to leave thirty minutes earlier than usual.
“Yes, they loved it.” She wondered if she should ask him about the files. She didn’t like people logging into her computer system. It made her feel violated, as if she didn’t have control over her responsibilities and anything could go wrong. Maybe she should just change the password and then wait for them to notice, and when they asked her, she could say that she’d seen some glitches in the system and was afraid someone could hack in, so every so often, she would change the password. Or she could just come straight out and accuse him of logging in without her permission. But he was the boss. God, she hated confrontations.
“I placed these files here because they’re new clients to be added to the system. If you could do that for me and then send the information to accounting?”
“Sure. Oh, and I took the check that Bricker Daily gave me Friday and sent it along to accounting.”
Lenny’s eyes widened. A flash of something went across his face and eyes, but he quickly recovered and gave a nod.
“Great. He said he would stop by instead of mailing it. I haven’t seen him in such a long time.” He then looked around them before looking back at her.
“I never heard of him before. Didn’t even know he was a client.”
Lenny looked at her and suddenly seemed very serious. Her gut clenched.
“He’s been a client for several years. Just like a lot of other people this way. It was part of why we wanted to get a more central location to the business. Well, I need to get moving on some work. Glad you had a good weekend.”
He walked away. Could she have possibly missed the account somehow? she wondered, but she knew that wasn’t the case. She was pretty damn anal about things. What if he was doing something illegal? No. No, he couldn’t be. Why was she thinking this? Why was she being suspicious? God, one night with a detective and a cop, and she thought she was Dick fucking Tracy.
She took a deep breath and released it as she stared at the screen. Her mind and her suspicion got the best of her as she began to take screen shots of the items and the log-in times. Just in case something was wrong, she wouldn’t get blamed for it. She then went and changed the password and took a screen shot of the time and day she did so. She took those screen shots and added them to a private secure file. Maybe she watched too many mystery movies, but if not, then she had proof she wasn’t responsible.
She went back to doing her work, never really losing the uneasy feeling until her cell phone went off. She glanced down and saw the text from Reece.
Miss you already, beautiful. Looking forward to tonight.
She couldn’t help but to smile and then respond.
Miss you, too. Have a good day at work. Be safe.
She sent the message without even thinking first. She was dating two firefighters and two law enforcement officers. They had dangerous jobs. How the hell was she going to not panic and worry about them all the time? That anxious, uneasy feeling hit her gut. She was not prepared for this. Not prepared for a ménage relationship with four individually demanding, large, strong-minded men. Not prepared for the worry, the uneasy feelings that something could happen to any of them at any given time. Jesus. I can feel my heart racing.
She covered her hand over her heart and felt the pounding. She then felt that queasy unease rattling in her gut and chest. Was she having an anxiety attack over this?
Always, sweetheart. Gotta go.
He texted back, and she swallowed hard. The sound of a fire whistle going off in the distance added to her fears. Holy crap. Was she just texting Reece when they got a fire call? He’s leaving for it now maybe? she wondered, and a few moments later the deep, loud honking of fire engines went passing by the front of the office. She stood up and saw the men in the truck as it whizzed by.
Keep Reece and the others safe, God. Please.
* * * *
“Officer McQuinn. Got smoke and individuals inside of The Boardwalk gift shop off of Luana Highway. Getting people out now. Need fire department dispatched. Over.”
Pat was filtering through the main floor and getting people out of there. He’d just happened to stop his patrol car across the way to get a coffee at the bake shop when he saw the smoke and people pointing. He ran across the street as he called it in. As he helped an elderly couple out of the building, along with the owner, he heard the explosion and covered the elderly couple as they fell to the sidewalk. Debris hit them instantly, but he felt as if he’d taken the brunt of it. He couldn’t hear a thing. It was as though the shock of the explosion had damaged his eardrums. But then he heard the large honking of fire engines. He checked the elderly couple.
“Are you okay?” he asked them, but as he moved, he felt the aches to his back and his legs.
“Yes, yes, I think so,” the older man said, and then they started getting up as firefighters began pulling out the hose and another started spraying into the fire. It was very hot where they were.
“You’re hurt. Oh God,” the older lady said, and when he went to move, he felt the pinch to his side.
“Jesus, Pat, you’re fucking bleeding and covered with glass and debris,” Reece yelled out and knelt down, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move. The paramedics are just pulling up.”
“Shit, I’m fine. I just can’t fucking hear shit,” he said, and when he moved his arm, he felt the pain. Other firefighters were preparing to enter the building.
“I need to go. You’re sure you’re okay?” Reece asked, not wanting to leave him.
“Yeah, yeah, go do your fucking job,” Pat said, and Reece gave a wink and then stood up.
Pat could hear his chief giving orders as Mercury approached with other paramedics. It was total chaos. The sound of other engine companies could be heard in the distance as they approached. It was probably his brother Rusty’s Company 20 coming to help Ladder Company 18.
“Lie still. You’ve got shit sticking out of your arms, shoulder, and legs,” Mercury told him.
“I can’t hear shit. There was a huge fucking explosion as I just got this couple out of the building,” Pat told Mercury and the other paramedics.
“He saved us. We could have all been killed, but he got everyone out of there,” the older man said, and then another explosion happened with more screaming as they covered their heads, but nothing fell over them. This time it was inside the building where the firefighters were.
“Fuck, Reece is in there,” Pat yelled as Mercury stood up and looked back across the way.
“It looks like it happened farther back. They had just gone through the front entrance. Now the two bordering storefronts are smoking. It’s a fucking mess,” Mercury said to him.
“Did they get everyone out?” Pat asked.
“Everyone’s out,” one of the other firefighters told them. “But we’ve got no response from five of our firemen inside the building.”
“What? Oh God, Reece, Rusty and the others? Who’s in there with them?” Pat asked as he painstakingly stood up on his knees. He felt the pinching, and sure enough, he had glass sticking out of his pants.
“Pat, lie still. We don’t know how deep those shards of glass are imbedded in your skin. You need to go to the hospital,” Mercury said as he gripped Pat’s shoulder.
“What the hell is going on? Shit, Pat, are you okay?”
Pat heard Tobin’s voice as he approached and looked frantic. He bent down next to him.
“He needs to lie down and be still so we can get him on the gurney and take him to the hospital. We don’t know how deep the wounds are,” Mercury told Tobin.
“I’m fine. I’m not going anywhere until I know Reece and Rusty and the others are okay.”
“Reece and Rusty are in there?” Tobin asked.
“It’s a fucking mess,” one of the firefighters said, and Tobin stood up.
“I’ll find the chief and get an update,” Tobin said. “Pat, you need medical attention. I’ve got a patrol officer by your vehicle, but it’s all covered in shit, and the glass is broken. Take care of him, Mercury.” Tobin then walked over toward the fire trucks.
* * * *
“Son of a bitch. What the fuck was that?” Reece asked as the explosion rocked the building, taking out the entire back entrance from the basement to the first floor. He couldn’t believe they were alive and not buried in concrete and wood.
“Reece?”
Reece heard the yelling and then turned to see another firefighter, and he recognized the colored stripe down the side. Ladder 20. Reece was pulling shit off of Corporal and Steve, two firefighters in his company. Brandon Polaski and Jenks St. James came up through the dust and debris, spraying down the fire that was burning in the corner of the room near them, along with Rusty.
“Are you okay?” Rusty asked them as they helped Reece, Corporal, and Steve get up. Steve was limping, and Reece felt his arm throbbing something terrible.