“Those are some extremely grave allegations, Everett. Are you sure you’re prepared to act on them?”
This is it. But even with the dread pumping full-bore in his bloodstream, Cole refused to say anything other than the truth. “Yes sir. I am.”
“I see. Then I suppose our next step is to get your statement and have the arson investigation team open a case to examine the evidence more closely.”
Cole shook his head, certain he’d misheard the captain. “You believe me?”
Westin’s gray-blond brows lifted slightly, as if their surprise was mutual. “I believe both sides of the story are plausible, and the only way to find out where the truth lies is to uncover it impartially. You just said you’re prepared to act, and if everything else you’ve told me is true, an investigation does seem necessary in this case.”
Cole’s heart picked up speed in his chest. “I would never make any of this up or threaten or discredit another firefighter the way Oz is claiming.”
“You’ve been one of my best and brightest for eight years, Everett. I don’t believe that you would, but remember, Oz hasn’t made claims about anything yet. No matter what he’s done or not done, he’s due a fair investigation.”
“Okay,” Cole said slowly. “So what happens from here?”
“After you give your statement, Oz will be contacted for an interview. In the meantime, arson will roll up their sleeves and get to work on new reports and scene investigations.” Westin paused, his gaze hardening. “If Oz had a hand in any wrongdoing, I feel confident the investigation will show that. But if he didn’t . . .”
“I understand, Cap.” Cole didn’t hesitate. This was the right thing to do. The only thing. “I know the risks, and I’m willing to take them.”
Westin nodded in acknowledgment. “I see that. You had everything to lose by bringing this to my attention, and yet you did it anyway, despite knowing you’d have to reveal personal information that would put your own position in jeopardy. Speaking of which”—his mouth bent into a definite frown—“let’s address the issue of you and Ms. Nelson.”
The reference to Cole’s relationship with Savannah made his gut twist and drop, but he held his gaze steady on Westin’s. “With respect, sir. There’s no issue to address. I mean, there was an issue, obviously.” He broke off, and Christ, was his chest going to feel like someone had used it for batting practice every time someone mentioned her name? “But there isn’t now.”
“So you and Nelson are no longer involved?”
Affirmative on the batting practice thing. Not that he didn’t deserve it 100 percent after everything he’d said to her. “No sir. We’re not.”
“I see.” One look at the captain’s face told Cole that he understood the situation, plain as daylight. “Well, then, I suppose that saves me from having to remind you that the rules at Station Eight are in place for a reason, and they are not optional. I expect you to follow them, to the letter.”
Cole sat up as tall as his spine would allow. “Copy that, sir. I understand.”
“Good, because I’m not interested in repeating myself. Since there’s no longer a conflict of interest here, I don’t think we’ll need to make any changes to C-shift’s personnel. Provided the two of you can still maintain a strong professional relationship, that is.”
“Of course,” Cole said. Yes, being around Savannah was going to sting like a son of a bitch, but they were adults. She took the job seriously, and so did he.
Fuck, he missed her.
Westin cleared his throat, although his expression wasn’t unkind. “I know I don’t need to remind you that being a firefighter isn’t like most other jobs. I’m not just asking if you can work with her, Everett. I need to know if you two can have each other’s backs.”
Cole didn’t hesitate, just answered. “Yes. I give you my word that I will have Savannah’s back, no matter what.”
Even if she never knew it.
* * *
Savannah walked into Station Eight’s engine bay with her medical clearance in her hand and her heart in her throat. She’d had to miss roll call—the orthopedist’s office didn’t open until eight, and even though the doc had snuck her in a half an hour before they officially opened up shop, she’d still needed the final okay in order to go back to work. But after a day and a half of staring at the walls in her brother’s apartment while weighing every plan of action under the sun, Savannah knew what she had to do.
No matter how painful the consequences were.
“Hey! Look who’s back. You’re earning your nickname, Tough Stuff,” Donovan called out as she made her way across the engine bay, and she noticed with relief that squad was out on a call. She swung her gaze in a three-sixty, her nerves thrumming in a knee-jerk shot of ridiculous anticipation as she returned the cheery greetings she got from both Crews and Jonesey.
Cole was nowhere to be seen.
Don’t be stupid. The same way this would be astronomically easier without Oz on-site, having Cole off her radar would only strengthen her focus. She needed to be tough if she was going to make good on her plan.
And she needed to be reinforced with titanium if she was going to get rid of the stupid ache in her heart.
“Yep,” Savannah said, plastering a smile to her face that felt about as genuine as Botox on a politician. “The orthopedist cleared me for limited duty an hour ago. All I need to do is turn my paperwork in.” It was as good a ruse as any to get to Westin’s office stat, but God, she’d waited long enough. Even another two minutes was liable to make her explode.
“Don’t you have good timing?” Crews asked, snagging her attention. “Cap was just out here a few minutes ago, wondering if you’d come in yet. Said to send you back if we saw you.”
“Oh.” The captain was a stickler for the rules. He probably wanted her paperwork from the doc before she even thought about gearing up. Unless he’d already gotten her other paperwork. “Got it. I’ll go find him, then.”
Savannah’s work boots echoed through the empty firehouse, and she autopiloted her way past the locker room and the common area. Her stomach jumped a little when she reached the photo-lined hallway leading to Westin’s office, but she forced herself to laser in on the frame around the glass inset on the door, placing her knock directly in the center of the narrow strip of wood.
Nerves of steel. She wasn’t just tough.
She was a firefighter.
“Come in.” Westin’s voice sounded through the glass, and Savannah gripped the door handle, her shoulders locked into place and her chin held high. But as soon as she saw Cole sitting in the chair across from Westin’s desk and wearing that serious-as-hell expression she wanted to hate but couldn’t, she faltered, all of her air cramming to a stop in her lungs.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said, but Captain Westin gestured her over the threshold with a brisk wave of his fingers.
“You’re not interrupting at all, Nelson. But I do think we’d all be more comfortable if you shut the door and took a seat.”
Savannah did as she was told—she wasn’t an idiot, after all, even if her curiosity at Cole’s presence was starting to kill her. “Crews said you, ah, wanted to see me?”
“Actually, I got the message that you wanted to see me. You requested a meeting for first thing this shift, after your appointment with the orthopedist, didn’t you?” Westin gestured to the computer monitor on his desk, and sure enough, the e-mail she’d sent him at 0600 that morning flashed front and center in his in-box.
She froze. She’d planned to honor the chain of command and tell Westin everything she knew about Oz and the fires, but she hadn’t planned to do it in front of Cole. “Respectfully, sir. I was hoping we might meet in private.”
Westin paused. “It’s possible that the topic you wanted to discuss has already been addressed.”
Her brows snapped together. “I’m sorry?”
“He knows, Savannah.” Cole’s voice was quiet, but it sizzled
through her, bringing shock and relief and about forty other things.
She swung to face him. “Wait . . . you . . .”
“I told Captain Westin everything. Oz. The fires. The threats he made to both of our careers. All of it.”
“When?” she whispered, her brain racing to try to catch up to her heart.
“Yesterday,” Cole said and okay, yeah. She was going to need a minute.
Which turned out okay, because it gave Cole a chance to continue. “I made a formal statement yesterday down at Chief Williams’s office, and the complaint went up the chain of command to arson investigation.”
Captain Westin leaned in, looking at Savannah over the thin gold rims of his reading glasses. “I received an update this morning and relayed the news to everyone at roll call. After a preliminary look at both crime scenes, the arson investigation team felt there was enough evidence to temporarily suspend Oz pending further investigation.”
Holy. Shit. “They’re bringing him up on charges?”
“There will be a fair and thorough investigation before any charges are brought,” Captain Westin said. “But as it stands, it does look as though there will be enough evidence for Oz to face formal charges for covering up these fires.”
Savannah’s mouth went dry, but she pushed her question past her lips anyway. She needed to know. “What about the pictures?”
A muscle clenched in Cole’s jaw, but it was Captain Westin who answered. “Oz was quite vocal about the pictures of you and Everett.”
She might be heartsore, not to mention pissed as hell at Cole for what he’d said, but that didn’t mean he deserved to lose his career, especially over a pack of lies. “Everett never threatened to ruin Oz’s name if he shared those pictures.”
To her surprise, Westin nodded in agreement. “That became fairly clear once the evidence of possible foul play began rolling in from those fire scenes. Nonetheless, the department has been made aware of your relationship.”
Savannah’s breath wedged in her throat. But she’d been prepared to confess the relationship to Westin anyway, and her contingency plan ensured the fallout would be as minimal as possible under the circumstances. “I understand.”
“I see from this transfer request that you do,” Westin said, and Cole wheeled around to pin her with a wide-eyed stare.
“What transfer request?” he demanded. But she’d never been a pushover, and she wasn’t about to start now, even if she was sitting there in front of her captain.
“I put in a request to be transferred yesterday. The placement officer at the chief’s office told me there are a few candidates who might be willing to switch houses with me so you’d still have someone to take your position on engine when you’re promoted to squad. But I’d planned to tell Captain Westin the same thing you did, so I knew he’d need to transfer one of us, and . . .” Savannah paused. “I thought it should be me.”
“No,” Cole said, and even though it drew brows-up stares from both her and Westin, that didn’t stop him from saying it again, louder. “No. If anyone’s getting transferred over this, it’s me.”
Her jaw dropped open. The last eight years, his spot on squad, the house he loved—all of it would be gone if Cole transferred. “Are you out of your mind?”
“Yeah, actually, I am. But I nearly let my fear of losing control blind me to the fact that sometimes, you’ve got to be brash to do the right thing. You are an incredible firefighter. You’re brave and you’re smart and you’re strong. You’ve earned the spot you have here, and you deserve to keep it. If one of us has to be transferred for breaking the rules, it should be me.”
“You’re not transferring from Eight,” Savannah said, emotion welling around her words. This was insane. He was putting his livelihood on the line.
For hers.
“Oh, yes I am.” Cole rushed to his feet, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Captain Westin, I’d like to formally request a transfer out of Station Eight, effective immediately.”
“No!” She stood just as fast. “I put my transfer order in first. You’re too late. He’s too late, right?”
“I’ve got seniority,” Cole argued. “I’m not—”
“That’s enough!” Captain Westin’s voice boomed through the office, slamming both of their arguments to an abrupt halt. He ran a hand over his tidy crew cut and let out a slow exhale. “Both of you, sit down. I’m not asking,” he added, cutting off Savannah’s inclination to argue.
They both sat.
“Everett, your request for a transfer is denied. You are an eight-year veteran in this house with an excellent record. I’m not about to let you leave.” The captain lifted a hand, effectively cutting Cole’s argument down before he could launch it, and before Savannah could even fully register both her relief and her sadness, Westin continued. “Nelson, your request for a transfer has also been denied.”
“What?” she blurted inelegantly, but Westin just smiled.
“I’m a fire captain, not a matchmaker, but let me say this. While I run a tight house with even tighter rules, some of those rules are in fact left up to my discretion. Your involvement with each other isn’t something I’m happy about, but it’s also something I never would have suspected if the two of you hadn’t come forward. It’s clear to me that you can work together effectively, and even more clear that you have each other’s backs. As long as you both continue to keep your personal lives outside of this firehouse, then I will continue to not ask you what you do when you’re off the clock. Am I clear?”
Savannah’s utterly shocked “yes sir” arrived at the same time as Cole’s.
“Good. Now that we’ve got that squared away, I am going to leave my office for exactly ten minutes to go get a cup of coffee. You two do whatever you need to do to get right with each other. I don’t care what it is as long as I never hear about it.”
As soon as Westin tugged the door shut, Cole turned toward her, but where she’d expected to see his serious expression, there was nothing but pure emotion covering his face.
“Cole, I—”
“Stop.” He stood, moving over to the spot where she sat poleaxed to her chair, not stopping until he’d gently guided her to her feet so he could look her in the eye. “I’ve stuffed my feelings down for way too long, and I can’t do it anymore. First, I owe you an apology. It’s not enough to make up for what I said or how I acted, I know, but”—his eyes flickered, green-gold—“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I was so afraid I’d lose everything just like I did nine years ago that I just clutched.”
She took a shaky breath. “It didn’t take you long to get your head out of your ass,” she said, and God, would she never learn any decorum?
But Cole just laughed. “Yeah, but I never should’ve been so stupid in the first place. You were right. I had to learn to be a little brash in order to do the right thing.”
“You were pretty brash,” she admitted, but Cole just shook his head.
“No more than you. You’d planned to tell Westin what I couldn’t at first, and you requested a transfer so I wouldn’t lose my placement at Eight on top of it.”
Her cheeks prickled. “Well, yeah, but it took me a day to realize that I couldn’t just go telling anyone and everyone about Oz and these fires simply because I wanted to. I knew I needed a plan, and I trusted the chain of command.”
“Looks like we switched roles a little, huh?” he asked, stepping in closer to cup her face. “As long as I’m being fearless, I should probably tell you I’m in love with you.”
Oh. God. “But I’m impetuous, and I make you crazy, and I’m not girly at all, and I steal your T-shirts, and—”
“And I love you,” Cole said. “I love your passion, and you do make me crazy.” His smile flashed with just a hint of wickedness. “I love your ponytail and your tough-girl attitude. And the only thing I love more than you in bunker gear is you in my T-shirts. I love you, Savannah. Whether we’re at this firehouse or home in bed or on the goddamn moon, I wi
ll always have your back. Just like you’ll always have my heart.”
“Oh.” Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t fight them. She wasn’t afraid to let Cole see her, all of her, just as he’d let her see him. “Well, I guess that’ll work out, then, because I love you, too.”
And when Cole reached out to pull her close and lower his mouth to hers, Savannah realized she’d never belonged anywhere so perfectly in her life.
Epilogue
Eight weeks later
Cole stood in front of Station Eight’s engine bay, a fall breeze rustling through the leaves and putting a smile on his face. He and the rest of the guys on squad had just gotten back from some badass water-rescue training, and man, the drills just never got old. His transition had been a little rocky at first, especially since it had gone down only two weeks after Oz had been suspended. But when the lieutenant had been brought up on formal charges, then quickly confessed to his part in a high-level scheme to cover up insurance fraud, everyone on squad had banded together. None of them had known about the gambling debts that had driven Oz to his actions, and Oz had chosen to jam back his problems rather than man up to reality.
Cole wasn’t going to take that path. Ever.
“Hey.” A familiar feminine voice pulled him from his thoughts, sending a huge smile over his face. Savannah sidled up beside him, wearing one of his FFD T-shirts along with her bunker gear, and damn, he was in love with her now more than ever. Even if he wouldn’t show it or say so until 0701 tomorrow morning.
“I thought you might be out here,” she said, her grin telling him his feelings were mutual. “Donovan just got to shooting his mouth off in the locker room, so all of us on engine are going to run the obstacle course. You want to keep time?”
“Sure,” he said. Savannah had fit into his spot on engine perfectly when he’d moved over to squad, and now that Jonesey was officially no longer a candidate, they were running as strong as ever.
“You know”—she paused on their way through the engine bay to grab a pair of sledgehammers—“I believe a couple of months ago, you and I had a wager. If I beat your rookie record through this thing, you’d spring for breakfast. Ring any bells?”
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