by Elle James
Chance and Nash joined her and the sheriff.
“You want to ride back with me, or would you like to ride in the fire truck for a change?” Nash asked.
“I can ride in the truck?” Kate glanced up at the impressively large vehicle.
“You sure can.” Chance helped her and Bacchus up into the seat and slid in next to them. Daniel Flannigan got into the driver’s seat and glanced her way. “Ready?”
“Ready,” she said.
Kate had been in big trucks before, having ridden in a variety of Army vehicles, but never in a bright red fire engine with a couple of hot firefighters on either side.
Her leg ached, and her arm stung, but she couldn’t keep from grinning as she rode through the streets of Hellfire, like a kid on her favorite amusement ride.
When they reached the fire station, Chance was the first down. Bacchus leaped to the ground beside him. Then Chance grabbed Kate around the waist and guided her gently out of the vehicle.
Kate rested her hands on his shoulders to steady herself, laughing as she landed. “That was amazing.”
He smiled into her eyes, his face close enough she could easily have moved closer and kissed him.
His gaze dropped to her lips, and he leaned closer.
“We’ll take care of the truck, if you want to see Kate home,” Daniel called out.
Chance’s head jerked up, and the moment was gone. “Let me get out of this suit, and I’ll see you home,” he said, his voice gruff.
Kate backed away, letting her hands fall to her sides. The day had been hard, but worth every second—and she’d almost kissed a firefighter.
And she might have read too much into his look, but she could’ve sworn he’d almost kissed her.
Chapter 10
Chance hurried to shed his protective suit and scrub the soot off his hands and face. In less than two minutes, he returned to where Kate and Bacchus stood next to Daniel as he explained some of the features of the truck.
As he stopped beside her, he smiled. “I’m still on duty, but I can cut out for a few minutes to take you to your apartment in my truck.”
“What if they get another call?” Kate asked.
“I have my radio. I can be back before they pull the truck out of the bay.” He held up the radio, and then clipped it to his belt.
“I can walk home,” she insisted.
“I’d rather take you.” Chance hooked her elbow and led her toward his truck. “You lost a lot of blood.”
“I didn’t know you had a truck. I thought you rode a motorcycle.”
He smiled. “I have both. It just so happened I couldn’t get the bike started this morning, so I drove the truck.”
“Well, darn. Next time, I’d like a ride on the bike.”
“You’re on—but after the riding lesson on the horse.”
“Deal.”
He helped her into the truck, careful of her injuries, and then climbed into the driver’s seat.
“You were amazing today,” Kate said.
Chance chuckled. “I was about to say the same thing about you.”
All too soon, he pulled into the driveway in front of Lola’s garage apartment.
“You don’t have to walk me up. I know you have to get back to the station, and it’s still light outside.”
The sun was well on its way to the horizon, and the shadows were lengthening, but it remained light outside as Texas was prone to with its clear blue skies.
“Humor me, please. When I bring a woman home, I like to make sure she makes it safely into her place.”
“I’d argue, but then you’d just take longer to get back to the station.” She unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Let me get your door.”
“Again, I’ll refrain from argument. Anything to get you back to work before the entire town burns to the ground,” she teased.
“What are the chances of another fire in Hellfire tonight?”
“I don’t know. How often do you have people blowing up buildings?”
Chance rounded the front of the truck and opened her door. “You have me on that one. I can’t remember the last time anything blew up in Hellfire.” He held out his hand and helped Kate to the ground.
She winced when she put weight on her injured leg.
“Still hurting?” he asked, frowning down at her leg.
“Just got stiff.” She smiled up at him, even if the smile appeared a little strained. “I’ll be fine once I’ve had a shower and I’m in my PJs.”
“You want me to stick around to apply a fresh dressing?”
She shook her head. “You’re on duty. No. I can do it myself. You need to get back to the station.”
“I can have someone else take my shift. All I have to do is call Big Mike. He’d fill in for me in a heartbeat. I’ve picked up his slack many times.”
Kate touched Chance’s arm, sending electric pulses through his entire body. “No. But thanks. It’s nice to know someone is looking out for me.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
She nodded. “I’m glad we’re friends.”
He wished they were so much more. The thought shocked him to his very core. How could he forget what he’d had with Sandy? But the thing was that Kate was there, alive, beautiful and real. She wasn’t a ghost or a memory. She could be the key to Chance getting on with his life.
If he let her.
If she let him.
One step at a time, he reminded himself.
And he took the stairs up to her apartment one step at a time.
“Keys?” he said, holding out his hand.
“I’ve got this,” she said and started toward the door with the key held out in front of her.
Before she could stick the key in the lock, Chance grabbed her hand, his heart stopping for a split second, his breath catching in his throat. “Wait.”
Kate frowned. “Why?”
Chance touched the door with the tip of his finger, and it swung open. The door frame was splintered.
“Stay back,” he said.
“I’m the deputy. You stay back,” Kate said and pulled the weapon from the holster on her belt. Standing to the side of the door, she then nudged the door wider and peeked around the corner into the apartment. “Sweet Jesus,” she whispered.
Chance and Bacchus pushed past her and charged inside.
“Hey, you could get killed that way,” Kate said, following him into what could only be described as a disaster.
Every drawer had been pulled out of the dresser and wardrobe. All of her clothes had been slung across the floor. The bed had been flipped and the mattress ripped, as if someone had taken a knife to the fabric and dragged it from one end to the other. The pillows had been shredded, and the carpet had been pulled up. Chance entered the bathroom where the shower curtain had been torn down, rod and all, and the lid to the toilet tank had been thrown into the bathtub where it had been broken.
“Are you sure another stick of dynamite didn’t go off in here?” Kate whispered.
Bacchus sniffed at around the room and uttered a low growl.
“Even Bacchus is unnerved by this.” Kate wrapped an arm around her middle, her gun still pointed at the room, though it was empty of the person who’d done the damage.
Kate pulled her cellphone out of her back pocket and called dispatch. “Hi, Ava. Kate Bradley here. I need to report a break-in.” She paused. “At my apartment. Lola Engel’s garage apartment on Main Street.”
Once Kate finished her report, she ended the call and stared around at the mess. When she started to reach for a chair that was lying on its side, Chance caught her hand. “Don’t.”
“It’s not going to get cleaned up on its own.”
“Get what you need for tonight. You’re coming with me.”
She frowned. “Where? I don’t have another place to go. This was it.”
“You have two choices. Tonight, you can either stay out at the ranch or at the station, until we can figure out y
our next move.”
“Where will you be?” Kate asked, her voice soft and almost a little lost.
“I can be at the ranch. All I have to do is call Big Mike.” Chance reached for his cellphone.
“Won’t the guys mind if I’m at the station?”
“We have separate rooms to sleep in at the station,” Chance said. “You can have mine. I’ll drag a cot out into the kitchen.”
She shook her head. “Does your room have an extra cot?”
“Any room can have an extra cot,” he said. “We have a stash of army cots in the storeroom, in case we have to have all the volunteers on call for an extended period of time. Or in case we have to turn the station into an emergency shelter for the community.”
“Then I’d like to sleep in your room on the extra cot.” She stared at the mess around her. For a second, her bottom lip trembled. Then she drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Just for the night. I’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”
Chance admired her ability to roll with the punches, but he could tell she was tired, and the shock was setting in. He gathered her into his arms and held her for a long moment without saying a word.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her forehead against his chest. They remained still, not saying a word, just holding each other.
Finally, Chance tipped her chin up and stared into her eyes. “It’s going to be okay.”
Giving him a shaky smile, she nodded. “I know.”
Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and Nash appeared at the door. “Kate? Are you all right?”
Kate stepped out of Chance’s arms and turned a brave smile toward her trainer. “I’m fine. But I can’t say the same for Lola’s apartment.”
“Son of a bitch.” Nash glanced around the room, shaking his head. “Ava notified me as soon as she got the call. Sheriff Olson is on his way. Any idea who might have done this?”
She shook her head. “Not a clue. I haven’t even made my first arrest in Hellfire.”
“What about the ex-boyfriend?” Chance asked.
Kate shrugged. “I don’t even know if he’s out of jail yet.”
“We can find out soon enough.” Nash pressed the button on his radio and asked Ava to put a call out to the police department in San Antonio to get status. “What’s his name?”
“Randy Stewart,” Kate offered.
After Nash ended the call to Ava, he looked around the small apartment. “We’ll process the crime scene, if you want to get out of here and get some rest. You’ve had a pretty rough day.”
Kate started to shake her head, but Chance hooked her elbow with his hand before she could.
Chance placed a hand at the small of her back. “I’m taking her to the station where she can stay the night.”
“Why not take her to the ranch?” Nash asked. “There’s plenty of room. Becket and Kinsey would be happy to make up a room for her.”
“I want to stay in town for now,” Kate said. “Until tomorrow. I’ll figure out what to do then.”
Nash nodded. “Go. I’ll take care of securing the apartment once we’ve dusted for prints.”
“Thanks.” Kate gave him a half-smile. “This isn’t quite how I pictured the end of my first week on the job.”
“It’s not your fault someone decided to ransack your apartment,” Nash said.
Chance scowled. “He must have done it while we were all working the fire and explosions.”
“Do you think the two events were related?” Nash asked.
“Makes me wonder,” Kate said. “But why would anyone want to ransack my place? It’s not like I’ve lived here long enough to accumulate anything, and I didn’t bring much with me.”
“We should talk with Lola,” Chance suggested. “Maybe she stored something of value in the apartment.”
Nash shook his head, frowning. “Why would she keep anything in the garage apartment when she had a big house all to herself?”
“Lola can be eccentric,” Chance said. “We’ll have to ask her.”
Nash shoved a hand through his hair, making it stand on end. “If someone wanted in the apartment, why create a distraction? It was empty for a couple weeks after the fire, and Lola’s been staying a couple blocks away in the back of her store.”
“Doesn’t make sense that someone would go through it now,” Nash said. “You don’t own any expensive jewelry or art collections, do you?” Chance asked Kate.
“None of that,” Kate said. “I barely own much more than the clothes on my back and a couple extra outfits. I left everything in San Antonio for a charity to pick up.”
“Then we have to ask Lola.” Nash held the door open. “I’ll stop by there after the sheriff and I have had a chance to examine what happened here.”
“Thanks,” Kate said.
Chance took her hand in his and led her through the door and out onto the landing. “We’ll be at the fire station if you need to find Kate.”
“I’ll be at work in the morning, like usual.” She gave Nash a crooked grin. “In jeans and a T-shirt, since my uniform was destroyed in the explosion.”
“Do you need to see a doctor?” Nash asked.
“No, I know a medic who can bandage me up, if I need help.” She tipped her head toward Chance. “Good night, Nash. See you in the morning.”
Kate let go of Chance’s hand. He descended the stairs in front of her and turned to take her hand again as she came down off the last step.
She didn’t argue. The shock of being hit by shrapnel, and then finding her home destroyed, had left her reeling.
“Are you going to be okay?” Chance asked as he opened the passenger door to the truck.
Kate’s jaw hardened. She prided herself in being able to handle tough situations. The day had taken its toll, but she wasn’t giving up. “I just need a good night’s sleep, and I’ll be back to normal.”
Chance stood by while she climbed up into the truck, favoring her injured leg. Once Kate was inside, he held the back door for Bacchus to climb in. He closed both doors and rounded the pickup to climb into the driver’s seat.
Two minutes later, they were back at the station.
Many of the volunteers were still there, finishing cleaning up the equipment and stocking the medical kits. Big Mike, Jace, Bones, Beckett and Rider gathered around Chance, Kate and Bacchus.
“We heard about the home invasion,” Beckett said. “We would have come, but Nash radioed back that there was no danger and the space was too small for the whole clan.”
“We’re glad you’ll be staying with us for the night. At least you’ll be safe, surrounded by the crew,” Rider reached out and hugged Kate. “We’re sorry this happened to you.”
“It’s crappy way to welcome someone to town, if you ask me,” Big Mike said and hugged Kate, too. “We already think of you as one of us. And we don’t take kindly to people messing with one of our own.”
Kate’s heart swelled in her chest. “Thanks, guys. This is the first place where I’ve actually felt at home. And it’s all because of you and the folks at the sheriff’s department. I just hate that I’m causing trouble for this quiet little town.”
Becket snorted and pulled Kate into a bear hug. “Don’t believe for a moment that Hellfire is a quiet little town. We’ve had our share of troubles lately. I believe it’s time for our luck to change for the better.”
“Agreed,” Chance, Rider, Nash and Big Mike all said as one.
“Come on, I’ll show you the room I sleep in, and we’ll get a cot set up in there.” He shot a warning glare at the men standing around. “She’s sleeping in my room but not in my bed. I’ll be there for moral support. So, can the raunchy comments.”
Rider, Jace and Big Mike all held up their hands.
“We don’t know what you mean about raunchy comments,” Jace Kelly said. “We’re all perfect little angels, aren’t we?” He backhanded Big Mike in the belly.
The big guy grunted. “Angels,” he said and
coughed at the same time as he muttered, “In a pig’s eye.”
Kate loved the way the men all teased and poked at each other and, when the shit hit the fan, how they had their teammates’ backs. “I just need a place to sleep for the night. I’ll find a place to live tomorrow.”
The men straightened up, wiping the smiles from their faces.
“I’ll bring a cot from the storeroom up to the room.” Big Mike turned and hurried toward a door in the far wall of the bay.
“I’ll get extra linens and a pillow,” Jace said and hurried in another direction.
Daniel joined them, holding his cellphone to his ear. “Lola said she could be here in two shakes. She’s on her way over to the apartment now.”
Kate frowned. “Perhaps I need to be there for her.”
Daniel listened for a moment, and then met Kate’s gaze. “She said not to worry, and that she’s sorry this happened to you.”
“It wasn’t her fault. Somehow, I get the feeling it’s mine.” Kate felt like she’d stirred up some hornet’s nest and set off a chain reaction of some sort, bringing harm to Hellfire. “Someone else did the damage, not her.” Not me.
“Do you need anything to eat or drink?” Daniel asked. “I have some of that lasagna left in the fridge, or I can cook up an omelet.”
“No, thank you. You all have better things to do than wait on me. I’ll try not to get in anyone’s way, and I’ll only stay the one night.” Kate looked to Chance. “What I really need is a shower to get all this grime off me.”
“I’ll show her where the showers are and the fresh towels,” Chance said. He cupped her elbow and steered her toward the doors leading into the living quarters and offices.
Kate’s feet dragged with every step, and her leg and arm ached. All she wanted was a shower and a bed to lie in. Everything would look better in the morning.
Chance stopped in front of a closet and pulled out a towel and wash cloth. Then he guided her to one of the shower rooms and pushed open the door. “Sorry, we don’t have fancy shampoos and conditioners, but there’s body wash and shampoo dispensers in the shower stalls.”