Carter's Flame

by Tiffany Patterson

  A searing heat rose in my chest at the mere mention of her name. It’d been a week since the night I’d left her apartment. I hadn’t called or reached out since because I was still sorting through my own shit. I knew it was deeper than her fear of my job. I just had no idea what it was because she refused to tell me. Hell, maybe it was exactly what she’d said. I did have a dangerous job. It couldn’t have been easy to watch me dangling thirty stories high on the local news. But I’d learned to trust my instincts in the army and my instincts were telling me this had nothing to do with my job. The only problem was, the love I felt for Michelle and Diego clouded my instincts.

  “First the fuck of all,” I growled standing and turning to Don. “Don’t ever mention her fucking name again. She’s none of your goddamned business!”

  “What about Rescue Four? Is that my business? Because your ass has been out of it the last week. That job at the apartment yesterday? You were slow and held us up.”

  Rage. Pure rage filled me. Next thing I knew I was in Don’s face, shoving him, hard. “You trying to say I can’t do my goddamned job?”

  “Fuck yeah, that’s what I’m saying, you pussywhipped motherfucker!”

  Everything went red after the first swing. I don’t remember how many blows I landed or how many Don landed. The next thing I could recall was Eric, Sean, and Corey, yelling and getting in between Don and myself. I blinked a few times, and saw Eric’s concerned face in mine.

  “Let’s take a walk, man.” He patted me on the back, urging me out of the room.

  I took one last glaring look at Don and turned with Eric. We left out of the room, passing through the TV and main room of the fire station until we were out back. As soon as we cleared the last step, I felt a shove at my back.

  “The hell was all of that about?”

  I turned to a pissed off looking Eric. I knew I fucked up but I hadn’t cared.

  “Sorry, man. Don is fucking frustrating sometimes.” I ran my hand through my shortly-cropped hair and down the back of my neck.

  “Don’s a jackass but he’s Don. And he’s under a lot of pressure right now, too.”

  I squinted at Eric.

  “There was another apartment fire. Another family trapped inside. Little girl died,” he stated.

  I slow blinked my eyes closed. I knew about that fire, though I had been off when that particular call came in. “He thinks this is connected to the other apartment fires?”

  Eric nodded. “But the brass doesn’t think so.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah. He’s taking it hard, too. But back to you.”

  I looked over at Eric.

  “Don’s not the only one who’s received the brunt of your ire this week. What’s going on? Is it Michelle?” Eric peered at me, contemplatively, as if he was assessing me. Trying to discern whether I’d react to him the same way I’d reacted to Don for mentioning Michelle’s name.

  I rubbed my chest. Just hearing her name sent a throb through my heart.

  “I miss her and Diego.”

  “Diego?”

  “Her six-year-old son.”

  Eric nodded, understanding coming over his face.

  “I felt crazy as hell, too, when I fell for Angel. All I knew was that I wanted her. She was a part of me and there wasn’t anyone that was going to stand in the way of that.”

  I inhaled, taking his words in.

  “What if she’s the one standing in the way?”

  “Same thing we do on the job. Figure out whatever the blockade is and obliterate it.”

  I grunted. “Fucking tough guy.”

  “Got to be. I work with the best of the best.” He clapped me on the back and I nodded, receiving the compliment.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “For what?” he questioned, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

  I just chuckled. I worked with a bunch of tough guys. We’d never considered ourselves emotional or sentimental, but apparently that shit changed when you fell in love.

  “Hey,” I called as we entered the hallway, to a passing Don.

  Sean and Eric passed both of us, letting us have some privacy.

  I inhaled deeply and pushed out a breath. “That was uncalled for. My behavior. I’m sorry.”

  Don stared at me, taking a long while to respond. For a second I thought he wasn’t going to respond, or worse, he’d want to continue where we’d left off now that we were alone again. I had no problem going toe-to-toe again if that’s what he wanted but I hoped he wouldn’t.

  “Sorry ass bastard,” he growled, while raising his hand for a handshake.

  I grinned, taking his hand, and he pulled me in for a brief hug.

  “I really would’ve hated to have to kick your pretty boy ass all over this station anyway.”

  “In your fucking dreams, Donnie. Your mother wouldn’t even be able to recognize your already ugly mug once I was done with you.”

  We both laughed, talking shit to one another.

  “Don, Carter, out here. Students are coming.”

  My eyebrow peaked. “Students?” I asked Captain Waverly, who’d just called to us from the kitchen.

  “The second grade class from Excelor Academy,” Captain replied.

  “You fucking forgot, didn’t you? We talked about it last week how the kids from that preppy ass school you attended were coming this week,” Don reiterated.

  “Damn.” I had forgotten. My mind had otherwise been occupied and caught up in a haze of my own heartbreak.

  “Let’s go,” Don stated, slapping the back of his hand to my chest.

  I followed him down the hall through the main lobby and out to the garage where two of our firetrucks sat. In between the trucks were a group of twenty something children who appeared to be no older than six or seven years of age. I glanced over the children, the ache in my heart growing until my eyes landed on a familiar face. As soon as he saw me, his eyes lit up and a millisecond later he was barreling toward me.

  “Mr. Carter!” Diego yelled, shocking his classmates and their teachers.

  Instinctively, my knees bent into a squat and my arms went wide to receive him. As soon as I encircled his body, I stood, picking him up with me. He smelled like the baby powder his mother still used on him every morning. His skinny arms wrapped tightly around my neck. Once I’d gotten my fill of the hug, I pulled back slightly to stare at him.

  “I missed you,” he blurted out.

  “Not anymore than I missed you, little guy.” It was the honest to God truth.

  “Mama said you were busy working and couldn’t come by to see us anymore or call.” The sadness in his voice spilled over into his eyes.

  A surge of anger and sorrow filled me. Michelle must’ve made up the lie to explain my absence to Diego. That pissed me off more than I’d already been.

  “Did she now? Well, we get to see each other now, right?”

  “Yup!” He happily nodded. “I’m with my class and Mrs. Gerber’s class, too. They said we were going to visit some firefighters but I didn’t know it was your station.”

  “Lucky for you, it was, huh?” Reluctantly, I bent low to place Diego on the ground, but as soon as I did, he grabbed tightly onto my hand, as if letting me know he wasn’t going to let me get too far. I was just fine with that. We stood like that, his hand in mine, as Captain Waverly made the introductions between the students, teachers, and the present members of our squad.

  All of the children looked so amazed when they got to try on one of our helmets and sit in the back of one of our trucks. We showed them around the station, turned on the siren for them, and even let them slide down the pole from the second floor to the first. They asked tons of questions when it was Eric’s turn to present the safety lesson. He showed the kids how to dial 911 in the case of an emergency or fire, and what to do if their clothing caught on fire. They laughed and giggled uproariously while doing demos of the stop, drop, and roll practice. That and the pole slide were the only portions of the presentat
ion that Diego hesitated on since it required that he let my hand go. Only when I reassured him that I wasn’t going anywhere did he release my hand and participate with the rest of his class.

  The two hours they were with us went by much too quickly. My stomach filled with regret when the Captain began giving his thank you for coming speech because it obviously meant they were leaving soon. Which meant Diego would be leaving.

  “Mr. Carter,” Diego whispered, breaking into my thoughts.

  I looked down and saw concern-filled eyes. “What’s up, little guy?” I questioned, stooping low to get on his level.

  “I need to tell you something,” he whispered, his gaze darting back and forth.

  I squinted, and stood, looking around. I took Diego by the hand and brought him to the kitchen so we had a little bit of privacy.

  “You can tell me,” I reassured.

  “It’s Mama,” he said in a low tone, his eyes hitting the floor.

  “What’s wrong with your mom?” I did my best to control my voice. The nervousness I felt began to constrict around the muscle at the center of my chest. Everything from possible sickness to losing her job, to some other harm coming to her ran through my mind in the span of a few seconds.

  “It’s my dad.”

  “What about him?” I prodded.

  Diego nodded. “He took me from school last week. I didn’t want to go because he said he was gonna take me to live with him if my mama kept being mean to him.”

  I wrinkled my forehead, trying to make sense of what Diego was saying.

  “Your mama was being mean to him?”

  Diego shook his head. “That’s what he said, but he was yelling at my mama. In his office. He saw a picture of us with Mr. Tyler at the football stadium and he told my mama to stop seeing you.”

  My eyes widened but I bit my tongue to prevent the curse that tried to escape. I didn’t want to scare Diego with my rage.

  “How do you know all of this, Diego?” I had to be positive that he was sure of what he was talking about. Despite my love for this kid, I had to remember he was still a six-year-old child with a possible overactive imagination.

  “I heard them. In his office. I was wearing headphones so they didn’t think I could hear but I turned my game off. Right after he said it, my mama called you and said she couldn’t see you anymore.”

  I gripped Diego’s arms but lowered my head as a bitterness I’d never felt before ripped through my chest. Somebody was going to lose their life. But I had to tamp down on that emotion for now, in front of my little guy.

  “Diego, can you tell me your father’s name?” I asked, slowly, measuring each word.

  He looked up, eyes rolling upwards as he pondered. “Um, I think it’s Gabriel and Garcia, like my last name.”

  “Gabriel Garcia,” I repeated in a low voice, committing the name to memory. I took another breath and pulled Diego into me again for another hug. “Thank you, Diego. We have to get you back to your class.” I didn’t want to turn him over to his teachers but I had no choice. The students needed to get back to school and now, I obviously had a someone I needed to conduct a thorough background search on.

  As soon as the students piled back onto their bus, I pulled my cell phone out of my pants pocket. I could’ve taken what Diego told me to Michelle to confront her about it, but that’s not how I operated. If this Gabriel Garcia was the blockade that stood in between Michelle and I, then he needed to be removed. Just as Eric had said earlier.

  ~ Chapter Nineteen ~

  Michelle

  “God, I do not want to go in here,” I whispered under my breath. I stood outside of the hotel where the Williams & Brodsky banquet was being held. It was an hour before the guests were due to arrive. I needed to be there to ensure setup was going well. Nancy was scheduled to arrive a little later on, though she wouldn’t be staying the whole evening. This event rested entirely on my shoulders, and that knowledge made me sick to my stomach.

  Let’s get this over with, I told myself, picking up my feet and placing one in front of the other until I made it through the doors to the hotel’s lobby. I went straight for the banquet hall where the event was to be held. I entered and my breath hitched. Despite my hating the occasion of this event, I will admit that the setup looked beautiful. The room lighting had been lowered, and overhead, the hotel had strung a series of lights. It gave the room an intimate feel without it being too dark. Across the room circular tables were covered in red tablecloths with beautiful bouquets of red roses in gold vases as the centerpieces. The long-back chairs were covered in white chair covers, with a red stripe running down the centers. At the front, a podium had been set up for the speakers that would give speeches throughout the night.

  “Oh good, you’re here.”

  I turned to the now familiar voice and smiled, greeting Ariel, the hotel’s assistant manager.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s gorgeous. Exactly what I’d envisioned.”

  She let out a sigh of relief. “Good.”

  “We need to go over the security detail, and the itinerary one more time. I want to make sure everything is on schedule tonight.”

  She nodded. “Right.”

  We got to work reviewing the schedule. I even went into the hotel’s kitchen to talk with the head chef for the evening to ensure he had enough hors d'oeuvres, main dish options, and desserts. This night had to go off smoothly, because I had no doubt that Gabriel would blame me if it didn’t, and with his irrational behavior I had no idea how he’d respond. Ever since that day in his office, he had been calling day and night. Sometimes he would say he was calling to check up on how the event was going. But I knew that was bullshit since most of the time he was calling well after nine o’clock at night. He was checking up to make sure I was following his orders. Making sure that I was keeping my distance from Carter.

  And there went that pang of guilt, anger, and pain I felt in my abdomen whenever I thought about Carter. I don’t know what hurt worse ― remembering the expression on his face when he left my door that night, or realizing that, that had actually been the last time I’d heard from him. He hadn’t made any attempt at contacting me since. And while I should’ve been grateful, it hurt like the hell to think that maybe he really had given up on me. On us.

  “Michelle.”

  I cringed at the sound of my name on Gabriel’s lips. I turned and another bout of guilt ran through my belly. Standing next to Gabriel was his wife, Marcia. Her green eyes wrinkled at the edges as she smiled, graciously.

  “Please meet my wife, Marcia. Sweetie,” Gabriel turned to his wife, “this is the wonderful event planner I told you about. She put this event together for Williams & Brodsky. With my help of course,” he added, confidently, tugging at the lapel of his tuxedo.

  Marcia’s smile widened and I just wanted the ground to swallow me whole.

  “Pleasure to meet you. It certainly is lovely in here,” she stated, looking around.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Garcia. Nothing but the best for our clients at Save the Date Event Planners. If you’ll excuse me.” I nodded before glancing over at Gabriel who was giving me a smirking look. My stomach roiled and I quickly pivoted to head toward the entrance to ensure that those entering were being directed to the right direction.

  “Hey, girl.” Natoi waved once I reached the front door of the hotel. She was just one of the other employees who were also working this event with me.

  “Hey, can you do me a favor? Take one of the walkie-talkies and just check inside the banquet hall and make sure everyone is getting to their tables.”

  “I thought you wanted me out here?” She tilted her head, giving me a funny look.

  I had just asked her to stand out here to greet the guests and direct them to the banquet room, but I’d changed my mind. I did not want to be in the same room as Gabriel and his wife. I needed to be as far from them as possible.

  “I changed my mind,” I told her.

  She furro
wed her brows but when I didn’t respond any further, she shrugged and went inside the hotel to do as asked. I pushed out a breath, but as soon as I lifted my head my eyes crashed into a pair of glowering hazel eyes. Shock ricocheted through my body as I recognized Aaron. My heart began to flutter as I panicked, wondering if he was alone or if he was accompanied by his family. I’d forgotten that there was a listing for Townsend Industries on the invitee list. I hadn’t thought the actual CEO would show up but he had.

  Aaron’s eyes narrowed upon recognition. Strangely enough, I didn’t take any offense to it. This had been the third or fourth time we’d met and I realized by then that glaring was his everyday expression. He looked at just about everyone the same way. He tilted his head in my direction but didn’t speak as he passed by, a woman at his side.

  I watched as he let his hand rest at the lower part of her back, but his profile was still a hard mask. The woman, on the other hand, seemed to gaze up at him with stars in her eyes. She said something and giggled, loudly. I briefly wondered if she was the woman his mother had alluded to him falling for on Family Day. For his part, Aaron’s face tightened. He leaned down, saying something only low enough for the long-haired brunette to hear and immediately her disposition changed. Her giggling ceased and she stood erect as they passed through the doors. I wasn’t even going to try and figure out what that was all about. I almost felt sorry for the woman. Aaron wasn’t my particular idea of a fun date. His brother, on the other hand–

  I wouldn’t let myself even go there. I had a job to do and then I could go home and feel sorry for myself.

  I smoothed down the edges of my plain black dress, which stopped just above my knees, and focused on welcoming the incoming guests. Once it reached seven o’clock, I went inside to make sure all the guests were seated and preparing for the food to be served. During the dinner, there were a series of speakers from the law firm who discussed the early days of the firm, and the good work the firm had been doing not only for its clients but in the communities of Williamsport. It all sounded like a bunch of upper echelon guys congratulating themselves for doling out pennies to those who were less off. Either that or I was just feeling skeptical and bitter once I heard Gabriel discussing the great pro bono work he’d done during his tenure at the firm. I rolled my eyes and went to make my way to the restroom. I did not need to be present for that part of the evening.