Page 45 of Last Chance Christmas
“With Amelia, in a storage area. I’ll show you.”
Penny showed him to a small room in the middle of the building. Without windows, it was a little dark. Shelves of extinguishers and air tanks lined one wall. Paper products filled another. Della stood alone at a table in the middle of the space, wrapping a children’s board game.
Penny left to find Bryce while Anthony walked in with his case. “I’ve got the fingerprints from the locker. I just need a set from you to compare. You probably have one on file, but couldn’t hurt to do a more recent one.”
Della looked up from her taping. “We can do that here.” She finished her present and set it aside.
Anthony pulled out the ink pad and got to work.
“So…you believe me?” Suspicion laced Della’s words.
He deserved it. He believed she was scared. He believed she had a legitimate reason for that fear. He just wasn’t sure Vaynes was skulking around the firehouse when the man could be hitchhiking to Canada. But he also wanted Della to know he was a good cop. “We want all our bases covered.”
She studied him a beat and nodded. She placed her first finger on the ink pad. Anthony helped to place the print in the corresponding box. The second he touched her smooth skin, a sensation almost like an electrical pulse ran up his arm.
Okay, that was weird. Keep it professional, Thomas.
Her hand was warm, fingers long and slender. It had been a while since he’d held a woman’s hand. Everyone liked to think he had an active dating life, but the truth was, he didn’t want to get that close to a woman. Close enough where she could take what was left of his heart and demolish it. He’d rather keep things light and casual. Safe.
So, better shove aside whatever that reaction was and move on.
He finished taking her prints and closed the kit. “I’m not sure how long it will take to get results.”
“I understand.” A pause. “And thank you for taking this seriously.”
He still wasn’t completely convinced that Vaynes was harassing her. But he’d hate to miss something. Again. And it could be someone else messing with Della. Either way, he had a job to do. He would do it to the best of his ability.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.” He looked her in the eye. This was at least something he could promise and deliver on.
High-pitched alarms sounded. “Rescue 5. Truck 14. Structure fire.”
“That’s us,” Della said. “We’ve got a call.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“You’re coming with us?”
“Your job is to put out the fire. My job is to watch your back.”
“Okay.” She gave him a hint of a smile, the first he’d seen from her—at least, the first one she’d ever directed at him.
And oh man, was it ever enticing.
Six
Della drove the fire truck and pulled up to an old building in the downtown area. At least this was one instance she had control. She was the one behind the wheel. Zoe and Izan sat behind her while Amelia rode up front. Lights from the other emergency vehicles flashed red and blue in the driving rain and sleet. Officer Thomas’s car was probably one of them since he couldn’t ride on the truck.
Izan Collins jumped out. “Let’s stop this fire from taking out the whole block. These buildings down here are old.”
“Hey, Izan, you bringing a date to the Christmas party? I heard you got pretty cozy with Olivia Tazwell during that hostage situation at the church.” Zoe plopped her helmet on and grabbed the tank with her number on it.
Della watched for his reaction as she hiked up her own air tank and tightened the shoulder straps. Even with Izan’s tanned skin, a blush crept through.
“What can I say? Being trapped together makes the heart grow fonder. She finally agreed to go out with me.” He tried to play it off, but that grin, the one that had his dimples popping out in full force, was there. He’d had a thing for Olivia for a long time, but it hadn’t gone anywhere. But something must’ve changed, since the word was they were now officially a couple. “So we’ll be there. How about you ladies?”
Zoe shrugged as she pulled her irons—a Halligan tool and crowbar—out of the truck compartment. “I’ll be at the party with my boys. My husband is still deployed. I hear Kianna is looking for a date.”
Della checked her air tank. “The party is next week. Isn’t she cutting it close?”
