Page 62 of Ashes of Us
"Thanks." He pulled me into a friendly but final hug. "Take care of yourself, Piper. And for what it's worth? That bakery of yours is incredible. Don't let anyone make you forget that. You have something special going on and?—"
He stepped back, eyes narrowing as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and his expression shifted.”
I have to go." He was already moving toward his truck. "They're calling in off-duty."
"Everything okay?"
"Big call. I'll be fine." He gave me one last wave and jogged across the parking lot.
I got in my car and sat there for a moment, processing everything. From the breakup itself, to our conversation. How easy and anticlimactic it all had been.
How relieved I felt.
I started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back toward Main Street and the apartment above my bakery.
Whatever you’re actually looking for, he’d said. I was still thinking of that, already halfway home, when I heard the sirens. Multiple units, overlapping wails that echoed off the buildings. An engine screamed past me going the opposite direction, lights flashing. Then another. Then an ambulance.
I pulled over to let them pass, watching in my rearview mirror as they disappeared toward the east side of town.
Daniel was headed there too. Into whatever was bad enough to call in off-duty crews.
My chest tightened. Was he already on scene? Was he?—
I caught myself.
He wasn't mine to worry about anymore.
I sat there for a moment, hands on the steering wheel, then kept driving.
CHAPTER 25: LIAM
The October air bit through my jacket as I walked to my truck.
Already 20:34, way past end of shift. I'd spent the last hour doing paperwork in my office—incident reports, equipment logs, the administrative bullshit that came with being Captain. Morrison had warned me about this part. "You'll miss being on the ground," he'd said. "But this is the job too."
He was right. I did miss it… but I was good at this too.
Two weeks in, and the crew was starting to trust me. Carlos had clapped my shoulder after the training drill this morning. Jenkins had asked my opinion on updating the ladder protocols. Small victories, but they mattered.
I unlocked my truck and tossed my bag in the passenger seat. Most of the day shift was gone now; only a few cars from the night crew lined the lot. The station was theirs for the next twelve hours.
I pulled out onto the street, turned left toward my apartment. It was Friday night, and most people would be heading out to dinner, to bars, meeting up with friends.
I was going home to leftover pizza and whatever was on Netflix.
Two weeks back in Riverside and I hadn't done anything except work and visit my parents. Hadn't gone to McGinty's with the crew when they'd invited me last week. Hadn't driven past Main Street unless I had to. Hadn't let myself think too much about?—
My radio crackled to life.
"All units, structure fire at 2847 Maple Street. Residential. Heavy smoke and flames reported. Possible entrapment. Multiple agencies responding."
Maple Street, on the east side. Residential neighborhood.
I was off duty, so the night shift would handle it. That's how it worked—you clocked out, you went home, you let the next crew do their job.
My hands tightened on the steering wheel.
Possible entrapment.
