Page 25 of Take a Hike
“If anyone could be arrested for mouthiness, it’d be you.” Fifi pulled out of the parking lot. She must’ve already entered the fire station’s address into the GPS, because a robotic female voice told her to turn left.
“Awe, thanks, Fifi.” Charlie settled back against the seat. “SoI got a glimpse of Cobra’s widow.”
“Yeah?” Fifi glanced at her in the rearview mirror, and Bennett turned to look at her, interest clear on both of their faces.
“She came in to talk to the sheriff. I justhappenedto be in a place where I could overhear a bit of their conversation.” She ignored Fifi’s amused snort. “So, interesting thing—Gabrielle Jones is staying at the compound.”
“Weird.” Fifi frowned as she made another prompted turn. “She’s living with her dead husband’s murderer?”
“Probably.” Charlie didn’t want to assume, but when a militia leader was offed, it seemed likely that one of the other militia folks was involved, especially the brand-new leader. “She was surprised Clint was cleared, and she’d been living there with him. Even when the sheriff told her it’d be safer to move to her brother’s house for now, Gabrielle refused. Apparently, her sister-in-law is a bitch.” Charlie nudged the back of Bennett’s seat with her knee. “You lucked out, B. Think of the nightmare family you could’ve married into.”
“I did, yeah.” Bennett’s words and sweet smile surprised her. Charlie had been teasing, so she’d expected an eye roll, and his sincerity threw her off her game.
“Uh…anyway.” Clearing her throat awkwardly, she returned to the subject at hand as Fifi snickered. “The sheriff didn’t tell her much. Not sure if they don’t really have anything, or if she’s just tight-lipped.”
“Speaking of lips,” Fifi said, “are we going tight or loose?”
“With Kieran?”
“Yeah.” Fifi shot her a warning look. “I know he’s your future fiancé, so think with your brain, not your lady bits.”
Charlie opened her mouth to answer but then shut it again. Her sister knew her too well. “You two better decide then. My lady bits are bossy and won’t be denied.”
Bennett and Fifi had a silent conversation, which Charlie felt was quite the accomplishment since Fifi was driving and could only spare a few brief speaking glances at her husband. Finally, he shrugged in an affirmative way, and Fifi gave him a tight nod. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Charlie repeated. “What does that mean? I don’t speak Finnett. Or Bifi.” She snorted at the latter name amalgam. “Beefy. Heh.”
“Okay, we’re going with loose lips—limitedloose.”
“Excellent.” Charlie grinned. It would’ve been hard to deny Kieran information when his glower was so adorable.
The fire station was small compared to the Langston one, but it was bustling. Busy looking around, Charlie almost crashed into a firefighter.
“Sorry,” she said, giving him an apologetic grin. “I was distracted by all the eye candy around here.”
He just scowled as he skirted around her.
“Oops,” Charlie said to Fifi. “Was that creepy of me to say? Should I go after him to apologize for being harass-y?”
“Nah.” It was Rory’s objectively handsome husband who replied as he joined their small group. “It’s nothing personal. Dane’s just caffeine deprived—we all are.” Ian frowned.
“Haven’t you gotten a new coffee maker yet?” Charlie asked.
“No.” The word came out with a bit of a snap. “Everything’s back-ordered—supply chain issues.”
“Just have people bring their little ones from home,” she suggested.
“Tried that.” Somehow, he even managed to look even grumpier. Apparently, all the firefighters had joined Kieran in the cranky club today. “This building’s old. That many coffee makers overloaded the circuit and melted the insulation on the wiring. Almost started a fire. So until the electrician can update all our wiring, we’re hooked up to the emergency generator just for lights and basic power.”
“A fire…at the fire station?” Charlie bit her lip to hold back an inappropriate snicker and very carefully avoided meeting Fifi’s gaze. Ian’s glare told her he wasn’t in the right mood to appreciate the irony. “At least you have all the fire-putting-out equipment here. Save on diesel, and all that.” One glance at Ian’s face told her that he wasn’t ready to look on the bright side of things, so she scrambled for something inoffensive to say. “Sorry for your coffeemaker loss.”
“And with the coffee shop burned down…” Fifi trailed off with a sympathetic grimace.
“We’re stuck withinstant.” Ian’s voice was heavy with gloom as Charlie gagged vicariously at the thought.
“Ian!” One of the other firefighters roared. “Get over here and help me with this.”
“Be a miracle if we manage to get through this without murdering each other.” Clamping his jaw tightly, Ian stomped off toward his glaring coworker.
