Page 1 of Finding Hayes
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. . .
Hayes
I pulledon my boots and glanced out the window to see the snow falling, hiding the grass outside the firehouse, which was covered in a layer of white powder. I was happy to be done with my three-day shift and ready to get out of here and get some sleep. We’d been slammed every day with several medical emergencies due to the cold temperatures. There’d been a bad car accident, and my paramedic training had come in handy when we’d received the call, but thankfully, everyone was going to be all right.
This afternoon, we’d gone over to the elementary school because, of course, I’d volunteered to talk about fire safety for my godson Cutler’s second-grade class. He was my best friend’s son and my boy in every way imaginable, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do for him, even if it meant calling him by his favorite handle, Beefcake, in public.
I was tired and ready to call it a night.
“Hey, Rambo, you heading out?” Beebs asked, as he dropped his backpack onto the bed across from me.
We all had nicknames, aside from Lenny Davis, who was just a dick by nature, and I knew calling him “asshole” wouldn’t fly, so he was the only dude who went by his given name here.
I’d been granted “Rambo” my first year on the job when I’d gone into a fire and came out covered in soot, carrying a three-year-old little girl. The local newspaper had run a story about it with my photo on the front page, saying I looked like Rambo charging out of that fire. The little girl had been okay after a short hospital stay, and the name had stuck because the guys at the firehouse wouldn’t let it go.
I’d hated the attention at the time, but it had been worth it to be able to place that little girl in her mama’s arms.
Priscilla Larson was a thirteen-year-old teenager now, and she still brought me cookies every single year on the anniversary of that fire.
These were the things that I loved about my job.
“Yep. I’m ready to sleep for a week.” I pushed to stand and grabbed my coat. The snow had been coming down hard all day, which meant it was cold as hell outside.
“Yeah, it’s not letting up out there, so drive carefully. I actually walked here, and I stopped in at Whiskey Falls for a quick bite on my way in. The hottest chick I’ve ever seen was in there talking to Ruby. Damn, I was pissed that I had to leave for work,” Beebs said. He’d gotten the nickname because his long hair was styled to swoop across his forehead, and it was no secret that he spent a shit ton of time on it every morning. So, he’d started out as “Bieber,” and somewhere along the way, he became “Beebs.”
“Who was she? A tourist?” I asked, pulling the zipper up on my coat.
“Nope. She said she grew up here. She’s here for Abe’s funeral,” he said, and my hand froze on the zipper.
“Was her name Savannah?”
“Probably to you,” he said, as he barked out a laugh. “But she told me that I could call her Savvy because I think she was feeling the Beebs, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure, she was.” I rolled my eyes. “She must be into that young boy-band look, then.”
Savannah Abbott was in town.
I knew she’d come.
She’d loved Abe Wilson like he was her own grandfather.
But I was surprised to hear that she was hanging out at Whiskey Falls bar, because the few times she’d ever come back to town, she’d only gone to see Abe.
She’d avoided me, or at least it felt that way.
“I’m all man, baby,” Beebs said, as he pounded his chest before turning to see Lenny walk through the door, his face straightening.
“Beebs, get downstairs. We’ve got a meeting in five.” Lenny was the other lieutenant on our crew, and we always worked opposite shifts.
There was no love there.
Long before he’d fucked my fiancée, I hadn’t cared for the dude. He’d always been a whiney little bitch, even back in high school when I was quarterback and he sat on the bench. Instead of working harder to be better, he just complained about the injustice of not getting play time.
Maybe you should suck less, dickhead.
“Yeah, got it. I’ll see you later, Rambo.” Beebs clapped me on the shoulder, and I nodded before making my way toward the door.
