Page 84 of Steel

Violet was right. I needed to talk to Axe and have a heart to heart, but the sense of my betrayal wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. Not right now.

Maybe never.

“Oh, so you know, that fire today was quickly ruled an arson,” he added.

“How did you find out so soon?”

“I ran into the Engine Twelve’s fire chief while getting gas. We were right. The assholes used a crude method to start the fire, but effective. I don’t know what they’re doing, but they need to be stopped.”

“Yeah, they do. They might have sabotaged Violet’s Jeep. But don’t go spreading that around.”

“Ah, shit. No wonder she’s jittery. Remember when we were kids? The worst stunt we pulled was leaving a cow in the principal’s office.”

While we both chuckled, his eyes flashed.

“Remember who had to bail us out of jail?” he continued.

Another exhale and the deep feeling ached. “Yeah, Will.”

“He was none too happy either.”

There would always be some sense of sadness in our lives because of the loss.

We stood quietly for a couple of minutes while the urge to sit him down and talk increased.

“So, Mom called. She mentioned you’re giving Damon your collection of Matchbox cars. Is that true?”

As I lifted my bottle, I studied the little boy. He was the spitting image of his mother in looks and actions, including his vocabulary. “I’m not having kids. Why not? He loves them.”

“That doesn’t sound like the effort of a man who doesn’t care about the girl. It sounds like a guy who’s falling for the girl.”

Huffing, I shook my head. “Not happening.” But everything inside my body, every muscle and nerve ending, every aching bone said otherwise. What kind of spell had this girl put on me?

“Woo-hoo. Our heroes.” Shannon’s voice ringing out over the crowd drew the attention of everyone close. She turned down the music and turned up the volume. When my face appeared, I groaned.

The crowd cheered.

“A freaking nightmare,” I muttered while Violet slowly made her way in my direction. the reporter droning on about how incredible the rescue effort had been. At least I could laugh when Axe was depicted as being my partner in crime.

“You both look good on camera. You are heroes,” Violet said as she moved between us. Damon was with her, the little boy even pointing at one of the screens. “I don’t know what we would have done had you not been there.”

“That’s Steel!” Damon yelled and a couple of guys in the crowd cheered.

When the report flipped to my lovely companion, I did a little shimmy. “Let’s see how you like it, brat.”

While she laughed, she was paying close attention.

“How appropriate our very own smokejumpers saved Ms. Livingston’s life since she’s here on a noble purpose.” One reporter turned to the other.

Violet tensed.

“Noble, huh?” Axe teased.

“You’re right, Amy,” the same reporter continued. Pictures flashed onto the screen that had nothing to do with the rescue. They were photographs of men in weird clothes. Like models.

“What the hell is that?” I chortled.

“Oh, no,” she gasped, obviously shaken.