He was quiet for a few minutes and I forced myself not to fill up the silence. It was hard, because my way of making people feel better was to give pep talks. But I knew he was choosing his words, so I held my breath and waited.
“Dad was an alcoholic. Severe. He was a good man, but he just couldn’t quite get hold of those demons. And my grandparents were the king and queen of sweeping shit under the rug. Don’t get me wrong, I loved them the way kids should love their grandparents, but when you’re nine, you don’t fully grasp that giant bottles of Jack might not be an appropriate gift when someone’s trying to quit drinking.”
I bit my lip and nodded.
“Grandad was in his eighties, and Gran was pushing eighty herself, when they asked my dad to drive them to some appointment. They never made it. Dad was so wasted, he crossed the freeway median and was hit head-on by a semi. He was dead on impact, but my grandparents were apparently alive. Until a woman in a minivan slammed into them from the side.”
I gasped. “Oh my god.”
“So, I lost my dad and grandparents all in one day, and my mom lost her mind. That was our only family, other than my great-aunt, Trudy, in Savannah. We moved down here when I was twelve and Cat was ten to live with Trudy, but she died when I was seventeen, and by then I was already raising hell. Doom caught me breaking in to one of his dad’s renos and instead of turning me in, he put me to work.”
“Wow,” I breathed out. “He’s a good man.”
“He’s a fuckin’ great man,” Shadow said. “Mom thought the sun shone out of his ass until she lost her battle with breast cancer about six years ago.”
Tears leaked down my face. “You’ve lost everyone?”
“Not everyone,” he said, kissing my temple. “I have Cat. I have you, and I have my brothers.”
I nodded.
“Baby, I’m good. I know this is a sad story, but I do believe everything happens for a reason, and yes, I lost my parents in horrible ways, but I was never alone.”
I shifted and cupped his face. “I think you might be the best human I’ve ever known.”
He chuckled. “Wow, I’ve got you fooled.”
“Thank you for sharing that story with me, Nolan.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, kissing me gently before I settled back between his legs and stared out at the water.
“I never want to leave,” I whispered as he gave me a gentle squeeze.
“We could always sleep here,” Shadow said.
“Alas, I am neither a camper nor a glamper. I have to have a real bed.”
“Let’s get you back to that real bed, then. We’ll come back.”
“Promise?”
“Yeah, baby, promise. We’ll book a weekend.”
I shifted so I was kneeling facing him. “I would love that.”
He stroked the apple of my cheek. “Do you know how beautiful you are?”
“Not as beautiful as you,” I whispered.
He smiled, pulling me forward to kiss him. “Bullshit.”
“Thank you for today, Nolan. It was the best day I’ve ever had.”
“Me too, baby. And you’re welcome.”
I kissed him again, then we headed back to his bike. By the time we crawled into bed, I could barely keep my eyes open, rolling into his side as sleep took me.
* * *
Shadow
My phone buzzing on Posey’s nightstand pulled me out of a dreamless sleep. It was a 9-1-1 text from dispatch, so I called immediately.
“This is Nolan Grant,” I said and rattled off my station numbers.
“Hi, big brother.”
“Hey, Cat, what’s goin’ on?”
“Four-alarm at the Bowery. They need all hands on deck. I’ve called Doom.”
“Shit,” I breathed out. “I’ll be there in ten.”
“I’ll let your captain know.”
I hung up, pulled on my station uniform which I kept with me at all times, then grabbed my keys just as Posey padded out from the bedroom. “What’s going on?”
“Fire, honey, I’ve been called up.”
She pulled me in for a hug. “Be safe.”
“I will. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”
“Okay.”
I headed to the station, kitted up, then a group of us took one of the smaller trucks to the site. Pulling up to the building, the whole thing was forty percent engulfed, so I rushed to my captain for orders.
“Go with Marxx and do a sweep. Start at the penthouse.”
“On it,” I said, and found Doom helping an old woman into a chair on the grass.
“Do not move, ma’am. EMS are on the way.”
“Cap wants us to do a sweep,” I told Doom. “Penthouse first.”
“We’ve cleared the top two floors,” he said, then radioed the captain.
The captain replied, “Start where you left off, over.”
“Roger,” Doom responded, then waved his arm. “Come on.”
I followed him up the stairs to the fifth floor and we began to bang on apartment doors, clearing the upper floors relatively quickly. We reached the second floor and I decided I wanted to check on Posey’s old neighbor just to be sure.
“Got your back, brother,” Doom said, and followed me to Sharon’s door.
Smoke was billowing so we had to make this quick. I banged on the door and bellowed, “Savannah Fire Department, call out.”
I banged again, but no answer.
“She must be out,” Doom said.
My skin crawled and I just couldn’t let it go, so I popped her lock. “Sharon? Fire department, call out.”
“Here!” a tiny voice called, then coughing.
Doom and I moved into the small place now engulfed in smoke, finding Sharon on the floor of her apartment. “We’re gonna get you out,” I yelled, and Doom and I lifted her to her feet.
“I twisted my ankle,” she said. “I can’t walk.”
“Okay, sweetheart, I got you,” I said, lifting her and rushing her down the stairs and out to the ambulance.
“Hey, Shadow,” Marney said.
“Hey, Marn. This is Sharon.” I set the elderly woman on a gurney. “She’s done somethin’ to her ankle and may have smoke inhalation.”
“Thank you,” Sharon said, shakily.
I smiled. “Marney’s gonna take good care of you.”
I left Sharon in good hands, then Doom and I cleared the rest of the building.
* * *
Posey
Once Shadow left, I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I prepped for my class that started at nine. It was early and I was exhausted, but it wasn’t like I could drink a glass of wine to relax me.
As I was scrolling through social media, my phone buzzed, and I saw Jane was calling. Rabbit had removed all the spyware from it, made it so Carl would never be able to find it again, along with destroying the GPS tracker on my car. “Hey, lady.”
“Your building’s on fire.”
“What?”
“The Bowery. It’s totally wrecked.”
That must have been where Shadow was rushing. “Oh my god, seriously?”
“Turn on WJCL,” she ordered, and I grabbed my remote, flipping on the television and changing the channel until I got to the local news. My old building was completely consumed by flames.