4. Paolo

Silence filledmy office as I leaned back in my chair, propping my boots up on the edge of my desk. Between all the fires going on and having two kids at home, I didn’t experience all that much peace and quiet. It was a miracle that today at the station had been pretty uneventful, and I hoped that I could make it through the rest of this shift without any craziness.

My eyes strayed to the framed family photo on my desk, my chest aching a little at the sight of my late wife, Katie. She was smiling, glowing as brightly as the sun shining in the sky above her. When I took that picture of her, we had no idea that she was about to be diagnosed with the cancer that would end her life a year later. Our kids, who were playing in our backyard behind her, didn’t know that they were about to lose their mom and be left with a grieving, lost single dad.

The years that followed were tough on us all. So many burnt meals, tears, and bittersweet moments. But we made it through together. Now, Elena was fifteen, and Lucas was twelve.

They were growing up too fast, and I was struggling to catch up with everything. All I wanted was a happy family and a safe community, and that meant putting in work every day. But I wouldn’t change what I did or who I loved for anything.

Per usual, my silence was broken by a knock on my door. With a sigh, I swung my boots off my desk.

“Come in,” I called out as I straightened up in my seat.

The door swung open and Cohen walked inside with a glare on his face. Uh oh. I only saw that look on his face for specific things that bothered him. Before I could open my mouth to question him, another person walked into my office, but she wasn’t just any person.

She was the woman who had fainted right in front of my eyes last night.

I rose to my feet as she approached me, my eyes jumping from her head down to the boots she wore. It looked like she was fine, which was a relief. When her eyes rolled back and she fell, I feared something was wrong with her.

“How are you feeling?” I asked her.

At first, her forehead creased as a confused look appeared on her face. After a moment, her eyes widened in realization.

“Oh, right. The nurse said the fire chief brought me to the hospital,” she said. “Thank you for doing that. I’m perfectly fine now.”

I offered her a polite smile and nodded, feeling glad to hear that.

“Good to hear. Did you need something?” I asked as I glanced over at Cohen, who didn’t look as friendly as he typically was to strangers.

Zoe looked over at Cohen, her nose wrinkling a little at him before she turned back to me.

“Yes, I wanted to talk to you. I’m Zoe Collins. I’m a journalist for The Blue Ridge Times, and I’m working on the arson case,” she explained to me as she reached her hand out.

Oh, boy. A journalist. I didn’t particularly have anything against them, but some of them could be trouble. They were professionally nosy.

Some of the more relaxed, newer guys like Matty and Gabe wouldn’t mind her being around. Honestly, they would probably like the attention. Most of the others could go either way, but the one I was concerned about was Cohen. Media people rubbed him the wrong way, and one particularly driven one was among us.

“Paolo Russo,” I introduced myself as we shook hands.

“Russo. Italian?” Zoe asked as she lifted an eyebrow with a smile on her face.

That smile. My heart hammered in my chest at the sight. It kind of reminded me of Katie’s smile. Bright and bold.

I didn’t get a great look at her last night, but now that she was right in front of me in the light, I realized just how beautiful she looked. Her auburn hair streamed down her back in waves, and her green eyes were captivating and curious.

A sudden pang of guilt forced my eyes away. It had been a while since Katie died, but we had been married for years. We shared so much together, and it was hard trying to move forward without her. Especially in a romantic sense.

I hadn’t dated since she passed, and I didn’t know if or when I would.

“Sure am,” I told her. “So, what are you doing here?”

“She wants to collaborate. So she calls it,” Cohen replied as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Zoe’s jaw tensed a little before she breathed in deeply.

“I’d like to work with you and your crew. Basically, I’d stay close to you during calls and gather as much information as I can about the fires while they’re happening instead of coming in afterward. I want to figure out who’s behind this and have them stopped,” she explained.

It was a valiant effort, but it was also dangerous. We worked to get people away from fires, not closer to them.

“Seems a bit risky, don’t you think?” I suggested.

A glint of defiance gleamed in Zoe’s eyes as she crossed her arms.

“I’m not worried about myself. I’m worried about the people of this town who have so much to lose from these fires,” Zoe assured me.

Something about her attitude made fire spark in my chest. She was so determined. So passionate. I couldn’t help but admire that about her, even if she would be a pain to argue with.

“That’s admirable and all, but when we get called to put out fires, we have a specific system that we use to mitigate harm and confusion. Adding you to the mix could throw everything off for everyone,” I explained to her.

“I wouldn’t be getting into the mix. I’ll be on the outskirts doing my own investigation. Out of the way,” Zoe replied.

“I don’t think journalists understand staying out of the way,” Cohen commented, prompting Zoe’s eyes to sharpen.

I flashed Cohen a look of warning. We were already arguing, but I didn’t want things to escalate even more.

“I’m worried you’ll have a reaction like you did last night. If you continue passing out on a fire scene, that takes away one guy fighting the fire to look after you,” I expressed, trying to put out this fire.

A sound that bordered on a cough and a laugh broke from Cohen.

“You obviously cannot handle the intensity of a fire scene. Maybe you should work on another story,” Cohen suggested.

“Are you insinuating I can’t do my job?” Zoe questioned him as they seemed to gravitate closer. “Last night, I was tired from driving for hours, and I hadn’t eaten. It was a one-time incident.”

“Until it becomes a two-time incident,” Cohen replied. “And then three-time. Four-time. Do I need to go on?”

Before I could jump in between the two before they really got scrappy, a voice sounded from the doorway.

“You’re severely underestimating her.”

Everyone turned toward the door of my office as Matty walked inside. He smiled at Zoe in a certain manner. Like he… knew her.

“I can personally vouch for her. I’ve known her since high school, and she’s the smartest, most resourceful person that I know,” Matty said as he stood by Zoe’s side.

“That’s great and all, but we can’t babysit anyone,” Cohen sighed, seeming tired from arguing. He hardly ever got like this. He wasn’t combative with strangers, even when he was trying to look after his crew.

“You wouldn’t be. She can hold her own. I mean, come on. We’re all exhausted from all these fires happening. How much longer can we endure all of this?” Matty pointed out as he looked at me. “You brought me on because you needed extra help. But I think we need even more if we’re going to finally put an end to this.”

I took a deep breath as I let his words soak in. He was young, but he was a smart guy. He spoke the truth about all of us being tired and burned out from all the work that we had been doing lately. We couldn’t do this forever, but this partnership wouldn’t be seamless. We weren’t used to working with journalists.

“You have to follow our lead,” I told Zoe as I turned to her. “If you step out of line or try to go against us, that puts lives at risk. We can’t afford that.”

Zoe immediately nodded, straightening up as she listened to me.

“I’ll follow your lead. No stepping out of line,” she promised. “Thank you.”

I eyed her for another few seconds before nodding. We could give it a try and see what happens. Cohen’s frustration echoed off him in waves, but he would have to deal with it like the rest of us. Something had to give.

“We should probably introduce you to the others who are here. Don’t want them to be caught off guard by our new guest,” I said as I walked toward the door of my office. When I looked up at Zoe, I caught her eyes lingering on me, making my interest spark. Why was she looking at me like that?

But it wasn’t like I hadn’t snuck an intrigued look or two. Her skirt exposed a hint of inner thigh whenever she turned, and her skin looked soft and smooth. I couldn’t help but imagine running my fingers over it.

“Good idea, boss,” Matty quipped, knocking me out of my heated thoughts as he gestured for Zoe to follow us out of my office and to the gym where Tobin, Angus, and Jae were working out during their shift. There was plenty of things to do around here while waiting for our next call and keeping in shape was one of those things.

“I’m going to lie down,” Cohen muttered before slinking off to the dormitory.

I sighed to myself and leaned against the doorway of the gym as Matty took Zoe inside to meet the guys.

“Who is this?” Jae asked as he sat up on the bench, sweat gleaming on his forehead beneath his short black hair.

“Guys, this is Zoe. She’s a journalist from Raleigh who grew up here,” Matty introduced her. I swore he had a starry look in his eyes when he gazed at her. Not that I could blame him.

“Journalist?” Tobin replied as he stood under the pull-up bar with his hands resting on the waist of his blue workout shorts.

Zoe’s eyes swept between the three of them as their focus shifted from their workouts to her. She seemed a bit jarred at first, but she found her grounding and nodded to them with a polite smile on her face.

“I’m here to get to the bottom of all the arson incidents,” she said as she shook everyone’s hands.

“She’ll be accompanying us on calls and working with us to put an end to it all,” I spoke up, not missing the surprised looks on their faces. This was new for all of us.

“Kind of ballsy, huh? You could get hurt,” Angus told her as he moved toward her. He was the largest guy in our crew, but he was also the most compassionate. I suspected that had something to do with his complicated past with the law.

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me, but I can take care of myself,” Zoe assured him. “And I promise not to get in anyone’s way.”

“How do you know her, Matty?” Jae asked as he flipped his workout towel over his bare shoulder.

“We went to high school together,” Matty replied as he shared a warm look with Zoe. He then gestured to Jae. “This is Jae Kim. He’s our driver and one of our super smart engineers. Do not try his ramen unless you want your tongue set on fire.”

“It’s not my fault you have bland taste,” Jae joked with Matty, dealing a light, playful punch against his shoulder that Matty wasn’t fast enough to dodge away from.

“I have normal taste with taste buds that can handle normal heat,” Matty laughed, coaxing an amused look on Zoe’s face. He then gestured to Angus. “Angus Dreyfuss. Our in-house EMT. A literal lifesaver.”

“Heard the chief took my job when it came to you,” Angus told Zoe.

“She just passed out, and I took her to the hospital. No big deal,” I spoke up. I’d worked damn hard to get to where I was now, but the guys could paint me in a brighter light than what I believed to be reality.

“It’s a big deal to me,” Zoe assured me, our eyes meeting. It was quick but intense, and I found myself struck with an odd sense of longing when she looked away to Tobin.

“Tobin Hannah, our arson investigator. I guess you guys will be spending a good amount of time together since you’re trying to play detective,” Matty told Zoe with a cheeky look on his face.

Zoe smirked and shook her head.

“I’m just trying to find truth among the ashes,” she replied before nodding to Tobin. “Arson investigator. That’s pretty cool.”

“I could give you some investigating pointers if you’d like. Investigating fires is a whole different rodeo than investigating anything else,” Tobin offered, having the sturdy, reserved demeanor of his father, who was also a firefighter who passed away years ago that I knew pretty well.

“That’d be amazing,” Zoe said with an eager nod. She glanced around at everyone as her hands joined together in front of her. “I know me being here is a bit of a shock, but I do appreciate you guys letting me do this. We could all really make a difference. I’ll prove to you that I’m serious about it.”

“It’d help to get to know you better,” Jae pointed out. “We often get drinks after work. Why don’t you come with and shoot the shit with us for a little while?”

That was a test. We used it on the new guys to see how well they could assimilate with the rest of the crew. At the end of the day, we had to be as close as a family because we relied on each other for support and safety when things got tough…and blazing hot.

“After the night I had yesterday, a strong drink sounds perfect,” Zoe replied with a light laugh, coaxing small grins or satisfied looks on the others’ faces.

I lifted my eyebrows a little, feeling a bit impressed by her driven demeanor. She was determined to prove herself and keep up with the craziness, but did she truly know what she had gotten herself into?

Whether she was ready or not, she would find out real soon.