Page 92 of Living with Fire

We’re both starting to go a little stir crazy. Being locked up in the house, or stuck at the bar, isn’t the best way to start a relationship, but I haven’t felt comfortable enough having her out somewhere that makes her readily available to him. It’s why I’ve decided to ask Liam and Brody to stand watch while I take Savanna on a date so we can both let our guards down and enjoy our time together. I hate that we need to resort to that, but I don’t know what else to do.

I just want this to be over.

I want to be able to take my girl out without feeling like I have to check around every corner or look over my shoulder to see if he’s there. Everyone I know has been put on alert for him, including some cop friends beyond what Captain Bernard called in for us. So far, no one has seen a thing.

After having a taste of what Savanna has gone through the last six months, two weeks of it has been enough to last me a lifetime. Every day that goes by I’m left further in awe of her strength and resilience to keep moving forward. All I want to do is find the asshole and kick his ass into next week and out of our lives.

I glance at my watch as I walk out of the locker room. I’ve got a couple minutes before morning roll call, and I debate going back to check on Savanna, or going straight to the conference room to get myself prepared. I should probably do the latter, but the former seems a lot more enticing.

“Hey man.”

I look up to see Brody heading straight towards me. “Running behind?”

“Caught a good wave,” he grins at me. “Not as behind as Liam, though.”

“Yeah, well, he caught something else last night,” I tell him, rolling my eyes.

Liam was doing as Liam does last night. I watched from behind the bar as he picked up a pretty little blonde that was there with some friends. Savanna got a firsthand account of the way he works his magic, and she couldn’t stop giggling at all the corny lines she imagined he was using.

Brody stops in front of me, stopping me as well, and holds an article of clothing out to me. “Here.”

“What’s this?” I ask, taking it from him.

His head cocks to the side. “Uh, your jacket.”

I’m perplexed as I look at it, then back to him. “I can see that. Why do you have it?”

“Savanna gave it to me,” he responds, looking and sounding as baffled as I feel.

My stomach tightens in a knot. “When?”

Reaching up, Brody scratches his temple, refusing to meet my eyes. “Man, she told me you were looking for it.”

The knot grows into a leaden weight in my gut. Every alarm bell is going off in my head as I ask, urgency in my voice, “Where Brody? Where did you see her?”

“Outside,” he tells me, glancing over his shoulder at the door. “I know I shouldn’t have left her out there, but she said she needed a minute alone.”

I’m running before the last words are out of his mouth, alarms and sirens going off with blaring agony in my head. I was never looking for my jacket. I never said a word about it. I knew where it was all along.

Savanna giving it to Brody was a message. Something is wrong.

I can hear Brody following me, yelling down the hall at Mac to get Captain Bernard as I throw the side door open and spill into the parking lot. I’m just in time to see Liam shoot off like a rocket out of the parking lot, taking a right at the street.

My stomach bottoms out. I know without talking to him he saw something, and he’s going after whatever he saw. I need to follow, but when I reach into my pocket for my keys, I come up empty handed. Fuck. Savanna has them.

Cursing again, I turn towards Brody. “Give me your keys!” I snarl at him.

“What’s going on?” Captain Bernard asks with the commanding authority only a Captain can possess as he and Mac come out the side door.

“He’s got her,” I tell him. “Liam went after them.” I look at Brody again, my hand outstretched. I need to get going if I’m going to catch up. “Give me your fucking keys.”

“Dude, you’re not driving,” Brody says, then looks at the Captain.

I’m about to lose my fucking mind on all of them.

Captain Bernard nods at him. “I’ll handle things here. Go.”

Christ. The last thing I give a shit about is work, but Brody’s right about one thing. I can’t drive. I’m trained to stay calm and collected in high pressure situations, but I’ve realized when it comes to someone you love, all the training in the world can’t prepare you for how you’ll feel, or what you’ll go through.