Page 87 of Fire Fight

Like a train crashing into a school bus on the tracks, I was as unable to look away as I would’ve been to stop what happened next.

Crew grinned—a full on, terrifying bearing of his teeth—at the deputy.

Then he swung his fist right into the center of the deputy’s face.

“Crew!” I shouted at the same moment blood spurted like a faucet from the deputy’s nose.

“Trey!” Lane yelled as he grabbed the deputy a moment before he could lunge in retaliation.

Trey waded into the fray, hauling Crew backward with hisarms hooked around Crew’s elbows, speaking to him too low for me to make out.

The deputy was belligerent, shouting about arresting Crew, pressing assault charges, and a bunch of other shit I had no doubt Lane would quash as soon as possible.

In the commotion, I hadn’t noticed the ambulance appear until a paramedic approached the deputy where Lane had sat him out of the way, on the top step of Crew’s porch.

“Sutt,” Lane said, surprised. “What’re you doing here?”

“Heard the call over the radio,” the woman said. “Thought I’d come check on everyone. Seems I arrived right in time.”

She turned and raised a brow at Lane, who snorted, giving me the first good look at her face.

Though my memories of that night were hazy at best, her features crystalized and sharpened the longer I stared at her until it finally clicked.

“You were there that night,” I blurted.

I didn’t need to explain which one, and the paramedic nodded.

“Sutton Rausch,” she said in introduction. “Good to see you on your feet, Miss McKay.”

“You can call me Aspen.”

“Well, Aspen, I’m happy to see you mobile.”

“Thank you for your help that night.”

“Just—”

“Doing your job,” I finished for her with an eye roll.

Sutton laughed. “You’ve heard that before, I take it?”

I hooked my thumb in Crew’s direction. “Seems to be his favorite mantra.”

She nodded. “I’ve worked alongside him since he moved home, and you won’t find a firefighter better at their job or a man more protective than him.”

Lane scoffed next to me. “What about me?”

Sutton didn’t look up from where she mopped the blood off the deputy’s face. “It runs in the family, that’s for sure.”

The way she said it didn’t make it sound like a good thing where Lane was concerned.

After cooling down enough to be allowed near people once again, Crew approached and pulled Lane to the side. Wanting to be included, I followed them down the drive and out of earshot of the first responders milling around.

I joined the guys in time to see Lane smack Crew upside the head.

“You’re fucking lucky I’m the sheriff and can bury this, you dipshit. Otherwise I’d have to arrest your ass for assaulting an officer.”

“He had it coming.”