Page 38 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters

He cuts her off and leans in. “Olivia, you’re not alone anymore. Whatever you’re carrying on your shoulders, you don’t have to do it alone.”

“Dax, he’s dangerous. You don’t want anything to do with that man. Honestly, I’m still working through everything—” She stops herself, shaking her head and the memories away. “What matters is that it’s over, that I got out.”

“Did you?” I ask. “Get out, that is, or did you just run away?”

“Isn’t it the same thing?” she replies, looking somewhat confused.

Leo takes a long sip of his coffee. “The past has an ugly way of catching up to you if you don’t resolve it. Running away from someone or from a bad situation doesn’t imply a resolution.”

“He doesn’t know where I am,” Olivia insists.

And it’s there, in that handful of words, that I find a clearer picture. It makes me angry because I know I’ll find more beneath the surface. I didn’t want to believe it, but I see it now. Omission of the truth isn’t exactly lying, but it’s not too far from it either. Olivia has been keeping dark secrets, and she’s been living in fear.

“I knew there was something off about you,” Leo says. He sounds downright disappointed.

“Hold on,” I tell him. “I’m sure she had her reasons.”

“See, this is why it’s best to leave the past alone.” Olivia gets up, anxiety shadowing her features. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

There’s a knock at the door. Needing to diffuse some of the tension, I get up to answer it, surprised at who’s standing on the other side.

“Carlos? What are you doing here?” I ask the police officer. He’s also our close friend, but the uniform tells me he’s on duty, and the paper he’s holding in his hand looks official.

“What areyoudoing here?” he replies with a furrowed brow.

“Having coffee with the guys and Olivia.”

“Olivia Fairchild, right?”

“Yes.”

“What’s going on?” Dax joins me at the door.

Leo and Olivia follow, but the look on her face tells me she’s got a better clue about it than any of us.

“Olivia?” I question, but she can’t speak.

“Olivia Fairchild, this is a warrant for your arrest issued by the Devon Police Department,” Carlos announces as he takes out his cuffs and comes into the house.

“Whoa, whoa, hold on there, buddy.” I try to stop him, but he shoves the warrant in my face and moves past me.

“I’m sorry, fellas. The law’s the law.”

“Carlos, give us a moment,” Dax says, trying to intervene. “What is going on here?”

“We got a tip that we had a fugitive in our midst,” Carlos says as he slaps the cuffs on Olivia’s trembling wrists. “Olivia here is wanted by the sheriff and the Devon PD for fraud and embezzlement, among other things. Charges were filed earlier last month in her absence. An arrest warrant was issued, a BOLO sent out, and here we are.”

“Damn it, man, you can’t just walk into her house like this.”

Leo is quiet, watching everything unfold with a stern expression.

“Let’s talk about this,” Dax says. “Carlos, come on, we’re friends. Give us that courtesy.”

He ignores us and begins to read Olivia her rights, which she listens to with a look of resignation. “Do you understandthese rights as I have explained them to you?” Carlos asks her.

She nods slowly. “Yes.”

“Carlos,” I plead in exasperation.