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Beatrice

I had to chase Lori’s husband out of the room three times already. If he tells me to be gentle one more time, I swear I’ll strangle him. Lori just laughs every time he does.

“Did you know Gage and the Golden Team are Army Special Forces?” she asked, her voice strained but steady.

“Are they?” I glanced at her, wiping my hands on a towel. “I guess he’s just worried about you. The next time you have a contraction, push down. It’s almost time.”

I stepped to the door and shouted, “Gage, it’s time!”

I barely finished speaking before I heard him—taking three steps at a time, I bet. He rushed into the room, his face pale as a sheet. But as soon as he reached Lori’s side, all his nerves seemed to vanish. He took her hand, whispered sweet words against her damp skin. I hoped he meant them. I had seen too much in my years as a firefighter—seen men make promises in moments like this only to walk away later.

“Lori, I can see the head! There’s a lot of blond hair. Ready? Push!”

She gritted her teeth and pushed, her grip on Gage’s hand tightening. Once. Twice. Then, with a final effort, the baby slipped free into my hands. I quickly cleared his mouth, and he let out a furious wail, letting the whole world know he had arrived.

Lori and Gage both laughed, relief and joy shining in their eyes as they heard their son cry for the first time. Gage kissed her forehead, then her lips.

“You have a boy,” I said, smiling as I wrapped the tiny, squirming infant in a blanket. “A beautiful baby boy.”

A noise from the doorway caught my attention. I turned to see my brother standing there, watching me. Daniel. Of course, he was checking on me. My brothers always felt the need to watch over me, as if I couldn’t take care of myself.

Gage jumped to his feet, instinctively on alert, but I just smiled. “It’s a boy,” I told Dan.

“Congratulations,” Dan said, stepping forward. “The ambulance is here. They’ll take over from here—we have to go.”

“Thank you so much for everything,” Lori said, exhaustion and gratitude thick in her voice.

“I’m glad I was here.” I turned to Dan. “This is my brother, Daniel. We’re on duty, so we have to leave. Dan, this is Lori and her husband, Gage.”

We said our goodbyes and headed out.

Dan shook his head as we walked toward the truck. “Bea, we’ve lived here for a week, and you already know everyone. Some guy told me he’d see me at a barbecue on Saturday.”

I smirked. “Kat invited us. Was I supposed to say no? And when Gage showed up, telling me his wife was in labor, was I supposed to shut the door in his face?”

Dan sighed, conceding. “I guess not. So, what’s their story? I heard they all work together.”

“They are former Army Special Forces. Now they run a high-security business—the Golden Team.”

Dan whistled low. “I’ve heard of them. They go all over the world rescuing people. Good to have them as neighbors. I’m surprised one of them didn’t deliver the baby. I thought Special Forces trained as medics.”

I laughed. “I’m sure Lori didn’t want one of them delivering her baby.”

As we walked toward our house, a German shepherd stood on the deck of one of the nearby homes, watching us with sharp, assessing eyes.

“Brutus, stand down,” a deep voice commanded. A man stepped forward, accompanied by another familiar face—Raven Ledger.

“Hi, I’m Lyon Spenser,” the man introduced himself. “And thanks for kicking Gage out of the room a few times. We’re never going to let him live that down.”

I chuckled. “He was driving me crazy.”

“I’m Raven Ledger,” Raven said, shaking Dan’s hand before glancing at me. “Thank you for being there for Lori. She’d never admit she was scared, but I saw it in her eyes. She’s tough—former Army Special Forces—but this was different.”

“Was she?” I said, thinking back. “She was fearless. Gage, on the other hand… not so much.”

We all laughed.

“They’ve been in love for years,” Raven said, shaking his head fondly.

Dan and I continued on our way, both of us smiling.

“Looks like we’ve got some interesting folks for neighbors,” Dan chuckled.

When we got home, Troy was pacing the floor. “What took so long?”

I shrugged. “I delivered a baby. Then our new neighbors introduced themselves.”

Troy’s eyes widened. “You delivered a baby? Who had a baby?”

“Lori Sparrow. She’s former Army Special Forces. Oh, and all of our neighbors? Also former Army Special Forces. Now, they’re the Golden Team. And we’re going to a beach barbecue on Saturday.”

Troy stared at me like I’d just told him we were moving to Mars. “The Golden Team? Wow. They’re famous. It’s good to have them as neighbors.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. My brothers—most of the time, they were like overgrown teenagers. But when it came to work, we were all business.

We loved our jobs. It was in our blood. Our father had been a firefighter, too. A smokejumper. He died doing what he loved.

I was seventeen when he jumped into a wildfire in Arizona and never came back. That was the worst pain I had ever felt.

My oldest brother stayed home with me until I turned eighteen, and then I left for college. But no matter where I went, firefighting called me back.

And now, here we were—starting over in a new place, surrounded by some of the toughest men and women I’d ever met.

Something told me life here was going to be very, very interesting.

I was always going to be a firefighter. It was in my blood. I wanted to be a smokejumper like my dad, but my brothers had a fit at the mere thought of it. They practically staged an intervention. So, I changed my mind.

I started working with them a year ago, and at first, it took them a while to stop treating me like their little sister and start seeing me as one of them. Now, things were different. They knew I could hold my own.

But tonight, my mind drifted to something—or rather, someone—else.

Raven.

Those green eyes had locked onto mine, holding me captive for a heartbeat before he turned away. I didn’t have time for distractions, especially not my hot new neighbor. I had work to do—lives to save.

We got a call about a heart attack victim. These were always the hardest. Some people made it, some didn’t. And the worst part? The families—watching them begging, pleading, praying out loud for their loved one to hold on while I silently did the same. The weight of telling them, I’m sorry, we did everything we could , never got easier.

But this time, she lived.

I whispered a thank-you to God as we loaded back into the truck, heading back to the station.

We had barely returned to the firehouse when another call came in.

A warehouse fire.

We rolled out, arriving on the scene to find two fire trucks already there. Smoke billowed from the building, thick and dark, but the flames were inside. Something about it felt... wrong.

I glanced at my brothers.

“I don’t like this,” I murmured.

Troy, turned to me. “Bea, I don’t want you going inside that warehouse.”

I crossed my arms. “Troy, I don’t want any of us going inside. This fire doesn’t feel right. We should use tools to push the doors open— without standing in front of them.”

“I agree,” Dan said.

And then the explosion ripped through the air.

We ran toward the front, hoses ready, but my stomach twisted into knots as the smoke cleared.

Two firefighters had opened the doors and then the blast went off. And now…

They were gone.

Literally.

My stomach lurched. Pieces of them were everywhere . Blood. Flesh. Uniforms shredded beyond recognition.

Troy grabbed my arm and yanked me back before I could step into the carnage. Around us, everyone stood frozen in shock. Someone started retching. The metallic scent of blood mixed with smoke in the air, and for the first time in a long time, I thought I might be sick, too.

I pulled my radio from my belt with shaking fingers. “Katherine, we’ve got a situation. A bad one.” My voice sounded steadier than I felt. “We’re at the warehouse fire out of town. Two firefighters opened the doors and—” I swallowed hard. “They were blown to pieces.”

A pause. Then, “Who were they?”

“I don’t know. I called you first.”

“Send me the address. I’m on my way.” Katherine O’Neal was our investigator, the best one I’ve ever known.

I barely nodded before I heard another round of vomiting behind me. This wasn’t just another tragic call.

This was murder.

“This is a homicide,” Captain Larry Morris said, wiping his face with the back of his glove. His voice was hoarse with emotion. “We need to back the hell away. This is a crime scene now. The warehouse can fucking burn down for all I care.”

His words hit hard.

Someone wanted this to happen. Someone set this up .

“We had a bad feeling about this one,” Troy muttered.

“I told them to stay away from the doors,” Captain Morris whispered, his voice breaking. “I told them.”

I turned to another firefighter. “Who were they?”

Leon’s face was pale. “Donny and Robert.” He swallowed hard. “Captain told everyone to stay back. I don’t think they heard him… or they would have listened.” He clenched his jaw. “That means someone out there wants to kill firefighters.”

I froze, scanning the shadows beyond the burning building.

“If this was intentional,” I murmured, “then they were watching.”

He stiffened beside me. “Yeah.” He slowly lifted his head, eyes scanning the darkness.

“That bastard is watching us right now .”