Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

I had been talking to my father only minutes before I found him unresponsive. I went to the kitchen to fix a cup of coffee and when I returned, his mouth was open, and his eyes were closed. I feared the worst. My training kicked in and I got him onto the floo

r, so I could start CPR. I dropped to my knees in the middle of the puddle of coffee I spilled. I had to save him. It had to work. I couldn’t lose my father. Abby called for help while I worked on him. Time was of the essence because every second that passed without oxygen was potentially his last. I frantically worked on him, refusing to give up as Abby sank to the floor and sobbed. His face had a blueish hue and that was a very bad sign. I heard a siren outside and was glad that they responded quick, but they weren’t going to get him to the hospital before it was too late.

“Come on! Don’t die on me, you bastard!” I hit his chest and started the repetitions again.

The paramedics came rushing through the door, and before they could take over, my father gasped for air. He was breathing! He started coughing immediately and I saw his chest moving on it’s on. I sat back and let the paramedics start working on him. They put an oxygen mask on him, checked his vitals and rolled a stretcher into the room. I stood to my feet once he was hoisted onto the stretcher and followed them out the door with Abby right behind me. My father seemed to be responsive, and quite agitated once he realized he was being hauled away on a stretcher. If he still had some fight in him, then he wasn’t as bad off as I originally thought. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but I wouldn’t be able to do that until they got him to the hospital and figured out what was wrong. I feared a heart attack at first, but he was recovering too quickly for that.

“There’s not enough room for both of us in there. You should ride with him.” I motioned to the ambulance. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Okay.” Abby nodded and wiped away a few tears before climbing into the back of the ambulance.

I ran back into the house and grabbed my cell phone, along with my keys. I was still scared as I drove to the hospital. My father was breathing, but that didn’t mean he was completely out of the woods. Something was definitely wrong. Abby met me in the emergency room and we hugged for a moment before we sat down to wait on the doctor. My stomach twisted into a knot as the minutes passed and then those minutes turned into an hour. The adrenaline began to fade from my veins, but the worry remained. That wasn’t going to fade until we had good news—or at least promising news. Abby reached over and took my hand, squeezing it so tight that her nails were digging into my skin.

“He’s going to be okay. He has to be okay.” Her lips trembled as she spoke.

“I don’t know what you see in that man, but he’s too stubborn to die.” I tried to make a joke—anything to alleviate some of her concern.

“I want to believe that.” She nodded, and her lips pursed.

The doctor came out and gave us the news after another hour passed, but it wasn’t as promising as I hoped. My father’s heart had stopped and while it started beating on its own again, they needed to go ahead with the surgery immediately. My father was on his way to the operating room and it would be a couple of hours before they were able to complete the procedure. Nothing he said alleviated the worry because even a simple surgery could go wrong. I realized that I needed to call my sister, but she didn’t answer. I had a voicemail from Kincaid from earlier that morning, but I couldn’t check it. My head was spinning too hard as it was and if something was going on at work, I just couldn’t process that. I wasn’t going anywhere until my father was out of surgery.

“You were working on that Fireball case, right?” Abby looked up at me when I walked back to where she was sitting.

“Yeah.” I nodded and sat down. “He’s in jail now.”

“I—don’t think so.” She held up her phone. “Apparently he just released another letter.”

“What!?” I jumped to my feet and dug my cell phone out of my pocket. “Fuck!”

I listened to Kincaid’s voicemail and it felt like I was melting into the floor as I heard his words. I quickly skimmed the latest article that had only been online for a few minutes and called Kincaid. He answered immediately. I wasn’t able to get a word in as he launched into a diatribe about the police department’s incompetence, Detective Lewis, and Fireball’s threat. When he finally paused for air, I told him about my father. There was silence on the other end of the phone for a second, and then he told me that I needed to stay with my family.

I felt torn, but I knew I couldn’t leave the hospital, especially if my father was in surgery. I didn’t care if it ended up costing me my promotion. I hoped Chief Vance would understand, but I would have to deal with the repercussions if he didn’t. I returned to Abby’s side and she aimlessly scrolled through her phone. She was just looking for a distraction—something to take her mind off what we were both worried about. I wished I could get my head to stop spinning, but I didn’t think seeing news about Fireball was going to do anything but irritate me.

It figures that Detective Lewis would fuck this up. He didn’t give a shit about the case until the mayor was on his ass.

Marissa

Earlier that morning

Rushing to work seemed to be the new normal. It was good that I was no longer Ms. Stone’s secretary because she always wanted me early with her coffee in hand. Was it possible to have a sex hangover? That’s what I felt like I had. It was definitely enhanced by a lack of sleep. Even after a shower, I still felt like I was coated in my own lust and was sure someone would just be able to see that I had been fucked until my legs barely worked. I could still feel Kincaid inside me. My pussy had been fucked so hard it was slightly tingling when I sat down behind my desk and tried to blend in with the rest of the workers. Luckily, Kincaid didn’t spank me hard enough to leave that sore as well. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I dove into my account and made a few safe investments. That was supposed to be the best strategy for a newbie like me. I could take bigger risks once I showed that my investments weren’t going to destroy my client’s entire account over the course of one afternoon.

I have achieved my dream of investing other people’s money while staring at a computer screen all day.

I felt like I had finally arrived, but something was missing. I didn’t see that when I was so focused on getting the job of my dreams. I wanted more than just a job. I didn’t want to end up alone in an office like Ms. Stone. I wanted love—marriage—children. All of those things were possible, but I wasn’t sure how I would get there. Could I turn my relationship with Kincaid and Donovan into all of those things? Would they want those things? I let myself get consumed with lust without really dwelling on the future because that was what I wanted in the moment, but that moment wouldn’t last forever, no matter how good it was. Eventually I would want to settle down, and while I was open with exploring that option with both of my gorgeous firefighters, it certainly wouldn’t be conventional.

I let them claim me, but what if that isn’t enough? I need to sort all of this out in my head, but we also need to discuss what the future holds.

“Hey, did you hear?” Cathy walked up to my desk with a grin on her face.

“Hear what?” I looked up at her.

“Ms. Stone called in sick today! It’s the first time ever!” She was practically trembling with excitement. “We’re thinking about hiring some male strippers and ordering a keg!”

“What, seriously?” I blinked in surprise.

“No, we can’t actually do that.” She giggled under her breath. “But she did call in sick. That’s crazy right? You were her secretary.”

“Yeah, it is.” I nodded in agreement. “I thought the germs were too scared of her to even considering making her sick.”