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"Listen. About what happened on stage. I know you said not to worry about it. But I do. If there's any way I can make it up to you. Anything at all."

She just looked at me for a second. Then she laughed.

"You don't have to think too much of it." She pulled out her phone. "Here. Why don't you give me your number and if I need anything, I'll call in a favor?"

I looked at her, trying to figure out if she was serious, but she didn't budge.

"Alright." I gave her my number. She typed it in and rang me.

"Now you have mine," she said. "If I need help with anything, I'll ring you."

CHAPTER 6

Protocol Violation

ALEX

"One medical call. No apparatus issues. Nothing carrying over."

Abbott had a coffee in front of him that he hadn't touched. Outgoing captain briefs incoming captain, face to face, every shift change. He gave me the overnight in under ninety seconds.

"SCBA bottles?"

"Full."

"The generator was running rough last week."

"Ran fine."

I pulled the shift log across the desk and started writing.

"Anything else?"

He stood up. "Station's yours, Holloway."

He was through the door before I'd finished writing down what he'd told me.

The man looked tired. He usually straightened up for the handoff, squared his shoulders, handed the station over like it meant something. Today he'd just left.

I walked the rig myself. The generator ran, but rough. Abbott's "fine" and mine were different words. I pulled each tool to confirm it was seated.

Tanner was leaning against the engine when I got to the rig. "Checking the bottles?"

"Every time."

"They're full. I filled them myself last night." He watched me check them anyway. "When you cover our shifts, nobody rechecks the rig the next day."

I pulled the next SCBA mask from the compartment and checked the seal.

We'd worked the same rotation for two years before I made captain. He was the one who showed up early back then, same as me, and we'd run apparatus checks together before the rest of the crew dragged in.

I closed the last compartment and stood up.

Tanner pushed off the engine. "Good to see you, Holloway. Next time Abbott calls out, we're all hoping you pick it up."

The crew gathered in the kitchen for the morning briefing. I ran through assignments, reviewed the call log from the overnight, and went over the week's schedule.

"Department drug testing is on the calendar for the twenty-third. Standard rotation."