Read Online Up in Flames [The Heroes of Silver Springs 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) by Tonya Ramagos - Free Book Online Page B

insufferable, Jasper.”
    “Keep it up, Zimmer, and your name for me is going to be too long for you to say in one breath. So far, I’m Lieutenant Insufferable Nuisance Ass. Did I miss any of them?”
    You mean like sexy, mind-blowing, sweet, and honorable to name a few? “No, I think you got them all.”
    “Good, because my insufferable nuisance of an ass is going with you into this building.”
    Regina rounded the corner of the structure, her gaze still scanning the perimeter, though she didn’t pick up on anything else that might be evidence. “Don’t you have fires to go fight or a truck to clean or something?”
    “I’ve been ordered to serve as your sniffing dog, seeing as you don’t have one at your disposal at the moment.”
    Regina didn’t want to admit it, but Max did have a sense of smell that rivaled some of the best dogs in the fire service. It might come in handy if she were willing to spend the next hour or more in his company inside the charred remains of the automotive shop.
    Doesn’t sound like you’re getting much of a choice.
    “Great,” she moaned. “Remind me to thank Wolcott for that later.”
    “Oh, I figured you’d be in the firehouse before shift ends to do just that.”

Chapter Three
     
    Regina stopped in front of Max so abruptly he reflexively caught her waist to keep from barreling into her back. She whirled in his hands, her expression livid. If looks could kill, he figured he’d be climbing into his coffin while his soul knocked on the great pearly gates right about now.
    “What the fuck was that supposed to mean?”
    Max blinked at her, struggling to rewind his memory. Damn if he could remember what he’d just said, but whatever the hell it had been, he’d obviously let the pit bull out of her cage again. “What was what supposed to mean?”
    “That little wisecrack about me coming by the firehouse to talk to Wolcott before B-shift ends its rotation.”
    “It wasn’t a wisecrack. It was a statement.” Max dropped his hands from her waist and raked one of them down his face. “C’mon, Zimmer. You know as well as I do you’ll be stopping by the firehouse to fill in the captain on whatever theor—facts,” he quickly corrected himself, “and opinions you come up with after checking out the crime scene. Besides—” He snapped his mouth shut when the shrill of dispatch alarm sounded through his radio.
    “Have fun on your fire call. I’ve got my own job to do.” Regina spun on her heel and stomped away.
    Max wanted to follow her, but took the time to make sure Hazmat 2 wasn’t being toned out before he shot into action. He tossed a salute at the rest of his crew as they loaded up in the trucks, initiated the sirens, and pulled onto the main drag. He found Regina inside the garage, her camera in hand and finger on the trigger as she methodically snapped pictures of the crime scene. His booted foot sloshed in the water covering the concrete floor of the garage and he saw her shoulders stiffen before she shot a look at him that was equal parts irritation and dismay.
    “Shouldn’t you be leaving with the rest of them?”
    “Not unless there’s a second call requesting Hazmat 2 for assistance.”
    She pocketed her camera in her bunker pants, pulled a clipboard from the bag on her shoulder, and kneeled where she stood. “You know, Jasper, Hazmat 2’s assistance is no longer needed here either. You can leave. You should leave. I know good and well you don’t just run calls when there’s a threat of explosive chemicals. You’re B-shift’s lieutenant, too. Don’t you think the firefighters under your command would appreciate if it their lieutenant was there doing his job with them?”
    Max ignored the dig to his ego and rank. He was damn good at being B-shift’s lieutenant. Maybe he didn’t fancy himself as good as his predecessor, but, hell, in his eyes, very few people could live up to the wisdom and skill of the now Battalion Chief Tripp Barrett.
    Rather