His Greatest Treasure (Greatest Love #4)

Chapter 14

14

OLIVER

I’m not going to drive by her house.

I’m not. Going. To drive. By. Her. House.

I didn’t demand Adams turn the truck down our street on the way back to the station from a small apartment fire. And I sure as hell am not leaning my cheek against the window so that I can get a closer look.

That would be pathetic. Embarrassing. Total simp behaviour , as Addie would say.

But yet here I am with my squad sending me half-cocked, humoured looks that I ignore while not risking dragging my eyes from the street for even a moment. Just in case I catch a glimpse of Avery and Nova in my yard. Playing in my pool.

The past two days have been non-stop calls with little sleep in between. We got halfway through making lunch yesterday when one came in. By the time we got back to the station, everything was ruined. Stale, cold, and undercooked.

We’ve all been running on fumes, but that’s the normal for us. We love the job, so we suck it up. Seeing the relief and tears in the old woman’s eyes that we saved from her bathroom while her apartment burned to a crisp was more than worth the ruined meal .

Despite the exhaustion and hunger, I made us take a detour. I’ve never been one to get so shaken up on a call that simple before, but I haven’t been able to shake the worry that’s plagued me since busting into that woman’s apartment. The array of children’s toys on the ground had my mind running at three times speed. It was only the woman there, but we didn’t know that at the time.

My mind went to Nova at the sight of the stuffed frog on the couch, and that was that. I’ve never rescued a civilian that fast in my life. But now I’m left on edge, my leg bouncing and heart thrashing with worry. It’s a mix of leftover adrenaline and genuine concern.

It’s unnerving. I know Nova’s okay. It wasn’t her grandmother’s apartment. She wasn’t anywhere close to the building, but that information doesn’t seem to mean shit to my erratic thoughts.

“Since when do we head to your house after calls, Lieutenant?” Adams asks, his deep voice coming through loud in the headphones cupping my ears. “I’ll be tossing you beneath the bus when Captain asks why we took so long.”

I ignore him. My squad is otherwise silent. If I looked back, I’m sure I’d find them dozing in their seats by now, no longer concerned with me.

My throat grows sticky when we come up on my house, the street busy, crowded with kids playing basketball on driveways and dogs barking. It’s after four on a Friday afternoon, the sun shining bright and hot without a cloud in the sky. Those who work normal jobs are either off for the weekend or planning on leaving work as soon as possible.

I’ve watched Avery more than I should. I’m well aware of that and even pissed a bit about it too. But it’s how I knew that she’d be home with Nova right now. It’s a wild hope to think that she’d take me up on my offer for them to use my pool while I’m working, but fuck, for some stupid reason that doesn’t make sense to me, I want them to .

I only bought it to get a rise out of Avery, and now that I have, they should get to reap the benefits of it.

Adams slows the truck a couple of kilometres as we drive by, and I don’t think about how overeager I must look when I turn to face the door and focus on the glimpse of my backyard.

The splashing water and frog floatie cause my heart to stall, only thumping again when I see Avery lounging in the flower tube I blew up for her last night.

She’d probably have punctured it with a knife if she knew I bought it especially for her.

It’s Patel’s voice that cuts through my intense staring, making me slump back in my seat. “Are you renting out your pool or something?”

“If you are, I want a turn. I’ve been stuck inside all summer and could use some fun in the sun,” Hart adds.

“Not renting my pool,” I grunt.

Hart pushes. “Can you?”

“No.”

“He needs a nap and a meal before you can convince him to share shit with you, rookie. Don’t push it,” Adams says.

I need a lot more than a nap, but I keep my mouth shut instead of exposing myself. We might be a big family, but there’s nothing worth mentioning to them right now.

We pass down the street too quickly. Once Adams turns back onto the street that’ll take us straight to the station, I stare at the side mirror, desperate for another glance at Avery and Nova that I never get.

My mood drops even further, but at least my worry is sated. They’re fine. Having fun.

I remind myself of that for the rest of the day.

Shovelling another forkful of piping hot spaghetti past my lips, I ignore the voices around the table in an effort to convince myself I’m sleeping while eating.

I’ve been hunched over the dining table for the past ten minutes, my empty stomach continuing to rage regardless of how quickly I eat. We’ve been call-less since we got back an hour ago. The squad split off half and half, the ones not pulling extra hours off to sleep in their beds while the rest of us prepare for the final hours of our shift.

“Breathe, Bateman,” Captain says gruffly.

I’m half animal as I inhale through the food in my mouth. I swallow before speaking, hearing my mother’s chastising tone in the back of my head.

“I’ll breathe when I’m full.”

“You’ll be dead by then.”

“At least I won’t be hungry,” I mutter before filling my mouth again.

My fork scrapes the edges of the bowl as I twirl the last bit of pasta onto it and stab a chunk of beef. Captain Gallagher shakes his head at me and leans back against the kitchen island with a tablet in his hands.

Half the chairs at the table are full, but it’s quiet. We’re all concerned with eating as fast as we can out of fear of being forced back out with empty stomachs again.

“I’m pretty sure you’d be left hungry in hell, Bateman. I doubt the devil’ll be feeding you caviar,” Adams puts in from his spot across the table.

I fit him with a narrowed gaze. “Who said anything about hell? And I’m not a caviar guy.”

“There’s no way you’re winding up at the pearly gates with your potty mouth. So unless you’ve got a third option . . .” he drones.

Captain keeps his eyes on the tablet but scratches at his silver-streaked beard with one finger. “Just let him eat, Adams. We’ll all be better off then. ”

“You make me sound like an asshole, Captain.”

“One of the nicest I’ve ever known,” he retorts.

“I think that was redundant. Bateman doesn’t need compliments.” Adams finishes off his food and brings his bowl to the sink. “Now, who’s on cleanup?”

“You are,” I say after swallowing my last bite.

Adams looks at Captain with a helpless expression. Cap flashes him a too bad look before meeting my eyes. “Try to get your incident report from the apartment fire on my desk before next call. Only a few more hours to go.”

“Can’t complain about a forty-eight after how long last rotation was. I’d do this shift over any other,” Adams says.

He has a valid point. I’d prefer never to pull another four-day shift.

“Do the dishes, then” are Captain’s last words before he slips from the kitchen.

“Better scrub ’em good. I’ll be checking,” I warn Adams.

“No you won’t.”

“At the risk of another four-day shift? I’d do just about anything to avoid that.”

“Alright, fine. You win. Now, are you going to come out with us tomorrow? You’ve avoided after-shift drinks for a long damn time.”

He plugs the kitchen sink and squirts soap into it before turning on the faucet. With a hip against the counter as the basin fills, he watches me stand and carry my bowl over.

“All I want is to finish and go home to bed, Brent. Drinks don’t appeal to me.”

“This have anything to do with the drive-by today? Or the woman and kid that were in your yard?”

“It’s got to do with how tired I am.”

It’s not the whole truth but not a full lie either. With my stomach full, my exhaustion is that much tougher to ignore. Brent is an important part of our squad and a good friend, but he wants answers to questions I don’t have yet .

I’m not the most open person to begin with, and this bro-to-bro shit he wants to happen right now isn’t my favourite. I deal with it when it comes to my brother and my two closest friends, but they’re different. I’ve never had another choice but to share, and we were doing it since we were old enough to talk in the first place.

Adams raises his hands in surrender before shoving the stack of waiting dishes into the bubbled sink, the water splashing a bit. “Alright. Keep it to yourself for now. But next time?—”

“Won’t be a next time.”

“Good. Don’t flash personal things in front of us if you don’t want us asking about them.”

I stretch my neck, feeling the strain in the muscles. To anyone but my team, I wouldn’t have been flashing anything with that quick drive down my street. Brent only feels that way because he knows where I live, as most of everyone here has been over on the occasional moral building night.

“You won’t even let us know her name?” he asks after a beat, clearly not content with his own words. “Just give me something. If it really was nothing, then say it and mean it.”

I’d tell him to get fucked if I wasn’t already speaking despite my best efforts. “Her name’s Avery.”

“Pretty.” He smirks.

I glare. “Don’t fucking smirk like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you’re thinking about her. Get her out of your head,” I demand.

His laugh is loud and pisses me off. “You got it, Lieutenant. But for the record, I think you’ve got bigger problems than me if you’re acting like this because of a woman.”

“Noted.”

I drop the bowl in the sink and leave him alone to clean the dinner mess, his laugh nipping at my heels the entire way to the bunkroom.

Only once I’m falling into an open bed and closing my eyes do I stop hearing him. Instead, I’m haunted by images of Jell-O, eating pizza on the couch, and two girls filling my yard with more laughter than there’s ever been.