Flatline: Emergency Love Series, #1

By Lexy Timms and Autumn Gaze

Remember the call…

 

I was used to doing things alone, just me and my trusty dog, Duke. We were a solo team ever since my partner retired and I transferred over to the K-9 unit. Duke was the best police officer I'd ever worked with, and the only male I needed in my life. That was until Travis Cooper, beefcake firefighter, caught a job I'm looking into.

 

He was first on the scene of a major arson, and because we each had a unique set of skills, the brass thought it would be a good idea for us to work together. I'll never forget the first time he looked into my eyes and said, "You're in over your head, girl scout."

 

That's when I knew the gloves were coming off. I was going to give Travis a whole lot more than he bargained for, starting by knocking him down a few pegs.

 

Emergency Love Series

• Flatline
• Backdraft
• Overtime

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dark Shadow Publishing
• Release date: Mar 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215152621

Lexy Timms

"Love should be something that lasts forever, not is lost forever."  Visit USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR, LEXY TIMMS https://www.facebook.com/SavingForever *Please feel free to connect with me and share your comments. I love connecting with my readers.* Sign up for news and updates and freebies - I like spoiling my readers! http://eepurl.com/9i0vD website: www.lexytimms.com Dealing in Antique Jewelry and hanging out with her awesome hubby and three kids, Lexy Timms loves writing in her free time.  MANAGING THE BOSSES is a bestselling 10-part series dipping into the lives of Alex Reid and Jamie Connors. Can a secretary really fall for her billionaire boss?

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Emergency Love Series

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Flatline

Backdraft

Overtime

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Flatline Blurb

Remember the call...

I was used to doing things alone, just me and my trusty dog, Duke. We were a solo team ever since my partner retired and I transferred over to the K-9 unit. Duke was the best police officer I’d ever worked with, and the only male I needed in my life. That was until Travis Cooper, beefcake firefighter, caught a job I’m looking into.

He was first on the scene of a major arson, and because we each had a unique set of skills, the brass thought it would be a good idea for us to work together. I’ll never forget the first time he looked into my eyes and said, You’re in over your head, girl scout.

That’s when I knew the gloves were coming off. I was going to give Travis a whole lot more than he bargained for, starting by knocking him down a few pegs.

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Contents

Emergency Love Series

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Flatline Blurb

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Emergency Love Series

Department of Defense

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Chapter 1

Travis

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The stud on the front cover of the calendar stared down at his hose, his chest bare and glistening in the morning light. A ripple of muscle flowed from his shoulders to his abdomen, proving that the guy, whoever he was, took care of himself. The helmet that covered his eyes was placed at an angle just so. It was almost as if the photographer wanted to obscure the man’s identity. But I knew who he was.

Hell, everyone in the ladder company knew who it was.

Hot momma! Elliot said, licking his finger and touching the model’s chest. Damn! He acted as if the cover photo burned him, snatching his hand away and waving it in the air.

Shut up, I growled.

I should have known posing for those pictures was a bad idea. The chief had gotten us all into it; it was his fault.

Come on, it’s for charity, he said.

No thanks, I grumbled, tossing my stuff in my locker.

I’ll give you half a day off, the chief urged.

Why me? I demanded.

Cause you’re young, and we need the good press, he responded. Now get to it.

I muttered a couple choice phrases as soon as I was alone but reluctantly agreed to pose for some semi-nude fireman’s calendar shots. I drew the line at taking my pants off, but when the perky young photographer asked me to remove my shirt, I went along with it. I should have walked off the moment it turned glamorous. If I knew they were going to put me on the cover, I definitely would have turned them down.

Hey, there he is, Mr. Heartthrob, Pat called out, waving his own copy of the thing.

Shut the F up, I swore. What, did you run out and get man calendars for everyone?

Patrick laughed, not at all fazed by my grumpy attitude. Easy, bro, they sent a few copies to the station house as a thank you.

I knew that. I’d seen a stack of them outside the chief’s office, available for anyone to take. I just wanted to give Patrick a hard time since he was doing the same for me. It was bad enough being on the cover, I didn’t want anyone to think I was pleased about it. Because I wasn’t.

Check out July, Elliot said, flipping the pages to his own image.

I glanced down and saw that he was equally objectified, leaning up against the brick wall outside the station house, looking like some kind of modern-day cowboy. One knee was bent so you could see his massive fire-retardant boots. One hand was draped over his fly, as if he was a gunslinger resting his thumbs under his belt.

Just like in my photo, they’d positioned his helmet to obscure his face. It was all about the body shot. Apparently, we weren’t supposed to be real people. Just hot firefighters. It bothered me, but I didn’t want to get all girly about it. The quicker we could put these things down and get back to real work, the better.

But the guys weren’t on my wavelength. They seemed pleased with their pictures and almost jealous of me for getting the cover. I figured it had nothing to do with who I was or how much I worked out. The publishers had probably chosen an image at random, and I was the lucky S.O.B. who had to live with it.

I wonder how many horny housewives are going to put up your ugly mug? Elliot teased.

None, I snapped, ripping the calendar from his hands. Because no man in his right mind is going to hang this thing anywhere in his house.

Hey. Elliot reached for the calendar, frowning. What the hell’s your problem?

Nothing, I realized I’d gone too far. The last thing I wanted was for them to think that I actually cared about the stupid thing. Apart from being truly embarrassed, I guessed it wasn’t that important. I gave Elliot the calendar back and saw the smile return to his face.

Maybe I’ll be on the cover next year, Patrick said.

Nah, I shot him down. You’ll be too old by then. You heard the chief. They only want young men.

I’m two years older than you, Patrick snapped.

And I’ll visit you in your nursing home, I ribbed him, eager to turn the conversation away from me and my cover shot.

Ha, ha, Patrick grumbled.

The alarm slammed down on the conversation, breaking it off and sending us running for our gear. I dumped the calendar on the bench, not giving it another thought. Beside me, Patrick and Elliot both geared up, hiking into the same pants we’d been photographed in.

I reached for my boots, stepping into them with practiced ease. This was the first job of the shift, and I was ready to do some good. As we were running for the truck, the chief showed up.

I’m riding along this one, he said, shrugging into an oversized jacket.

What’s wrong? I asked. The chief never rode along with us for the fun of it.

Fire’s at the High in the Sky Apartments, he answered, stepping up onto the truck after me.

We crowded into the cabin, and Elliot pulled out of the gate. He was the chauffer on our shift, what we called our designated driver. We all had our functions, and he was good at his.

That’s where my mother lives, Chief Jones continued.

I snapped my jaw shut. There was nothing I could say that would make any difference. The only thing that mattered was getting there in time.

It was always dicey when someone’s family was involved. Years ago, we went in to rescue another guy’s family. The roof collapsed, and the wife didn’t make it out alive, though we managed to save the two kids. It just crushed the entire department for months. No one wanted to come to work, and we were all running on autopilot.

The guy in question quit, and things slowly got back to normal. I told myself that same thing wasn’t going to happen today. Wherever the Chief’s mother was, she wouldn’t be caught in the blaze. Or we’d get her out if she was.

It didn’t take long to get to the job. Elliot knew exactly where he was going and how to get there in record time. With our lights flashing and all the traffic parting around us, we soared into the apartment building’s parking lot just six minutes after getting the call.

High in the Sky Apartments was a luxury rental place in downtown Denver, Colorado. True to its name, it was eight stories of expansive floor plans and spa-inspired bathrooms stacked one on top of each other.

Smoke was coming out of the ground floor entrance and all the windows, indicating that the fire had already spread throughout the first level. Flickering lights behind the blinds on the second and third stories told me that those floors were equally compromised.

We were going to have to work fast to get everyone out before the whole damn building collapsed. The chief and Patrick suited up and went in through the front door. Elliot and I cranked the ladder up past the third floor and went in through a window.

Anybody here?! I shouted.

What floor’s the chief’s mother on? Elliot asked.

Two, I answered. He’s got her. Let’s see if there are any others trapped.

Luckily, there were only a few apartments on each floor, cutting down on the number of people involved. If this had been a more modestly priced place, there might have been two dozen doors to crash open. As it was, there were a scant four apartments to search on each level. Most of them were empty too. It was the middle of the day, and all the kids were at school, their parents at work and their grandparents down at the park. If someone was trying to burn up the building without actually killing people, they’d picked the perfect time.

I buried that thought for the moment, focusing on the job. There would be time for speculation later, after we determined that everyone had made it out alive. I still didn’t know about the chief’s mother, whether she was home and trapped or if she’d been out like most of the other residents.

We cleared the fourth and fifth floors and moved onto the sixth before hearing the first sign of life.

Help! someone called.

DFD! I called out, not caring if the civilian knew the acronym or not.

Denver Fire! Elliot shouted, backing me up.

Over here! a female voice insisted.

I broke down a door to the southwest corner apartment, expecting to find a woman and maybe a child or two. Instead, a chubby little boy cowered near the window, about eight years old and scared as hell.

Hey, I said, keeping the kid in my sights while Elliot checked the rest of the apartment. Where’s your mom?

She’s at work, he said. I skipped school today, and I didn’t tell anyone.

You know that’s illegal, right? I asked, hoping to reassure him about the fire while putting a little fear into him about truancy.

Yes sir, he gulped.

Come on, let’s get you out of here. You can explain to your mom why you thought it would be a good idea to stay home alone.

Yes sir, he said, relieved.

Elliot and I split up at the stairwell. He went up to check for more survivors while I went down to reconnect with the ladder. Smoke was rising through the vents, making the air harsh. The kid started coughing, so I passed him a disposable mask.

He strapped it on and kept going. I could see this would be the last time he pulled a stunt like that. I heard the groan of support beams buckling as we reached the fourth floor window. There was no time to lose.

I climbed out onto the ladder and helped the kid out after me. Making sure he was safe, we moved at his top speed until we stood firmly in the truck. The EMTs had arrived and were treating a few others in the parking lot. I saw the chief and his mom near the back of their bus. The old woman had a cold compress pressed to her forehead and a mylar blanket wrapped around her shoulders. It looked like she was going to be okay.

See the ambulance? I told the kid.

He nodded.

Go get checked out. Call your parents.

The boy followed my instructions without hesitation. I jumped up to the ladder controls and repositioned it so that Elliot could get out faster. It wouldn’t go all the way to the eighth floor, but I could get as close as possible.

Anyone up there? I asked through the radio.

Negative, he responded. I’m coming down.

Ladder’s on sixth, I told him, scanning the building until I saw Elliot’s foot breaking free. Come on, I whispered under my breath.

The whole thing was about to topple, and the last thing I wanted to do was lose a friend. Just a couple more seconds and he would be clear. We’d gotten all the civilians out, and I had eyes on both Patrick and the chief.

Come on, El. I nudged him with my thoughts, holding my breath until he emerged completely.

He was halfway down the ladder when the center of the building began to shake. I pulled the ladder up, causing Elliot to slip. His feet came loose, but he managed to grab on with one elbow, dangling like an acrobat at the top of a pole. I drove the thing away from the burning building until it was hanging clear in the opposite direction.

Elliot cursed, climbing down as quickly as possible after the ladder steadied. He wasn’t on the ground for two seconds before the apartment building collapsed. It was spectacular. If I wasn’t so close, I would have cheered it on like a spectator in an action flick. Elliot and I dove off the side of the truck to take cover behind it, crouching instinctively as the massive lot of brick, wood, and glass crumbled.

Glancing sideways, I saw the chief, his mom, and the little boy I’d rescued seek cover behind the ambulance. It was almost as if a bomb had been dropped on our location by a hovering drone. That widespread destruction was thunderous in its finality.

Chief Jones’s mom wailed, her agonized scream filling the void that was left as the remains of the building settled to the ground. The kid looked over at me, his eyes wide and terrified. I put my head back against the truck, knowing we had done our best. There was no way to salvage the apartments, but at least no one had been hurt. All the rest was just janitorial duty, cleanup that would start as soon as I could calm my racing heart.

Chapter 2

Alaina

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It was standard operating procedure to have a detective on site after a suspicious fire. High in the Sky Apartments had collapsed earlier that day, and when the fire department got around to calling it in, I was the one who caught the case.

I was halfway through a turkey sub when Chief Clark tagged me. Alaina, I want you on the scene at High in the Sky.

Isn’t that above my pay grade? I joked, setting down the remainder of my lunch.

It looks like arson, Clark said, handing me a short note.

I took it from her, skimming it quickly. There was an address and a name: Chief Jones. I knew him from previous interdepartmental cooperation. He was a good guy, and if he said there was arson, I was inclined to agree.

Come on, Duke, I said to my partner.

Duke, a five-year-old German shepherd, was my co-worker, my best friend, and my current love interest all rolled into one. I got into the K-9 unit because I loved dogs, but Duke was something special. I swore sometimes he was an old soul waiting out his time before heaven by helping me out. We could communicate without words, just by a wink or an upturned lip. He knew me better than any human being did, and I liked it that way. I wasn’t looking for a relationship right then, or ever. I had everything I needed in my canine companion and a few good