"I talked to my parents," Eddie said casually as Mariana eased the truck through the crowd of firefighters. She pulled into the pool and parked the truck, her fingers tapping against the wheel in what he recognized as one of her nervous tics.
"What did you talk about?" she asked.
"We're going to drive through El Paso on the way back so…"
"Okay." She nodded and looked over at him, a conflicted emotion in her eyes. "Okay, yeah. We can do that. We can stop by on the way back."
"You're okay with that?" He reached over and squeezed her hand. She gripped his hand like a lifeline and nodded once more.
"Yeah, it's about time I met them, don't you think?" She laughed nervously. "It'll be fun."
"Fun," he repeated. "You're going to meet my parents for the first time and we're going to have to tell them about…" Eddie glanced back where Hen and Buck were bickering about something. "You know."
"Yeah...fun." She offered him a weak smile and he leaned across the cab and kissed her. Mari rolled her eyes and pushed him back.
"There are rules, Diaz," she reminded him before she grinned and patted his chest to console him. The couple left the truck to join their teammates, finding Buck complaining about the weather.
"Like getting slapped with a wet towel," Buck complained.
"It's called humidity. Welcome to Texas, Buck!"
/
"I'm Deputy Chief de Leon of the San Angelo Fire Department, acting incident commander. For those of you just joining the party, welcome."
Buck craned his neck to look over Mariana's head and at the firefighter standing a few feet away from them. The brunette stamped her foot down on his boot as she glared at him.
"Stop staring," she hissed.
"I'm not staring," he insisted.
"You're staring." Eddied rubbed a hand across his eyes. "Mari, don't kill him."
"Pay attention!" she snapped at both of them.
"I want to introduce my operations section chief, Captain Owen Strand of Austin."
"The thing we were praying for wouldn't happen has happened. The wind has shifted. The fire's now on a collision course with the city of San Angelo. There's a possibility of weather coming in, but we can't rely on it, and we won't. We have one last shot to turn the tide." Captain Strand pointed at the map. "Here. On Copper Ridge. We cut a containment line here, and we can stop this beast in its tracks."
"I know you're exhausted. A lot of you haven't had more than a couple hours of sleep in days. But on behalf of the city of San Angelo and their one hundred and twenty thousand souls, we're gonna get you up on that fire line and you are gonna cut like hell. Good luck. Stay safe."
Mariana headed off towards the trucks again, looking back at Eddie. He caught up to her and glanced around the camp. "What are you thinking?"
"I've dug plenty of fire lines but if they need me in medical, I'll go. What are you thinking?"
"Same as you."
"Rule number one, Edmundo," she warned as he directed her to the water table.
"When we're in the field, we are teammates. We leave the relationship at the door," he droned. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared him down as he sighed and held out a cup of water for her. Mariana rolled her eyes and still took a sip before handing it back to him.
"Texas or Cali, technically I rank higher than you. So don't follow me around like a lost puppy. You'll go where you go."
"Eight kids, one counselor. A park ranger called in and he's trapped with some horses as well about a half mile off from where the kids are," a woman said behind them.
"There's been no contact?" Captain Strand asked. Mariana totally wasn't eavesdropping.
"Not in at least eight hours. It's a camp for at-risk teens so those kids aren't allowed cell phones. Ranger radioed in an hour ago."
"Can we get an evac chopper up here?"
"It's too dangerous, these access roads are all aflame. We can't get an engine up there."
"Hey, pardon me, Cap," a man. "You can get to it with ATVs easy enough. I used to ride around on ATVs in woods just like these growing up."
"Firefighter, you just became strike team leader."
Two other firefighters chimed in and Mariana glanced over at them, nodding so Eddie caught her drift.
"Alright. Eight man team. Take at least one medic. You don't know what you're going to find up there."
"I'm a medic," Eddie spoke first as he stepped under the tent. "Eddie Diaz with the 118, Los Angeles."
"You a paramedic?" a woman asked.
"Firefighter. But I was a medic in the army. Been on more than a few missions that looked like this. If you want a paramedic, though, she's the best."
"Mariana Ramirez. Paramedic and ER nurse."
"Whatcha waiting for, Hollywood? Get your bags and meet us down by the motor pool. We'll roll out," the team leader shouted. "Has anyone seen Shelby?"
Eddie shot her a cocky grin and she elbowed him in the side. "Shut up."
"Oh no. Now you're stuck with me even after your whole speech," he reminded her. Mariana led the way to their bags and she grabbed their gray short sleeved tops, tossing his straight into his face. Mari yanked her black shirt up and over her head, thankful she always wore a sports bra to work.
"That guy is looking at you," he bit out as she tossed her shirt into her bag. Mari looked over her shoulder to find a guy looking at her like she was the only girl he'd seen in eight years. Rolling her eyes, she tugged her short sleeved shirt on and tucked it into her pants, adjusting his dog tags to fall under the shirt.
"As if you're not about to look like a fucking greek god when you take your shirt off. Now hurry up, Diaz." Mariana walked backwards as she watched him change, a satisfied smirk tugging at her lips. She turned to head towards the truck when she bumped into someone and stumbled.
"Oh shit sorry," the brunette said once she righted herself.
"Watch where you're going." Mariana looked up to find the epitome of a southern girl glaring at her.
"I said sorry. Don't know if that word's in your vocabulary," Mariana snarked. A scowl crossed the blonde's face and she let out a huff, storming off towards the motor pool. Eddie joined his girl to find Mariana looking like she might murder someone and he grimaced. The last thing they needed was a call to Bobby due to Mariana causing an interdepartmental fight.
"C'mon sweetheart, let's just go."
"Teammates!"
Buck and Hen were already at the truck by the time they joined them. Eddie headed over to grab their fire shirts as Mariana secured their radios and packs. Buck trailed after his best friends.
"Can you guys believe this? Hen is not going up to the fire line with us. It's just gonna be us three."
Eddie handed her the yellow shirt and Mari slipped it on just as the firefighter from earlier pulled up on an ATV.
"You two ready?" she called.
"Be right there," Eddie answered.
"Well, hop to it. Those at-risk kids aren't getting any less at-risk." With that, she sped off leaving Mariana and Eddie to laugh.
"Uh, her? You're going with her?" Buck asked.
"Yeah," Mari replied. She passed Eddie his bag and they headed over to the ATVs when Buck stopped them.
"I know who that is! She's Firefox."
"And I'm Google Chrome," Mariana replied dryly.
"No. Firefox? You guys seriously don't know who Firefox is? She's gone viral, like, five times. Total badass."
"Yeah so? Every major hospital in LA knows my name. We all are celebrities in our own way."
Hen choked back a laugh at Mariana's comment and shook her head.
"I follow her on Instagram. Some reason, she didn't follow me back…"
Mariana and Eddie shared a look and he nodded over towards the ATVs. She hiked her bag up her shoulder and followed him over to where the firefighters they met earlier were standing. The team lead stood up from his ATV and waved them over.
"Diaz, Ramirez. Name's Judd Ryder from the 126 in Austin. This is Paul and Marjan. We're waiting for one more person and then we'll head out."
"126, huh? You don't happen to know TK Strand do you?" Mariana asked.
"Yeah, he's one of our teammates. He and Mateo are up on the fireline. You know him?" Paul questioned.
"Carlos is my cousin," she explained. "If I see TK, I gotta give him the shovel talk."
The team laughed just as the final member joined them. Mariana's smile fell once she saw that it was the girl she had run into earlier. Eddie could see the shift in her and he glanced to the sky in hopes of gaining strength from any higher power that was listening.
"Diaz, you're with me. Paul and Marjan, you take one ATV. Ramirez, you're with Monroe."
Be on your best behavior, Bobby's request rang through the brunette's head as she dropped her bag in the back of the ATV and turned to introduce herself to the tall blonde.
"Mariana Ramirez, 118, Los Angeles." The woman regarded her with a cold expression.
"Shelby Monroe, 126, Austin," the woman drawled out in a thick Southern accent. "Now are we done with this tea time gossip so I can go do my job?"
Mariana stared at her dumbfounded, her jaw snapping shut as she scoffed. "By all means, Monroe, lead the way."
"Make sure you watch where you step. Wouldn't want mud to get on you city girl and mess up your outfit."
"Don't worry," Mariana muttered. "The only problem I'm having with nature is the stick up your ass."
They climbed into the ATV with Shelby as the driver and Mariana seething in the passenger seat. If looks could kill, both women would be DOA.