“That’s my name.” Conrad didn’t like the adoration.
“God, I’ve wanted to fuck your brains out foryears. I have a shirtless photo of you in my work locker. Oh, man, those pecs!”
Conrad’s face went blank as if he didn’t know how to react or what to say and so refused to react or speak at all.
Austin found himself biting back laughter and saw that the other Team members—O’Brien, Megs, Nicole Turner, Mitch Ahearn, and Bahir Acharya, the new guy—were almost choking in an effort not to smile or laugh. Before long, everyone on the Team would hear about this. It would be a long time before they let Conrad live it down.
The woman’s boyfriend didn’t seem to find it funny. “I’m right here, you know.”
Yeah, that wasn’t awkward at all.
The victim was too doped up to care what anyone thought. “Holy shit! I’m being rescued by Harrison Conrad. I’d have broken my leg sooner if I’d had any idea he would show up.”
“Now, there’s a testimonial for our website,” Megs muttered.
The victim searched the litter around her. “Where’s my cell phone? I need a photo, or no one will believe me.”
Back at the ambulance, Conrad allowed her to take one selfie, insisting that her boyfriend be in the photo, too.
Austin was in the driver’s seat of his ranger vehicle when Dispatch called for him over the radio. “Fifty-six-twenty. Go ahead.”
“Fifty-six-twenty, we got a call from Scarlet FD asking you to contact the firehouse.”
“Copy that.”
He pulled out his smartphone, checked for signal, which was patchy up here at best, and called the firehouse.
Ryan answered. “Hey, we’ve got this fire west of town, and the chief is on the line up there. He wants us to find Bear and bring him in until the fire is out. We’ve searched town and called around but can’t find him. Hawke says you know where Bear’s cabin is. We’re supposed to get a dry cold front this afternoon, and the chief is afraid this thing is going to blow up.”
Well, shit.
Austin looked to the west. He couldn’t see the smoke from here. “Bear could be anywhere between Scarlet and his cabin. Hell, he might have hangouts that we don’t know about. I can head out that way and see if I can spot him, but it will take time. Is there any chance of getting a helo for this? It would be a lot faster.”
“I have no idea. Pella put in a request for a helicopter for bucket drops, and that was rejected. Maybe you could snag a rescue chopper.”
Maybe—if they weren’t all out on rescues. It was the middle of the summer, the busiest time of year as far as rescues went.
“I’ll check in with my boss and get back to you.”
“What’s up?” Megs stood at Austin’s open window, eyes hidden behind mirrored shades.
“Hawke is worried that the fire west of town is going to blow up. He has his crew searching for Bear, but they can’t find him. They want me to head to Bear’s cabin and bring Bear to the firehouse.”
Megs looked stunned. “You know where Bear lives?”
“I spotted him at his cabin once when I was out hiking.”
Brow furrowed, Megs stared at him. “You sure kept that secret.”
“I didn’t want suits with the county to come in and throw him off the land. He’s been here longer than they have.”
“You’re a good man, Taylor.”
“Yeah, well, now I have to persuade my boss to let me leave patrolling so I can head out on a Bear hunt.”
“Let us know if we can help.”
“Thanks.” Austin walked back to his truck and called his boss, Rick Sutherland, on his cell phone to explain the situation.