you when I know something new, Derek,” Viv interrupted. “Just be on your guard.”
“What are you talking about?” Eddie was already shaking his head as he looked back at me. “Why the hell do I need to restrict my movements? Where the hell is this even coming from?”
I stood in the living room with Eddie and Parker seated on the couch in front of me. I’d asked the brothers to meet me on their respective lunch breaks, hoping that this conversation wouldn’t take too much time out of their day. I knew that telling them that they needed to restrict their movements may cause a ripple or two, but I figured their responses wouldn’t be too hard to handle if I stayed diplomatic about the situation.
Although, judging by Eddie’s reaction, it looked like I’d been a little too optimistic.
“There’s been… a change in the nature of my services here,” I started. “When I was first hired, it was mostly on a surveillance basis, but now it seems like I might be needed for armed, personal defense—”
“Armed defense?” Parker chimed into the conversation, a concerned look on his expression. “Did something happen with our father?”
“Yeah. Did you find out he was in the mob or something?” Eddie asked, his tone playful.
I tried to keep my own tone neutral as I replied, “Sometimes, when we’re handling situations like this, things can escalate—”
“Holy shit. Dad was in the mob?” Eddie brought a hand up to the side of his face. “Holy shit. I knew it. I knew it!”
“Your father wasn’t in the mob,” I murmured. “At least, that hasn’t been confirmed. However, what has been potentially confirmed is that this situation may not have been as… simple as we originally thought.”
“So, what do you want us to do?” Eddie asked. “You want us to live our lives in fear, even though we have no clue what’s going on?”
“I’m just requiring a few more precautions—”
“Requiring?”
“It’s for your own safety, Eddie,” I answered. “Trust me. I wouldn’t be attempting to restrict your movement if I didn’t think it was for the greater good.”
“We should do whatever he wants, Eddie,” Parker said. “He’s the professional, after all. If he’s saying we need to be more careful, then, we need to be more careful.”
“Just don’t try to go anywhere that isn’t a 100% necessary trip,” I clarified. “And if you do, make sure you call me ahead of time. That’s all I’m asking you to do.”
“Fine,” Eddie relented, rolling his eyes. “Are you sure you don’t just want to put a tracker on my car? Just to make this easier?”
“What makes you think I don’t already have a tracker on your car?” I grinned.
And Eddie scoffed, waving a hand in front of his face. “Whatever, man. We get it. We’ll be more careful going out.”
13
Parker
“What are you doing?”
I heard Derek’s voice from the hall while I finished getting ready in my bedroom. I was sliding on the rest of my firefighter’s uniform, my helmet held at the side of my waist.
I’d just gotten a call from Billy, letting me know that there was a fire blazing on Georgia Street. Without hesitation, I told him that I’d be over there in a few minutes, and I just needed to lace up my boots before I hopped into my car and drive down the nearest highway.
“There’s a fire on Georgia Street,” I explained, still pulling on the last parts of my uniform. “Billy just called.”
“And?” Derek pressed, walking through the doorway. “I’m pretty sure Billy and the rest of the guys can handle one fire without you.”
“Derek, it’s a housefire.”
“What difference does that make?” Derek continued. “What do you think the firefighters here were doing when you weren’t on the team? You think they can’t get by without you?”
“No,” I replied. “But I don’t know why they’d ever have to, because I’m going down there—”
“Parker, are you serious?” Derek cut me off with the question. “I just finished telling you and Eddie that you’re not supposed to go on any unnecessary trips, no less than five hours ago. And now, you’re heading out to a fire?”
“What else am I supposed to do, Derek?”
“Stay home. Let the other guys handle it.”
“You know I can’t do that, Derek.”
“Why not?”
“Because Joey would’ve never done that,” I explained. “Because Joey would’ve gone to a housefire call, even if it pissed everyone else off—”
“Parker—”
“Because going out there is the right thing to do,” I went on. “Which means, you might as well stop trying