Oxygen Deprived (Kilgore Fire Book 3) Read Online Free Page A

bitter taste in my mouth. “Right out of fire school and everything.”
    “What happened?” He asked, leaning forward.
    I sighed, pulling out the cast iron skillet out of the lower cabinet, then turned on the gas before lighting the burner with the long liter next to the stove.
    “She and I grew apart,” I said. “She hated me being a firefighter. Hated that I had to work so much to keep us afloat. Her father hated me because I ‘made his daughter cry so much .’ Which he loved to bring up every possible chance he got. It kept getting worse and worse until she finally filed for divorce.”
    I dropped a dollop of butter down into the bottom of the pan.
    “Do you still love her?” Booth asked.
    “No,” I admitted. “I guess I felt obligated to stay with her. I would still be there if she hadn’t filed, though.”
    “Kids?” He guessed.
    I nodded. “Fifteen-year-old,” I nodded. “She turns sixteen this month.”
    His mouth dropped open.
    “You have a sixteen-year-old?” He asked in surprise.
    I nodded. “I do.”
    “Why doesn’t she come to any family functions that the department puts on?” He wondered.
    I grimaced.
    That was a sore subject, and it hurt every time I talked about it.
    “She doesn’t like that I hurt her mom,” I told the truth, but not embellishing any. “And she has free reign to see me anytime she wants. I send child support checks to her mother once a month, but…” I shrugged.
    Booth didn’t say anything, and I was glad.
    At least he knew when a man had enough.
    “I want mine over easy,” he said mildly.
    I nodded.
    “Scrambled!” Came Tai’s voice from the bathroom.
    I snorted out a laugh, then laughed even louder when PD answered from the doorway with Naomi at his back.
    “I want mine hard,” he said, his eyes drifting to Naomi as he said it.
    I made a gagging motion with my finger pointed to my throat, and he winked at me.
    He was trying to make her uncomfortable, and by the looks of her scalding red face, he’d accomplished it.
    Just before I cracked the first egg, the tone dropped, signaling the first call of the shift.
    “Fuck!” Tai called from the bathroom.
    I laughed, turning off the gas and making sure the flame was out before I moved everything off the stove and started walking to the garage bay.
    “Who’s on the medic today?” Naomi asked me as she jogged to catch up.
    “Me,” I said.
    I was usually the driver of the truck, but once every two weeks I worked the medic to keep my skills fresh, today being one of those days.
    “Oh, yay,” she drawled sarcastically.
    I tossed her a look that clearly said, ‘shut up.’
    She closed her mouth and shut up, going to the side door of the ambulance and getting in the back without another word.
    I got in the passenger seat, then pressed the ‘en route’ button on the screen to help Tai out. When a call came in, we had two minutes to get in the truck and go. By pressing it, I gave Tai a couple more seconds. A, because I wanted to, and B, because I didn’t want to have my ass chewed out by the captain because we didn’t respond to a call in less than the time we were allotted.
    Speaking of which, Tai came running out of the door to the living quarters like his ass was on fire, buttoning his pants and fastening his belt as he did.
    “Sorry,” he apologized breathlessly as he got in the front seat. “My wife decided to try something new for dinner last night, and it went straight through me. All night long.”
    I snorted, reaching up to press the garage door button once we’d made it outside fully.
    That’s when the rain decided to change to sleet.
    “Shit,” Tai groaned. “This is already getting bad.”
    I looked at the road, watching as the further we went from the station, the worse it seemed to get.
    “Medic three, we have a two vehicle accident on South Main. Two extractions needed. Third vehicle’s occupant up and walking around.” The dispatcher called through our radios.
    “Fucking