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Burnt Offerings :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 219 из 286I felt like apologizing for assuming she was a man, but didn't. It would have been insulting.
Pete introduced me to the tall man. "This is Captain Fulton. He's Incident Commander on this site."
I offered my hand while he was still thinking about it. His hand was large, big-knuckled. He shook hands like he was afraid to squeeze too hard, and dropped contact as soon as he could. I bet that he was just pleased as punch to have a female fireperson on his unit.
He introduced the fireperson in question. "Corporal Tucker." She offered her hand.
She had a nice firm handshake and eye contact so sincere it was aggressive.
I smiled. "Nice not to be the only woman on the scene for a change."
That brought a very small smile to her face. She gave the barest of nods and stepped back, letting her captain take over.
"How much do you know about a fire scene, Miss Blake?"
"It's Ms. Blake, and not much."
He frowned at the correction. I felt Dolph shift beside me, unhappy with me. His face wouldn't show it, but I could almost feel him willing me not to be a pain in the butt. Who, me?
Corporal Tucker was staring at me, eyes wide, face very still as if she was trying not to laugh.
One of the other firemen joined us. His damp T-shirt clung to a stomach that had required far too many sit-ups, but I enjoyed the view anyway. He was tall, broad-shouldered, blond, and looked like he should have been carrying a surfboard or visiting Barbie in her Malibu dream house. There was a smear of soot on his smiling face, and his eyes were red-rimmed.
He offered his hand without being introduced. "I'm Wren." No rank, just his name. Confident.
He held my hand just a little longer than necessary. It wasn't obnoxious, just interested.
I dropped my eyes. Not out of shyness, but because some men mistake direct eye contact as a come-on. I had about as much beefcake on my plate as I could handle without adding amorous firemen.
Captain Fulton frowned at Wren. "Do you have any questions, Ms. Blake?" He emphasized the Ms . so it sounded like three z's at the end.
"You've got a basement full of vampires that you need to rescue without exposing them to sunlight or getting any of your people eaten, right?"
He stared at me for a second or two. "That's the gist of it."
"Why can't you just leave them in the basement until full dark?" I asked.
"The floor could cave in at any minute," he said.
"Which would expose them to sunlight and kill them," I said.
He nodded.
Pete introduced me to the tall man. "This is Captain Fulton. He's Incident Commander on this site."
I offered my hand while he was still thinking about it. His hand was large, big-knuckled. He shook hands like he was afraid to squeeze too hard, and dropped contact as soon as he could. I bet that he was just pleased as punch to have a female fireperson on his unit.
He introduced the fireperson in question. "Corporal Tucker." She offered her hand.
She had a nice firm handshake and eye contact so sincere it was aggressive.
I smiled. "Nice not to be the only woman on the scene for a change."
That brought a very small smile to her face. She gave the barest of nods and stepped back, letting her captain take over.
"How much do you know about a fire scene, Miss Blake?"
"It's Ms. Blake, and not much."
He frowned at the correction. I felt Dolph shift beside me, unhappy with me. His face wouldn't show it, but I could almost feel him willing me not to be a pain in the butt. Who, me?
Corporal Tucker was staring at me, eyes wide, face very still as if she was trying not to laugh.
One of the other firemen joined us. His damp T-shirt clung to a stomach that had required far too many sit-ups, but I enjoyed the view anyway. He was tall, broad-shouldered, blond, and looked like he should have been carrying a surfboard or visiting Barbie in her Malibu dream house. There was a smear of soot on his smiling face, and his eyes were red-rimmed.
He offered his hand without being introduced. "I'm Wren." No rank, just his name. Confident.
He held my hand just a little longer than necessary. It wasn't obnoxious, just interested.
I dropped my eyes. Not out of shyness, but because some men mistake direct eye contact as a come-on. I had about as much beefcake on my plate as I could handle without adding amorous firemen.
Captain Fulton frowned at Wren. "Do you have any questions, Ms. Blake?" He emphasized the Ms . so it sounded like three z's at the end.
"You've got a basement full of vampires that you need to rescue without exposing them to sunlight or getting any of your people eaten, right?"
He stared at me for a second or two. "That's the gist of it."
"Why can't you just leave them in the basement until full dark?" I asked.
"The floor could cave in at any minute," he said.
"Which would expose them to sunlight and kill them," I said.
He nodded.