The Shadow of Mudflap (A Foxtrot Team Novel #1) (3 page)

Daniel, the team’s commander, spoke from across the table. “I know from your report that you already established a friendship with Mudflap. I want you to pursue that. Get close to him and see if you can spot any other irregularities with him or anyone else from his fire station.”

Anticipation snaked through her. She wanted to get to know Mudflap better even though something about the idea intimidated her. She wasn’t used to having such an immediate physical reaction to a guy, any guy. Maybe sleeping with him was the best option, and if it helped her do her job, even better. Then she could work him and get this obsession out of her system. No more sleepless nights like she had last night, with thoughts and fantasies keeping her awake tossing and turning.

“In the meantime, I’ll see what we can do to get someone inserted into the fire station crew to monitor things from there. Any questions?” Daniel glanced around the room. “Okay, then, we’ve had a long day. I’ll see everyone back here tomorrow morning.”

Shanae began to gather up her paperwork avoiding Andrew’s gaze as he left the room. Damn, he was going to make this difficult, wasn’t he? She knew the last time they went out together on a mission he’d left her with an unsettled feeling, with gazes that lasted too long, and touches that lingered. He was a nice guy. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she didn’t do relationships. She tried it once and that had been a disaster. Maybe if her career was different, then maybe, but even then, her faith in the male race had suffered too much.

She knew better than to expect some white knight to sweep her off her feet. She’d grown up surrounded by men who used women and then didn’t give them a second thought after they threw them away. She’d thought for a little bit maybe there was something more for her with Seth, her ex, because he worked in the same basic career as her as a field agent for the CIA. But that proved to be wrong, too. Men in general were users. Add her job into the mix and happily ever after was not an option for her. It was better just to use men for sex and move on before emotions got entangled.

Sex. Mudflap. Oh God, had she really propositioned him in a hospital supply closet? Finally alone in the room, she let her head thunk down on the conference table. That was ballsy even for her. Normally, unless required by the mission, Shanae would never do what she did with him. But that had been the result of three high-adrenaline emergency calls. The cotton gin fire had been the first and then their final call of the day had come too late for the victim. She never reacted well when she lost a patient en-route. Add in the incredible chemistry between her and Mudflap, and she had basically spontaneously combusted all over him.

It would be better if she just stayed away from him. She’d seen him from a distance before and had immediately been attracted to his dark, rugged good looks. He was one of those guys that oozed testosterone, from his perpetual five o’clock shadow, to the six feet plus of toned, sexy muscles, all topped off by short, curly dark hair that just begged for her fingers to run through it.

She felt pulled to him on a basic level, like air, but now he was an assignment. She had no choice but to get friendly with him. Hopefully this case would wrap up quickly so she didn’t have to violate her three date policy. Three dates, no emotional attachment. Those were her rules, but already she sensed Mudflap could endanger the walls she had erected and that was unacceptable.

Mudflap

Poker Night. This week it was at Mudflap’s house. The four bedroom arts and crafts bungalow had plenty of space for the half dozen guys who sat around the table drinking beer and talking shit. It was a great way to unwind after a long week.

Already it had begun. Riley, one of the regulars, was talking shit about A&M football. The lone Aggie of the group, he liked to push the limit for all the Red Raider fans in the room— in other words, everyone else.

The polls had come out this week and they were already predicting great seasons for both Texas Tech and Texas A&M, who ranked number twenty-two and twelve, respectively. Oh, and yeah, Texas was ranked, too, but since no one at the poker game was from that camp, everyone just ignored the cows to the south.

Riley’s mouthiness continued. “Y’all know that Tech is going to choke first thing, just because they can’t handle the pressure of being ranked.”

Mudflap looked to his friend, Stetson, a big, muscular firefighter who almost always sported an equally large smile to match his stature.

“Remind me again why we invite this guy.”

Stetson rolled his eyes. “Because he’s an Aggie. We need the easy money and he’s a sure thing.”

“Yeah, talk it up boys. We’ll see who’s walking out of here with the most money tonight and at the end of the season, too.” Riley was starting to look aggressive, with a sneer that dominated his face. The bastard had a hair trigger temper. Seriously, why did they invite the asswipe?

“Really?” Derek, Mudflap’s roommate, never avoided a challenge. The kid was loyal to a fault, but one of these days, that was likely to get him into trouble. “Would you care to place a little wager on your beloved Aggies? I’m thinking Tech will outrank them in the standings at the end of the season.”

Mudflap settled back into his chair and took a long draw on his beer. This was liable to go on for a while.

Riley grinned, but it wasn’t a friendly gesture. “What kind of wager are you thinking about, whelp? I’m not sure you can afford to play with the big boys.”

Mudflap clenched his jaw. Riley was an asshole, but he was a corporate lawyer with a lot of money. Unfortunately, Derek was in a bad place right now. He’d just gotten out of a bad relationship with a girl who took him for all she could and at twenty-five the poor kid didn’t have much extra to give. When he found himself homeless and basically broke because the bitch had broken his heart right after emptying his bank account and kicking him out of their apartment, Mudflap had let him move into the guest room in his house.

Unfortunately, Derek was learning his lessons about love the hard way. Looking at him, with his clean-cut model good looks, you would never guess he had a romantic streak a mile wide. He’d had the serious misfortune to fall for a girl who saw that and took complete advantage of it.

“Riley, lay off him,” Mudflap warned. “I thought we were going to play poker here.”

Derek shook his head. “No, it’s okay, Mudflap. I have faith in the Raiders and I think they’ll go all the way this year.” He turned back to Riley, his eyes flashing with challenge. “Tell you what, since we all know my financials aren’t all that great right now, let’s make a wager of a different sort. If Tech goes all the way to the Championship…and wins…you’ll have to detail my car every week for the next year. If A&M does it, the same wager goes for me detailing your car.”

Mudflap smirked. That was actually a good bet. Riley drove a Porsche that he loved almost as much as his beloved Aggies.  But Derek drove a ratty old 80’s model Pontiac Grand Prix. Riley would be totally humiliated to have to detail that every week. There was no way Riley would turn down this bet and the vision of him having to detail Derek’s piece of shit car was enough to make him smile at the possibilities.

Riley reached across and shook Derek’s hand. “You’re on, toddler. We’ll see who goes all the way.”

Game 1 Results:

Texas Tech (22): 82

vs.

Washington State University: 64

Week 2: You Have to Fight for Every Inch

Mudflap

Mudflap groaned as he pulled into the parking lot of the fire station. Damn, Misty was here again. He’d met Misty at a community outreach breakfast early in the summer where he’d served pancakes. Part of his job had been to present a pleasant face for the fire department. When an attractive group of young girls sat at one of his tables, he didn’t think twice about flirting with them. It was supposed to be harmless. But somehow it had become a huge problem.

Misty was in her early twenties. She was a tiny little thing with shoulder length bleach blonde hair, dyed blue at the tips. At first, she would drop by the station with a batch of cookies for all the guys about once a week, which was nice, but he was never interested in dating her. He’d been up front with that from the beginning, but she persisted. Now she showed up almost daily. Everyone was getting tired of it, but especially Mudflap. He’d tried to let her down gently, but that hadn’t made a dent in her obsession with him. He was afraid it was time to take drastic measures.

As Mudflap crawled out of his vintage Bronco, Stetson pulled up in his truck. Shaking his head as he jumped down from the cab, Stetson gestured over to Misty’s VW. “Man, you’re gonna have to do something about this before this girl goes postal on your ass.”

Mudflap grimaced at that image. He wouldn’t worry except she had taken to dropping by the house lately, too. He needed Misty to get over this crush and out of his life, before she screwed things up between Shanae and him. Not that there was a Shanae and him yet, but he hoped there would be soon. “Yeah, I know.”

As they entered the station, Mudflap headed straight to the dayroom, where he knew he’d find Misty. Stetson abandoned him and headed back toward the dorms. “Chicken,” Mudflap hissed as Stetson strolled down the hall.

Stetson simply gave him a one-fingered salute as he continued on his way.

Coming to the door, Mudflap took a deep breath before pushing it open. Misty stood in the kitchen area stirring something on top of the stove. While it smelled amazing, the glaring looks he got from the rest of the crew in the room just reinforced the knowledge that he had to get this girl out of here. If he didn’t take care of this soon, they were going to banish him to latrine duty for the rest of the year.

Completely oblivious to the unhappiness emanating from the room, Misty squealed when he walked in. “Mudflap, you’re finally here. Thank goodness because you were about to ruin breakfast.”

“It smells great, Misty, but you can’t be here.” He began to gather up the items she’d spread over the counter and shoved them into a sack. She sputtered as he worked quickly. Placing a hand behind her back, he pushed her in the direction of the door and out toward the parking lot.

Halfway across the sidewalk, she ground to a halt and spun back toward him. “What the hell, Mudflap?”

“Misty, you’re a sweet girl, but I’m not interested. You need to go find someone your own age to date, before you get me fired.”

Her eyes filled with tears that just about broke his heart. He hated this. He didn’t want to hurt her. She was so damn young and that showed from the shimmering blue of her overly made-up, tear-filled eyes, all the way to the blue tips she’d added to her hair. He couldn’t help but compare her to Shanae with her natural, fresh-faced good looks. Misty did nothing for him.

“But I don’t want anyone else. I want you. Eight years isn’t that big of a difference.”

“I’m sorry, Misty, I’ve met someone else. You need to do the same. You can’t come here anymore. My captain won’t allow it. You’re a sweet girl and you have a lot to offer a guy, but I’m sorry, that guy won’t be me.” He began to nudge her once again toward the parking lot.

He had her at her car door when she turned suddenly tear-free, calculating eyes back on him. “So just who are you dating?”

“No, Misty. We aren’t going there. You’re going to go home and forget about me, okay?”

She pressed her lips together and didn’t comment as she got into her car. After he shut her car door and turned, he could feel her glare boring into his back as he walked up the fire station sidewalk. He had to suppress a shudder. She was hardly over five feet tall and was just a girl with a crush, so why did he feel like he’d suddenly made a powerful enemy? He shook his head to dispel the notion as he re-entered the fire station.

As he walked by the captain’s door, “Mudflap, get in here,” rang out through the hall. This day just kept getting better. Mudflap closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before stepping through the doorway.

The captain sat at his desk, shuffling paperwork, but another man leaned against the side wall of the office. This guy was huge. He obviously lifted weights and wore typical firefighter black cargos and a t-shirt. Mudflap guessed this to be their new guy coming in to cover for Grant, who had slipped into a coma over the weekend.

The captain lifted his hard gaze to Mudflap. “I trust you’ve taken care of your issue in the kitchen.”

Mudflap’s stomach sank. He’d hoped maybe the captain had missed Misty’s arrival this morning, but that didn’t appear to be the case. “I hope so, sir. I apologize for the inconvenience to the guys.”

He nodded. “Apologize to them, not me. And while you’re doing that, you can introduce them to the new guy.” He gestured to the man standing beside him. “This is Michael Turner. He’s going to fill in for Grant for the next few months. He’s just transferred into the Lubbock Fire Department from Colorado Springs where he worked with the wildland crews. It’s been a while since he worked in a city fire department so see what you can do to get him reviewed and settled into our processes.”

“Yes, sir.” He reached across to shake Michael’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. First, let me show you where you can stow your gear, and then I’ll introduce you to the rest of the crew.”

“I appreciate it.”

As they left the captain’s office, Michael asked, “So is Mudflap really your name?”

Mudflap cast him a cocky grin and told him, “It sure is, on my birth certificate and everything. So what made you decide to quit the wildland firefighting to come back to city firefighting?”

“I was a helicopter pilot with the wildland crews, and while I loved the job, I’m getting older. I don’t want to spend all my summers moving with the fires anymore. I want to get a house and settle down so I started looking for places to relocate. Lubbock seemed like a good choice.”

“Makes sense. It’s a great town, the perfect size, and with the University, there are tons of events happening in town. Are you a sports fan?”