Danger Zone (File One of The First Responders Files)

Chapter Twenty-One

The Los Angeles crew learn just how tame they are compared to Buck's new crew, Eddie gets spooked by a smart home (Lena isn't helping), and the 126 deal with an explosive new problem in the city, one far more dangerous than any of them expected.

Buckle up, folks. Enjoy . . . if you can.

***

It turned out all it took for May to let Bobby out of the doghouse was for him to commandeer a helicopter and go searching through the Hollywood Hills for Athena, who had been put in the field to help evacuations. That had led to her being caught up in the landslide that brought down the Hollywood sign, and . . .

Well, Eddie was glad he, Maddie, and Josh had been invited to the Grant-Nash household that evening. Thank God for Carla, who had agreed to stay with Christopher until Eddie returned home. It was likely he'd be catching a ride, though, because he had a feeling he'd be downing a lot of alcohol that night.

"Poor woman," Athena lamented, shaking her head as she sipped from her wine glass. "She hadn't been outside her house for seven years, and the one time she has to leave, it's because of a landslide."

"First it was an earthquake," Eddie rubbed his forehead. "Then the tsunami. Now a mudslide. What's next, a volcano?"

"Don't jinx it," Maddie scoffed. "Knowing this family's luck? Yeah, we'll get a volcano."

"Can we do wildfires first?" May asked weakly. "I've already had a rough first day with water and mud. I don't want to go straight to lava."

"God, me, neither," Josh grimaced. "Yes, wildfire first."

"Well," Athena quirked an eyebrow. "If you leave the dispatch center, you'll never have to do a volcano."

"Mom!" May groaned.

"OK," Bobby pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can we do this another day? Or another night? We just succeeded in helping Los Angeles from a mudslide and landslide. Let's focus on the fact we're all OK. Sound good?"

"I'm with Bobby on this," Eddie agreed. "Even that weird love triangle thing that happened at the Hollywood 'H.'"

Bobby snorted loudly. "That was like a live rom-com right in front of us."

"Poor Hen," Eddie snickered. "She had the front row seat. I would have died laughing if I was in her shoes."

"She just died of embarrassment," Bobby grinned easily, taking a pull from his water.

"And then you said there was a bunch of pregnant women trapped underground?" May asked.

"Yeah," Eddie sighed. "Lena volunteered to rappel down and help Chimney. It helped having a woman there." He grinned. "Chimney originally went down a chimney and told Lena she wanted everyone to know that was how he got his name."

"Seriously?" Josh guffawed.

"Seriously," Eddie nodded. "She heard him say 'I feel like such a cliché' when he was going down."

Maddie threw back her head and cackled. "Oh, I would've paid anything to hear him say that!"

"Honestly?" Bobby grinned. "Me, too."

The sharp sound of a phone ringtone made Maddie blink, then she hissed out a curse and fumbled for her phone. "I forgot!"

"Forgot what?" Josh frowned.

Maddie looked up at Eddie, eyes wide. "Did you tell Buck everything is OK?"

Eddie balked. "Uh . . . "