“You’re not going out in the dark alone, Eli, We’re calling in the team.” Jacob kicked back in his desk chair, tuned the weather radar with one hand and picked up the phone in the other.
I looked up from the photo in my hand and raised my eyebrows at my boss, alarmed and worried. “Do not call in Larry. You need to stop giving that guy chances. The guy is a total fuck-up.”
Larry, the park supervisor who had been on duty last night, hadn't raised the alarm when a hiker hadn’t checked in at the time he was supposed to. We only knew that the guy was missing because his roommate had called the office in tears, saying that her friend had been missing for thirty-six hours. That was a long time for a hiker to be missing in the woods in need of rescue.
All because Larry hadn’t done his job. Again.
“Yeah, he’s a fuck-up.” Jacob cradled the phone on his shoulder and took a swig of mushroom-infused coffee before he smacked his lips and licked his mustache clean. “But I’m known for helping out fuck-ups, aren’t I?”
I squinted at him, suspecting the playful jab was directed at me. He’d sure helped me out plenty of times. Then again, I was the kind of fuck-up who would forget to shake out my rain jacket or clean off my boots before trudging into the office—not the type to leave a man missing for a full day.
I looked back at the photo of the hiker that the roommate had emailed. Wyatt. I felt my chest tighten when his bright blue eyes looked up at me from under his mop of curly brown hair. There was something special about this guy, and it wasn’t just how handsome he was with those full lips and a strong jaw. Maybe the pull in my heart was my instincts telling me Wyatt needed help now.
“You can cut that out right now.” Jacob pointed at me and the photo.
“What?” I looked up innocently while my cheeks burned, feeling found-out.
“Thinking with your dick isn’t going to find him. Don’t give me that look. Thinking with your heart won’t do us any good either, Superman. ”
I scoffed. My heart? Not likely. I hadn't been in a serious relationship for years. Couldn't think of anything worse. While other people dated, I worked. I spent months at a time stationed at the park and spent my time off at home in Washington, DC, with my brothers. A high-risk job and a high- energy family were more than enough to juggle. I had too much going on to give a romantic relationship the attention it deserved. My exes agreed. No one had been able to put up with it for long.
"Dick, heart, forget it." Jacob pointed at me accusingly. “ Using either of those is going to get you killed out in the field. Have I taught you nothing? Put that photo down and start thinking with your head!”
I rolled my eyes and slid the photo across the desk. “Yes, Dad.”
I was only teasing, and it made Jacob smirk. I’d never had anyone to call ‘Dad’. I’d had a lot of men come into—and quickly leave—my life through the foster and group homes I’d been in, but never a real father who stuck around. My older brothers, Derek, Sean, and Matt had been parental figures for me when I needed them most, and now Jacob, too, since I’d joined the Parks, but it wasn’t the same.
Jacob sat up straight and adjusted the phone when someone answered on the other end. “Hey, Kieren,” he said. “We need some men down here for a night rescue, and the rain’s coming in strong.”
A gentle whine came from beside me and my Alsatian, Uno, nudged my thigh with her snout. She looked from me to her harness hanging on the wall and back again with a slight wag of her tail. She was as excited as I was to get going.
The rest of the team— except for fuck-up Larry—were all stationed at other parks, all at least an hour away. Jacob cussed and hung up. Even though Jacob would want me to wait for someone else from the team to get here, I had no intention of following those orders. I winked at Uno and gestured for her to grab what she needed from her work crate while I got ready for a night mission into the 20,000 acres of Cumberland State Park.