Smoked and Smitten (The Titans of South Side Book 1) Read online

  Smoked and Smitten

  The Titans of South Side

  Book One

  by Carson Mackenzie

  Harley McRide

  Published by JK Publishing, Inc.

  © Copyright October 2016 JK Publishing, Inc.

  Rights & Permissions © Copyright October 2016 JK Publishing, Inc.

  Cover, art, and logo © Copyright October 2016 by JK Publishing, Inc.

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN#978-1-310-39186-6

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  Dedication

  To everyone who Protects and Serves. The appreciation for what you do, will always outweigh the negative toward you. Remember you will never stand alone.

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Epilogue

  Books by Harley McRide

  Books by Carson Mackenzie

  About the Author Harley McRide

  About the Author Carson Mackenzie

  Prologue

  Kian

  The blaring alarm sent everyone at the fire station into action. Engine House 29 rolled out in two minutes flat. At least at three in the morning the traffic was damn near nonexistent, which cut our response time down to eight minutes. Not bad, not bad at all when every second counted.

  We arrived at the four unit, condo style apartment building and before the trucks rolled to a stop, the situation was already being assessed. The 10-97 was called into dispatch letting them know we arrived on scene. Smoke billowed out of a couple of open upstairs windows and the kiss of a flame could already be seen making its appearance through the roof of the building.

  People littered the sidewalks on both sides of the street as the neighbors tried to get a look at what was taking place.

  With full gear on, the crew and I were out of the trucks and on the move. The men had the hoses rolled out before Mitch had us hooked up to the hydrant.

  “Ready!” Mitch’s voice came through our earpieces and the valve was turned on the trucks, sending the water pumping through the hoses.

  “Get the water on the roof and let’s see if we can salvage this place,” I spoke into the mic.

  “On it,” came through from Tally and Lemar manning the one hose. Jason and Clive on other hose headed toward the back of the complex. When the water started to hit the roof from both sides the rest of the crew headed inside each unit to give an all clear on residents and to douse any flames found.

  The neighborhood was one of the older ones on the south side of Chicago and the area was home to low and medium income families. When dealing with buildings and homes on the upper twenty-five to forty years old range, anything could cause a fire to shift in a heartbeat: old wiring, aged material, outdated appliances, it only took the right condition or situation.

  “Hey!” was yelled to my left and when I turned in that direction a man carrying a child in one arm and with the other arm wrapped around a woman, was headed toward me.

  “Ms. Nixon who lives on the end isn’t out here!” the man was shouting as the gap between us closed.

  “Are you sure?”

  Someone was still inside, shit.

  “Yes, we watch out for each other. She hasn’t come out and I’m sure she’s not anywhere in the crowd or she would at least let us know she made it out. Herb and I were going to run in her place but your trucks turned the corner and we didn’t want to add to the problem.”

  I relayed what the man said into my mic and when I turned around to go help, I saw Gait and Emmett headed for the unit’s front door. Before I took five steps my arm was grabbed and the man I had just spoken with yelled, “Thank God!”

  “Oh my God, that’s my place!” I stopped and looked down at the dark-headed woman who held onto my forearm and her eyes were glued to the building. I briefly wondered where she had come from at three something in the morning but there would be time later to find that out.

  “Anyone else in there?” I asked and the woman only shook her head yes as she continued to stare wide-eyed at the scene taking place in front of her.

  “Gait!” I yelled into my mic and when he came back over the earpiece, I told him the unit was empty.

  “10-4, place has smoke downstairs, fire was active upstairs in the back bedroom but Emmett and I contain
ed it.”

  “10-4.”

  Once I left the woman with her neighbors and told them I would speak with them after the fire was contained, I pulled my mask down and went to assist.

  In under an hour we had the flames out and began the process of putting away our equipment. Between water and fire damage, four families would be looking for other places to live. Though we saved the shell of the building, the inside of the units would have to be stripped down and rebuilt, that’s if the owner didn’t cut his losses and level it, to start from scratch.

  “LT, from what I can tell, the point of origin was in the back of the end unit. A gas container that was setting beside the push mower must have been knocked over, no signs of what could have ignited it though but that was where it started,” Gait said after walking through and around the building. I nodded and followed him back to the spot he found. The fire investigator would come out and verify to make sure we weren’t missing anything.

  When we reached the back, I saw what Gait had seen. Plastic gas container was on its side partially melted, a line burnt in the grass where the gasoline leaked out then ignited. The mower was burnt, and the wall of the building showed the trail of the flames up to the second story. We walked in the back door and as I walked through, the downstairs showed mostly smoke and water damage. As we went up the stairs the smoke stains were darker and when we reached the master bedroom, the signs of fire showed from the door to everything inside, nothing had escaped the fire’s wrath.

  The ceiling above the window laid open where the fire had burnt through. I walked and stood to the side of it, water still dripped from the soaked roof. From where I stood I could see the rafters.

  “Gait, did you go inside the shed built off the back that divides the four units in half?”

  “No, it was locked and other than the water off the roof it showed no signs of damage,” Gait answered.

  “Let’s go take a look, if I’m right, it answers how the fire went across the ceilings of each of these units.”

  We headed down the stairs and out the back to the shed. The door was padlocked, I hit the mic and asked Emmett to bring the bolt cutter. Once the lock was off and we entered, I looked up and found exactly what I looking for, the cockloft. I didn’t need a ladder because the pulldown door showed signs of the fire that had burned above it.

  Luck was with us, because sitting on the floor of the shed was paint, paint thinner, yard chemicals, and a number of other items used for repair that would have been accelerants in helping the fire to reach a whole new level.

  “Son-of-a-bitch that would have sucked,” Gait said when he entered and saw all the items scattered around.

  “Hey, last check, no hot spots left. Place is messed up but the owner should be able to get the place renovated instead of a complete demolish,” Clive said as he walked up. “Equipment put away, we’re ready to roll when you are, LT.”

  “Gotta speak to the tenants, then we can roll.” I walked around to the front of the building where the occupants stood. “You folks have places to go? You aren’t going to be allowed in to gather things until late tomorrow. The owner’s been notified of the fire, said he would be by tomorrow to take a look and to meet with you. He did mention he has a few places empty now that could be rented out if you need them. Only thing he told dispatch was they aren’t in this same area. We will have the report ready in a couple of days if you need a copy for your insurance companies.” I waited for questions to be asked but the folks thanked me, said they had places to stay for the rest of the night and began to walk away, leaving only Ms. Nixon who stared at me while she chewed on her bottom lip. “Ma’am, you have any questions?”

  “Was this fire my fault? I heard a couple of the firefighters mention the gas and the mower behind my unit.” She looked sadden, remorseful almost, not the typical reaction of someone who would have engineered a plan to set her place on fire.

  “Really can’t say until we get the report wrote up and the investigator takes a look around to make sure we aren’t wrong in our assessment.” Her eyes went wide and a panicked looked crossed her face and I found myself wanting to put her at ease. “Just procedure, ma’am. That’s it. I wouldn’t worry.”

  “Okay, thank you, ummm...” Her eyes roamed over my gear.

  “Lieutenant O’Malley, ma’am.” The small smile she gave looked forced. “Do you have somewhere to go, ma’am?”

  “Oh, sorry, yes. Yes, my parents live a few minutes from here.”

  “Are they coming to get you?”

  “No, I parked down the street when I saw the fire trucks and then walked here. Thank you again, I guess I should leave.”

  “Let me walk you to your car, ma’am.” It was out of my mouth before I could stop myself and the few coughs I heard alerted me that some of my crew stood behind me. I watched as her eyes moved to them, which had them each saying “ma’am”. Ms. Nixon nodded at them and looked back at me.

  “That’s not necessary, I can walk to my car.”

  “It’s not a problem. And it’s dark and no woman should be walking by themselves.”

  “Are you insinuating that I can’t take care of myself, Lieutenant?” She pursed her lips and the action drew my attention. They were plump and looked soft. The type of lips made for kissing and when my thoughts went to what else they were good for, I placed my hand at her back and started to lead her down the sidewalk.

  “We’ll be in the truck, LT,” Gait said and the others chuckled. As we kept on walking I lifted my free hand up and flipped them off over my shoulders, which only made their laughter louder.

  “Well?” She looked up at me.

  “Well, what?” I asked and looked down at her.

  “Were you insinuating that I couldn’t take care of myself.” Her eyes were gray and it didn’t escape me they were the shade of gray that a smoldering fire puts into the air when it first begins.

  “Can you?” I raised my brow and waited. She chuckled and shook her head.

  “Well, I would like to think so. I’ve managed until today, I guess,” she said, then stopped by a Ford Echo and I waited while she got her keys out and unlocked the door. I opened it and waited for her to get in.

  “Thanks,” she said and I nodded. Christ, I needed to get her gone and get my ass back to the station. I began to close the car door and stopped because I love to punish myself it would seem.

  “What’s your first name, Ms. Nixon?”

  “Ana.”

  “Well, Ana Nixon, drive safe.” I closed the door and she looked out the window and smiled.

  I waited until she started the car and drove away before I started back to the fire truck, which was running with the crew loaded and waiting for me.

  When I jumped in, Mitch pulled out, and I picked up the radio to let dispatch know we were headed back to the station. I leaned back in my seat and the thought of never running into Ana Nixon again made me feel... I wasn’t quite sure.

  Chapter One

  Ana

  It was really going to happen. Sassy and Sexy would be opening in less than two weeks. I tossed the empty boxes in the dumpster and headed back into the storage room. Plenty of boxes still needed to be unpacked and the merchandise set out, but overall, not too bad.

  “Ana, where do you want the stocking rack at.” My father had come in to help with the heavy lifting. I smiled to myself as I remembered his face the first time he saw some of the items I had ordered to fill the boutique.

  “Coming,” I yelled and grabbed another box and walked into the main part of the small shop I had rented on Taylor Street in the section of town know as Little Italy. The area was known for the restaurants that had spanned generations.

  “I thought it would work better beside the display of shoes you have here.”

  I looked around the box I carried to where my dad stood adjusting the freestanding rack off to the side of the shelf of shoes.

  “Dad, that is a great idea. Nice job.” He turned and smiled at me.


  “What I wouldn’t give to be a young man nowadays? Then, I don’t know if I would have survived your mother wearing these,” he held up a cherry red open-toe with a four-inch spiked heel, “and one of those.” I followed to where he pointed at the rack of corsets in every color of lace I could find.

  Brady Nixon, my father, was a retired fireman. He had worked at the same station for thirty years. He and my mother, Dana, had met when Engine 18 answered a call to an automobile accident and my mother was the cop on the scene. They married within a year and wanted to start a family immediately but as the years went by, they had said they’d given up on it when it hadn’t happened and made peace with the fact that it would be just the two of them. I came along right after my mother turned forty and my younger sister, Gabby, a year later. Gabby and I had been the children in school with older parents but it never bothered us in the least.

  Now in his sixties, my dad’s hair was gray and cut close to his head and it was the only thing about him that gave his age away.

  “Oh please, you act like you have one foot in the grave. You’re in better health than men half your age.” I sat the box down and moved until I was in front of him and stood on tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Besides, I set a few things aside for Mom.” When I leaned away to look up at him, a smile was spread across his face.

  “Have I told you lately that you’re my favorite daughter?” I chuckled and bent to open the box I previously sat down on the floor.

  “Not since you caught Gabby trying to override the alarm when she snuck back in the house.” My dad could chuckle about that now, then, no so much.

  “Hard to believe she is making a damn good living doing just that. If I had known then, I would have let her continue to practice.” He leaned over the box to help pull items out and stopped. “Holy hell, Ana. These are crotchless panties.”