Free Up in Flames by Alice Brown Page A

days later, Lucas had just walked out of a planning session with Walter when two of his coworkers, Adam and Donte, walked past him heading for the door. “Hey, man, I’m impressed. Never figured you for a flowers kind of guy. So, who’s the chick you are trying to impress? Is she a new nurse upstairs?” Adam questioned over his shoulder, as Lucas watched him and Donte snicker. Suddenly, he felt like someone was squeezing the very life out of his chest. He reached behind him and threw open Walter’s door at the same time yelling, “Stop!” to his two coworkers.
    Both men stopped in their tracks as they watched their boss come flying out of his office to see what was going on. One look at Lucas’s face told them something was definitely wrong.
    Donte put his hands up in defense. “Hey, man, no need to get upset. We were just teasing you.”
    Lucas shook his head, while trying to get the vise grips to loosen around his chest. Finally, he felt like he could speak. “When and where?”
    Both Donte and Adam watched him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was asking. They then looked to their boss for help.
    “Tell me what was said right before I came out.” Walter put a calming hand on Lucas’s shoulder.
    “We just said we had never figured him for a flowers kind of guy. A dozen roses arrived about ten minutes ago for some chick named Meredith from him. We figured she was a new nurse, so we sent them upstairs.”
    Walter immediately took off at a dead run, yelling for a couple of Rangers to follow him. He bypassed the elevator and took the stairs, knowing his vampire speed would put him upstairs much quicker. He heard footsteps behind him, so he knew he had backup. The problem was he still wasn’t sure who was leaking information out. He hit the top of the stairs and flung the door open. Just as he stepped around the corner, he spotted the roses sitting at the front desk. And then all hell broke loose.
    The roses and glass vase exploded, sending shards of glass everywhere. He and whoever was behind him hit the floor, knocked backward by the force of the blast and all bleeding from glass fragments embedded in their skin. This had been exactly what he was afraid of.
    He had an awful ringing in his ears, but he could still hear Lucas bellowing Meredith’s name. She suddenly appeared out of nowhere, seemingly unharmed, of which he was very thankful. Evidently she hadn’t been around the flowers when they exploded.
    He sat in the middle of the floor for a minute or two, trying to regain his equilibrium. He looked over and watched as Meredith and then Dr. Weathers started attending to his men. After they had moved a few to exam rooms far enough away from the blast that they hadn’t received much damage, Dr. Weathers came over to him.
    “Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?” the kind doctor inquired as he started checking him over.
    Walter looked over at the doc and frowned. “Man, I’m not sure. I don’t feel right.”
    “Hmm, that might have something to do with a nasty piece of glass that is embedded in your skull right now. We are going to get you to an exam room so I can remove it. Can you walk, or do I need a gurney?”
    Walter shook his head, and then was immediately sorry that he did. Even that little bit of movement had his stomach pitching. Something he had never experienced since becoming a vampire. “I can walk, just help me up.”
    Dr. Weathers bent and offered his arm, then helped get him up and into an exam room. “Sorry, we are doubling up. The nurse’s station is completely wiped out, and we sustained heavy damage to the three exam rooms across the hall. There are other rooms that received some damage, but the three straight across from the nurse’s station are a total loss.”
    Walter looked up and saw Lucas sitting on the exam table. “Hey, can you call downstairs and make sure they have everything on lockdown? I don’t want anyone entering or leaving this building.”
    “Sure, no