I’d been running county-wide disaster preparedness meetings for over a decade, and fighting fires far longer than that. The routine of talking everyone through disaster protocol had become stale until Annie walked in. At least twenty years younger than me, she was vibrant, smart, and a thorn in my side. Unfortunately, she was also my newest obsession.
Annie
Fresh out of college, I landed my first real job. Ready to share my knowledge on helping criminal youth find a new path, I took a position as a counselor in a cute little town that was doing its best to catch up with current trends in criminal justice reform. My first case, a juvenile arsonist. My first complication, the burly fire chief everyone considered an expert because he’d been their only expert for far too long.