Part IV

Roy and Johnny were restocking their drug box at Rampart after bringing in a heart-attack case when they saw Belliveau coming in alongside a gurney heading for a treatment room.

"Roy? That's Brice being brought in."

Nodding, Roy called their position into Captain Stanley. The engine was still working clean-up and he was fine with them being at Rampart a little longer so long as they were ready to respond if needed.

After the initial flurry of activity, Belliveau had to step out of the treatment room for x-rays to be taken. Roy and Johnny immediately went over to him.

"Bob? What happened?"

"I wish I knew, Roy. You guys were already out on a call, so our squad was called out with your engine crew on a structure fire. The smoke was thick and made it hard to see, but whoever called in the fire said they'd seen two teenage boys go inside, so we went in to find them. Craig was leading the way in on the search and - I don't know what happened. He suddenly went down hard and his head clipped a wooden crate. Fortunately his helmet took the hit instead of his skull, but his face mask was knocked off and he ate some smoke before I could get to him."

"Man. Brice wasn't showing any signs of being sick before, was he?"

"Not at all, Johnny. He wasn't complaining of even a headache. But the way he pitched forward like that? I'm worried."

His eyes went back to the door of the treatment room. Both Roy and Johnny knew exactly how it felt. There was nothing worse than being on this side of that door when your partner was on the other.

"We need to head back to the station. Go get yourself some coffee and catch your breath. Let us know what they find out, okay?"

"Sure, Roy. Thanks."

As Belliveau went to grab a cup of coffee, Roy and Johnny headed back for Station 51. Their first indication that something was wrong was when the doors didn't open for them to bring the squad in.

"That's weird. Guess we'll have to park on the street until we can figure out what's going on."

As they were climbing out, the extra patrol that had been assigned to keep a watch over the station pulled over and called out to them.

"Is there a problem, John?"

"That you, Greg? Yeah. The doors didn't open. Almost looks like the power is off in the building."

"No problem with the power on the rest of the block. Give me a minute. Let me park and I'll go with you to check it out."

"Thanks. We'd appreciate that."

As Deputy Jackson got out, he brought his flashlight with him. Together, the three men approached the building, but the deputy insisted on going in by himself first. It didn't take long to see that something was wrong and he called back to the paramedics.

"Looks like there was a break-in. From the mess, might have been some kids. Hang on for a minute. Let me see if I can get the lights back on."

Locating the circuit box, he found that the main breaker had been turned off. Once the lights came back on, he went back to the door,

"Might want to go sit in your squad and contact your captain. I need to call the sheriff. Nobody goes in for now until he clears the scene."

Captain Stanley wasn't happy and neither was Chief McConakee, but there wasn't a lot of choice but to stand down the station until the police finished looking over the building. It didn't take them too long, but it certainly felt a lot longer to the tired crew.

While they were waiting, the Cap filled in Johnny and Roy in. The two kids that Brice and Belliveau went in to search for weren't found. So either the caller had been mistaken about seeing them going into the building or the kids had left again without being seen. The third possibility was one that Cap didn't voice - that the caller might have deliberately misled them. There was no point in second guessing that. Any possibility of someone being trapped in a structure had to be checked out.

The sheriff came over and gave his report to Captain Stanley.

"I think Deputy Jackson was probably right. Probably some kids. Doesn't look like anything is missing, but someone was definately in your locker room. If any of your men find that something is gone, let us know, Darnedest thing though. There's a puddle of water on the floor. Looks like they had a water balloon in there."

The eyes of every crew member went straight to Chet, who was failing miserably at the attempt to look innocent. Seeing that, the sheriff just chuckled.

"Something tells me I don't want to know, but if I'm reading that look right, at least you got a partial payback on whoever went in there."

Not far away, the man was toweling himself off as he fumed. Everything should have been perfect. Would have been perfect, but the wrong squad went to the fire. Which meant that the wrong man hit the tripwire he'd made from fishing line.

As he calmed down, he decided that it might have been for the best. Tripping hadn't done what he'd wanted it to do any way. No, it was looking like he was going to have to take a much more personal hand in it. And the more he thought about that, the better he liked that thought.