Chapter 7
At the start of the next shift Gage opened his locker. Normally there were only two photos taped to the door. One was of him carrying A.J. in his arms; the one below it was A.J. carrying him in her arms. She had the exact same photos in her locker at the 110. However today next to them was a neatly folded note with his name on it.
He slowly opened it and read its contents. "This confession now has some additional demands. The two of you have until noon tomorrow to make your decision. If the two of you so choose to continue this debate, The Phantom really will know all."
Shocked he hands it over to Roy, who had by now noticed the distress on his partner's face. "You've got to read this!"
He took a few moments to read it for himself. "Now what bright ideas do you have? We can NOT let Chet find out about this. It would be a total nightmare...he would keep going for years." The image alone was giving him a throbbing headache.
Interrupting their conversation was the irritated voice of Captain Stanley. "GAGE, DESOTO.....in my office now!"
They sheepishly walked into his office, having no clue as to what it was about. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened in quite a while, so what could he want?
"Close the door."
"Did you need us to do something Cap.?" Gage was fidgeting as he addressed his commanding officer.
"Do you two want to know what happened at my house last night? Before either of them could answer he kept on talking. "My wife came back from having a nice time with several of her girl friends. It seems they spent the evening discussing the two of you."
The two friends quickly glanced at each and spoke with out words. The exchange said, "How could this possibly get any worse..."
"Apparently, my common sense left me and somehow I ended up stating that I agreed with Gage....would you please tell me how in the hell that happened?" Hank was beyond exasperated.
"Then to top it off she said she was joining the strike, and then she proceeded to tell me what exactly she was striking against. Gentlemen, I am NOT a happy man!"
They were temporarily saved by the bell, when the Klaxons went off. "Station 51 and Squad 110; a building; respond to Elm and State Streets; time out 08:45."
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Upon arrival to the location it became clear why two squads and only one engine were dispatched to a building fire. The building in question was an out house and apparently the red neck family of the year was squabbling outside.
Squad 110 actually arrived before the other apparatus. They had been in the area bordering 51's running area and had just been recalled. Brice and Wolfie got out and waited, watching the Deputies try valiantly to gain control over the situation. There was no real emergency with the burning shit house; it was far enough away from any main structure, so it really poised no real threat. Besides other than a few extinguishers there was no equipment on the squad to fight a fire of any kind.
A car pulled up behind the emergency vehicles and two men got out and at first were watching the may lay. They started to walk up to where all the action was taking place, a young deputy attempted to stop them before the were directly up behind the paramedics. In the back ground sirens from 51's vehicles could be heard in the near distance.
The men were loudly arguing, trying to convince the officer to allow them to gain access to the scene. Although Brice seemed unconcerned about what was taking place behind them, A.J. was on alert. She never overlooked what was going on around her.
One of the men tried to push past the deputy. As he was restrained, the other man grabbed Brice spinning him around. A.J. turned into him blocking his advance, and then used the palm of her hand to slam into his lower jaw, at the same time kicking his leg out from under him.
The man fell over with a grunt of surprise. The Deputy was distracted for a moment, allowing the second man to over power him. In a flash he drew out a knife. This all happened in a matter of a few seconds. Before A.J. could spin around, he was up behind her, with his arm across her chest and the knife pressing against her neck. If he used any pressure, her jugular would be punctured.
Squad 51 came in just in front of the engine. They couldn't make out what the commotion was all about until the pulled in. The first clear image was A.J. being dragged backwards with a knife to her throat. The men practically leapt from their seats and rushed towards the assailant.
"Everybody stay back! I mean it!" He pointed towards the Deputy, "You tell your boys over there to stop beating on my family!" The other man was now back under the deputy's control and in hand cuffs. "You let him go!"
The other officers were unaware of what was happening, they dealing with their own problems as everything was happening. "Look now calm down. I can't just let him go, and the rest of your family started this on their own. One of them called us, that's why we are here. Let the paramedic go, this isn't making things any easier for any of you." He continued to try and talk the man down.
Brice was in a state of shock. He couldn't believe how quickly this had all taken place. He also felt guilty because he should have been the one that was being held hostage. There was absolutely nothing he could do at this point, only watch anxiously on, praying for his partner.
Captain Stanley and his crew were also in the same boat. There was nothing they could do, they were too far away. Gage was frozen in his spot, his mind and heart racing. The only hope he had was that Wolfie was skilled at self defense, if she even had one opening, she could rescue herself.
Steadying herself internally, A.J.'s mind was calculating what she could do to get out of this. She was waiting until they were far enough away from anyone else. This way there wasn't a chance of him grabbing someone else, creating a worse situation.
Then came her break. He stopped dragging her backwards and relaxed his arm ever so slightly. She pretended she was going to faint, then as he attempted to adjust his grip she simultaneously brought her foot down on his instep, slammed her elbow into his solar plexus and pulled his arm down away from her neck. The classic maneuver worked like a charm.
She spun away from him, allowing the deputy to restrain him, the others had now realized what was happening and were assisting him in getting a set of cuffs on the moron. A.J. simply stood there, getting control of her breathing, trying not to show her reaction to what had just happened.
Although they were all relieved to see that she was alright, the engine's main priority was to extinguish to shit house. Stanley had them pull a 1 3/4 inch line to wet down the sweet smelling building.
Before Brice could check on his partner, one of the deputies grabbed his arm asking him to help one of the deputies. He had been cracked over the head by a base ball bat. Glancing towards his partner he could see that she suffered no life threatening injuries, besides Gage would definitely be checking her over.
Gage and DeSoto ran up to Wolfie in a mad dash. They couldn't see any gross bleeding covering her anywhere. She was standing in one spot, not really reacting to her surroundings.
She snapped back to reality as the men reached her. She desperately wanted to maintain control of her emotions and body language. It was one thing to let her guard down later but right now she couldn't show weakness of any kind.
"I'm fine...you guys can relax. I've been in worse situations..." She was slowing regaining control, which helped her relax a little.
Gazing up and down her body Roy was the first to see the tiny pool of blood forming on the ground. "A.J.!"
"What?" She saw the look on his face and the worry in his voice.
"Your arm!" Johnny had now spotted what his partner had seen. Her right forearm had a nasty slash wound; blood was streaming down her arm to her fingers.
The two men tried to practically carry her over to the squad. She batted away their strong arms and walked under her own power. She was irritated but not offended by their over reaction. No they wouldn't have attempted to carry another firemen but it was nice to know that chivalry wasn't dead after all.
She gratefully allowed them to bandage it up and then they joined Brice in assessing injuries in the ragged crowd. There wasn't anything critical in the bunch. Rampart just informed the paramedics to monitor vitals on a couple of them and allow the deputies to transport the others.
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A.J. rode with one of the patients into Rampart. Once in the ER, the staff took over care of the wounded, officers and assailants alike.
Dr. Early took one look at his niece, "Well I see you have gotten yourself into a bit of trouble again." He firmly, yet gently placed his hand on her shoulder and guided her into exam one.
Roy and Johnny took their usual position at the desk. "Roy, I think you should be glad that Joanne loves being a homemaker. I don't how to get used to her being in danger....."
"That's the glory of love, Junior." Roy could understand exactly where his partner was coming from. He didn't envy him; Johnny was the first in the department to even be faced with such a situation.
It didn't take all that long before A.J. and Joe emerged from the exam room. It hadn't taken that many stitches to close the wound, it looked far worse than it actually was.
Holding her arm up to Johnny, she flashed him a smile that made him melt every time. "See good as new, nothing to get your panties in a bunch over!"
Further bantering would have to wait. The HT in Roy's hand began beeping, followed by a voice asking Squad 51 if they were available.
Brice walked up to her, his eyes inquiring about her condition. "Well if you are done being babied, shall we get back to work?" He flashed her one of the smiles he only reserved for her.
"10-4 Partner....10-4"
