January Surprise: Chapter 9

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"Terrific!" Tracy said, nearly squealing in her excitement. She cleared her throat, realizing she'd gone a bit overboard with her enthusiasm.

"And," Sharon said, peering out of the cab, "maybe some of the other guys from your station would like to come?"

Chet drooped a little inside; he kind of wanted to keep this one for himself. But, he knew that was completely unreasonable, despite his annoyance at the long prank that had been played on him.

"Sure—do you want me to just ask around? Two of the guys are married, so they're probably, uh, not gonna be up for this sort of thing," he said. "But I can ask the others."

"Who's married?" Sharon asked, glancing outside again.

The radio squawked, interrupting the conversation.

"Squad 51, what's your status?" the dispatcher asked.

Captain Stanley's voice came on the air.

"Squad 51 can be available in less than two minutes," he announced.

"Copy that," the dispatcher said. "Stand by for response."

"What does that mean?" Sharon asked. "Are you guys leaving?"

Chet shook his head. "Just the squad and the paramedics. Johnny—and I'll be shocked if he doesn't join us on Friday—and Roy, who's one of the married guys. They probably checked on you earlier, while Marco and I were putting out the fire."

"Who's the other married guy?" Sharon said, watching out the window as John and Roy put their overhaul tools back onto the engine and hopped into the squad.

"Squad 51, available," Johnny's voice said over the radio.

The conversation remained on hold while the dispatcher relayed the information, but Chet replied as soon as the radio traffic was clear.

"Captain Stanley," Chet said. "I don't know if you met him."

"Is he the one with the stripe on his helmet?" Tracy asked.

"Yep, that's the one."

"So," Sharon said, chewing on her lip as she looked out of the window again, craning her neck so she could see the side of the engine where the pump panel was. "Not the guy right here, then?"

Chet frowned. "Mike? What about him?"

"He's, uh." Sharon blushed. "He's not one of the married guys."

"Nope," Chet said tersely.

"What, you don't like him or something?" Tracy teased.

"Nah, he's fine, usually. I don't know what got into him today, though. He's been giving me all sorts of sh—um, nonsense, today," Chet said.

"Oh—I see!" Tracy said. "He must be the one who put this picture up, then."

"Yep."

"So, the station prankster, then," Sharon said. "That sounds like fun."

Chet ground his teeth for a moment to keep himself from saying what he really wanted to say.

"Uh, usually that's me," he said. "In fact, just last shift, I really …"

The women gave him a moment to continue, but it seemed he wasn't going to.

"You really what?" Tracy asked.

Chet blinked a few times, and continued. "Well, uh, I guess maybe I … overdid it a little on Mike. With the water bombs." He glanced at the calendar picture on the other side of the glass separating the front of the cab from the rear. "I guess it's right, what they say about how you hafta watch out for the quiet ones."

Everyone in the back of the cab jumped as the door opened and Captain Stanley popped his head in.

"Chet, pal, I need you to help Marco load hose, with John and Roy gone. We'll be outta here in a fifteen minutes or so," Cap said.

"Oh—sure, Cap," Chet said. He picked his helmet up off the floor, and started getting out of the cab.

"Wait!" Tracy cried. "How do I get a hold of you to give you the details?"

Cap raised an eyebrow at Chet, which Chet ignored.

"I've gotta finish up here, but you hang out here, and I'll write down my number before we take off," he said.

"Okay," Tracy said.

The women watched with a combination of interest and sickened stomachs, knowing that all the equipment and hose being loaded back onto the truck had been used in their house. Hoses, they understood—and water, and the mess that would leave in their former kitchen. Poles with hooks on the ends—those were more sinister, and less comprehensible.

After Captain Stanley's promised fifteen minutes, the men returned to the truck, led by Cap.

"Here's the situation, ladies," he said. "We can escort you in to safe areas of the house so you can get some things, but you can't stay here. The power and water are locked out until the wiring can be repaired, and the kitchen and dining room areas are unsafe. Do you have somewhere you can stay, or should I have someone get in touch with the Red Cross?"

Tracy and Sharon looked at each other.

"I have a cousin not too far from the university," Tracy said. "She'd probably let me stay there until I figure something else out."

"I guess I have friends we could stay with," Sharon said finally. "But … what happens next?"

"Well, your landlord will have to arrange for some pretty substantial repairs, unfortunately," Cap said. "And there's smoke and water damage as well, even in the areas that didn't actually have fire."

"Oh," Tracy said.

Nobody said anything for a moment, until Sharon broke the silence.

"Well, I guess the important thing is that we're safe," she said. "Everything else is just … stuff."

"That, young lady, is an excellent attitude," Cap said. "Now—Chet and Marco will take you in so you can get some things, but we have to call in as available, so if we get toned out, we'll have to go."

"Thank you, Captain," Sharon said.

"And one more thing—it's going to look a lot worse in there than you might expect, but it's really not as bad as it looks. I'm no code inspector, but I can tell you that the structure of the house never caught fire—just the outsides of interior walls, some charring on some two-by-fours on some non-load-bearing walls, some insulation, and furnishings. Once repairs get rolling, it shouldn't take too long to get it all back in order again," Cap explained.

"Okay," Tracy said. She stood up from her seat in the cab, and Cap lent her a hand to get down from the high step into the vehicle.

Chet and Marco were waiting.

"C'mon," Chet said. "We'll help you get some things."

"Cap, I might as well lend a hand too," Mike said.

"Carry on," Cap said, as he opened the officer-side door and pulled a metal clipboard out from the door pocket. "I'll start my report."

Chet, Marco, and Mike accompanied the two women into their home.

"Oh, man …" Tracy breathed, as they stared into the kitchen area. "What a mess! The ceiling, and the walls … you weren't kidding about having to rip them out!"

Chet squirmed uncomfortably. "Yeah. Like I said. The fire got into the wall, and it's really bad if we miss hot spots and the fire rekindles, so we have to rip out the plaster like that." He cleared his throat. "Sorry."

Sharon waved him off. "You were just doing your job. Now, we better do ours, before our escorts take off. Time to pack, Tracy."

"We'll let you two get what you need out of the undamaged areas—the bedrooms and the bathroom," Mike said. "You put us to work getting anything you need from the other areas."

"Well …" Sharon said, looking out into the yard, where some furniture from the dining room had been moved. "I wonder if it might make sense to move the dining room furniture into the bedrooms—just to keep it out of the weather."

"And so nobody takes it," Tracy added.

Chet and Marco looked at each other and shrugged.

"Sure, why not," Chet said. "I don't think Cap'll mind if we do that."

Ten short minutes later, each of the women had a suitcase packed, and the dining room furniture was back inside. Mike had packed as much food as he could from the fridge and freezer into a cooler that Sharon gave him. The engine crew had put a lot more time into the situation than they normally would've, but after the recent review of the public relations slide show, Cap had encouraged their going above and beyond, so nobody argued.

"Well, thanks a lot, guys," Tracy said. "And don't forget—party on Friday. Oh—Chet, I need your number, so I can get you details. Since, after all, we don't actually know where the bash is gonna be."

"You're all invited," Sharon said, as the rest of the men, who hadn't been in on the discussion in the cab, looked at them blankly. She looked more pointedly at Mike, who swallowed hard and blushed.

"Uh, I don't have anything to write on," Chet said. "Oh—wait a sec." He hopped up to the driver's seat of the engine. He returned with the calendar page that Mike had taped to that side of the glass. On the reverse of the picture, he wrote his name and phone number.

Mike stared at Chet, mouth slightly open, as Chet managed to turn what had been an item of torment into a page of happiness. He shook his head minutely, just in time for Chet to look up.

"Aw, whatsa matter, Stoker? Your joke get turned around a little?" Chet teased.

"Nah, it's okay," Mike said nonchalantly, suddenly back to his typical cool, calm self.

"Huh," Chet said. His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Mike.

Captain Stanley, who had observed the last minute or so, cleared his throat.

"All right, people. We need to get back to the barn. Ladies, stay safe," he said. "Men, time to hit the road."

On the way back to the station, Chet preened his feathers.

"Never had a fan club before," he said. "But don't worry, Marco; I'll be sure to pass the details of the party along to you. And Gage. I might just forget to call Stoker, though."

Marco shook his head.

"I dunno, Chet. Did you see the look on his face just now, after you were teasing him about his joke getting turned upside-down?"

"Yeah," Chet said, frowning slightly. "Whaddaya suppose that was about?"

"I don't know," Marco said, "but if I were you, I wouldn't antagonize him. At all."

"Hmm," Chet said. "Yeah, I guess not. Who'd've thought he had anything like this in him, anyhow?"

Marco shook his head. "Like they say, about watching out for the quiet ones. I don't think it's an old wives' tale."

"Hmmm," Chet said.

In the front seat, the conversation was only slightly different.

"So it was you," Cap said.

"Yep," Mike said, grinning ever so slightly.

Cap paused for several seconds, looking out the window.

"You didn't hear me say this. But well done."

"Thanks," Mike said. "And I didn't hear a thing."

"And don't think I didn't catch that look you gave him just now," Cap said. "Just between you and me—you have something else planned for him, don't you."

"Hmm," Mike said. "Well, if it's just between you and me …"

"It is," Cap said.

"Not a thing. Except to let him think about what else I have planned for him," Mike said, his face completely straight as he kept his eyes carefully on the road.

Out of the corner of his eye, though, he could see Cap's broad grin.

"Perfect," Cap said.

TBC