A/N: Well, I apologize for the delay in this last chapter, but real life knocked me flat on my back – literally. I spent 5 days in the hospital – LOL. But I'm recovering and back to the final chapter of Stoker's Scandal. Thank you all for all of your support and encouragement.

Chapter 21

Mike Stoker flattened his palms on the table in front of him. He had doubted Bri's ability to tell her story in front of her perpetrator. However, he had seen the frail, nervous, frightened young woman stand up, point her finger at HIS accuser, and spew forth a barrage of words that were both disgusting, and yet filled with naked truth, exposing the fire marshall's misdeeds. It was a modern day David and Goliath story, and he had witnessed it from beginning to end. In a split second, his rescuer instincts detonated his adrenaline flow, and he jumped to his feet. Bri was bleeding, Hunley was holding her hostage, and Mike knew he had to do something to save her. He turned to rush Hunley, but felt two sets of strong arms linking elbows with him, drawing him away from the chaos.

"No, Mike," Barney Olsen warned.

"Stand down, Stoker," the Chief ordered, as he and the attorney pushed Mike back into his seat, eyes riveted on the crazed fire marshall and his hostage.

"ACK!" Bri screamed, feeling the sharp cold blade pressing against the side of her throat. She saw the gun in Lieutenant Crockett's hand, knowing that if he pulled the trigger, she would die along with her captor.

"Let 'er go, man," Crockett ordered.

Hunley felt the round door knob pressing against his back as he held it open, leaving him poised between the conference room with the upper echelon of his department, and the waiting area with Lieutenant Crockett and the other Mike Stoker supporters. He was trapped between two worlds, both of which he knew would damn him, now. A familiar voice from inside the conference room spoke up, pulling Hunley's attention from the gun-wielding detective.

"Let the girl go, Leonard," Samford Bennett called out.

Sweat rolled down Hunley's cheeks. He wanted to use his shirt sleeve to wipe away the perspiration, but he had no free hand. "Shut up, Sam."

"Listen to me. Right now, all you've done is cut her. It was an accident, and we all saw it," Sam said sweeping his arm around the room of statue-still men. "She moved when you were going toward her, so it's HER fault, not YOURS!" He said, nearly shouting.

Mike was becoming incensed. His heart was racing, his breath was coming in quick gasps, as he listened to what Samford Bennett was saying. How could the investigator say those things when he knew the truth? Mike's leg began to bounce, and he felt the arms of his Chief and his attorney return to control him. They knew he was quickly reaching the boiling point. Even the quiet ones will explode when they reach their limit.

"Leonard, look," Sam said, reaffirming he had his supervisor's attention. "Don't let some two-bit whore ruin your career, man. She's a tramp, just a liar. She altered the damn tape to set you up! We all heard it."

Bri stood as still as possible, tears seeping from her clenched eyes. Everything Samford Bennett was saying about her was true. She had taken a risk by trusting him the previous day. Once again, she had been lied to by another man. Her soul was beyond crushed.

"Leonard, let… her… go. She isn't worth you losing your career over. If you hurt her more, then you'll go to jail. Think about it. Is this trashy slut worth jail time?"

Leonard felt an inkling of reason returning. Sam was right. Bri was nothing, a nobody. He was important, the fire marshall. If his superiors had seen the assault as nothing more than an accident, then he was in the clear. If they acknowledged that Bri had set him up, then he would be exonerated of any wrong-doing. As much as he wanted to hurt her for double-crossing him, now was not the time to do it. He would have his chance later on, without witnesses. He relaxed his grip on Bri just enough to allow her to breathe a little better.

"Listen to him, Hunley," Crockett ordered again, still aiming his weapon at Hunley and Bri, wishing the man would give him a clear shot and a reason to pull the trigger.

"You're right," Hunley began, "she ain't worth it. I-I was just upset. I used my knife to cut that tape 'cause… Um, it was an old tape, but there was, um, some confidential stuff on it. I-I was just doin' my job, and… And she got in the way," he stammered, relaxing his grip a little more, feeling Bri's body melting against his chest.

"Just drop the knife," Crockett stated as calmly as he could.

"Toss it to me," Sam requested. "I'll give it back to you when you let the girl go." He knew Hunley's Achilles heel was his massive ego, and the arson investigator was determined to exploit that weakness to resolve the crisis.

Hunley thought carefully before he made his decision. He had been able to convince Sam that Mike was guilty. They could continue with Mike's hearing as soon as he let Bri go, and everything settled back down. Slowly, he lowered his knife, making sure he didn't touch her again. He had to keep the ruse going that her injury had only been an accident. Gently, he tossed the knife in the general direction of Sam.

The blindingly fast investigator dodged the knife tossed in his direction, and rocketed across the room, catching Bri as she collapsed. Mike saw his opportunity, and with the speed of lightning, bolted across the table, reaching Hunley just as Sam pulled Bri out the door into the waiting area.

White hot molten rage shot daggers from Mike's angry azure eyes. His hands clenched into iron-hard fists, grabbing the cocky fire marshall, yanking him from the door to the floor in one quick smooth move. The engineer had weeks of pent up anger that he unleashed on the older man. Using his own body weight, Mike pinned Hunley to the floor, smashing the fire marshall's face with one brutal punch after another. He drew back his fist for a fourth punch, looking into the battered bloody evil face of Leonard Hunley before unleashing another solid blow to his obviously broken nose. Mike lost all sense of time, not even hearing the screamed curses of his punching bag as he continued his relentless assault.

Lieutenant Ronald Crockett reholstered his weapon before stepping through the doorway into the conference room. He reached Mike and Hunley at the same time as the Chief, and together, the two men were able to drag Mike, whose arms were still swinging, off of the semi-conscious fire marshall.

"Enough, Stoker. That's enough!" The Chief ordered.

"If you heard that tape I have from Bri's wire, you wouldn't say that," Crockett countered. "I got it all out there in the van," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the parking lot. "Including the entire conversation between that asshole fire marshall and Miss Olivier where he confessed to everything, including setting Mike up," he explained, pressing a hand against Mike's still heaving chest to keep him held back. "That tape he just cut? Well, she played it, the whole thing, on her way over here while she was wired up, so I've got the ENTIRE incident on one tape. You'll get a copy," the detective assured the surprised Chief.

"Thank you. I believe we'll be needing it," the Chief said, easing Mike to the closest chair. "Take it easy, son," he said, squeezing the back of Mike's neck as the engineer held on to the proffered chair to keep from falling.

Mike's adrenaline rush was subsiding, leaving him feeling shaky and dizzy. He began to hold his breath for a couple of seconds before blowing it out in an effort to prevent the hyperventilation episode he sensed was beginning. His heart was still slamming around inside his chest, and he willed it to slow down. "B-Bri?"

Barney Olsen sat down beside his client, hearing Mike's breathy question. "Sam's got her. Roy and John are taking care of her out there. She just fainted, Mike. It wasn't a life threatening cut. She'll be fine."

Hearing Sam's name brought on a new bout of fury in the engineer. He thought of the things the investigator had said about Bri. "But he…." Then reason seemed to return to Mike's brain, and he began to understand why Sam had said those disgusting things about Bri. "Oh," he muttered, leaning his elbows on his knees and running his hands through his brown disheveled hair. "I get it."

Barney patted Mike's back in a friendly show of support as the heaving man continued to calm down. Both of them stared at the arrest taking place on the floor in front of them.

"Alright, Leonard Hunley, you have the right to remain silent…," Crockett began, roughly rolling the groaning fire marshall onto his stomach and slapping the handcuff's in place. He looked up at the men who comprised the personnel board. "Gentlemen, you may, or may not plan on doing anything to him, but I sure as hell do. He won't be at work tomorrow," Crockett stated, turning away from the downed fire marshall, and looking at the commotion coming into the doorway.

Two uniformed officers ran into the room, hands near their weapons. They took one look at the detective, who was giving them a smirk. "What took you so long? You boys let the fire department take down the bad guy," Crockett snickered, tossing Mike a grin.

Barney slapped Mike on the back. "I always said that hose jockeys were braver than the boys in blue," he laughed.

"Hey, watch it now," Crockett chuckled, pointing his finger at the attorney.

"Ugh, argh, he-help me," Hunley grunted as he was hauled to his feet by the two officers.

Lieutenant Crockett looked over at the man wearing the blood-stained shirt, his nose angled in an odd direction, and both eyes beginning to swell. "Have one of the paramedic's look at 'im before you take him in, will ya?" Crockett placed one hand on his hip as he ambled over to the place where Mike was seated. He opened his mouth to speak just as a muffled agonized scream followed by gagging was heard from the waiting area. "Uh-oh," he said, turning and rushing to the door. "What happened… Never mind," the detective stated in answer to his own question, seeing John and Alexia near the dry-heaving fire marshall who was curled in a fetal position on the floor, hands cuffed behind his back. "I do NOT want to know."

Mike straightened up when he saw the crooked-grin and bloody hand of John Gage walking towards him. "Wha-what did you do?"

Johnny gave his engineer an innocent puppy dog look, then burst into his lop-sided grin. "Who me?" He grimaced when he saw Hunley's blood on his right hand. "Argh!" Seeing a box of tissue on the table, Johnny snatched a few of them out to remove the offending body fluid, as much as possible. "That bastard had a crooked nose. I jus' straightened it out for 'im," he laughed, smiling for the first time in several days.

"Ugh," Mike grunted. "Thanks, man."

"Hey, no problem, but you really ought to thank Lexi. She finished him off," John stated, giving the other two men a knowing look.

"She didn't," Barney commented.

"Oh yea, she did. I put him on his knees, then she used her thick chunky shoe to place a well-aimed kick." Johnny jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Hunley's choking on his nuts out there," he laughed.

"Oh man, I hate I missed that show," Barney laughed. "And he's handcuffed so he couldn't do anything to protect himself."

"From either of us," Johnny quipped.

Mike's face turned serious. "Johnny, how's Bri?"

Johnny looked down at the tissue sticking to his hands, giving the other men a wistful smile. "She's okay; Sam may not be, though."

E!

Samford Bennett watched in amazement as Roy DeSoto and the other men from 51's immediately jumped into action. Sam had gently laid the unconscious woman on the floor, removing his jacket to cover her bare legs.

"Get me a first-aid kit," Roy ordered. "And push that chair over here. We've gotta elevate her legs."

"Is she gonna be alright?" Sam questioned, seeing Bri's head begin to loll from side to side.

"Bri? Can you hear me?" Roy said, shaking her shoulders.

Bri felt something cold and hard against her back. Someone was wrapping something around her legs, but she couldn't tell what was happening to her. She tried to open her eyes, her lids feeling as heavy as lead. "Ga, ugh," she groaned, panic rising when she felt several large hands touching her, her legs being elevated.

"N-no," she cried, opening her eyes slightly, and seeing blurry figures moving around her. Then a voice she recognized, began calling her name.

"Bri? Bri, it's Sam. I'm so sorry. I'm-"

Suddenly, all the hurtful things Samford Bennett had said came rushing at her. Now, here he was hovering over her. He was going to hurt her like she had been hurt so many times before. "No, NO!" She screamed, thrashing about as she returned to full awareness. The heel of her right hand caught Sam's lower lip, causing his teeth to sink into the tender flesh.

"Umph," he grunted, backing away from her slightly, and patting his fingers to his mouth checking for blood. "Guess I deserved that."

"Easy, Bri. Take it easy. You're safe. It's over. It's all over," Roy soothed, using his calming paramedic voice. "We're gonna take good care of you. We heard you did great in there," he smiled at her, accepting the first aid kit Hank was handing him. He opened it up, removing the supplies he would need to clean and bandage her wound. "Looks like you may need a few stitches, but you'll be just fine."

Sam grabbed a piece of gauze, dabbing it at his swelling lip. "Hunley's gone, Bri. You did it. You beat him," Sam smiled. "Well, you and a couple of other people who took shots at him, but mainly you." He smiled at the confused woman. "I had to say those things to make him let you go. I hated saying them, but… I just didn't know what else to do. I… I couldn't let him hurt you anymore, Bri. I just couldn't."

Bri winced at the pain from the antiseptic wipe Roy was using to clean her lacerated face. "He…," she licked her lips, her memory returning in full. "He destro'… Th' tape," she slurred.

"That was just a copy," Sam reminded her. "We still have the original."

"That ain't all we've got," Crockett added, kneeling down beside them. "You're wearing a wire, so I've got everything recorded, including you replaying the conversation on your way here. Remember?"

Bri tried to smile, but her injury prevented it. She felt a large warm hand clutching her own smaller, colder one. A thumb was raking across the back of her hand, and for the first time, it wasn't something that made her skin crawl.

"It's all really over, Bri. We're gonna put him away for a long time," Sam said, giving her hand a little squeeze.

"Want me to call an ambulance?" Chet asked, concerned for the young woman he and Caroline had gotten to know better earlier this morning.

Sam looked at Roy. "Can I just take her in my car?" His guilt was killing him. He had never been so disrespectful to anyone in his life, let alone a young woman.

Roy looked down at his patient. "It's up to you, Bri. Do you want to go to Rampart in an ambulance, or with Sam?"

Bri looked back and forth between the two men. Part of her really wanted to trust someone for once in her life, but Sam had hurt her. Everyone had hurt her. Yet, Sam had apologized. He had said he didn't mean those things. Was he lying now, or before when she was being held hostage? "Neither," she said in self-preservation mode. "No hos-hospital."

"You won't have to stay overnight. You just need some stitches. You don't want that to get infected, or leave a big scar," Roy commented, trying to convince her to go in for treatment.

"No, no money," she said.

"No problem," Roy countered. "It's a county hospital. No one is turned away for their inability to pay. Now… How about it?"

"Mmm, 'kay," she mumbled, feeling exhausted both physically and emotionally.

"Atta girl," Roy grinned.

"I'll take her," Sam offered again.

"BRI!" Alexia called out, finally breaking free from Marco's grasp. "Bri, are you okay?" She asked, leaning over Roy's shoulder.

"Lex? Lexi, I'm sor-ry, bu' I couldn't tell you what I was really tryin' to do," Bri sniffled, accepting Roy and Sam's hands to ease her into a sitting position.

"Feeling better?"

Bri looked at Roy, nodding her response. She allowed them to help her into the chair where she was enveloped in a hug from her former roommate.

"Oh, Bri. Please forgive me."

"Heeeey, it's okay," Bri soothed, running her hands down the back of Lexi's dark hair. "You didn't know. There's nothin' to forgive."

"Roy, I'll bring my car around closer to the entrance so she won't have to walk as far," Sam stated, stepping away from Bri and Lexi.

"Lex, please go with me? Please?" Bri begged, afraid of being alone with a man she didn't really know.

Alexia looked around at the faces looking at her. She saw her mother drying her eyes. "Marco, will you pick me up at the hospital?"

"Of course," the lineman agreed, feeling Beverly's reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"And Bri, I can make arrangements for you to be readmitted to The Wellhouse when you get finished at the hospital," Beverly added. "What you did in there took amazing courage and strength. You can beat this thing, and I'd love to help you do it."

Bri tried to smile, but the tugging of the tape and the swelling along the laceration prevented it. She felt the backs of her eyes stinging, welling up with tears. "Thank you," she whispered, unable to find her regular voice. "I'd like that."

"And then," Maria Lopez stepped up, her plump face shining with a smile. "Then we've got a couple of extra bedrooms at our house. I'll have one ready for you when you're ready to leave The Wellhouse."

"What? Yo-you'd do that for me?" Bri cried, not knowing how to accept the kindness of others.

"Yes, we're a family here," Lexi answered. "And you're a part of it; you're my best friend," she whispered through her tears.

Roy saw Sam walking back down the corridor. "Okay, your ride to Rampart has arrived. Do you think you can walk if we help you?"

"Yes," she said, accepting Roy and Chet's assistance to walk down the hallway to the open doorway.

Still feeling a little woozy on her feet, Bri suddenly felt herself swooped up by a pair of strong arms.

"I may just be an arson investigator, but I'm still a fireman," Sam said, smiling at the woman cradled in his arms. "I can still do this."

Roy scurried to the white sedan idling just outside the building, and opened up the back door. "Watch her head."

Alexia rounded the back of the car, hurrying to get inside. Marco had followed her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

"We'll be right behind you," Marco stated, then looked over at Bri. "You did it, Bri. I'm so proud of you." He saw the young woman's eyes fade into faint smile that the rest of her face couldn't accommodate, just as Roy closed the door.

Sam plopped down behind the steering wheel. "Okay, ladies, we'll be at Rampart in just a few minutes. Johnny is calling ahead so they'll be waiting for us." He glanced in his rearview mirror, locking eyes briefly with Bri. He knew she really didn't want to be alone with him, or any other man at the moment, so he was grateful that Alexia was traveling with them. He pulled into traffic, being careful even though he stole the occasional glance into the back seat. Bri had her head leaning against Alexia's shoulder, and Alexia was holding Bri's hand. He knew that these two woman had been through hell and back with each other. Now, he hoped that both of them were about to start their lives over, fresh and new.

E!

Inside the building, Mike and his attorney were waiting outside the chief's office. Nervously, Mike paced between the window overlooking the parking lot and the bubbling fish aquarium on the opposite wall.

"Who ever heard of a fish tank in a fire department?" Mike asked, his voice laced with frustration.

"Maybe they use it to practice drafting," Barney joked, hoping to relieve his client's fears. He had no doubt that the information being shared by Lieutenant Crockett with the Chief was going to result in a complete exoneration of Mike, and a well-deserved apology on behalf of the department. He watched Mike stop his pacing when he reached the window again, shaking his head with a snort at Barney's comment.

The engineer propped one hand on his hip, leaning his other forearm against the window frame. "I just want to go back to work," he mused.

"You will, Mike. Just give Crockett time to tell the Chief what he needs to know." He continued staring at his client, seeing the crystal blue eyes seeming to cloud over as he stared into nothingness. "Something else going on?"

Mike looked over at his attorney then back out the window. He pressed his lips into a thin line, searching for the right words to explain what he was feeling. "How? How can anybody call himself a man and treat a woman like that? I mean, who cares if she's a prostitute? This goes much deeper than just paying for sex," he stated. "Hunley is evil through and through. How will those two young women ever trust another man, a REAL man, again?"

Barney Olsen had always prided himself in being 75% attorney and 25% therapist. All good attorney's had to be able to read people, not just listen to their words. They had to be able to see deeper, past the hard exterior shell and into the bare soul of their client. The soul he was seeing in Mike Stoker was that of a gallant knight in shining armor, a young warrior on a white stallion who wanted to save the damsel in distress. Barney gave a wistful smile as he thought about the image of Mike Stoker, not as a knight in shining armor on a white horse, but a hero in turnouts riding a red engine, and the wise attorney had an idea of which distressed damsel his client was intending to rescue.

E!

"Is the girl okay, Roy?" Johnny asked as soon as his partner walked back into the waiting area.

"She'll be fine. The cut is really minor; I think she fainted from all the stress she's been under lately." Roy stood amid the group that included Johnny, Hank, Chet, and Caroline.

Johnny ran a worried finger beneath his nose. "Yea, she'll be fine physically, but emotionally, this is gonna take a toll."

"That poor girl," Caroline sniffed, thinking about the time she had spent with Bri earlier. "She's not a bad person. She just needs a chance, and someone to care about her." She snuggled into Chet's side, enjoying the feeling of him pulling her closer. "Life isn't fair."

Chet kissed her forehead lightly. "No, Baby, it isn't. But maybe her life will start to turn around now."

Caroline went on to tell the assembled group about her conversation with Bri, including her reaction to being given the new clothing. Everyone had seen the blood stains on the shoulder of the dress, and knew that the garment was ruined. Five sad faces stood in a circle staring at the floor. Everyone was thinking the same thing, but no one was ready to voice it.

"How long 'til we hear from Mike?" Roy asked, turning his attention to the senior man in the group.

"I don't know," Hank replied, leaning against the wall, "but I'm not leaving until I know he's in the clear."

"Oh, he's more than in the clear," Barney Olsen commented, having overheard the end of the conversation. "There will be a full exoneration in his personnel file along with a formal apology from the department," he said with his face beaming.

Mike, having become more subdued since his earlier outburst, dipped his head as he neared the group. "I'll be back with you fellows on Saturday."

"Well, a'right! That's great, Sluggo!" Johnny kidded, initiated a round of back slapping and handshakes from the group to their engineer.

Caroline stood on her tiptoes to give Mike a kiss on the cheek. "That's great, Mike."

"Hey, watch it, Stoker. She's spoken for," Chet commented, joining in with the laughter.

"Thank you all for being here for me. I really appreciate it. Um, has anyone heard from Bri?" Mike asked, concerned for the brave young woman who had risked her life to clear his name.

"No, but why don't we head over to the hospital and check on her?" Hank asked the group. Seeing Mike looking around the room, he thought he might know who his engineer was looking for. "Sam took Bri to the hospital, and Alexia rode with her in his car, so Marco, Mrs. Lopez, and Beverly followed them to Rampart."

Mike nodded his acknowledgement, thankful that Alexia hadn't decided to just go home before he had a chance to talk to her.

"Why don't Chet and I go by Bloomers and get Bri some flowers?"

Johnny looked at Caroline, impressed with her compassion. "Or… I can go get her some flowers, and maybe you two could go get her something else to wear. Her dress was kind o' bloody," Johnny suggested.

"I'm paying for it," Mike stated, reaching for his wallet.

"No, no," Barney said, tapping Mike's elbow. "I know what fireman make, remember?" He reached for his wallet. "It would be an honor if you'd let me take care of this. It's been a pleasure representing you, Mike, and helping put away one of the bad guys. I'm glad that our profession is primarily made up of true heroes, but every once in a while one of our own goes rogue. It's a terrible thing, and something we all need to fight against," he said, looking at the assembled group. "I hope I've done a little something to give us back our good name."

Mike extended his hand to his attorney. "You have, Barney. I can't thank you enough."

"That goes for all of us," Hank said, following his engineer's lead.

Chet and Roy extended their hands, gripping Barney in firm handshakes.

Johnny offered his thanks last, shaking hands with the man who had almost represented him and Roy in a theft case. "Thanks, man. You're right about bad firemen. We could spend our entire careers trying to repair the damage a few bad ones do for the reputation of all firemen, everywhere. I just want the citizens we protect to know that we aren't all like that, ya know," Johnny stated, his mind returning to a different place and time.

Barney gave Johnny, Chet, and Caroline a few bills to cover the expense of the flowers and clothes. "You're right, John. But there's enough good ones out there, like you fellas, to make up for the likes of Hunley."

"I sure hope so," Johnny said, pocketing the money. "Thanks, I'll, ah… I'll see the rest of you at Rampart in a little while, a'right?" He said, backing away from the group before turning to leave the building. He needed to get away, needed to take some deep breaths. He wanted to talk to Iris, and let her know that he was going to follow through with his plan. He reached for the door handle of his Rover, seeing Hunley's dried blood in the cuticle of his thumbnail. He could still hear the pain-filled screams and the bloody face, but the image of Hunley in agony quickly morphed into a different face, a different scream, and a different place and time when a rogue civil servant had created terror, and Johnny had been more than just a witness to the carnage when the hounds of hell had been unleashed.

E!

A/N: I know this may seem like a strange place to end Stoker's Scandal, but Johnny's Journey will begin where this one is leaving off. Johnny and Iris will have a conversation at Bloomer's that is relevant to Johnny's Journey, and so I decided to start that story now. Thank you all for reading and especially for encouraging me – and pointing out my errors – in this series. I hope you enjoyed Stoker's Scandal, but we haven't seen the last of Hunley. There's still another scene or two for him – LOL. I hope you'll join me for Johnny's Journey, the last of the six stories in this series. Thanks again!