Title: When the Heat Is On (5/?)
Rating: NC-17 (for adult material, harsh language and violence in later chapters)
Author: Angela Penfold
Email: AngelaPRPi@aol.com
Disclaimer: See first chapter for disclaimer. Not making any money by using the characters.
When The Heat is On Chapter 5
As the mood in the hallway lightened the nurse stepped back into Jimmy's room, closing the door firmly behind her. Amelia smiled wryly. "Nurses around here have a pretty mean attitude."
"Think she was just reacting to your winning personality," Bobby muttered. MacNab certainly didn't have an endearing manner; it usually took a lot to get hospital staff that pissed off. Feeling like it was required under the circumstances he offered the woman his hand. "I'm Bobby Caffey. This is Kim Zambrano, Doherty's ex."
".wife," Amelia finished. An almost smug smile appeared on her lips, she gripped Bobby's hand and shook it firmly. "Miss Zambrano already said. Got some information from your Captain when I got here this morning."
Turning away from the door Kim watched Amelia pluck a small digital device from her pocket and remove a delicate looking plastic stick from its top. "Cap was here?"
Amelia nodded, eyes fixing on Kim as she peered out from beneath the baseball cap. "Yeah, I ran into him at the elevators. Didn't hear much I didn't already know from the original case report. While we're waiting around for nurse wretched to finish her stuff could I ask you some questions?" She gestured to a small waiting area a little further down the hall.
Kim shrugged but started moving towards the bench anyway. "I guess. We weren't on duty last night though, I don't think we'll help much."
"Never know what'll end up being useful in a case," Amelia said. She tried smiling at Kim but pleasantries just didn't seem to fit the woman. Dropping onto the bench Amelia began tapping buttons on the device. "Your Captain told me you visited Doherty last night."
Before perching herself on the edge of the bench Kim cast a glance in Bobby's direction, seeking some sort of assurance to ease the remaining nerves. He settled on the arm of the bench close behind her, settling a hand on one of her shoulders. "Yeah," Kim said softly. "Bobby drove me over as soon as we got the call about Jimmy. I spoke to him for a little while before we left the hospital." A frown reappeared as Kim stared at the object in the woman's hands, she'd started tracing the plastic stick or whatever it was across its screen. "Are you recording this?"
Confusion had Amelia blinking as she looked up. "Recording?" Comprehension suddenly dawned and she laughed softly. "Ah no. Just making notes, they'll help me pull things together later. I guess palmtops aren't exactly standard equipment in fire stations."
"No," Kim said and shook her head. Would make sense that the woman wanted everything written down, tiny details slipped people's memories so easily. She'd learnt that pretty quickly during her marriage to Jimmy. He conveniently forgot a lot of things, including on occasion the fact that he was married at all.
"City's barely managed to computerise the rigs," Bobby said. He smiled wryly. New York wasn't exactly cutting edge when it came to new technology. Falling budgets and necessary updates weren't exactly compatible.
"Right. Did Mr Doherty mention having seen anything odd at the fire?"
Kim frowned and shook her head. "Odd? What do you mean?"
Biting her lip, Amelia shrugged. "You know, anyone hanging around the building when they arrived, anything combustible and out of place under those stairs?"
"No, nothing like that." Sighing with frustration Kim dragged a hand through her hair.
"Look, Jimmy didn't even know it was arson for sure until he came round after the surgery," Bobby murmured. "Said the way the fire was burning didn't seem right but fires are never predictable you know."
Smiling, Amelia lifted her head. If there was one thing she knew about, it was fire. "I know. There were suspicions about the blaze from the start but until the building had cooled off enough we couldn't get in there and find out for sure." She shifted back on the bench, gesturing towards Jimmy's room with the plastic stylus. "What exactly did he say was odd?" There'd been plenty of evidence to gather at the factory once she'd been cleared to enter the building but there were still gaps in the story. People so often believed that fire destroyed all evidence, didn't work that way though. For every clue destroyed another was created by the arson attempt.
"There wasn't enough damage to the staircase for it to drop like that," Kim said with certainty. "Jimmy's been a fireman a long time, he knew how to work in burning buildings. If he said the staircase wasn't wrecked enough for a collapse then it wasn't. He told us there were a couple of flare-ups near the staircase but the supports hadn't been touched. The guy who did this must've tampered with it somehow."
Breaking in again, Bobby leaned closer to Kim. She could feel the heat of his body against her back. Lately she'd been all too away of Bobby physically. It wasn't the first time but it was the first time since the night she'd welcomed him into her bed and into her body.
"You find any evidence of that?" he asked. "Fire must've been put out pretty quickly after Jimmy and Sweet were pulled out."
Not fast enough for Amelia though. "The damage to that section of the warehouse wasn't too extensive. Flare-ups there were put out to reach your guys." Until the investigation had cleared all the fire fighters she couldn't release all the details. "It looked like some bolts on the weight bearing struts had been removed. I scoured that area of the warehouse but they weren't there, unless." she said, lowering her voice, ".one of your guys moved them out of there."
"No way," Kim snapped. Pulling away from Bobby she raised a finger in warning. "None of our people are that damn incompetent or corrupt."
"Woah!" Frowning deeply Amelia snapped the palmtop shut. "I wasn't accusing anyone. Things happen unintentionally when a situation gets hectic."
"They wouldn't do it even then Miss MacNab," Bobby murmured.
"Mac. Just call me Mac." At the sound of a door opening she shot to her feet.
Kim and Bobby rose too, both watching the nurse as she began to approach. "Can we see him now?" Kim asked.
The nurse nodded, her glance at Amelia wary to say the least. "As long as you don't excite him. Mr Doherty needs as much rest as possible."
That was all Amelia needed to hear. The data she'd got from the ex-wife and her protective pal was useful but given the choice between them and Doherty, she'd take the eye witness every time. Leaving Kim and Bobby to follow in her wake she strode down the hallway and into Jimmy's room. The dark haired fire fighter lay propped up against the pillows. His skin was pale where it wasn't covered by bandages and dressings but he looked alert and lifted his head as she approached.
"Nice to see you again," he muttered softly. "Was a little busy when you burst in before."
Amelia nodded and slid off her jacket, dumping it onto the chair by his bed before she sat down. "Mr Doherty, I'm Amelia MacNab, the fire investigator."
"I was expecting you at some point," Jimmy said softly. He settled back, readying himself for the tirade of questions to come.
Rating: NC-17 (for adult material, harsh language and violence in later chapters)
Author: Angela Penfold
Email: AngelaPRPi@aol.com
Disclaimer: See first chapter for disclaimer. Not making any money by using the characters.
When The Heat is On Chapter 5
As the mood in the hallway lightened the nurse stepped back into Jimmy's room, closing the door firmly behind her. Amelia smiled wryly. "Nurses around here have a pretty mean attitude."
"Think she was just reacting to your winning personality," Bobby muttered. MacNab certainly didn't have an endearing manner; it usually took a lot to get hospital staff that pissed off. Feeling like it was required under the circumstances he offered the woman his hand. "I'm Bobby Caffey. This is Kim Zambrano, Doherty's ex."
".wife," Amelia finished. An almost smug smile appeared on her lips, she gripped Bobby's hand and shook it firmly. "Miss Zambrano already said. Got some information from your Captain when I got here this morning."
Turning away from the door Kim watched Amelia pluck a small digital device from her pocket and remove a delicate looking plastic stick from its top. "Cap was here?"
Amelia nodded, eyes fixing on Kim as she peered out from beneath the baseball cap. "Yeah, I ran into him at the elevators. Didn't hear much I didn't already know from the original case report. While we're waiting around for nurse wretched to finish her stuff could I ask you some questions?" She gestured to a small waiting area a little further down the hall.
Kim shrugged but started moving towards the bench anyway. "I guess. We weren't on duty last night though, I don't think we'll help much."
"Never know what'll end up being useful in a case," Amelia said. She tried smiling at Kim but pleasantries just didn't seem to fit the woman. Dropping onto the bench Amelia began tapping buttons on the device. "Your Captain told me you visited Doherty last night."
Before perching herself on the edge of the bench Kim cast a glance in Bobby's direction, seeking some sort of assurance to ease the remaining nerves. He settled on the arm of the bench close behind her, settling a hand on one of her shoulders. "Yeah," Kim said softly. "Bobby drove me over as soon as we got the call about Jimmy. I spoke to him for a little while before we left the hospital." A frown reappeared as Kim stared at the object in the woman's hands, she'd started tracing the plastic stick or whatever it was across its screen. "Are you recording this?"
Confusion had Amelia blinking as she looked up. "Recording?" Comprehension suddenly dawned and she laughed softly. "Ah no. Just making notes, they'll help me pull things together later. I guess palmtops aren't exactly standard equipment in fire stations."
"No," Kim said and shook her head. Would make sense that the woman wanted everything written down, tiny details slipped people's memories so easily. She'd learnt that pretty quickly during her marriage to Jimmy. He conveniently forgot a lot of things, including on occasion the fact that he was married at all.
"City's barely managed to computerise the rigs," Bobby said. He smiled wryly. New York wasn't exactly cutting edge when it came to new technology. Falling budgets and necessary updates weren't exactly compatible.
"Right. Did Mr Doherty mention having seen anything odd at the fire?"
Kim frowned and shook her head. "Odd? What do you mean?"
Biting her lip, Amelia shrugged. "You know, anyone hanging around the building when they arrived, anything combustible and out of place under those stairs?"
"No, nothing like that." Sighing with frustration Kim dragged a hand through her hair.
"Look, Jimmy didn't even know it was arson for sure until he came round after the surgery," Bobby murmured. "Said the way the fire was burning didn't seem right but fires are never predictable you know."
Smiling, Amelia lifted her head. If there was one thing she knew about, it was fire. "I know. There were suspicions about the blaze from the start but until the building had cooled off enough we couldn't get in there and find out for sure." She shifted back on the bench, gesturing towards Jimmy's room with the plastic stylus. "What exactly did he say was odd?" There'd been plenty of evidence to gather at the factory once she'd been cleared to enter the building but there were still gaps in the story. People so often believed that fire destroyed all evidence, didn't work that way though. For every clue destroyed another was created by the arson attempt.
"There wasn't enough damage to the staircase for it to drop like that," Kim said with certainty. "Jimmy's been a fireman a long time, he knew how to work in burning buildings. If he said the staircase wasn't wrecked enough for a collapse then it wasn't. He told us there were a couple of flare-ups near the staircase but the supports hadn't been touched. The guy who did this must've tampered with it somehow."
Breaking in again, Bobby leaned closer to Kim. She could feel the heat of his body against her back. Lately she'd been all too away of Bobby physically. It wasn't the first time but it was the first time since the night she'd welcomed him into her bed and into her body.
"You find any evidence of that?" he asked. "Fire must've been put out pretty quickly after Jimmy and Sweet were pulled out."
Not fast enough for Amelia though. "The damage to that section of the warehouse wasn't too extensive. Flare-ups there were put out to reach your guys." Until the investigation had cleared all the fire fighters she couldn't release all the details. "It looked like some bolts on the weight bearing struts had been removed. I scoured that area of the warehouse but they weren't there, unless." she said, lowering her voice, ".one of your guys moved them out of there."
"No way," Kim snapped. Pulling away from Bobby she raised a finger in warning. "None of our people are that damn incompetent or corrupt."
"Woah!" Frowning deeply Amelia snapped the palmtop shut. "I wasn't accusing anyone. Things happen unintentionally when a situation gets hectic."
"They wouldn't do it even then Miss MacNab," Bobby murmured.
"Mac. Just call me Mac." At the sound of a door opening she shot to her feet.
Kim and Bobby rose too, both watching the nurse as she began to approach. "Can we see him now?" Kim asked.
The nurse nodded, her glance at Amelia wary to say the least. "As long as you don't excite him. Mr Doherty needs as much rest as possible."
That was all Amelia needed to hear. The data she'd got from the ex-wife and her protective pal was useful but given the choice between them and Doherty, she'd take the eye witness every time. Leaving Kim and Bobby to follow in her wake she strode down the hallway and into Jimmy's room. The dark haired fire fighter lay propped up against the pillows. His skin was pale where it wasn't covered by bandages and dressings but he looked alert and lifted his head as she approached.
"Nice to see you again," he muttered softly. "Was a little busy when you burst in before."
Amelia nodded and slid off her jacket, dumping it onto the chair by his bed before she sat down. "Mr Doherty, I'm Amelia MacNab, the fire investigator."
"I was expecting you at some point," Jimmy said softly. He settled back, readying himself for the tirade of questions to come.