Kate smiled as Mike opened the door, "Did I wait long enough?"
Mike covered a yawn. "I'm up, showered, and just about to eat some breakfast. C'mon in." Mike stepped back so Kate could enter.
"It's 5:00 PM," Kate said, raising and eyebrow and double-checking her watch.
"I've been up a half-hour; it's breakfast for me," Mike said, yawning again. "Want some eggs and toast?"
Kate laughed, "No, thanks." Kate looked around the small, neat apartment. Not a lot of pictures or knickknacks, but lots of sporting apparel. Do you mind answering a few questions while you eat?"
"Shoot," Mike said. "Not literally." Mike laughed, as he held up his hands.
"I think you're safe," Kate said with a smile. She pulled out a small notepad and sat down at the table.
"The first episode of vandalism to your truck was discovered by you on Sunday morning?" Kate read the quick notes she had written from the initial report.
"Yes."
"When was the last time you were in your truck prior to Sunday morning?"
"I was over at Captain Stanley's with Johnny and Roy and we were working on siding the garage Saturday afternoon and evening."
"What happened earlier that day, any issues?"
"No, why?"
"I've read the report, Mike. I know about the teenagers, and I have every intention of talking to them. But, before we focus on the obvious answer, I want to make sure there aren't any other things I should be aware of."
"I'd been out with Caroline earlier in the day, we'd ran into Johnny and Ainsley down at the Pier…,"
"Who's Caroline?" Kate interrupted his story.
"The woman I'm dating."
"How long have you been dating?"
"A few weeks," Mike said.
"Going well?"
Mike smiled, but also gave a shrug, "Most of the time."
"How was it going on Saturday?" Kate asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Good, she was a little disappointed that I had to end our date early to help at Cap's house, but she seemed good with it."
"What's her last name?"
"Chaplin."
Kate made a note. "Are you exclusive?"
"What?"
"Are you dating anyone else?"
"No, I'm not dating anyone else," Mike said, bringing over his plate of eggs and toast. "Although…"
"Although, what?"
"I was dating another woman Meg back in May. She had to leave to go take care of her dad, she didn't want me to wait around for her. I met Caroline a few weeks before Meg got back. She seemed a bit disappointed," Mike frowned, thinking about that first conversation with Meg. She'd tried to sound happy for him, but he could tell she was disappointed. He'd felt bad.
"Do you still see or talk to Meg recently?"
"Yes, Caroline and I ran into her on the beach on the other night and she'd asked me to help arrange for the fire department to do an assembly for the elementary school. She's an elementary school teacher."
"What's her last name?"
"Megan Trask."
Kate made a few notes in her notebook. "I'm going to talk to the teenagers, but it is possible I am going to talk to Caroline and Megan too. I just want you to be aware in case either of them says anything to you."
"Neither Caroline or Meg would do something like that," Mike insisted, his voice dismissive of the mere thought.
"There is one other incident I want to discuss with you," Kate said, her voice holding a slight warning that he was not going to like what she was about to say.
"What?" Mike said cautiously.
"Do you remember a man named Kevin Costas?"
Mike dropped his piece of toast onto the plate.
"I'll take that as a yes," Kate said, looking into Mike's blue eyes that had narrowed at the mention of the name.
"He's serving prison time for arson," Mike said.
"He was serving prison time for arson," Kate said.
"No way he's out already. He was sentenced to 12 years for aggravated arson," Mike said. "That was only 6 years ago."
"Prisons are overcrowded. He was granted parole 3 months ago," Kate said.
"Unbelievable," Mike got up from the table, grabbing his plate and tossing what was left of his breakfast into the trash. "I just lost my appetite."
"Sorry to ruin your breakfast, Mike; but you know why I have to bring him up," Kate said, watching Mike pace in his kitchen.
"Because I was the key expert witness at his trial. Lotta good that did," Mike growled.
"I don't have to tell you that he certainly has a motive to make your life difficult."
"Keying my car and slashing my tires are a little small for what I would expect from him. Kevin had a mean streak and he was furious that I'd figured out he was the arsonist. He threatened me in open court. But, his words weren't I'm gonna trash your truck."
"I believe the exact words were," Kate looked briefly at her notebook. "I'm gonna slit your throat, pour gasoline down the hole and light you up like a dried up Christmas tree."
"Yeah, that sounds about right," Mike said, sitting down. "How'd they let a guy like that outta prison?"
"He told the parole board that he'd learned from his mistakes, he's been getting therapy and says that he is now grateful that you stopped him, so he can be a productive member of society," Kate read the comment.
"And the parole board bought that crap," Mike rolled his eyes.
"Apparently."
"Where is he now?"
"He's in a half-way house not too far from here. His parole officer says he's been a model parolee since his release," Kate explained.
"Sure, and leopard's routinely change their spots."
"Needless to say, I'll be looking at him too."
Mike sighed. "Look, I'd like nothing more than to have a reason to send Costas back to prison; but..,"
"The teenagers are my more likely suspects for a keying and tire slashing incident," Kate finished his thought.
"Don't forget prank calls," Mike agreed with another yawn.
"Okay, I think I've got everything I need for now, Mike. I'm actually going to head upstairs now and talk to Adam and his parents, get the names of the other boys and follow-up with them tonight. I'll do a bit more research and be in touch with you in the next couple of days," Kate stood up.
"Thanks, Kate. I'm sorry we have to work together again; but I'm glad you pulled the case," Mike said, opening his apartment door for her.
Caroline's hand stopped mid-air as she went to knock on Mike's door just as he opened it.
She looked at Mike standing there in his jeans and t-shirt, hair still slightly tousled and then turned to look at Caroline's petite figure, olive complexion and shiny black hair. "Am I interrupting something?" Caroline asked, a slight edge to her voice.
"You must be Caroline," Kate said. "Detective Kate Stryker," Kate extended her hand.
Caroline hesitated, but then reached forward to shake her hand. "How do you know my name?"
"I was asking Mike questions about his weekend and he told me he was dating you," Kate said, simplifying the conversation.
Caroline smiled at Mike. "Almost a month now."
"Mike, thanks for talking to me. I'll call if I have any additional questions. It was nice to meet you Caroline," Kate said, moving past the red-headed woman to get out of the apartment.
"Thanks, Kate."
Caroline walked into the apartment and Mike closed the door behind her. "Hi," Caroline said, sliding up to him to and slipping her arms around his waist, tilting her head for a kiss.
"Good morning," Mike said with a smile, enjoying the kiss.
"Uh-oh, good morning, was it a rough night last night?"
"The last 24-hours have been a blur of problems, but we don't need to get in to that," Mike said, wanting to protect her from the realities of his job.
"Did you enjoy breakfast?" Caroline asked.
"Oh, gosh, Caroline, I'm so sorry," Mike gasped, realizing he'd never gotten to call her. "I meant to call, I was on my way to the phone when we got a run. I'm so sorry."
Caroline smiled. "It's okay. I'm sure you were busy, but not too busy to eat it, I hope."
Mike didn't have the heart to tell her by the time the engine had gotten back to the station the food had been picked up by the company that had brought it. The only crew members that had gotten to eat any at all had been Johnny and Roy; but he didn't want to lie to her either. "Johnny and Roy made real pigs of themselves," Mike said instead. "I think you've earned a spot of honor at the station."
Caroline's smile widened. "Good, I want your friends to like me."
Caroline slowly slid her hands under Mike's t-shirt running her hands across his warm abdomen. "You still look pretty tired. Whatdya say we just stay here tonight. We'll turn on a movie, and I can rub your back, maybe give you a foot rub."
It was Mike's turn to widen his smile. "That sounds amazing. Are you sure you don't mind?"
"I like the idea of spoiling you," Caroline said, sliding her hands to his sides and lifting the t-shirt over his head. She enjoyed looking at his firm torso. "Do you have any lotion or anything I can use?"
Mike shook his head, "Probably not."
"Mind if I check your bathroom?"
"Not at all," Mike said.
"Sit down on the couch and I'll be right back," Caroline said. She moved through Mike's apartment and into his bathroom. She opened his medicine cabinet and quickly scanned the items. Razor, shaving cream, q-tips, band-aids, toothbrush, tooth paste, dental floss, and a bottle of aspirin.
Caroline opened the drawer to the vanity, Mike had extra toothbrushes, toothpaste and floss. He had hydrogen peroxide, more first aid type items, but nothing that could be used for a massage. She looked under the sink, towels and mouthwash, but nothing else.
Caroline made her way back into the living room. "No such luck," Caroline said. "I think I can still do a decent job without it though," Caroline sat down next to Mike. "Why don't you lay down and I'll start with your back."
Mike obediently laid down on his stomach and sighed as Caroline started to rub his sore muscles. Mike closed his eyes as she concentrated on working the muscles of his neck and shoulders. Caroline spent several minutes working Mike's muscles until she heard him snoring slightly. She smiled, leaned forward, and gently kissed the back of his shoulder. She continued kissing along his shoulder and then started kissing his neck. When she started nibbling his ear, Mike rolled over so he could pull her into a proper kiss. When she eagerly responded, he deepened the kiss and pulled her to lay down on top of him. He enjoyed several minutes making out with her before he pulled away.
"Mmm, don't stop," Caroline purred, moving to kiss him again. Mike let himself get drawn into the kiss for another minute, but stopped when he felt himself getting really turned on. He didn't think it was a good idea to take that next step with Caroline just yet.
"I only had a little bit of food for breakfast. Whatdya say I take you out for dinner and we catch a movie at the theater?" Mike said, easing Caroline back a little.
Caroline frowned, "Where you not enjoying yourself?"
Mike smiled at her and leaned forward to give her another quick kiss. "Too much," he whispered to her.
Caroline let her fingers brush along his collarbone and then slide up around his neck and weave into his hair. "That's not a bad thing," she whispered.
"Another time," Mike said.
Caroline frowned and got off the couch. "What did you have in mind for dinner?" Caroline said, moving away from Mike. She was surprised he didn't want to get more physical; and a little hurt, but she didn't want to get into that conversation.
Mike could tell she was hurt. He grabbed her hand. "It's nothing about you," Mike assured her. "You're gorgeous, and very sexy, and I would like very much to take this back to my bedroom. But, I want more from us than that."
Caroline smiled and kissed him deeply. "Thank you, that means so much to me," she said as she pulled away.
"Forget what I said, let's go," Mike grabbed her hand and began moving toward his bedroom.
Caroline laughed, "Oh no, you've got me thinking about food now; we're going to dinner."
Mike laughed, knowing he'd only been teasing her.
E
"So, how many prank calls you think we're gonna get today?" Chet asked, walking into the locker room a couple days later.
"Chet don't start," Mike warned.
"What? It's a legitimate question?" Chet looked wounded at being shut down so quickly.
"Look, I feel bad enough that because I took beer from a couple of kids we got so many prank calls last shift and someone died because of it. I wish I could go back and just let those stupid kids have the beer," Mike groused.
"Someone's in a mood," Johnny commented.
"Shut up, Gage," Mike slammed his locker door shut and walked out of the locker room. He moved to the back bay door and out into the parking lot. He picked up the basketball and slammed it into the ground, slamming it back into the ground again when it bounced back up.
Roy joined him a few minutes later. "Rough couple days off?"
"No," Mike snapped.
"I can tell," Roy moved over to the picnic table and sat down.
Mike bounced the ball hard a few more times. He finally moved over to sit down next to Roy. "The first day off was fine. I slept till 5, Kate came over and we went over everything, Caroline and I had a great night," Mike ran his hands through his hair and clenched them behind his neck. "But, Kate told me something, that's just continued to gnaw at me."
Roy just waited.
"A guy I helped put away for aggravated arson got out of prison three months ago. I can't imagine he'd be behind damage to my truck and prank phone calls, but…costing a guy his life, that's right up this guy's alley."
"It's not your fault, Mike."
Mike just looked over at him.
"The same way, Johnny and I aren't at fault when we can't save the heart attack victim, when we don't get to the victims in time. You can't own this," Roy looked him in the eye. "You need to get your perspective."
Mike sighed.
"Tell me how things went with Caroline."
"Good, great really. She showed up when Kate was there, which I thought was gonna get me in trouble, but she handled it just fine. It was actually a really nice afternoon and evening. Then, yesterday, we took a friend's boat out. She looks good in a bikini."
Roy laughed. "I can't wait to meet her. Johnny says she's a real looker."
"She is really beautiful," Mike said wistfully.
Roy narrowed his eyes, looking over at Mike, "But?"
Mike looked back over at him. "No but."
Roy looked at him for a few seconds and went to say something else, but was stopped by the klaxons sounding calling the station out for a multi-vehicle accident.
The men quickly moved to their appropriate places, Mike pulled the engine out of the bay and on to the street with Roy following closely behind.
E
Roy quietly moved into the Captain's office, the guys were keeping Mike occupied with a debate on who was going to win the upcoming Dune Buggy race. Mike participated every year and Roy knew the guys could keep him occupied if Chet came out and said the newest contender was going to be the winner; Mike really disliked the guys style of driving.
Roy picked up the phone, glanced at the piece of paper he pulled out of his pocket and dialed the number. "Detective Kate Stryker, please."
Roy waited a few seconds while his call was placed on hold.
"Detective Stryker."
"Kate, it's Roy, I wanted to talk to you about Mike and this guy who was let out of prison."
"Kevin Costas."
"Is he dangerous? How concerned do we need to be about Mike."
"I don't think Mike's issues are because of Kevin, Roy. I spoke to Adam's more aggressive friend, Ronnie. He admitted to keying Mike's truck. He's denying slashing the tires and the prank calls and says he only keyed the door and not the full length of the truck, but he may realize those are more serious offensive and doesn't want to admit to those. I was just on my way out to come see you guys so I could tell Mike in person."
Roy sighed and felt himself relax. He hadn't realized he was so on edge about all of this.
"That's great news, Kate. Still come by, pick up a cake on the way and I'll reimburse you. We'll really celebrate," Roy said, feeling his smile widen.
"Sounds like a plan, I'll see you guys soon."
E
The guys were still telling stories that had Kate laughing so hard her stomach ached. Marco had made his famous chili, she'd brought the cake and the evening had turned into a celebration as the group accepted a stupid teenage act of aggression had been the cause of all this damage.
The klaxons sounded, "Engine 51, dumpster fire at 457 Langley Ave, cross street Sepulveda Blvd. Time out 19:24."
The engine crew moved toward the engine. Johnny and Roy moved to start washing the dishes. Kate helped carry the dishes to the counter and then refilled her coffee cup. "Johnny, I hadn't realized what an accident waiting to happen you were when we were dating."
"I'm not nearly as bad as those guys tried to make it sound with those stories,' Johnny protested.
"Yes, you are," Roy laughed.
Kate chatted with the guys for about 25 minutes until the Engine pulled back into the station. "I'm not going to take a lot more of your time, but I wanted to let you know if any of you experiences anything out of the ordinary, you should call me. Technically this case isn't closed yet because Ronnie only admitted to keying part of the truck, and I need to look for proof that he orchestrated the other damages and prank calls; so don't just call the station, ask for me and tell them it's regarding an on-going case," Kate explained.
She was about to say her good-byes, when the klaxons sounded again, calling the engine crew out for another dumpster fire. As the engine crewed pulled out, Kate looked at Johnny and Roy. "I don't care how late it is, if this keeps up, you call me." They agreed and Kate left for the evening, a knot in her stomach. Maybe she'd look a little closer at Kevin Costas, just to make sure Ronnie was actually the person causing Mike issues.
When they guys got back some looks were exchanged and there was a new tension in the air. Two dumpster fires in a row were not common, but by themselves they weren't cause for worry. When you added in everything that had gone on in the past few days though, everyone was thinking the same thing; this was how Tim had started his reign of terror on the station.
When no other calls had come in, the men relaxed and retired to bed a little after 10:00 PM, hoping to get some sleep before they were called out again. Unfortunately for Captain Stanley, Mike, Marco and Chet that sleep lasted only a few minutes because at 10:25 PM, they were called out for another dumpster fire.
Johnny and Roy both laid awake waiting for the engine crew to return. When they did, about 25 minutes later, no one spoke as they stripped off their gear and climbed into bed. Roy waited to hear the slow, rhythmic breathing of the men as they drifted to sleep, but the sound did not come. He knew everyone was waiting to see if the klaxons sounded again. They didn't have to wait long, at 11:30 PM, the klaxons sounded again, the voice over the speaker calling the men out to a dumpster fire.
When the men returned, Johnny and Roy were sitting at the kitchen table. "I called the police station, they alerted Kate," Roy said, as Captain Stanley entered the room. "They're going to dispatch an officer for any more dumpster fires."
"It was the second night when we got the pipe bomb," Marco said, touching the faint scar that remained on his neck from the metal that had lodged there two years ago when Tim had planted a pipe bomb the second night of hourly dumpster fire calls.
"How would someone even know about that?" Chet asked.
"Oh, c'mon, don't you remember the articles in the papers after Tim was killed. They reported in detail about the dumpster fires, the daycare, Mike's apartment," Johnny reminded him.
"This couldn't be that teenage kid could it?" Captain Stanley asked, looking over at Mike.
Mike simply shrugged as the klaxons sounded again for yet another dumpster fire.