The squad car pulled behind the engine as it rounded the corner and headed toward the dumpster fire. As Mike stopped the engine, Captain Stanley opened his door and dropped to the ground. Mike exited opposite him and Marco and Chet were only a half-step behind.
"Chet, pull an inch and a half," Captain Stanley ordered.
"Delay that order," the police officer said, stepping out of patrol car and moving to the back of his vehicle. "There's a K-9 unit on the way."
"For what?" Chet asked.
"With a bomb sniffing dog," the officer answered.
"So we're just supposed to stand here and let the fire burn?" Marco asked.
"Actually, you're supposed to stand behind the engine, so it protects you from the potential hazard," the officer clarified, indicating the men should move back.
No one moved, they all looked at Captain Stanley. Captain Stanley looked at the burning dumpster and back at his men, his eyes focusing on the faint scars carried by Marco and Chet from the pipe bomb Tim had planted.
"Chet, still pull the line, but you and Marco move behind the engine and focus on the side of the dumpster nearest the building to make sure the fire doesn't jump to the building," Captain Stanley ordered.
Mike moved to the instruments on the side of the engine, while Chet and Marco obeyed Captain Stanley's order.
The police officer radioed that the fire department was on scene and they were waiting the arrival of the K-9 unit. It was only a few minutes later before a second patrol car arrived on scene with K-9 marked on the doors in big, reflective letters.
A second officer stepped out and moved to the back door of the car, opening the door and allowing a black and tan German Shepherd to jump out of the vehicle and move to stand by his side. The dog ignored all the other men, the flashing lights and the burning fire and merely stood calmly near his partner, waiting for his task to be ordered.
"Search, Falco," the officer commanded.
The dog immediately started sniffing the ground, moving toward the engine. The dog sniffed the engine and around the firemen and then continued toward the trash container. Falco continued to sniff around the dumpster, avoiding getting too close to the jumping embers. After a few minutes, the dog bored of the dumpster and moved to sniff the surrounding grassy area, never once alerting to a problem.
"Cease, Falco," the officer commanded. The dog quickly returned to the side of the police officer and sat down next to him. "You can go ahead and put out the fire; there's no bomb," the officer advised.
Captain Stanley nodded to Marco and Chet and they moved forward and doused the fire with the high pressure water.
"Is this going to happen at every fire now?" Captain Stanley asked the officer.
"Every dumpster fire," the officer confirmed.
Captain Stanley slapped his hand against the engine. He blew out a deep breath.
"After last time, Detective Stryker feels it's vitally important that all precautions are taken," the detective told him.
"Yeah," was all Captain Stanley said. He watched as Chet and Marco moved to use pokers to move around the trash and make sure there were not any hot spots. This was gonna be a very long shift.
E
The men disembarked the engine and moved toward their respective bunks. Roy and Johnny were out on a call, so the men slipped out of their bunkers and got into bed. It was about 40 minutes before the klaxons sounded again with another dumpster fire. The men moved to take their places on the engine.
"That's only about 5 blocks from here," Johnny said, hearing the call over the radio, as he shut the door to the squad, and reached for his seatbelt.
"Let's go check on them," Roy said, reading his partners mind. Roy put the squad in gear and headed out of Rampart's parking lot.
Roy pulled up to see the Engine parked and a line pulled, but the men standing behind the engine. A police officer was opening the back door of a squad car to let out the dog. "Search Falco," the officer ordered.
The dog moved toward the burning dumpster. Johnny and Roy exited the squad and began to move toward the other men of Station 51. Everyone was quiet, the only sounds the crackling of the fire in the dumpster.
"Woof, woof, woof," all the men flinched as the dog's vicious bark suddenly broke the quiet. "Woof, woof, woof." The dog continued to bark at the dumpster.
"Get behind the engine," the officer ordered. "Falco, retreat," the officer moved back behind the engine with the fire fighters, the dog quickly joining him.
"Stay," the officer ordered the dog and then moved to his squad car to radio in for the bomb squad to be dispatched. "LA, this is…."
He never got to enter his request, a loud bang reverberated through the air, the dog gave a whimper and suddenly the area was filled with the sound of metal hitting metal as fragments from the bomb rained down on the engine, squad and police car. The officer ducked into his car, Johnny and Mike leaned toward each other shielding the dog with their bodies that were protected by their coats and helmets. When the noise subsided and they were able to lead back, they were rewarded with a few quick wet kisses from Falco.
"Anyone hurt," Roy called out, taking a quick look at all the men around him. The windshield of the police cruiser was broken, the vehicles had several new dents, but Roy didn't see any blood.
"I'm good," Chet said.
"Fine," Marco replied.
The police officer nodded at Captain Stanley's look, "I'm fine."
Johnny looked over at Mike, "Mike?"
Everyone turned to look at Mike at the tone in Johnny's voice. He was staring at the dumpster, the men turned to look, the dumpster had literally been ripped apart from the inside. Green jagged twisted metal stood bathed in the red light from the engine. Garbage spilled out on the ground, pouring out of bags ripped to shreds by metal fragments. A metal tube lay a few feet in front of the dumpster, a whole blown out the side, and metal fragments still laying inside of it. Mike's face was furious.
"Mike," Captain Stanley called to his Engineer. When Mike didn't respond, Captain Stanley moved to stand directly in front of him. "Mike."
Mike moved his eyes from the damage to his Captain.
"Don't let this get to you," Captain Stanley said.
"How am I supposed to do that?" Mike asked. "This is worse than the bomb Tim planted. This would not have been some minor injuries," Mike fumed. "This is a deliberate, vicious attack against all of you because of me."
"This is not your fault. It's whosever is doing this."
"He's doing it because of me."
Mike moved to the start the dials, so Marco and Chet could spray down the debris and the remaining flames. No one spoke as Station 51 cleaned up the scene. Captain Stanley kept glancing at his Engineer. He was worried about what he saw in Mike's eyes. He was more than mad, he looked like he could really hurt someone.
Kate arrived shortly behind the bomb squad. She spent time speaking with the police officers, spoke to Captain Stanley, Chet, Marco, Johnny and Roy. She spoke to the bomb squad lead next, leaving Mike for last.
"Rough day," Kate said, moving to stand next to the engine and look up at Mike. Mike sat behind the wheel, just staring ahead.
"Let's not do this, Kate."
"I need to take your statement," Kate said gently.
"I don't have anything to say you haven't heard from any of the other guys," Mike said quietly.
"Anything about this scene remind you of the scenes from the fires caused by Kevin Costas?"
Mike shook his head. "Kevin never did bombs. He liked fires, big ones. Ones that targeted areas where he had bad memories, or that housed people he didn't like. If he was gonna go after me and make it a reminder of Tim, he shoulda burned down my apartment. That woulda reminded me of his work," Mike rubbed his forehead, he was definitely getting a migraine.
Kate used the side step of the engine to pull herself up to face Mike. "This is not your fault."
"You keep saying that Kate, and maybe someone will believe you, but someone, who's targeting me, coulda just seriously hurt the men I consider to be my family. Because he's trying to get to me. The men would be better off if I took a long vacation."
"No we wouldn't, Mike." Captain Stanley said.
Kate looked over at Captain Stanley. "I've got everything I need," Kate said. She reached over and touched Mike's arm, "Hang in there, Mike."
Captain Stanley looked around. "When we get back to the station, let's talk in my office."
Mike said nothing; he knew arguing with his Captain would be useless.
E
"What's goin' on, Mike?" Captain Staley asked, sitting down in his chair and indicating Mike should take a seat.
"Nothin'."
"C'mon, Mike. I get it, this is not good. I get you're angry, we all are. I get it, you're mad this guy is already outta jail. But…," Captain Stanley hesitated. "I'm worried about you, Mike."
"The last guy that came after us, nearly killed Ainsley while she was pregnant with Hunter. He did kill Mrs. Hurley. Innocent people, that had nothing to do with Tim's beef against us. I don't want any more innocent deaths on my conscience. I already carry Mrs. Hurley."
"Tim's issues were not your fault, Mike."
"I know that, Cap. I also know that Tim targeted those people to get back at us. If this is really Kevin's work, who's gonna get hurt this time?" Mike just looked down at the floor.
"Mike, I want you to take the next shift off. Not as any type of discipline, and not because I think this has anything to do with you. But, because I want you to take some time to stop being a twit."
Mike looked up and saw Captain Stanley's smile. He just shook his head. "Point taken, sir."
E
Mike sat on the edge of his bed and wondered what to do with himself for the whole day. The men of A shift were working, and he was being forced to sit on the sidelines. Mike pushed himself off the bed and headed toward the shower. He had intentionally put off doing some errands, so he'd have something to do today. First on the agenda was grocery shopping.
Mike was entering the store when he heard a voice from the past. "I hear you're lookin' for me."
Mike turned to face Kevin Costas. "Yeah, I've been lookin' for you." On his days off, Mike had reached out to some fire fighters and police officers from his old area, trying to see if anyone had seen Kevin since his release.
"So, now ya found me."
"Oh, I'd say you have that backwards; you found me."
"Whatever."
"If you want to go after me, go after me," Mike said, moving toward him. "But, leave everyone else out of it."
"What's the matter, Fire Fighter Stoker, having some trouble on the job," Kevin sneered.
"Why you," Mike reached out to grab the guy's shirt with both hands, pulling him closer to him.
"Mike?"
Mike turned to see Ainsley standing a few feet away, a grocery cart full of bagged groceries in front of her. Mike let go of Kevin and took a step back.
"What's going on?" Ainsley looked between Mike and the other man.
Kevin looked Ainsley up and down. "Well, well, well, whatta we got here. You gonna be a daddy, Fire Fighter Stoker?"
Ainsley opened her mouth to speak, but Mike cut her off. "Go back inside, Ainsley."
Ainsley looked over at him, but didn't move.
"Now, Ainsley. Go!" Mike ordered.
Ainsley looked at Mike's face and moved back into the grocery store.
"Didn't want to introduce me to the little wife?"
Mike moved forward and jammed his finger in the guy's chest, "Stay away from her. You hear me. You got an issue with me, you take it up with me. Stop this passive aggressive crap."
"I have no idea what you're talking about Fire Fighter Stoker. I'm a reformed citizen, just ask my parole officer. If anything, you're the one harassing me; telling people that I damaged your truck and was starting dumpster fires. Both of those would have been violations of my parole."
"Stay away from me, stay away from my friends; or I'll make sure there is no parole," Mike said, pointing at him.
Kevin smirked and took a step back. "Have a nice day, Fireman."
Mike watched him walk over to car and get in. Mike watched until Kevin pulled out of the parking lot. He walked back into the store to deal with Ainsley.
"Ainsley, what are you doing here," Mike couldn't keep the anger out of his voice.
Ainsley gave him a confused look and looked down at her cart. "Grocery shopping. What's going on, Mike? Who was that guy?"
"Go get in your car," Mike said. "I'll follow you home."
"Mike, what's going on?"
"Let's go, Ainsley," Mike took her cart and moved toward the door. Ainsley followed behind him.
Mike loaded her groceries into her car and then opened the driver's side door for her. Ainsley just stood there, "What's going on, Mike?"
"Get in the car, Ainsley."
"Not until you tell me what's going on."
"Ainsley, get in the car."
Ainsley smiled. "You work with Johnny, I'm quite sure you've heard stories about how stubborn I can be. "
Mike couldn't help but smile. Johnny loved Ainsley, in fact, Mike would say that Ainsley and Johnny had as strong a marriage as Roy and Joanne; but Johnny had come in quite aggravated with how stubborn his wife could be more than once.
"When I get you home, Ainsley. Please, just get in the car and drive straight home. I'll be right behind you and I'll fill you in."
Ainsley got in the car and let Mike closed the door. She rolled down the window. "If you don't follow me home, Mike Stoker, I'm coming to your apartment."
"I'll only be a few seconds behind you, Ainsley." Mike knew he intended to hang back just a little bit to make sure Ainsley wasn't followed home.
Ainsley nodded and started her car. She pulled out of the parking lot while Mike jogged over to his truck and pulled out a few seconds behind her, watching for the car Kevin had been driving.
Ainsley pulled into her driveway and pulled forward enough for Mike to pull in behind her. He pulled in less than a minute later. He got out and opened her trunk to carry in the groceries. "Joanne got Hunter?"
"Yeah, we trade off kids for grocery shopping, we get out of the store with a lot less junk and a lot less hassle. She'll be down in just a few minutes with Jennifer and Chris. She's got to get lunch items since school starts tomorrow."
"How are you doing not going back to work tomorrow?"
"Changing the topic isn't going to work, so save your breath and spill your guts," Ainsley said, putting her hands on her hips.
"What has Johnny told you about what's going on at the station?"
Ainsley gave him a quizzical look. "Are you talking about the prank calls? Joanne told me that the station had a night of prank calls, oh, and that some teenagers had damaged your truck. Looks like you got it fixed," Ainsley said, looking at the window at Mike's truck.
"That's it?"
"What else is there?" Ainsley asked warily.
"The shift after the prank calls, we started getting calls for dumpster fires, over and over."
The color drained from Ainsley's face. "I wasn't around when everything started, but I know that's how Tim started his attacks on the station."
"Originally the thought was it was the teenagers playing a prank, but the last shift…," Mike stopped talking. He realized Johnny hadn't told Ainsley about the bomb. Which meant Roy probably hadn't told Joanne and Mike was about to get himself in big trouble.
"What happened on the last shift?" Ainsley asked, just as Joanne opened the door.
"Mike, what are you doing here? Why aren't you on shift?"
"Oh yeah," Ainsley said. "Why aren't you on shift? I was so shocked seeing you grab that guy I completely forgot you should be at work. Does this have anything to do with that guy?"
"What guy?" Joanne asked.
Mike looked at Chris, who was obviously listening to their conversation.
"Chris, Jennifer, can you take Hunter and Chief in the backyard?"
"Sure," Chris said, leading Hunter outside by the hand, and Jennifer following closely behind.
"Your husbands are gonna kill me," Mike said, rubbing his head.
"What's going on Mike?"
"The man you saw me with, is Kevin Costas. I was a key witness in getting him convicted of aggravated arson a few years ago," Mike said. "But, he got paroled early for good behavior. With everything going on, it's possible he's behind all the issues."
"The prank calls and damage to your truck?" Joanne asked.
"Yes."
"And, what happened on the last shift?"
"We had several calls for dumpster fires…," Mike hesitated again, Johnny and Roy were gonna kill him.
"And," Joanne prompted.
"A pipe bomb was in one of the dumpsters."
Ainsley and Joanne both gasped.
Ainsley jumped up from the table and went to the phone. She started dialing the number for the station, until Joanne reached her and disconnected the call. "You can't do that."
"A bomb went off and he didn't tell me. Just like with Tim. They could've been hurt, they could've been…," sobs choked Ainsley's voice and she couldn't get the words out.
Joanne hugged her. "I know, I feel the same way, but we can't call them on shift. You can't tell them that we know when they can't do anything about it until tomorrow morning. It's all they'll think about."
Ainsley continued to cry. Mike looked incredibly uncomfortable. "Ainsley, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry, please don't cry"
Joanne looked at Mike with sympathy. "It's pregnancy hormones, Mike. She'll be okay in a few minutes."
Ainsley just started to cry harder. Joanne led her to the table and got her to sit down. She went and got a box of tissue. She set the box in front of Ainsley. Mike sat down in the chair next to her. "Ainsley, no one was hurt. The police are taking this very seriously. They sent out a K-9 unit and the dog detected the bomb. You know we are all careful, and we take care of each other."
Ainsley sniffed and nodded her head. She reached for a tissue and blew her nose. She reached for a second to wipe her eyes. She got up from the table to throw them in the garbage and looked out into the backyard at Hunter running across the yard after Chris, Chief and Jennifer following closely behind. She placed a hand on her belly and thought about what life would be like without Johnny. She started to cry again.
Mike got up from the table, and went over to hug Ainsley. "Ainsley, I'm so sorry. That's why I'm off today. This is all my fault. The attacks are against me and I'm putting every in jeopardy."
"I don't buy that for one second, Mike."
"Me either," Ainsley said, easing out of Mike's hug. "What exactly did Captain Stanley say?" Ainsley asked as she moved to get another tissue.
"He told me to take the day to stop being a twit."
Ainsley and Joanne both laughed.
"Sounds like an order to me," Joanne said.
"So stop being a twit," Ainsley agreed. "If that guy is targeting you than it's all our problems, and none of our faults. What can we do to help?"
"You need to steer clear of me," Mike said, his face serious. "Ainsley, when you walked out of that door, and up to me in front of Kevin," Mike shook his head. "You made yourself a target."
"Then why didn't you tell him I wasn't your wife?"
"I didn't want to draw any attention to you at all. If he's really following me around it won't take him long to realize I'm not married and he'll forget all about you. But, if he hears you're the wife of one of my best friends; it keeps a target on you."
Ainsley walked over and hugged Mike.
Across the park, a person sitting in a car quickly dropped binoculars on the passenger seat as another car pulled into the park. The parking lot of the park that backed up to house was the perfect place to watch Mike. No one paid any attention to cars parked in the lot, and you could easily see into the back windows of the house. It would be nice to hear the conversation, but this would have to do for now. "You can't do this to me Mike Stoker; I'll teach you a lesson you won't soon forget."
The driver pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward downtown, some supplies were going to be needed.