Caroline moved over to the check-out counter in the library to help some college students with their materials. She smiled and quickly looked up their information, helping them check-out. They continued to stand at the counter, looking at the television screen behind her. Caroline turned to see what was so interesting. A fire engine, and several police cars were on the screen in the parking lot of an elementary school. Caroline watched as the camera panned the fire engine and smiled when she saw a fireman's jacket with the name "Stoker" on the back. "That's my boyfriend," she said to her co-worker, who had walked up to join them.
She frowned when the camera moved slightly and picked up an attractive woman talking to Mike. "Megan," Caroline whispered, watching Mike talk to the attractive woman on the screen.
"I wonder why all the police cars are there?" Caroline's co-worked asked. "It's just some kid pulling a fire alarm." The tickertape at the bottom of the screen was talking about a false alarm by an unnamed 5th grader.
Caroline watched the screen knowing the police had thought it was a whole lot more than a kid acting out. She hated that it would be almost 24-hours before she could talk to Mike about this. She knew he hadn't sought Megan out, but he didn't seem to mind talking to her either. Caroline watched as he moved with Megan to talk with his Captain on the side of the screen as the camera moved to focus on the Principal, who was about to answer questions from the reporter.
E
"Thanks for agreeing to have lunch in Ainsley's hospital room," Johnny said, as he balanced his food tray and pushed the elevator button to go to Ainsley's room.
"Of course. Besides, I'm looking forward to seeing my goddaughter."
Johnny pushed open the door to see Ainsley's mom holding Grace as Ainsley walked slowly across the room. "Hey, Beautiful, how ya feeling?" Johnny asked, giving Ainsley a quick kiss on the cheek before moving to set down his tray.
"Going stir-crazy. I want to go home and Dr. Collier is trying to tell me two more days. Two more days, Johnny, I'll Hodie. You've got to get Dr. Brackett to talk to him."
Johnny looked over at Roy, who'd set down his tray and was taking a bite of his burger.
"Um, Ainsley, we were just with Dr. Brackett downstairs. He said two days too."
"Ooooh, come on! I'm fine. I'm not bleeding any more, my strength is coming back. I'll have you at home with me; you can take care of me."
"I'm not going to override a doctor, Ainsley. I'm not even going to ask them to change their mind. They know what's best for you."
Ainsley sighed and climbed back into bed. "Well at least I got to watch you on TV."
"Whatdya mean?" Roy asked.
"They showed the station at the elementary school this morning. The camera crew caught Mike and I saw Meg. I think I saw you guys heading into the school, but the camera was at a distance and I couldn't clearly read the names on your turnouts."
"It was all very exciting," Aina said. "I'm gonna run downstairs for a coffee while you're here."
"Where did Jackson take Hunter today?" Johnny asked, taking Grace from Aina.
"They were going to look at swing sets," Aina said.
"We talked about this," Johnny said. Jackson had mentioned wanting to buy Hunter an elaborate swing set when they first arrived. Johnny had been emphatic it wasn't necessary with the park right behind their house.
"You know Jackson," Aina smiled, and headed out of the room.
"Ainsley," Johnny started.
"Don't look at me. You know I can't control my father."
"Eat, Junior," Roy said. "There's no telling how long we've got before another call comes in."
Johnny picked up his burger and took a large bite with one hand, while cradling Grace in his other arm. He knew he wasn't gonna win this battle either. He just couldn't help feel like part of this gift was because Jackson didn't think he could afford to give his kids a swing set.
"Here, hand me our daughter so you can eat your lunch. And stop thinking that this is somehow a slight against you. Dad likes to buy gifts for his loved ones. It's what he does."
"We don't need a swing set. The park is right behind our house."
"And with a new baby, and the other stuff going on; I like the idea of being able to have Hunter in our backyard with Chief by his side."
Johnny swallowed his last bite of burger, leaned over and kissed Ainsley on the forehead. "I can help him set it up."
Ainsley tilted her head so Johnny could drop a kiss on her lips. "I love you my husband."
"I love you my wife."
"I'd love to get my hands on that baby girl," Roy said, dumping the remains of his lunch in the trash can. Ainsley smiled as Roy moved toward the bed to take Grace.
Roy picked up the sleeping little girl and walked toward the windows, giving Johnny and Ainsley a moment of privacy. "Don't worry, Grace, you can always escape to my house when your parents drive you crazy," Roy whispered to the baby.
E
Mike bolted upright at the sound of the klaxons. He swung his legs over the side of his bed, slipping his feet into his boots and standing up to pull on his bunkers. He slipped the suspender straps over his shoulders and began to move toward the engine. He hadn't looked around, but he knew the other guys were only steps behind him.
"Station 51, house fire, 298 Jean Ct., cross street Palmer. Time out, 3:56."
Flashing red lights broke the dark sky as the engine pulled onto the street, followed by the squad. Mike turned onto the court and scanned the area. There was a fire hydrant directly across from the house. Mike pulled the engine up near the hydrant and dropped down to hook up the lines. Mike looked at the small shed set up in the yard behind him, probably being used as a kid's playhouse. Pretty cool, Mike thought.
"Kelly, Lopez, pull a 2 ½ and start wetting down that front porch," Captain Stanley called out. He moved toward the crowd of neighbors gathering around. "Can anyone tell me if the homeowners are in there?"
People just looked around, no one answering.
"Does anyone know if anyone is in that house?" Captain Stanley asked more forcefully.
"The house was vacant until a few days ago. No one's met the new people yet," one of the women said.
"Gage, DeSoto, get ready, you're gonna have to go in!"
"Cap," Mike called out. "Ready"
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I need you to move back please. Across the street and down the block." Captain Stanley helped move people back away from the burning home. Small sparks of fire were being carried by the wind and he didn't want any minor burns.
Chet and Marco turned on the water and moved toward the house. They doused the small flames burning on the porch and approached the door. Marco kicked the lock and went to move forward, only to stop when the door didn't open. He kicked it again and saw that the lock had broken, but the door wasn't swinging open. Marco moved and pressed his shoulder against the door, trying to push it open. It appeared there were boxes blocking the door.
"We've got to find another way in," Marco yelled through his face mask.
Johnny turned and motioned for Mike.
Mike moved to the end of the engine, grabbed the axe and jogged toward the house. A loud thundering sound shook the ground, knocking him off his feet. Johnny fell against the stair rail and Roy staggered down a couple of stairs, grabbing onto the rail to stay upright. Chet and Marco were knocked against the house, the hose pulling them as it was rocked when the engine was shaken by the explosion.
The sounds of screaming reached their ears, as the guys realized the neighbors were screaming. Johnny looked and saw Captain Stanley pulling a robe off one of the gawkers, as it began to burn from ignited debris. Captain Stanley dropped it on the ground and stamped out the flames with his boot.
"Johnny!"
Johnny looked to see Roy moving toward Mike, who lay on the ground, not moving. Mike's hand was still gripping the axe, but his turnout was smoking and several pieces of wood burned nearby. Johnny quickly began to move to get to Mike. Marco tried to get water to the hose, but nothing came.
"Cap," Marco called out and held up the dead line.
Captain Stanley hurried over to the engine, to see if he could get water running through the lines. As he rounded the engine he stopped in his tracks. The engine was black, several gauge covers broken, and bits of wood actually embedded into the metal.
"LA, Station 51. We've had an explosion at our location that has disabled our engine. I need another engine and squad sent to this location. We have a Code-I and multiple minor injuries." Captain Stanley moved back around the engine and signaled for Chet and Marco to move away from the house.
He moved over to where Roy and Johnny were bent down looking at Mike. "How is he?"
"Unconscious," Johnny said, getting up and moving to the squad to get their equipment.
Roy carefully removed Mike's helmet and looked for bleeding. He did not see any obvious lacerations or bumps. His skilled hands moved down to start unfastening Mike's turnout. He stopped when Mike moaned.
"Easy, Mike. Don't move," Roy advised him.
Mike continued to try to get up.
"Mike, stay down."
"Gotta get water to the guys," Mike mumbled.
"The engines damaged, man. You're not getting any water out of her tonight. Just stay down, you've been hurt," Captain Stanley ordered.
"I feel like I've been hit by a bus," Mike moaned slightly.
"You kinda have been. That was a pretty big explosion. It's a good thing you were bringing us…," Roy stopped and looked at Captain Stanley. "You'd have been killed, if you hadn't been bringing us that axe."
Captain Stanley stepped back. He lifted the handi-talkie, "LA, dispatch the LAPD to our location. And notify Detective Kate Stryker, that we just had an attempt on Mike Stoker's life."
E
"Mike, stop fidgeting," Dixie ordered.
"I don't like hospitals," Mike said.
"I've yet to meet a fireman who does," Dixie smiled. "Now stop fidgeting and let me change your IV."
"I'm fine, Dixie. I just want to get back to work."
"You're not fine, you were unconscious for over a minute. And you're not going back to work today."
"Johnny gets sent back all the time," Mike protested.
"Johnny gets bumps and bruises, not knocked unconscious by the concussive force of an explosion meant to kill him."
Mike just looked at her.
"You can save those gorgeous blue eyes for your girlfriend, Mike. I'm immune to them. You're not going to change my mind. And even if you could, those pretty eyes aren't going to work on Dr. Brackett." Dixie said, when Mike continued to look at her.
Mike blew out a frustrated breath and leaned back on the gurney.
"If it makes you feel any better, Dr. Brackett might let you go home. If you can stay with someone."
"He can stay at my house," Roy said, entering the room. "I'll call Joanne and have her come get him."
Johnny and Dr. Brackett walked in behind him.
Mike shook his head. "I'm not putting your family in that kind of danger. This guy just tried to kill me. I'm not risking him coming to your house."
"There will be patrols in the area," Roy said.
Mike shook his head.
"Well, then you can just stay here," Dr. Brackett said.
"Ugh," Mike moaned, and closed his eyes.
"I'll stay with him," a female voice said.
Everyone turned to see Caroline standing at the door of the treatment room.
"Caroline, how'd you know I was here?" Mike asked.
"The news said a fireman was hurt at a fire. The picture showed Engine 51. With everything going on, I just had to check."
Caroline moved over to the edge of the bed and rested her hand on Mike's arm. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Mild concussion," Dr. Brackett said, looking Caroline over. Pretty girl, he thought.
"I can stay at your place and take care of you."
"It's too risky," Mike said.
There was a knock at the door, everyone turned as Kate pushed open the treatment room door. "Sorry to interrupt, is now an okay time to come in?"
"Sure, Kate, come in," Mike said.
"Actually, if everyone doesn't mind. I'd like just a few minutes alone with Mike, Johnny and Roy," Kate said, making sure her gaze encompassed Caroline, Dr. Brackett and Dixie.
"Sure," Dixie said. Dr. Brackett moved and opened the door. Caroline hesitated, not wanting to leave Mike.
"It's okay," Mike said, taking Caroline's hand and removing it from his arm. He pressed it briefly to his lips. "I'll see you in just a few minutes."
Kate waited until the three of them had left the room. "Mike, I'm glad you're okay. I saw the engine at the scene," Kate shook her head. "It was really bad."
Mike closed his eyes for a minute. "I hope Kevin rots in jail the rest of his life for this."
"Unfortunately, that is where my news gets worse," Kate said.
"Whatdya mean?" Roy asked.
"We've had Kevin under surveillance, 24 hours a day since he left the police station. He never went anywhere near the scene of the fire."
"Are you kidding me?" Johnny said.
"I wish I was," Kate said.
"Well isn't it possible he planted it before you called him in?" Mike asked.
"Preliminary reports indicate the bomb had a timer that could not have been activated more than 12 hours ago. The bomb squad is still investigating, but we need to consider the possibility that Kevin was not our bomber."
Everyone was silent as Kate's news sunk in.
"Now what?" Roy asked.
"Now, I start expanding my circle of people I'm looking into, something I've been keeping open all along; I just really thought Kevin was going to pan out. He seems like an obvious choice, but in reality, the obvious suspect, is usually the guilty culprit. But, I learned a lot from my investigation with you all before when so much pointed toward Ainsley. I've learned to keep my eyes open for people you wouldn't normally suspect."
"Who are you looking at Kate?" Johnny asked.
Kate looked over at Johnny and then briefly glanced at Mike.
"You're looking at Caroline," Mike said, making the connection to Kate asking Caroline to leave the room and this conversation.
"Among others," Kate said cryptically.
"Who else?"
"Mike, you don't need to be concerned about who all we're looking at. Go about your life as normally as possible. Be aware of your surroundings, but don't let suspicion over take your daily life," Kate warned.
"Who else, Kate?" Mike pushed.
"Mike, we're looking at anyone that came into your life in the last few months. That may want to control you in some way, or feel slighted or resentful in anyway," Kate hedged.
"Meg, you can't seriously be looking at Meg?"
"Yes, Mike, I'm gonna look at the girl you just dumped. A woman scorned can be a dangerous opponent."
"I didn't dump Meg. In fact, she technically dumped me. She told me not to wait for her, that she needed to concentrate on her dad."
"Yet, she called you as soon as she got back into town, and you had already started seeing someone else. She's on the list of people I'm looking into."
"Well, what have you found out so far?"
"Mike, I'm not going to discuss that with you. If I have any questions for you, or need clarification on something, I'll ask you. But, I'm not going to give you details of my investigation when you're dating one of the people I'm looking at."
Mike looked over at Johnny.
"Kate, if there's any chance that Caroline is behind this, Mike needs to know. She just offered to stay with him tonight, so he can go home from the hospital."
"I don't have anything to make me say Mike is not completely safe with Caroline. I've just started preliminary background checks, but nothing has come up for her. She doesn't have any previous arrests, a speeding ticket a few months ago in San Pedro, and that's it."
"So you think it would be okay for her to stay at my place tonight, or is that not safe?"
"You can pretty much expect an increase in police presence around you. I'll have a unit in your parking lot tonight, if you go home and I'll have them do an in-person check a few times just to make everyone feel comfortable. But, I have no reason to be concerned about Caroline staying with you. Although, Dr. Brackett may have restrictions," Kate winked.
Johnny and Roy both laughed.
E
"How's that?" Caroline asked, as she tacked a dark blanket over Mike's shaded bedroom window to darken Mike's room. The sun had been up before they had left the hospital and the bright light was making Mike's head throb.
"Better," Mike said quietly.
"Can I make you some breakfast?"
"I really just wanna get some sleep," Mike said.
"You really should eat something first, Mike. At least let me make you some toast," Caroline said, on her way out of the bedroom, already heading toward the kitchen.
Mike let his eyes close while he waited for Caroline to come back.
He jolted slightly when he felt a hand on his face. He opened his eyes to see Caroline sitting on the edge of the bed, a plate with toast slathered in peanut butter, and a banana on her lap. A large glass of milk on the bedside table.
"Thanks," Mike said.
Caroline moved the plate to Mike's lap and stood up, walking around the room. "I saw you on the news yesterday morning," Caroline said, trying to sound casual.
"You did? At the elementary school?"
"Yes, you were standing by the engine, talking to Meg," Caroline turned to look at Mike, leaning back against his dresser.
Mike sat down the piece of toast back onto the plate. "Caroline, I didn't seek her out. We were called out to the fire at the elementary school. Meg came over to tell me it was a 5th grade boy she was worried was being bullied. I was able to get Captain Stanley to talk to him and hopefully it helped."
"Mike, I don't want to be "that" girl. The one that's jealous of every other girl you talk to, but I don't know how to do this."
"Do what?"
"Date," Caroline said. "I haven't had a lot of relationships, and the ones I've had, have primarily long distance. We moved a lot when I was a kid, so I'd meet someone and it wouldn't be long and we'd move. A few guys tried to keep the relationship going, but it was too hard. They usually ended up cheating on me."
"I'm sorry, Caroline. I assure you, I'm not gonna cheat on you."
"I really like you, Mike. You're not like any guy I've ever met. You're so kind, and giving. You're always doing things for other people. I'm not really good enough for you."
"Caroline, you're amazing. Your beautiful, and fun," Mike stretched out his hand and Caroline moved back to sit on the edge of the bed, taking his hand. "Look how good a job you're doing takin' care of me."
"I like taking care of you," Caroline whispered.
Mike leaned forward and kissed Caroline on the lips.
She eagerly kissed him back, leaning into him.
Mike moaned slightly.
"Oh, sorry," Caroline said.
"I'm just a little bruised. I can take a little pain," Mike smiled.
"Good to know," Caroline smiled, and gently leaned in for another kiss.