Marco opened his apartment door to find Mike already up and sitting at the kitchen table, an untouched cup of coffee in front of him. "So how did Caroline like her tour last night?" Marco asked.
"Don't ask," Mike said miserably.
"She didn't like the station?" Marco said, surprised. She had seemed engaged in the tour before they got called on for the multi-vehicle accident.
"Just drop it Marco," Mike snapped.
"Geez, man. What's eating you?" Marco complained, pouring himself a glass of orange juice.
Mike shook his head. "Sorry," Mike said. He sighed, "I should just have I'm sorry tattooed on my forehead; I've had to say it so much lately."
Marco looked over at this friend.
"You know, a girlfriend's supposed to make you happier, not more miserable," Marco observed.
"Yeah, if you know how to treat one, but apparently I make all the women around me feel like they're not good enough and can't make me happy, no matter how much they try."
Marco looked over at Mike, but didn't say anything. He'd never seen Mike be anything but kind and chivalrous to any woman, but he wasn't a woman. They definitely saw things differently than a guy did.
"So what's Caroline saying you did?"
"I really don't want to talk about it."
Marco shrugged. "Look, man, if there's anything I can do, any of us can do, you know we will."
"I know," Mike said. "Caroline and I are having dinner with Roy and Joanne tonight; I'm hoping that will help us get things back on the right track."
Marco raised an eyebrow, Caroline had been the topic of conversation at the station last night when they got back from the run. Marco knew Roy did not have the best opinion of Caroline, so he wasn't sure dinner with the DeSoto's was the way to get Mike and Caroline's relationship back on track. "I'm gonna go catch a couple hours sleep. I've got a soccer tournament tomorrow down in San Diego. A bunch of the guys are gonna leave tonight and just get a hotel room. I'll be back late tomorrow night."
Mike nodded. He intended to spend the day looking for a new place to live. His landlord had called him last night and asked him not to move back in when the building was ready. Mike couldn't blame him. He'd been responsible for two apartment buildings being burned down. Mike had decided it was time to start looking at maybe getting a house. Something so if someone tried to burn it down again, it would only affect him. He'd called a realtor and arranged to go see a few houses today.
Mike cleaned up the kitchen and headed out. He wanted to make sure he wasn't late picking up Caroline for dinner that night. He needed everything to go perfectly.
E
Mike opened the car door for Caroline. He liked the loaner car, but missed his truck.
"They're here," Roy said, hearing the car door close.
Joanne lit the candle and placed the glass dome over it before the wind could blow it out. She blew out the match. The kids had already been fed and were being allowed to watch TV in the living room while the grown-ups had dinner on the back deck.
Roy opened the door as Caroline and Mike climbed the stairs to the porch. Mike handed Roy a bottle of wine to go with dinner.
"Thanks," Roy said. "Caroline, you look lovely."
Joanne had just walked into the living room and raised an eyebrow at Roy's statement. Caroline's dress was so tight Joanne instantly knew she wasn't wearing a bra, and had her doubts about underwear.
"Thank you, Roy," Caroline smiled at him, and then moved in and gave him a hug.
"I love the color," Joanne said, trying to be nice.
Caroline looked over at Joanne who was wearing a pair of black slacks with a nice green shirt that highlighted her ivory complexion and auburn hair. "Thank you. I'm sorry if I'm overdressed, Mike said this was going to be a nice dinner."
Joanne pressed her lips together to avoid commenting. Roy put his hand on her back. "Can I help you carry anything outside, Jo?"
Joanne smiled. "Sure, dinner should almost be ready. Why don't you let Mike and Caroline take out the wine and the rolls and you can help me carry out the main dish and sides."
Roy handed the bottle of wine to Caroline and Mike followed him into the kitchen to get the rolls, he took the salad as well and directed Caroline to the deck.
Caroline looked at the deck with the candles and flowers. "We're eating outside? How quaint."
Mike let Caroline go out first and then turned to shut the door. As soon as he closed the door he moved over near her. "I thought you wanted to do this?"
Caroline looked at him. "I do."
"Then why would you insult Joanne and make a snide remark about where we're eating?"
"I didn't," Caroline's eyes widened.
"What was the comment about it not being a formal dinner?"
"She's wearing pants," Caroline whispered.
"So?"
"I was raised you do not wear pants to a formal event. I was feeling bad for out dressing her at her own home. Now you've made me feel uncomfortable," Caroline pouted.
"I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Just relax and be yourself," Mike whispered.
Caroline frowned at him. Mike set the rolls and salad on the table. He took the wine from Caroline and put it in the ice bucket. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry. Please, just relax and have a good time. Getting Roy to like you will help win over all the other guys."
"So you want me to make Roy like me," Caroline asked.
"Please," Mike said.
Caroline smiled, "I can do that."
Joanne waited until Mike and Caroline has stepped outside and Mike had closed the patio door before she spoke. "She's been here less than 5 minutes and I'm considering throwing her off the deck," Joanne hissed to Roy.
"Just give her a chance, Joanne. Mike says she wants to get to know his friends and knows Ainsley doesn't like her."
"None of us like her, Roy. Not Ainsley, not Beth, not me, and not you," Joanne said pointedly.
"We really don't know her. We need to give her a chance."
"Fine," Joanne said. "But, if she makes another comment about my clothes, you'd better have a fire extinguisher nearby 'cause I'm gonna find out if that skin-tight street walker outfit is flammable." Joanne grabbed the potatoes and asparagus and headed toward the deck.
Roy sighed and picked up the tray of salmon and followed his wife. His glance went to the fire extinguisher by his back door. He really hoped he didn't need it tonight.
Joanne walked out to find Mike with his arms around Caroline. Joanne forced a smile.
"Mike, I thought you and Roy could sit at the ends of the table and Caroline, I'll take the side near the railing," Joanne said, smiling.
"Oh, I don't mind taking that side. I'm thin enough it won't be an issue for me," Caroline smiled and moved to the seat near the railing.
Joanne forced her smile wider, even while she clenched her hand into a fist.
Mike looked over at Caroline and then down at the table. He had a feeling this was going to be a long evening.
Roy opened the wine and poured Caroline a glass first, and then moved to pour Joanne's. When he would have stopped, she touched his hand and indicated he should pour more. Mike noticed, but Caroline was looking around and not paying attention.
"I'm just gonna go wash my hands," Mike said, standing up and heading into the house. He went into the restroom and leaned his hands against the sink dropping his head. He took a few breaths. This evening was not starting out the way he had hoped. He had been shocked to see what Caroline was wearing when he picked her up. He had tried to politely suggest she change into something more appropriate, but she had commented that he had loved the dress when she wore it on their first date, and the truth was, he had. She looked incredibly sexy in it and Mike had been fully aware of all the stares she had gotten when they went out; men envying him for being with her. But, now, the outfit just seemed inappropriate and embarrassing.
Caroline watched Mike disappear from view and then turned toward Roy.
"It's so nice you guys can be friends," Caroline said.
"Yeah, it's great we all get along so well given how much time we spend together," Roy said.
"Well, sometimes it's uncomfortable when a boss and employee try to socialize outside of work," Caroline said.
"Boss?" Joanne looked at Caroline.
"Well, Mike said that the ranking in the station is the Captain, and then the Engineer and then the paramedics and linesman are all lumped together."
"Oh, he did, did he," Joanne looked over at Roy.
"Captain Stanley, is the Captain, Mike isn't my boss," Roy clarified.
"Sorry," Caroline smiled at him. "Maybe I misunderstood. You are just a paramedic and Marco and Chet are just linesmen, right?"
Roy swallowed his comment in response to her 'just" addition to the titles. "Yes, Johnny and are I paramedics and Marco and Chet are the linesmen."
Caroline leaned over, giving Roy an easy view down her dress. She placed a hand on his arm, and lowered her voice to have a seductive tone. "All that really matters is you love what you do."
"I do love my job," Roy agreed, averting his eyes from Caroline's cleavage.
"And, he could easily be an Engineer, if he wanted to be," Joanne said. "He turned down the promotion when he passed the Engineer's exam because Roy practically started the paramedic program and loves the work. He went through the very first class."
Mike came back out of the house.
"Mike, you didn't tell me that Roy was in the first paramedic class," Caroline said.
"Yeah, and Johnny went through right after that. That's when they were assigned to Station 51; which was a new station at the time."
"And you guys have been together ever since?"
"Well, Captain Hammer was our first Captain, but he was moved to a larger station after a year and we got Captain Stanley," Mike explained.
Roy tried to put Caroline's statement that Mike had made it seem like he was the boss out of his mind. Caroline had to have misunderstood; Mike wasn't the type of guy to try to make himself seem more important than he was. Roy shook his head, it was a good thing Caroline had said that to him though and not Johnny or Chet; those two would not have been as rationale and willing to withhold judgement.
Caroline kept the conversation flowing around their jobs and got Mike and Roy to tell stories of not only some of their rescues; but the more day-to-day procedures and routine fire inspections. She oohed and awe'd and called them hero's. Caroline had adjusted her chair so she could sit closer to Mike, and Joanne could see that Caroline had her hand resting very high up on Mike's thigh. But, she kept smiling at Roy. She had turned to face him and crossed her legs, sliding her dress even higher up her legs. Joanne thought if she got her dress any higher, Roy would know for sure if Caroline was wearing underwear or not.
As the evening wore on, Roy began to look even more uncomfortable from Caroline's obvious flirting, Joanne was fuming, and Mike looked miserable. Caroline turned the conversation to the upcoming scheduled brush burn. "Isn't that dangerous?" Caroline asked.
"No," Mike answered. "We'll walk the entire area before we start the controlled burn; making sure all the structures are cleared and the wildlife have unobstructed means of exit. By doing a controlled burn we clear areas where uncontrolled wildfires are likely to start and reduce the risk of rescue operations later."
"You mean there might actually be buildings that you're burning up too?" Caroline seemed shocked at this.
"Well, not usually," Roy clarified. "Usually these are highly wooded areas without any homes or structures. It's rare that this upcoming burn does have one very old, abandoned house in the vicinity of the burn."
"How do you know it's abandoned?"
"Records show the State took ownership of the property years ago. In fact, it was a hundred-acre farm originally. The property has just been sitting and now has brush that is completely out of control."
"How do you know there isn't a homeless person living inside?" Caroline asked.
"Tomorrow, C-shift will actually go out and walk the full 100 acres. Captain Hookraider and the local police will actually go into the home and inspect the entire area, to make sure it's clear. They'll tape up any doors or windows and post notices that the building is expected to be destroyed the next day in a controlled burn," Mike explained.
"What happens if someone breaks in between when they do their check and when you actually start the fire?"
Roy shook his head. "We'd know. That's why we tape up the doors and windows. Thursday, just before we start the burn, Captain Stanley will go back and check to make sure all the tape is still intact. If it's not; we'll clear the home again for safety sake."
"Is the tape you use the stuff I saw in the cleaning closet on our tour last night?" Caroline asked.
"Yep, we have it ready for the guys to use tomorrow when they clear the property."
Caroline nodded.
Roy gave her a quizzical look. "You asked a lot of good questions, Caroline. Have you seen a controlled burn before?"
"No," Caroline started. "But, I was…" she reached for her wine glass, but accidently knocked it over, the wine spilling on the table and the glass breaking.
"I'm so sorry!" Caroline said, jumping up, reaching for the remnants of the glass.
"No, don't touch it, just leave it," Roy was saying as Caroline grabbed a piece of the broken glass.
"Ouch," Caroline pulled her hand back, as blood almost instantly appeared on her hand.
Roy grabbed Caroline's wrist and moved her into the house and over to the sink. He turned on the water and put her hand under the stream.
"It really hurts," Caroline looked up at him, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Mike, I've got a first aid kit over by the back door. Will you grab it?" Roy called out to Mike, who was just entering the house.
Mike moved over and grabbed the box Roy was talking about.
"Just set it on the kitchen table. Open it up and get me some 4 by 4s," Roy instructed.
Mike opened the gauze pads and carried them over to Roy.
Chris and Jennifer came into the kitchen. "What happened, dad?" Chris asked, seeing Roy holding Caroline's hand under the water.
"Just a small cut," Joanne said, coming in from the deck. "It's about bedtime for you both. Head upstairs and brush your teeth. I'll be up in just a minute to tuck you in."
The kids both groaned, but scrambled up the stairs when Joanne gave them her "don't mess with me" look.
Roy wrapped several pieces of gauze around Caroline's hand and moved her over to sit down at the kitchen table. He continued holding her hand, keeping pressure on the cut.
"I guess it's super helpful having a paramedic right on site," Caroline smiled at him.
"Well, Mike could've handled this," Roy said. "All firemen are trained in basic first aid."
"You seem so in charge," Caroline cooed.
Roy ignored her comment and gently peeled back the gauze to look at her cut. "I think you're gonna need stitches," Roy said, observing the depth of the cut.
"You won't have to call an ambulance, will you?"
Roy smiled at her. "No, I think Mike can drive you."
"You can't just do it?"
Roy shook his head. "Stitches are beyond what I handle. Mike, I'm gonna wrap her hand and you can drive her to Rampart."
Mike nodded.
Caroline watched as Roy wrapped her hand. He placed his hand under her elbow as he helped her stand-up. Caroline leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you so much."
Mike slipped his arm around Caroline's waist and started heading her toward the front door. She leaned against him as he guided her out.
Roy watched as Mike loaded Caroline into his car and then ran around to the driver side. He closed the door and turned back to his wife. "I'm gonna go clean up the glass."
"I'll go get the kids in bed. Come up and kiss them good-night when you're done?"
Roy gave Joanne a quick kiss on the cheek before he moved out to the deck to start cleaning up the mess. He felt bad Caroline got hurt, but was grateful for a reason to call the evening to a close. Caroline was an incredibly sexy woman, and Roy could easily see why a guy would want to spend some time with her; she had a way of making a guy feel like he was a 10 feet tall super hero. But, that wore off after a while and there wasn't anything of real substance left.
Roy thought of his life with Joanne. She was definitely past the phase where she oohed and awed over everything little thing he did, and there definitely weren't a lot of kisses for performing routine tasks; but at the end of a long shift, when he felt like the world was resting on his shoulders, there wasn't anyone he'd rather come home too. Roy seriously doubted Mike was ever going to have that with Caroline.
E
Kate rubbed her eyes, and stretched, needing to take a break from looking at paperwork. There had been so many files at the prison, that she and Eric had decided it was easier to sign out the files and review them back at her apartment. Eric had come over as soon as he got off work and they'd begun scouring through the mountains of documents. It was difficult to find items that solely pertained to Kevin Costas. They were now going through records of mail sent to inmates and phone calls both received and made, having struck out on anything in the visitor logs.
Kate stood up. "What anything to drink?"
"I'll take some more coffee," Eric said, handing her his cup.
Kate took the cup and retreated toward the kitchen to refill Eric's coffee and find herself a can of soda.
"Well, what do we have here," Eric said.
"What?" Kate asked, coming into the living room carrying the drinks.
"It looks like Kevin had himself a girlfriend," Eric said, looking up at her.
"Really? We didn't have anyone on the visitor lists; what makes you so sure?"
"One of her letters was flagged for inappropriate material and is here in the file," Eric handed Kate a red envelope, a piece of paper and several pictures.
"Whoa, "Kate said, looking at one of the pictures. "I would definitely call that inappropriate. Who'd even take that somewhere to get developed."
"Maybe she's got her own dark room," Eric said. "Look at the name on the envelope."
"Cara Lynn Shatlon; now wonder Caroline Chapman didn't pull up any criminal background. She probably doesn't exist," Kate said, opening the letter and quickly reading it. She felt herself blush at the intimate details in the letter.
"Cara Lynn, Caroline, so close that she's naturally going to respond to hearing Caroline."
"Let's request all the information we can on Cara Lynn Shatlon right away," Kate said, moving to the phone to call the precinct. "I want to be able to put 24-hour surveillance on both to them; but that's gonna require a judge sign off and I need information to convince one to approve it."
"I'm willing to bet we can get enough together to go to a judge Thursday morning," Eric said optimistically.
"I just hope that's soon enough," Kate said. "I can't shake this horrible feeling that something bad is about to happen."
E
Mike pulled into Caroline's apartment complex parking lot, already trying to think of how he was going to avoid having to go in with her. He'd watched her flirt shamelessly with Dr. Morton as he'd stitched her hand at Rampart; and even having a guy nudge him and call him a lucky stiff, for getting to go home with her hadn't changed his feeling of just wanting to take her home and be done with the evening.
Mike parked the car, got out and hurried around the car to open the door for Caroline. He slipped his arm under her elbow to guide her to the apartment door. Caroline handed him her keys, but once he got the door unlocked she moved in between him and the apartment.
She smiled up and him, and placed her unbandage hand on his chest. "I hope you don't mind, Mike; but I'm feeling really exhausted from everything tonight. Would you be terribly upset if I didn't invite you in?"
Mike tried really hard not to smile, relief flooding over him. "Of course not. I completely understand," was all he said.
Caroline smiled and pulled him in for a kiss, that Mike kept to a small peck and then he stepped back.
"I hope you're able to sleep okay."
"Thank you, sweet dreams, Mike," Caroline closed the door. She moved to the window and pulled back the curtains slightly to watch Mike get in his car and pull out of the parking lot.
"The coast is clear, he's gone," Caroline said.
She heard a door open down the hallway and in a few seconds Kevin had joined her in the living room.
"How'd the evening go?"
"Perfect," Caroline said, moving to slip her arms around his neck. "Just as you said it would."
"What happened to your hand?"
"I broke a wine glass and cut myself. Roy started to ask me about why I was asking him about controlled burns and I needed a distraction," Caroline explained.
"Very resourceful," Kevin said admiringly. "I love how you are completely willing to make any sacrifices for our cause," Kevin leaned down and gave her a deep kiss, sliding his hands down her body to cup her buttocks.
"It hasn't been easy," Caroline complained, when the kiss ended. "If I have to spend one more night with the boy scout, I may lose my mind."
"Just two more days my darling and I'll pull off my greatest revenge yet. It is going to be a fantastic headline," Kevin smiled thinking of the news article.
"And the best part is, they'll never be able to prove it's you. A genius plan created by a genius mind," Caroline beamed at him with pride.
"No, the best part is, afterwards, we can ditch this place and spend the rest of our lives together," Kevin said. "Now, what did you learn from your tour last night and dinner tonight?" Kevin asked, guiding Caroline to the couch.
"They do know about the house on the property, but they haven't cleared it yet. That's tomorrow's assignment though. The tape I saw in their closet is the tape they use; so hopefully they put it back in the same place. They do check to make sure the tape is still in place before starting the fire. But, it's the shift tomorrow taping up the house and then A-shift re-checking it."
"Good, that takes some pressure off," Kevin smiled, leaning over to kiss Caroline's neck.
"So, I just need to get Mike to stay the night tomorrow night and we'll be all set."
Should be easy enough, what guy can resist you," Kevin said, as he continued to kiss up Caroline's neck to nibble on her ear lobe."
"I'll have to really turn on the sex appeal," Caroline said, slowly starting to unbutton Kevin's shirt. "He's such a goody-two-shoes he hasn't tried very hard to get me into bed yet."
Kevin pulled her up from the couch. "Why not show me what you're gonna do? After all, practice makes perfect."
Caroline giggled and followed him toward the bedroom. All she had to do was get Mike to agree to stay the night at her apartment tomorrow and let the guys on his shift think he overslept and their plan would complete.