Chapter 5

"Oh boy," Johnny muttered, pulling alongside the sheriff's car parked near the front porch. The engine was trundling up the hill behind them; the paramedics climbed out of the cab and joined Vince Howard, who was standing behind his opened door, mike in hand.

"John, Roy," he acknowledged, turning on his spotlight and illuminating part of the porch and the side of the gloomy structure. "Just got here myself, we got a report of a boy trapped somewhere in the house. Apparently the sisters who live here have taken themselves off on a little trip around the world; I guess they finally decided to spend their inheritance."

"Well, good for them," Gage interrupted; Roy wasn't sure if the words were sincere or made in jest because his partner was staring up at the top of the house and he couldn't see his face. Vince shot the younger medic an annoyed glare and continued on.

"We received a call about thirty minutes ago from the mother of one of the two brothers involved. Seems her youngest kid returned home and told her that they had been "playing around" up here, and the other boy disappeared. Her son could hear his brother calling for help, but couldn't find him. Must be hidden rooms or something in there…"

Johnny snorted. "Playing around this time of night, it sounds more like breaking and entering to me."

Roy looked at him, astonished at the words tumbling out of his usually very diplomatic friend, at least while on the job; it was completely out of character for the other man to make those kind of remarks within earshot of anyone who was not a member of their crew. Vince apparently thought so too, for he was staring at Johnny with a perplexed frown.

"Just entering without permission, John, the mother states that she has the keys to the place and the boys helped themselves." He stated, his voice flat.

"Well, let's get some tools and lights and see if we can locate him," Roy interceded smoothly, not really wanting to witness Gage making another smart remark or the deputy losing what little patience he had. He turned and started over to the compartment on the passenger side of their vehicle; he stopped and turned back around when he didn't hear any movement behind him.

"Johnny?" He asked, puzzled at the lack of response. His partner was peering up at the roof of the house again, head tilted slightly as if listening, and hands on his hips.

Roy stepped forward and tapped his mesmerized colleague on the shoulder. "John!"

"Uh?" Johnny visibly startled, and whipped his head around. "What?"

Shaking his head, DeSoto motioned with his hand towards the squad. His counterpart snapped his mouth closed but the look of confusion that had flashed across his face didn't escape Roy's notice. Johnny started to turn, and then noticed Vince still standing at the door to his car and paused.

"Hey Vince, how's it going?" He flashed the baffled man a grin and spun on his heel to follow Roy to the squad. The rest of the station's men met them at the side of the truck and Roy quickly filled them in, noting that Gage was listening with as much interest as the rest of the guys. What was his problem? A moment ago he had been mouthing off to everything that Howard told them; now he was acting like he hadn't even been there during the discussion. It was almost as if Johnny had been there physically but the rest of him…..

Rolling his eyes at his foolishness, DeSoto grabbed the lights out of the compartment, handing one off to his partner, who took it and handed him an HT. Gage tossed his helmet on the top of the truck and shoulder to shoulder they headed for the front porch, the engine crew close behind them.

The wind had picked up a bit and dust swirled about their feet from the sadly neglected yard as they crossed it and climbed the porch steps. At least two of the men jumped in surprise when the noise ripped through the small area, creating an "oooooo" sound that lifted and lowered in volume. Johnny nearly levitated out of his boots when Marco clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Watch your back in there, amigo," he warned softly, immediately moving his hand to the middle of John's back to steady him as he flinched in surprise at the touch and lurched in his step forward. The paramedic caught himself and looked back at the concerned man.

"Yeah, you too, okay?" At Lopez's nod, Gage continued forward, shining his light in a wide arc. They stopped once all the men had entered the house, standing in what appeared to be the formal living room. Johnny couldn't help his quick shiver, taking in at a glance the white shrouded furniture and the odd shadows playing about. The only sound in the fairly large room was the breathing of the men and the increasing noise of the wind, which was now buffeting the long windows. He focused his attention on Captain Stanley, who was standing closest to the front door, now closed.

"All right, Gage and DeSoto hit the upstairs, Lopez and Kelly the basement, and Stoker and I will check this floor. Vince, you want to stay here and monitor?"

"Sure, no problem," the deputy acknowledged easily, not realizing that his hand had strayed to his belt, close to his holstered gun. He looked around the semi-circle of firemen, his uneasiness evident; he collected himself with an effort and dropped his hands down to his side. He shot a questioning glance at Gage, who had shuffled back a step and was looking towards the staircase. "The sooner we find this kid, the sooner we can all get out of here, right?"

There were murmuring assents and now the muffled sound of boots moving in different directions filled the area. Johnny headed for the stairs, Roy right behind him. Playing his light in front of him, the younger man started to ascend the wide staircase, one careful step at a time.

"Couldn't they just turn on the lights?" He complained softly, throwing a hand up on the smooth, well-worn handrail to catch himself as he faltered, his usual rapid and confident pace slowed to a snail's crawl. He swore he could feel icy tendrils of hair touching and crawling across the back of his neck, and it was NOT his hair that was leaving the frigid trail of chill. It didn't help matters that he kept waiting for a push; Alice probably figured it was too hard to push him "up" the stairs

Roy, who had reflexively thrown up his hands to keep his friend from tumbling backwards, grimaced as Johnny hissed at the light touch and immediately dropped his hands. Gage righted himself, and then proceeded to shake himself like a wet dog.

"You okay?" Roy queried, glad that his partner couldn't see his expression.

At Johnny's subdued nod, Roy answered his question. "I believe that Winifred and Emma had the electricity turned off when they left…"

John laughed, his relief blatantly obvious in his voice as his boots hit the landing. "I can't believe those old gals took off. I guess they figured it was better to spend their old man's money then to fight about it. Weren't they, like, 80 years old?"

"Yep, that they were," Roy agreed, looking to his left and then to his right as he stepped into the hallway. They could hear the faint calls of "Philip" rising up from the floors beneath them. "You want to split up or stick together?"

"Split up, be a lot faster," Gage answered, an eyebrow raised at the unexpected question. It wasn't as if they were searching for victims with smoke and fire chasing them down the passageways; although, there was that little matter of the unexplained bruises decorating several portions of his body. He didn't like it, but he understood that Roy was just looking out for him. "I'll go right."

Roy hesitated, then grunted and swung to his left. There were only two doors to be checked on this side and two to the right, but there was a door right smack in the middle that needed to be investigated. It probably led up to the attic. He completed his two rooms quickly but thoroughly, calling the teenager's name and peering within the massive wardrobes that occupied each of the bedrooms. No closets in this house, he noted with a wry smile; his wife would not be too enthralled with the lack of storage within the bedrooms. It wasn't like she owned a lot of stuff…it was the kids with their odd assortment of toys. His daughter still had a lot of baby gear she refused to part with and of course there was the baby necessities that Jo wanted to keep, just in case. There were no plans for a third child, of course, but "things happened" as his mate smilingly put it.

Johnny was just exiting the last room, walking slowly towards Roy and tapping and sliding his hand along the wall. They met at the middle door and looked at each other.

"You wanna do the honors?" Roy asked him, shining his flashlight just below his partner's chin so he wouldn't blind him but could watch his expression. Gage just shrugged and closed his hand around the glass doorknob. He turned it, froze, and then jumped back with a startled yelp…

~TBC~