Caught in the Act
By Sharon
“Mike, I just wanted to…,” Captain Stanley stopped in mid sentence, shocked by what his eyes were witnessing.
Mike stood ramrod straight, shocked himself. He looked from his Captain, down to the cup of water in his hands, and back towards Hank again. His surprised eyes looked questioningly into his Captain’s face, wondering what his reaction would be?
Hank took a quick look at the cup of water and then up at Mike before finishing his sentence, “I just wanted to let you know the engine is scheduled for a tune up this morning.”
“Okay Cap…um…I’ll…um, bring it to the garage after roll call.” Mike replied nervously, running a hand through his short hair.
“You know, Pal, I could have Marco run it over for you.”
“Marco?”
“Yeah, Marco, I mean, it would be a shame to send you out of the station. You’d miss all the antics then.”
“Um, what do you mean?”
“Well now, you know Johnny’s sure to explode. Soon after, he’ll be ranting and raving, blaming Chet. And Chet will be feigning innocence and well, that’ll just be the beginning, won’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“Like I said, sure would be a shame if you missed it all, wouldn’t it?”
“I suppose.”
“Especially Chet’s big puppy dog eyes, insisting he didn’t do it.”
Mike didn’t respond to Hanks comment. He just stood his ground, taking in the fact that after all these years, someone had finally caught him in the act! He’d always been so careful. He always arrived at the station well ahead of the others, making sure he had enough time to set things up. And now, here he was, being caught by Hank Stanley of all people. He silently wondered if he’d be doing latrine duty from now on?
Hank decided he’d said all he needed to and just stood watching Mike standing silently before Johnny’s locker. He himself, silently thought about how shocked he was. ‘Who would ever believe this? Michael Stoker! The intelligent one, the serious one, the quiet one? Oh yeah, the quiet one, isn't that what people always say? You have to watch out for the quiet ones?’
Without saying a word, Hank finally turned and made his retreat back towards his office. Leaving Station 51’s ever elusive “Phantom” to finish setting up the latest water bomb in the locker of his favourite pigeon, John Gage.
*Click on the picture of Mike to send Sharon feedback
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