The wooden floorboards creaked as he took a step
forward. Roy DeSoto jumped as he entered the spooky house that his partner had
talked him into exploring that Halloween night.
“Why did I let ya’ talk me into this?”
“Come on, Roy, it’s gonna be fun. Besides the money’s goin’ to a good
cause…the kids in the hospital need those teddy bears.”
“Johnny, you know how much I hate these haunted houses. I don’t even let
the kids go to them.”
With his trademark crooked grin, the young paramedic thought…I can’t wait
to tell the guys what a chicken Roy is when it comes to Halloween and spooks.
The men agreed to go into the haunted house together
after Roy and Joanne took their kids trick-or-treating. The fair-haired
paramedic had driven over and picked up his partner while his wife sorted
through the goodies their children had gotten. Roy was reluctant to say anything
to Johnny because he didn’t want to be the laughingstock of Station 51, but
these houses frightened him.
“Okay, wise guy, you go first and I’ll follow you. How would ya like
that?” Roy was determined to play it cool.
“That’s okay, Roy, I’m enjoying watching you as much as I’m gonna enjoy
this haunting!”
The men moved slowly forward and suddenly from out of nowhere someone or
something was grabbing their feet. Neither said anything. Roy felt he had
already given John too much information about his fears and Johnny didn’t want
to give his friend any idea that he was afraid.
A few steps later someone in a mask and cape jumped directly between them.
“Roy, what gives? We’re in a group and the only ones that are getting’
spooked are us!”
“Maybe they can sense that we’re afraid.”
“Nooooo, Roy, you’re afraid, I’m just along for the fun and to contribute
to a good cause.
“Yeah, right, Pally!”
“Don’t ya’ think it’s kinda weird though? I mean why aren’t they pickin’
on other people? Have you heard anyone else scream since we started walking
through this thing?”
“John Gage, you’re paranoid! I thought I had a problem, but you’re
downright paranoid! Now, are you ready to take the lead, or do we go back?”
“Fine, just to show ya that I can handle this like a man, I’ll go first.”
John took baby steps forward and after about ten
steps someone grabbed his foot. The paramedic jumped and fell to the ground. As
he fell, he suddenly disappeared. Roy was aware of the pranks that were pulled
in these Halloween houses and stood there for a few minutes waiting for his
partner to reappear. Johnny never showed up and Roy was afraid.
Should I stay here? Should I go and get help? Where could Johnny be, or is
he in on this haunted house? Yeah, that’s it, he’s in on it. Hmmm, I’ll bet he
even knows some of these spooks. Okay, enough of this…he can find a ride home.
I’m gonna go home and see what Chris and Jennifer got and spend some time with
Joanne before our next shift.
Roy got into his sports car and left the house but couldn’t contact his
partner during the next twenty-four hours. He called Johnny multiple times, but
there was no answer at his apartment.
“Joanne, I’m worried about Johnny. You remember the house that we went to
for the benefit of the children’s ward at Rampart? Well, Johnny disappeared
while we were in there and I haven’t heard from him since. Now I can’t even
reach him by telephone.”
“Roy, are you saying that you just left him there? Hon, that isn’t like
you at all.”
“Yeah I know Jo, but you know how I feel about those houses and someone
kept grabbing our feet. Johnny disappeared, so I figured he was in on the whole
thing. I mean he’s the one who talked me into going, so wouldn’t you think he
was in on it?”
“Roy, I think you need to go by John’s apartment and if you can’t find
him…well. We need to call the police and have them look into this. What if he
fell and is hurt?”
“I’m beginning to wonder if I did the right thing. If he doesn’t show at
work tomorrow, I’ll call the cops.”
As the paramedic pulled into the lot behind Station
51 the next day, he scanned the parking lot for his partner’s Rover. Roy wasn’t
surprised that Johnny was not there at that point. After all, the senior
paramedic usually arrived at work before his partner. When he went to the locker
to change into his uniform, DeSoto was greeted by Chet and Marco.
“Hey, Roy, have you heard from John in the past day or so?” Chet usually
didn’t ask about Johnny, but seemed a bit worried.
“As a matter of fact, I haven’t. It’s funny that you ask. You see, the
last time I saw him was Halloween night at the spook house. I’ve been tryin’ to
reach him since, but had no luck.”
“Same here, Roy, he was supposed to come over to my place yesterday for a
chili dinner that I was makin’ for my family and a few friends in the
neighborhood. The thing that made me worry was that I had a girl that wanted to
meet him. You know John, he never turns down a chance to meet a pretty girl.”
Marco seemed as concerned as Chet.
“Okay, that does it, I’m gonna call the cops. Joanne tried to get me to
call last night, but I figured I’d see him today. If Johnny missed a chance to
meet a pretty girl, he’s definitely in trouble.”
As soon as Roy got the words out, Chet and Marco headed into Captain
Stanley’s office. The paramedic assumed they were going to tell their leader
about his missing paramedic. The fair-haired man was extremely worried that
something had happened to his best friend. When Roy reached up for the
telephone, a familiar hand stopped him from dialing the police.
“Lookin’ for someone, partner?” John Gage was standing there in the flesh
with their crew mates and everyone, except Roy was laughing.
“What’s the big idea, Johnny, are you okay?”
“Right as rain, Roy, but I do have a question for ya. How can you justify
leaving your friend behind in a haunted house after he disappeared? Man, I never
thought you would’ve done that to me.”
“Johnny, I didn’t mean to leave ya behind. I figured that you must’ve
known someone who worked the house and tried to play a joke on me. So, where
have you been? Do you know that you scared Joanne and me half to death?”
As soon as the older paramedic uttered those words and saw the looks on
the faces of his fellow firemen, he knew he had just made a huge mistake.
Through bursts of laughter, Marco and Chet began to explain the situation
to Roy.
“Well, Chet and I were the guys who kept grabbing your legs. Johnny had
told us about your fear of these haunted places, so we decided to play a little
joke on ya!” Marco could hardly contain himself in his attempt to begin the
explanation.
“Yeah, ya see, John had it all worked out with us ahead of time, and I
must say that the Phantom never pulled off a better one than this. We kidnapped
your partner and made it look like he had disappeared. We knew you would take
the bait and hoped that you would wait until the next shift to call the cops.”
“Actually I predicted that you would do just that!” Johnny seemed so
pleased with himself.
“Pal, I think you’ve been the victim of the most notorious plot in the
history of the station. Did you really think something had happened to Gage?”
Cap wasn’t part of the ploy, but had prior knowledge of the kidnapping and the
plan to make Roy think Johnny was really gone.
“Yep, you guys got me, but just remember…I’ll be on my toes. I can play
dirty with the rest of ya. When ya least expect it, you guys will be the
victims. I can’t believe I fell for this. I do have one more question. Was
Joanne in on this too?”
Through a crooked smile Johnny answered vaguely, “Maybe she was, and maybe
she wasn’t…you’ll have to take that up with her when ya get home….that is if she
wants to tell ya.”
“Ha…Ha…Ha!” Roy could hardly believe that he was the new pigeon of Station
51.
The End
*As always, I do not own the characters of Emergency…I’m just having a
little seasonal fun with them!”
