"Hey, Mom! Watch this!"
Joanne glanced up from setting the plates down on the picnic table just in time to see Chris, perched on Johnny's shoulders, suddenly leap off and do a cannonball into their 4 foot deep dough boy pool. He came up sputtering, grinning from ear to ear.
"Chris, be careful," Joanne reminded him automatically, knowing that with both Roy and Johnny in the pool with the kids, nothing overly dangerous would be allowed.
With the table set and the grill ready for the burgers, they only had to wait for the swimmers to either tire or get cold enough to call it quits. Neither seemed an imminent possibility. Joanne sat down in a chair on the deck, and cast a glance at Kathy who stood leaning against the railing, watching the antics in the pool with an impatient expression on her face.
"Why don't you sit down," Joanne invited pleasantly. "It may be a while."
Kathy rolled her eyes in acknowledgment of the inevitable and came over to join her hostess. She cast a glance at her watch before she sat down.
"You and Johnny have plans after dinner?" Joanne asked.
The tall brunette shrugged. "Nothing solid," she answered. "I was kind of hoping to catch a movie or something."
Joanne didn't have to be Einstein to realize the "or something" was any kind of activity alone with Johnny. She felt rather sorry for this pretty girl who just couldn't seem to figure out why John Gage would want to spend time here playing with a couple of kids rather than be out on the town with a beautiful woman.
"Maybe if we start cooking the hamburgers, they'll get hungry enough to get out."
Kathy laughed. "That might be the only way to do it," she agreed.
"Come on, then."
The two women walked into the kitchen and quickly set about making patties. They chatted for a while about unimportant things, then Joanne's curiosity got the better of her.
"So, tell me about you and Johnny," she blurted out impulsively. "Are you two getting serious?"
Joanne wasn't sure what reaction she'd been expecting, but the one she got definitely wasn't it.
"Oh, heavens no," Kathy laughed lightly. "I've got way too much schooling ahead of me to get into anything serious. Did Johnny tell you I got accepted into the Masters Program at UCLA?"
Joanne nodded, remembering how excited Johnny had been. Kathy was currently an RN at Rampart in CCU, but getting her Masters in Nursing would open up all kinds of administrative career opportunities.
"Anyway, my classes start at the end of the month, and between school and work I really don't have room for anything remotely serious in the romance department."
Joanne didn't look up from the patty she was working on. "Does Johnny know all this?" she asked evenly.
"Sure," Kathy replied with a shrug. "He and I are just having a good time, that's all." She cast a quick glance outside. "Sometimes," she added with a touch of asperity in her voice. She shook her head and smiled again. "Besides, when I seriously start shopping for husband material, I plan on looking for somebody who makes a whole lot more money than Johnny does."
Kathy stopped suddenly and blushed. "Hey, I'm sorry, Joanne. I didn't mean anything bad about Roy or anything."
"It's okay," Joanne assured her, keeping her anger in check. She wasn't offended for Roy and herself. She was upset for Johnny, that he could be cast aside so blithely and on such superficial grounds. "You don't have to tell me how underpaid paramedics are."
Kathy smiled tentatively, obviously not sure how to take Joanne's response. "Yeah, well, that's a long time down the road. For now, Johnny's fun... to do stuff with."
Joanne didn't comment. That slight pause told her well enough what fun Kathy was talking about. It wasn't really her business, and she knew her and Roy's views on morality were fast being considered old fashioned. Still, Johnny was more than just Roy's partner. He was their friend, and she couldn't help feeling like he was being used, and he deserved better than that.
She finished up the last patty and washed her hands, wondering how two adults could date each other for months and have such completely different ideas of where their relationship was going. She hadn't actually talked to Johnny about it, but she knew him well enough to read the signs. He liked Kathy a lot and for John Gage to manage to hang onto the same girl for more than a few weeks, he had to want to keep her pretty badly.
"Well, let's get these burgers going," she declared, changing the subject. She picked up the platter of meat and headed outside. Kathy followed, bringing the spatula and a package of cheese slices.
Joanne had been right. As soon as the aroma of barbecued hamburger wafted over to the pool, the water lost most of its appeal. The kids climbed out shivering and wrapped themselves up in their towels. Roy herded them into the house for quick showers and dry clothes. Johnny settled for drying off haphazardly and slipping his t-shirt on, leaving his wet trunks to drip water down his legs. He walked over to the grill, slipped an arm around Kathy's waist and gave her a peck on the cheek.
"You want me to cook, Jo?" he offered.
"That's okay," Joanne told him. "I've got it covered. You and Kathy can go sit for a while. These'll be done in a few minutes."
Kathy beamed a smile of gratitude, while Johnny shot Joanne a quizzical look, but he shrugged and the pair wandered over to sit on the deck. They were soon deep in a conversation Joanne couldn't hear, and she realized at once, that was what Kathy wanted - Johnny's undivided attention.
She didn't have him to herself for long. Roy came out, wearing a pair of dry shorts and a clean shirt. He sat down beside his partner, oblivious to what he might have been interrupting. A few minutes later, Chris and Jenny galloped downstairs and onto the deck, thus ending any hope Kathy may have had of reclaiming her date.
Then the hamburgers were done and they had to fight the battle of who got to sit next to whom. Jenny, of course, was jumping up and down, holding Johnny's hand.
"Uncle Johnny, please sit by me, please."
Joanne rolled her eyes and was about to take her daughter to task when Roy stepped in.
"Jenny, you and Chris sit here. Uncle Johnny and Kathy can sit across from you." The tone in his voice brooked no argument.
Chris took his place willingly enough, but Jennifer was not above showing her displeasure. She plopped down with a dramatic sigh, looking like she'd just lost her best friend. Never able to sit by and let his best girl feel sad, Johnny reached across the table and tweaked Jenny's nose.
"Next time, Jenny Bean," he promised with a wink and a grin.
Talk flowed again as they all started eating. Eventually, even Jenny perked up and forgot her annoyance. Joanne had been a little worried about Johnny inadvertently bringing up the subject of yesterday's fire, but her fears were groundless. She didn't know whether Roy had mentioned it to his partner, or whether Johnny figured out on his own not to talk about it in front of the kids, but she was grateful nonetheless. Their conversation was light and centered mostly on the day's activities, school starting soon, and the kids badgering Johnny about what he wanted for his upcoming birthday.
As the meal wound down, however, Joanne once more noticed the slight impatience on Kathy's face. She hadn't been rude. She'd participated in all the dinnertime talk, but now she was obviously eager to finish up the evening and have Johnny all to herself, but it looked like he was letting himself get talked into playing a game of Aggravation with the kids. Joanne finally took pity on the poor woman.
"No games tonight, kids. I think Kathy and Uncle Johnny have plans."
"We do?" Johnny asked and Joanne nearly laughed at the confused expression on his face. Kathy, however, smiled and mouthed a silent thank you, while the kids groaned their disappointment.
"Sure," Joanne continued innocently, ignoring the glare she got from her daughter. "Kathy was mentioning something about going to a movie."
Johnny's eyes narrowed as he obviously tried to remember when they'd made these plans, but true to his nature, he didn't overly worry about it. After a moment, he shrugged it off.
"Sure. That's sounds great." He glanced down at his still damp swimming trunks. "Guess I should go change."
"Oh, we can go to your place first," Kathy suggested. "I'll look up movie times while you shower and change."
Johnny seemed okay with that plan, but he turned to Joanne once more. "Sure you don't want some help cleaning up?"
Joanne made shooing motions with her hands. "Don't worry about it. Go ahead or you won't catch a decent show time."
"Oh, okay." Johnny got up and took Kathy's hand to help her up off the bench. He leaned over to give Joanne a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for dinner, Jo."
"Yes, Joanne, Roy," Kathy added. "Thanks so much for inviting me."
Joanne managed to keep a straight face at the woman's valiant attempt to sound sincere. Roy, however, made an odd coughing sound, and Joanne didn't dare meet his eyes or she knew they would both burst out laughing.
The kids rushed over to tell Johnny good night. Johnny tousled Chris' hair and then picked Jennifer up so she could give him a huge hug.
"Come back soon," Jenny instructed firmly. "We miss you too much when we don't see you."
"Me too, kiddo, me too."
Johnny set her down and slapped Roy on the back. "See ya tomorrow, Pally."
"Yeah, see ya," Roy replied. He got up to see the couple to the door, but his partner motioned him to stay where he was.
"Heck, I know the way out," Johnny laughed. He took Kathy by the elbow and led her through the house to the front door.
When she heard the door shut, Joanne finally let herself glance over at Roy. They both started laughing.
"What's so funny, Mom?" Chris asked.
Joanne shook her head. "Nothing, sweetie. Your dad and I are just being silly."
"I think all grown ups are silly," Jenny announced solemnly from where she stood staring after her Uncle Johnny.
* * *
Johnny was whistling cheerily as he walked from the parking lot into the station. The engine and the squad were both gone, but there was still nearly half an hour before A shift officially started. And even if they weren't back on time, he was pretty sure Cap would be able to find things for them to do.
He pushed his way into the locker room and spotted Roy sitting on the bench by his locker buttoning his shirt.
"Mornin'" Johnny greeted happily. He opened his own locker and hung up the load of clean uniforms he'd carried in.
"You're pretty chipper," Roy observed with a chuckle. "Must have been some movie last night."
"Movie?" Johnny looked bewildered for a moment before he remembered what Roy was talking about. "Oh, yeah... the movie." He flashed his partner a lopsided grin. "Actually, Roy, we... see, we never quite made it to the movies." He pulled his shirt tails from his pants and began working on the buttons.
Johnny could have sworn Roy was trying not to laugh when he answered. "Really? Gee, I thought that's why you left so early."
The grin faded a bit from the dark haired paramedic's face. "Yeah, me too. It was weird, ya know. As soon as I got cleaned up, Kathy suddenly didn't want to go to the movies anymore." He brightened again at the memory of how they kept themselves entertained. "No big deal, though," he assured his partner as he hung up his shirt and pulled out his pale blue uniform one. "We found other things to do."
"I don't think I wanna hear about it," Roy murmured dryly.
Johnny just laughed. "Don't worry, I wasn't plannin' on tellin' ya."
"You can tell me, John," Chet piped up.
Johnny frowned. Kelly had the most annoying habit of showing up unexpectedly in the middle of conversations that were none of his business. If he were a more suspicious person, Johnny would think the worst of Chet and accuse him of eavesdropping.
"I'm not tellin' you anything," Johnny informed the stocky Irishman.
"Only cuz there's nothing to tell," Chet taunted.
Johnny knew very well that Kelly was only trying to get a rise out of him, but for some reason he could never keep his mouth shut when Chet started in on him.
"I have plenty I could tell," he retorted. "I'm just too much of a gentleman."
"Yeah, right," Chet shot back. "You're just too pathetic."
The sound of Roy's locker closing interrupted the bickering and Johnny watched his partner leave the room. Roy was the most patient man Johnny knew, but the senior paramedic rarely stayed around once Chet got things riled up.
"See what ya did," Johnny accused.
"I didn't do..."
Chet paused and Johnny turned to see Cap standing there, hands on hips, his expression perturbed.
"It's a little early for that, don't you think?"
It was definitely a rhetorical question, so neither Johnny nor Chet made an attempt to answer.
"Come on into the day room as soon as you're ready," Cap continued. "We've got some business to go over."
He left without another word. Johnny glanced over at Chet, who merely shrugged and began changing his clothes. Johnny finished dressing quickly and slammed his locker shut loudly to annoy Chet.
"Thanks for breaking my eardrums," Kelly protested.
Johnny snickered as he left the room.
The rest of their shift was already sitting around the table drinking coffee when Johnny walked into the day room. He also spied an open box of Winchell's.
"Grab some coffee, John, and sit down," Cap instructed. "We'll get started as soon as Chet's here."
"Sure, Cap."
Curious about what was going on, Johnny poured himself a cup, then came back to the table and took a seat next to Roy. He looked to his partner with raised eyebrows, silently asking what was happening. Roy just shook his head.
Resigned to having to wait, Johnny reached into the box of donuts and found a jelly filled. He bit into it, smiling that for once he'd beat Chet to their shared favorite.
They only had to wait for a few minutes. Chet rushed in, tucking in his shirt.
"Sorry, Cap," he apologized, though none of them were actually late.
"That's okay, Kelly. Have a seat."
Chet pulled up a chair beside Marco, reached toward the donuts, then glared at Johnny. The paramedic didn't say anything, he merely sat there with a smug smile on his face. Their exchange wasn't lost on Captain Stanley. He cleared his throat loudly.
"If you children are through," he began.
"Sorry, Cap," Johnny mumbled, wondering again what had their captain so worked up. He was ordinarily a laid back kind of guy, unless he had to deal with McConnike.
Cap cleared his throat again. "First of all, thanks for coming in early for this meeting. I just wanted to let you know, I heard from the Chief. They got an ID on the victim we found in the fire."
Johnny sat up straight. The mood in the room had immediately sobered.
"He was a firefighter all right, but not from around here. His name was Rob Jansen. He'd worked with the Fresno City Fire Department for ten years. He had a wife and three kids."
"Do they know what happened to him?" Roy asked quietly.
"Yeah, Cap," Marco added. "How did he get down here and in that fire?"
Captain Stanley held up his hands to stop the questions. "They don't know everything yet. The police in Fresno hadn't made much progress on the case. All they know is that he went missing from a fire scene a few weeks ago."
"He disappeared while they were at a fire?" Johnny asked incredulously.
Cap nodded. "So it would seem. And that's all we know for now. Headquarters has instructed us to cooperate fully with the police. They may come by and ask some questions. Just tell them what you know."
"But we don't know anything, Cap," Chet insisted.
Johnny snorted, but managed to keep the natural come back to himself. Cap shot him a glance, but refrained from commenting.
"They just want to know anything you might remember from the scene. Any little thing at all might help."
The rattle of the garage door opening told them C shift was returning. Johnny glanced at his watch. Just about on time.
"Okay, that's all," Cap told them. "Let's give C shift a break and take care of the equipment for them. Let them go home on time. We'll have roll call after."
Johnny was actually glad for the physical work of hanging hose. It helped keep his mind off of a man he didn't know.
* * *
"Okay, Dix, I think we got everything." Johnny stacked the last two bags of saline on top of the box of syringes. He carefully lifted up the load of supplies, ready to carry them out to the squad, but when he turned, he nearly dropped the precariously balanced bags.
"Whoa," Roy cautioned. He tried to stabilize the last two boxes, then gave it up. "Here, let me help you." He took most of the items from Johnny's hands, then gave his partner a teasing grin. "Can't have the birthday boy working too hard, now can we?"
"Ro-oy..." Johnny began, but stopped at the look on Dixie's face.
"John Gage, were you trying to get through this day without letting anybody know it was your birthday?"
Johnny started to shake his head, but Roy interrupted him.
"He's a little sensitive. This is the big three-oh."
Dixie's eyes twinkled as she nodded her understanding. Johnny apparently decided enough was enough.
"Oh, knock it off you guys. Dixie, you know very well today's my birthday. I already got the card you sent me in the mail."
The head nurse merely smiled wider. "You're right," she said, looking at Roy. "He is a bit touchy, isn't he?"
"I'm not touchy," Johnny protested indignantly. "I just..." He stopped, seeing the amusement in both his friends' faces. He shook his head and smiled sheepishly. "Okay, so I am a little touchy," he relented. "But who wouldn't be. The phantom hasn't left me alone all day."
Roy at last looked sympathetic. "He's right there, Dix.," he informed her. "Chet's taken Johnny's thirtieth birthday and run with it. I think this is the third uniform he's gone through."
"Third?" Johnny squeaked. "The fourth at least." He shifted his remaining box of supplies. "I think I'm gonna have to send Chet my laundry bill."
Dixie's smile was now genuinely affectionate. "Well, Johnny, don't let Chet get you down. You must have something fun planned for your birthday?"
Johnny's face lit up. "Oh, yeah. In the morning, after we get off, I'm going to Roy's. Joanne and the kids are fixing me a birthday breakfast. Then Kathy and I are going to go out to dinner when she gets off work."
"Are you still seeing Kathy?" Dixie asked. She hadn't realized the two were that much of an item.
Johnny's face took on an annoyed look, and Dixie instantly regretted her question. She realized Johnny must get that reaction from a lot of people and was probably tired of it.
"Yeah, Dix, I am." He grinned, letting her know he wasn't angry with her. "We hit it off really good. She's great."
Dixie gave him a warm smile. "That's nice. I'm glad for you, Johnny." She wanted to say more, but refrained. Johnny was a big boy and his romantic life was his own concern. If Kathy Palmer wanted to date Johnny and still flirt openly with the very single chief resident up in CCU, that wasn't any of Dixie's business.
The HT dangling from Roy's hand crackled to life.
Squad
51, what is your status?
Roy juggled the supplies, while working the hand radio.
"Squad 51, available."
Squad
51, stand by for a response....
Muted tones began to sound over the HT. Roy held up his hand in farewell.
"See ya, Dix." The two paramedics strode briskly down the hall.
"Bye, guys. Happy birthday, Johnny," she called after them.
She saw a lanky arm raise in acknowledgment of her good wishes.
* * *
September 1976
September in Los Angeles brought the beginning of school, as well as Santa Ana winds and, unfortunately for firefighters, brush fire season. Station 51, though not located in the more rural, hilly areas of the county, still felt the effects of the numerous fires. Sometimes they would get called up to help man the fire lines, but more frequently they stayed in the cities, helping to cover the territories of those crews working the blaze. When it was really bad, shifts were extended; sometimes lasting as much as forty eight hours.
Roy wasn't sure which was worse - the unending, exhausting hours of eating smoke and grit, or pulling an overtime shift filled with two to three times the normal amount of responses, traveling extremely long distances, sometimes for nothing calls, or worse, to be canceled and turned around after driving for twenty or thirty minutes.
Roy stifled a yawn as he pulled out of the La Palma Intercommunity Hospital ER parking area. They'd just delivered a cardiac case into the hands of a very competent staff of doctors, and it looked pretty good for the patient's full recovery. Johnny, however, had worked himself up into full rant over a glitch in the system that had them driving into Orange County for this response.
"I mean, come on, I can see covering territory, but crossing county lines... that's a little much, don't you think?
"Johnny, it wasn't that big a..."
"And why the heck couldn't Orange County send somebody to the call? You can't tell me every city in this county has their fire department up in Chatsworth at the brush fire. Heck, they're not even near Chatsworth. Chatsworth's in our county... on the other end of our county."
"There's a fire in Anaheim Hills," Roy tried to reason. "They're probably dealing with that."
"Oh, and that means they can't cover other territory? We manage to cover a whole lot more area than that and we handle twice... three times the amount of brush fires."
Roy shook his head. There was no use pointing out to his partner that their run to La Palma had only taken them a few minutes since they had already been in Norwalk anyway, backing up a call in 115's territory, that there wasn't a county fire department here yet, though there was a movement to form one, that independent city departments had a harder time coordinating help than a county wide agency. Johnny knew all that as well as Roy did, but the younger man wasn't in the mood to listen. He just needed to vent for a while and Roy happened to be stuck sitting next to him.
Johnny carried on for nearly the entire drive back to the station. Roy had enough experience with his partner's tirades that he could pretty much tune the other man out and still nod in the appropriate places. As they found themselves back in their own area, Johnny finally seemed to be winding down and Roy drew in a breath of relief. As fond as he was of his friend, sometimes the constant harping gave Roy a headache.
By the time they turned onto their street, it was actually quiet in the squad. The silence lasted only a few minutes, however, when they spied the now familiar cars parked on the street.
"Crockett's here," Johnny commented evenly. "And McConnike."
Roy nodded as he turned the truck around to back it into its place beside the engine. In the few weeks since the warehouse fire, they'd had several visits from different law enforcement officials. From the Arson squad, to homicide, to missing persons, they'd all asked their endless questions. Roy didn't think they'd been able to help much. All they'd done was find the poor guy, but he supposed the questions still needed to be asked. Their old - Roy wasn't sure if friend was the right term for the detective - Lieutenant Crockett was involved in the investigation and had been at the station a few times. To have both him and their Battalion Chief here meant something was up.
"Wonder what they want now?" Roy asked, not really expecting an answer.
The paramedics got out of the squad and walked into the day room. Mike and Marco were seated at the table. Chet was on the couch, absently rubbing Henry's ears. Crockett was standing off to himself, while Captain Stanley and Chief McConnike were near the sink, talking quietly between themselves. Cap looked up as his paramedics came into the room
"Great, you're here. Have a seat, guys. Lieutenant Crockett wants to talk to all of us."
Roy pulled up a chair at the table, a bit surprised when Johnny didn't sit down next to him. He glanced over and saw his partner had taken the other end of the couch. He wondered if subconsciously Johnny wanted to put as much distance between himself and whatever Crockett had to tell them.
"Thank you, Captain." Crockett stood up straight. He was by nature, a serious man, so it was hard to tell from his sober expression what kind of news he had for them. "There's been a development in the Jansen case," he began. "I talked it over with the Chief here and he agreed that you all should be told before it hits the papers."
"Did they catch the creep who killed him?" Chet asked eagerly.
Cap held up his hand to quiet any questions. "Give him a chance, guys."
"Unfortunately, he hasn't been caught," Crockett told them with a regretful shake of his head. He pulled at his chin for a moment before he continued. "I'm sorry to have to tell you this... but it appears he may have struck again."
Roy felt a heavy weight settle in his gut. He could tell the others felt the same way. He could see it in their faces.
"What happened?" he asked.
"A firefighter from Anaheim is missing." The detective consulted a small notebook in his hand. "His name's Calvin Bentley, thirty three years old, divorced, one child." Crockett looked up from his notes. "From what Anaheim P.D. has told us, Bentley was working the fire in Anaheim Hills. His whole station was there, he wasn't alone, except at one point, when he was sent to their engine to get some equipment. He never reported back to his captain."
"Couldn't he have just gotten confused in the fire?" Mike asked quietly.
"Yeah, Lieutenant," Chet added. "Brush fires can get pretty hairy."
Chief McConnike stepped forward. "His station wasn't in the heart of the fire. They were working on clearing a fire road. According to the city's Fire Chief, this Bentley was a stand up guy, a decorated firefighter. It doesn't fit that he would just walk away from the scene."
"Right now it looks like the same M.O. from the Jansen case," Crockett concluded. "We just wanted to make you aware, caution you to be careful and stay alert when you're on a run." Crockett stuck his notebook back into his jacket pocket. "I've already talked to the guys at 36 and I'm on my way over to station 14. There'll be a press release to all the stations in the area, but like I said, I wanted you fellas to hear this from me, rather than just reading about it in the paper."
"We appreciate it, Lieutenant," Cap told him, reaching out to shake his hand.
"Just one more thing," McConnike added. "Headquarters wants me to urge you all to keep to a buddy system as much as possible. Now, I know we do that most of the time anyway when we're in a fire, but this would apply even more so to you paramedics," he nodded in turn to Roy and Johnny. "You two go on a lot of runs without the engine crew. Stay together as much as you can. And you, Stoker." The chief focused on Mike. "As engineer, you're on your own most of the time. I know you have to be able to function in your jobs, we're just advising you to exercise some caution."
After that, Cap walked Crockett and McConnike out to their cars. The day room was left in oppressive silence as each man contemplated what they'd been told.
"Man, that is some really heavy news," Chet commented, breaking the stillness.
"That poor guy, just trying to do his job..." Marco shook his head.
"And how are we supposed to do ours?" Chet grumbled. "You can't fight fires if you have to hold your buddy's hand all the time!"
"You're just worried that nobody'd want to be your buddy, Chet," Johnny teased, obviously trying to lighten the mood.
"Oh, ha, ha, Gage," Kelly retorted. "Just cuz you have Roy as your constant babysitter."
"I'll be your buddy, Chet," Marco volunteered with exaggerated reluctance. "But I'm not gonna hold your hand."
"Oh, like I'd even let you," Chet shot back.
Cap walked in at that moment, and obviously caught the last comment. "Okay, okay, nobody has to hold anybody's hand, " he advised them. "We just need to stay heads up. He glanced over at Stoker. "Mike, if we can do it at all, we'll keep somebody at the engine with you."
Roy smiled as Stoker's face flushed pink at being the center of attention. "You can't do that, Cap," the engineer protested. "You need all the man power you can get on a fire."
"This comes straight from headquarters," Cap stated in a no-nonsense tone of voice. "We keep doing our jobs, but we look out for each other."
"We already do, Cap," Roy reminded their boss. "It doesn't seem to stop this guy."
Captain Stanley's jaw line grew tight with determination. "Then we do a better job of it," he informed them.
* * *
Roy closed his eyes that night with Cap's last words echoing through his mind. He wasn't sure what else they could do to look after each other and still be able to function. With that problem rolling around in his brain, sleep proved elusive. After tossing and turning restlessly for quite some time, it seemed he had just drifted off when the tones sounded loudly and the lights in the dorm blazed on, waking him up with an immediate jolt of adrenaline.
The call was for the squad only and as Roy and Johnny trotted out of the dorm, pulling up their bunker pants, the other four men on their shift settled back down to return to sleep. Johnny was behind Roy and hit the lights on their way out.
The Ralph's parking lot was nearly deserted when Roy pulled the squad up to the fire lane. It was weird how some place you'd been to a hundred times in the daylight could take on a whole different feel at one in the morning - and when there was a maniac on the loose kidnapping unsuspecting fireman.
The call was for a woman down in the supermarket. That was all dispatch had given them. So, without any further clue as to what was wrong, they got out and started grabbing all the equipment they might need. Johnny ended up with the oxygen tank and the defibrillator. Roy took the drug box and the biophone.
Inside the store, things seemed fairly peaceful. There were only a few shoppers wandering the aisles, and a Muzak version of Let It Be was playing over the sound system.
"You see anybody down?" Johnny asked.
Roy glanced around, then gestured to a young checker, leaning against her register filing her nails. The bleached blonde teen glanced up as they approached, her eyes moving quickly from Roy to Johnny and lingering there in obvious appreciation of what she saw.
"Did somebody call the fire department?" Roy asked, rolling his eyes when she didn't even bother looking at him when he spoke to her. At least Johnny had the good grace to act embarrassed. The younger paramedic shifted the heavy equipment and tried to get the information they needed.
"Look, miss... "
"Becky," the girl smiled.
"Uh... Becky, we got a call that somebody needed help."
The girl suddenly looked like the proverbial light bulb had just gone on over her head. "Oh, yeah. They're in the back, in the meat locker."
Roy headed off toward the back of the store, with his partner at his heels, trying to explain that it wasn't his fault the girl dug him.
They found the open meat locker after only a few wrong turns. Sitting on a stool inside was a young woman in a brown stock clerk apron. She held a rag to her head and looked fairly green. Beside her, an older man stood awkwardly patting the girl's shoulder in an obvious attempt to comfort her.
Roy moved in, set down the equipment, and took off his helmet.
"Hi there," he greeted calmly. "What seems to be the problem?"
"It's all my fault," the man stated sadly. "I didn't know Debby was in here or I wouldn't have done it."
"Done what?" Johnny asked. He too had put down his burden and removed his helmet.
The man gestured to the table with several bloody cutting tools on it.
Roy immediately began looking for any cuts or signs of bleeding on the girl, but he couldn't find anything. "Miss, are you hurt anywhere? Are you bleeding?"
She shook her head, her ponytail bobbing wildly.
Roy met Johnny's gaze. His partner shrugged his bewilderment. The older paramedic breathed out a sigh of exasperation and tried again.
"Sir, what happened? What's wrong with her?"
"Well, I was cutting up some pork for tomorrow's specials... loin chops. Debby must've come up behind me, and I didn't hear her. She just fainted right there on the spot."
Finally given some pertinent information, Roy took out his penlight and began examining the girl's eyes and ears.
"She fainted because you were cutting pork chops?" Johnny asked incredulously while at the same time wrapping a BP cuff around Debby's arm.
The butcher shook his head. "I don't think it was the chops," he ventured. "I think it was the head that got her."
At those words, Debby leaned forward suddenly. Years of experience had honed their reflexes and both paramedics were able to move out of the way as the girl vomited for all she was worth.
"Oh, gaawd," she groaned miserably as she leaned back and covered her face with the wet rag she'd been clutching.
"Don't worry," Roy told her soothingly. "You're gonna be okay. Did you hit your head when you fainted?"
The girl shook her head slightly and Roy glanced to the man for confirmation. The butcher nodded.
"I mostly caught her. I don't think she hit her head at all."
"That's great," Roy told their patient, as he finished getting her vitals. "You're gonna be just fine."
"Roy?"
The blond paramedic glanced up to see what his partner needed.
"Why don't we move her outta here. The smell of all this meat probably isn't helping her any."
Roy wrinkled his nose in distaste. "It ain't doing much for me either," he agreed. He turned to the girl. "Debby? How ya doin'?"
"Okay, I guess," the girl answered.
"That's fine. I think you're gonna be okay here, but how 'bout we get you outta this place first, then we'll check you over."
The girl nodded.
Very shortly they had her moved to the employee's break room, where she could sit back on the small, couch. Roy checked her vitals again, while Johnny contacted Rampart. Though she probably wasn't hurt, Dr. Morton wanted her transported, just to be safe. There were times when Roy might have disagreed with the doctor's over cautious approach, but in this case the girl was underage, and she had gone down. It wouldn't hurt to have a doctor check her over, at least until her parents came for her.
A nervous looking young man no older than twenty stepped into the lounge. Roy read on his tag that he was the night manager.
"Is she gonna be okay?" he asked, his hands fidgeting with a form in his hand.
Probably
an incident report, Roy decided. Poor
kid'll be filling out paperwork the rest of the night.
"She's gonna be fine," Roy assured him. "We're taking her to the hospital just as a precaution."
"Yeah, the ambulance is here," he stated.
"Can you show them where to come?"
"Sure." He disappeared again.
"Guess I'll go in with her," Roy offered.
Johnny nodded, and began gathering up the equipment Roy wouldn't need to take with him. "Good deal."
The attendants showed up with the gurney and it was obvious the small room would never hold everyone. Johnny stepped over the gurney and into the hallway.
"Let me get outta your way here. I'll just take this stuff out to the squad."
Roy was in the middle of getting Debby settled on the gurney, when alarm bells rang in his head. He leaned around the corner, feeling a wash of panic when he didn't see his partner.
"Johnny!"
The paramedic sagged with relief when he saw the dark head poke around the corner. Johnny wore a puzzled look on his face.
"Yeah?"
"Just wait, why don't ya? We'll be right behind you."
Johnny stood there looking blank for a moment, then it clicked.
"Oh." The younger man cast a wary look over his shoulder. "Yeah. Okay."
Roy gave his partner a tight smile, then returned his attention to their patient. In a few moments, Debby was being wheeled through the store and outside to the waiting ambulance.
While they loaded the girl into the back, Roy watched Johnny stow the equipment, then open the door to the squad and slide in behind the wheel. Only then did Roy climb into the back of the ambulance and let the driver close the door.
* * *
Johnny was dreaming. He was with Kathy on a lonely beach. The sun was warm and the sand soft beneath their entwined bodies. He was kissing her passionately, and she was responding with equal enthusiasm, and then...
The wake up tones sounded loud and long, doing the job they were invented for - making sure no one at the station slept through them.
"Oh, maaaan," Johnny groaned into his pillow. He hadn't been able to see Kathy in a few days, and he desperately wanted to finish that dream.
"Up and at 'em, Gage," Cap droned from the other side of the room. "Your turn to put the coffee on."
Johnny reluctantly sat up, rubbing the heels of his hands into his eyes. They were pulling another forty eight hour shift, so that meant breakfast here. He hoped Chet wasn't the one cooking.
"Hey, man, no calls last night," Marco marveled. "I can't remember the last time that happened."
"Shut up, Marco, you'll jinx it," Chet warned.
"How can you jinx something that already happened?" Johnny asked as he pulled up his bunker pants and wandered over toward the bathroom.
"Just wait, you'll see." Chet adjusted his suspenders and followed his favorite target. "We'll have a million runs today, or tonight we won't get to sleep at all."
Johnny stared at the Irishman in amazement. "Do you lay awake all night thinking these things up, or does being dumb just come naturally?" He flashed Chet a grin, then slammed the bathroom door in the man's face.
A half an hour later, the crew was sitting around the table eating a breakfast of Marco's creation, much to everyone's relief. The pancakes were light and the bacon was just crispy enough without being burnt.
Johnny was reaching for his third helping when the phone rang. Since he was part way up anyway, he scooted out his chair and moved to answer the call. He glanced at his watch. 7:30. Kind of early for any social calls and that's usually what came in on the day room line. He gave his fingers a quick lick to rid them of any syrup, then picked up the receiver.
"Station 51, Fireman Gage speaking."
"Hi, Johnny, is Roy there?"
He had no trouble recognizing Joanne's voice, though she sounded a little strained. He supposed all these long shifts without seeing Roy was probably hard on her and the kids.
"Sure, Jo, hang on." He turned to the table and saw Roy was already on his way over. He waited until his partner got there, then handed off the phone.
"Thanks," Roy muttered, then spoke in to the receiver. "Morning, hon, what's going on?"
Johnny ambled back to the table, half listening to the one way conversation. He hoped nothing was wrong with Chris or Jenny.
"What? Okay... Jo... Jo hang on a minute. Calm down, okay. No, we haven't looked at it yet. No... Jo, let me read it and then I'll call you back, okay? Honey, relax. Everything's gonna be okay. Yeah... I promise, I'll call you back. Okay, bye."
Johnny was now openly starting at his partner, and he wasn't the only one. As Roy turned around, everyone had stopped eating, waiting to be filled in.
Roy stood there for a moment, then found his voice. "Anybody bring in the paper?" He didn't wait, but walked through the door to the apparatus bay, evidently going out front to get the newspaper.
The room remained silent while he was gone. No one even lifted a fork. A few moments later, Roy returned and sat down in his place next to Johnny. He had already opened the paper up, and he shoved the dishes out of his way so he could lay it out on the table. He quickly scanned the headlines.
Johnny leaned over to read along with him. He vaguely noticed Cap doing the same thing on the other side. Roy's finger found the caption the same time Johnny spied it.
Missing
Anaheim Firefighter Found Dead in Factory Blaze
There was a murmur of shocked responses around the table and everyone crowded forward, trying to find out the details. Finally, Cap held up his hand for order.
"Why don't we let Roy read it out loud. That way, we all get to hear it."
Four heads moved back a bit, but Johnny still kept his vantage point over Roy's shoulder and followed along silently as his partner read the account for everyone. After a bit, Johnny sat back in his chair, staring at the now cold remains of their breakfast, not really wanting to hear any more. Besides telling of Bentley being found two weeks after he disappeared, the article also talked about the autopsy findings on Jansen, and it was feared they would be the same for the Anaheim man.
The words coming out of Roy's mouth sent chills down Johnny's spine. Asphyxiation, mutilation, bondage, sexual torture; it read like a list out of a bad horror novel. No wonder Joanne had been upset when she read it.
Johnny hadn't even realized Roy had finished until Stoker spoke up, breaking the unreal silence that had settled over the group.
"When were they gonna tell us what had happened to Jansen?" It wasn't really a question, more like an accusation, and coming from the quiet engineer, it spoke volumes.
Chaos broke out as everyone began talking all at once, trying to express their shared revulsion for what happened and asking questions none of them could answer until Cap finally had to raise his voice to be heard.
"All right, that's enough!"
There were few enough occasions for them to hear that tone in their leader's voice that they fell silent at once.
"Okay, that's better." Cap's voice had regained its normal level. "I'm sure the police, as well as headquarters, planned on letting us know. I'm also willing to bet this leaked out before they were ready to release it. We don't even know for sure if this has all been verified. So let's don't go off the deep end."
"So what do you suggest we do, Cap?" Roy asked. "My wife is nearly hysterical at home. What am I supposed to tell her?"
"Joanne's not the only one practically hysterical," Chet wisecracked and everyone laughed, as Johnny knew Kelly meant them to. Leave it to Chester B. to know when a bit of humor was sorely needed.
"Tell her the same thing I'm telling you," Cap answered. "That we've got a job to do, but we're being as careful as we can." He stood up and brought his hands together. "And speaking of our job... let's get these dishes cleaned and get ready for roll call. We've still got a shift to finish."
Johnny slowly got to his feet and began gathering up dirty plates. He knew it didn't help to dwell on it, but he couldn't stop himself from wondering what had happened - what the kidnapped men were doing and thinking when they were taken. Neither of them had been able to call for help, at least not that any of their co-workers had been able to hear. Had they been drugged? Taken away at gunpoint? What had happened that neither man had fought back?
"Johnny? You okay?"
"Huh?" Johnny glanced up and saw Roy standing beside him, a worried look on his face. The rest of the guys were nowhere around, and Johnny remembered it was his and Roy's turn for cleanup. "Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you were okay," Roy repeated. "You were just standing there staring at that plate in your hand."
Johnny looked down at the dish Roy was referring to and grinned sheepishly. "Oh. Guess I was just thinking."
"About what? As if I need to ask. I'm sure this thing is on everybody's mind right now."
Johnny set the plate down and faced his partner. "Roy, what would you do? If this guy showed up out of nowhere and pointed a gun at you. Would you run? Would you fight?"
Roy's fair face grew serious and he shook his head. "I don't know. I hope I never have to find out." He started to head back to the sink, but Johnny grabbed his arm to stop him.
"I'm serious, Roy. You hafta think about it. Jansen and Bentley... how come they just went with this guy? How come they didn't fight? I mean, you know if you go with this maniac, you're dead anyway. Why not fight him?"
"Jansen probably didn't know. He had no clue, did he? So maybe for him, he thought it was better odds to cooperate with the guy. Bentley... well, maybe he just got taken by surprise. Who's gonna expect anything like that out in the middle of nowhere working a brush fire?"
Johnny thought that over as Roy took the stack of plates to the sink. The younger paramedic wasn't ready to let it go, however. He grabbed up the silverware and followed his partner, dumping the utensils into the soapy water.
"But we know, don't we?" He made a sweeping gesture with his hand to include the whole station. "All of us know about this creep. So what if he shows up? What if he has a gun pointed at you? Do you go with him, or do you fight?"
Johnny could tell by the set of Roy's features that his partner had reached his limit with this conversation. It wasn't in Roy's nature to delve too deeply into his or anyone else's feelings. He didn't like to dwell on the what if's in life. If something happened, you dealt with it. Otherwise you left well enough alone. That didn't work for Johnny. He had to hash things out, get them out in the open and talk about them. Fortunately for the younger man, his partner was also extremely patient, so the differences in their attitudes rarely became an issue.
"I'm serious, Roy. Don't you think it'd be better to have it all planned out ahead of time? That way you're prepared."
Roy turned to face him, his blue eyes intense. "What do you want me to say? That I'd rather take a bullet in the head than let this guy get me? Seems to me, either way I'm dead."
John nodded vigorously. "That's my point exactly." He brought his hand to his chest to stress his conviction on the issue. "Wouldn't it be better to die trying to get away than to just give up and let this guy do..." Now Johnny's hand waved in the air as he tried to find the right words. He finally gave up. "Well, do whatever he does."
Roy blew out an exasperated breath and wiped his hands on the towel. "I think I'd do whatever I had to do to stay alive. Nobility is great, but dead is still dead." He draped the towel over Johnny's neck, turned and walked out of the day room.
Johnny stared after his friend, pondering those words. When he finally turned back to the sink, it dawned on him that Roy had left him to do the rest of the dishes by himself.
* * *
"You wanna come over for breakfast?" Roy asked as he tied his shoes. Their long shift was finally over and none too soon for any of the exhausted and spooked firefighters.
Johnny pulled his t-shirt on over his head and gave Roy a curious look.
"You haven't seen Joanne in two days and you want me hanging around?"
Roy rolled his eyes. "I'm only inviting you over for breakfast, not to stay the whole day."
Johnny chuckled as he grabbed his shoes and shut his locker. "Don't worry, I won't overstay my welcome. Just give me a sign when you want me to go."
Roy shook his head. "I'll give you a sign," he replied drolly. "If I shove you out the door, you can take that as a sign."
Johnny just laughed, then glanced up when Chet leaned around the row of lockers.
"Hey, guys, Cap wants everybody in the Day room."
Roy glanced at his watch, and started to protest, but Chet caught the gesture and held up both hands.
"I know, I know. We're off the clock, but he just asked me to round everybody up before they left."
"Maaan," Johnny grumbled, as he slipped his shoes on. "What the hell's goin' on now?"
"Don't whine, Johnny," Roy advised. "It's not pretty."
Chet sniggered, but before Johnny could waste any of their time getting into a verbal war, Roy took him by the shoulders and pushed him ahead.
"C'mon, let's go see what he wants."
They found the other members of their shift, dressed in street clothes and sitting in the day room, along with the uniformed B shift. Both captains were standing together. Cap gestured for the remaining members of his crew to come in and find a seat.
"Thanks for staying," he began. "I'll keep it short, but I just got a call from Chief Houtz. He was going to come down in person, but since we've just come off a forty eight, he didn't want anybody to have to wait around for him to get here."
"He wanted us to know first off that he's sorry we found out about Bentley in the papers. He assured me the department was still coordinating with the Sheriff's Department on what info was correct and they were going to inform all of us in person."
Cap cleared his throat and Roy knew the apology from the brass wasn't really the main reason they were here.
"It looks like now they've linked these two deaths with at least four others up north, in the Sacramento area, possibly even one in Oregon. All firefighters... all taken from the scene of a fire while they were working."
"Holy shit, Cap," Chet blurted out. "Your talkin' about a freakin' serial killer."
Roy felt his mouth go dry. It had been less than ten years since Charles Manson and his family had left the Los Angeles community totally petrified and forever paranoid. The very words "serial killer" still sent icy fear coursing through most people.
"Thanks for putting it so delicately, Chet," Cap replied dryly. "But, basically you're right."
"There'll be a memo out to every station today," Captain Fox added. "Some safety advisors and a plan of action to try and keep every man accounted for during a run. The Sheriff's Department doesn't have the manpower to send a black and white on each and every response with us, so we have to look out for each other."
"The main thing here," Captain Stanley continued, "Is not to panic. We can't afford to have a massive sick call. If you haven't already put in for vacation time, forget about it for now. Remember, you all took an oath to help protect the citizens of this county. That oath is still in effect."
Cap looked at them all in turn, then held his hands out. "That's all for now. "Go on home and get some rest. "We're back on regular shifts starting Thursday."
The men from A shift got to their feet and headed out to the parking lot. There was very little talk among them. There wasn't much to say. Roy walked beside Johnny, noting how subdued his normally talkative partner was.
"You still up for breakfast?" Roy asked.
Johnny raised his eyebrows. "You kidding? I'm starved." But his voice lacked his usual exuberance.
"Okay. See ya in a few minutes."
Each man got into his own car and a short time later were headed to Roy's house.
* * *
Joanne greeted Roy with an enthusiastic hug around the neck. Even during the best of times, she hated it when her husband had to pull the occasional forty eight hour shift. Now, the two days had seemed interminable and she didn't want to ever let him go.
"I'm so glad you're home," she whispered fervently in his ear.
"Me, too, hon, me too."
Joanne heard someone clear his throat and suddenly saw Johnny standing behind Roy, trying to pretend he wasn't there. She finally released her hold on her husband.
"Oh, Johnny, I'm sorry," she laughed. "I didn't see you there."
The dark haired man flashed her a crooked grin. "That's okay, Jo," he assured her. "I'm pretty sure Roy here was enjoying all the attention."
Joanne laughed as Roy blushed pink. "Come in... both of you." She stood aside so they could get by. "You're late. The kids are already at school."
"Cap had us stay for a meeting," Roy told her and she could tell by the look in his eyes that she wasn't going to like what the meeting had been about.
"Well, I won't make you tell me on empty stomachs. I've kept it warm for you."
She'd already eaten with Chris and Jenny, so she busied herself keeping their plates full until Roy finally took hold of her hand.
"Sit down, sweetheart," he told her. "You're wearing me out."
Joanne took the seat beside her husband. "Sorry," she told him with a hesitant smile. "I know I'm acting pretty silly."
Roy gave her hand a tender squeeze. "You're not being silly," he assured her. "It's a scary situation."
Joanne could see the anxiety in his face. Roy had never been good at hiding his feelings from her. She glanced over at Johnny and saw the same apprehension in the younger man's dark eyes.
"So what did Captain Stanley tell you?" she finally asked, not really sure she wanted to know the answer.
Roy set his fork down and Joanne could tell he was trying to find the right words to let her know what was happening, without causing too much alarm.
"It looks like at least four other guys have been killed... besides Jansen and Bentley." He looked up and met her gaze. "Maybe more."
Joanne felt her stomach flip as she remembered the gruesome details she'd read in the newspaper yesterday morning. She opened her mouth and found she had to swallow before she could say anything.
"All firefighters?" she asked, hating the squeak in her voice.
Roy nodded grimly.
"I see." She sat there in silence for a moment. She watched Roy as he absently swirled the juice in his glass but never took a drink. Johnny was pushing scrambled egg around on his plate with his fork. Joanne took a deep breath. "Come on, you guys, you need to eat."
