The Fire Inside (27 page)

Jack watched Grady; the guy was such a
happily married man. Jack wished he could ask him for advice about
Tess. But of course being the fire department shrink precluded that
kind of camaraderie. “Daydreaming.”

After they were seated and diving into the
rich, creamy macaroni and crusty Italian bread, they made small
talk. Discussion of problems would wait until after the food.

Halfway through the meal, the PA crackled
over the speaker. “Quint and Midi 7, Rescue 7, fire on Baker
Street. Go into service.”

The group stilled. “What the hell?” Lisa Beth
said. “A house doesn’t get calls when Jack cooks for them.”

O’Connor was already up. “No matter. Let’s
go.”

They raced to the bay. Jack stared at the
half-eaten meals. Just what his rotten day needed. Still—there
never
had
been even one call during his visits, as Lisa Beth
said. He knew his luck had to run out, but he didn’t like the feel
of things tonight. So he went to the bay, and after the rigs
catapulted out, he followed them in his own car to the scene. When
he reached it, he felt foolish. For thinking there was a problem.
For thinking they needed him here. He recalled Tess’s
accusation…

Yeah, that savior complex sure came out with
your kids… You think you have to save everybody, even me. You
don’t.

But because he was still unnerved, he stayed.
He watched the three-alarm fire spit and flare, belch dark gray
smoke and gobble up the wood. Behind him, Engine 4—Jane’s crew—and
Ladder 15—swerved in just behind the Midi.

A sea of firefighters hopped off the rigs,
the cacophony of the trucks and shouts from men deafening. Then the
fire chief pulled up. Jack’s premonition didn’t seem so odd to him
now. Noah came to serious fires. “Hey, Chief. This a big one?”

“Yeah, the building’s connected to a series
of row houses. Which means if we don’t contain the fire in one,
it’ll spread to the others. I called in even more trucks than
this.” He angled his head to Incident Command. “I’m going to go
check in with Malvaso.” Jack hadn’t realized Mitch was the BC in
charge.

Sticking his hands in his pockets, Jack
watched the action, his concern growing. Sometimes a fire had a
nasty, mean feel. This one was one of those. His pulse sped up.

Because they were paramedics, as well as
firefighters, McCabe and Duncan waited in front of the building for
victims to come out, or to see if they’d be called in.

Another guy from the Quint got behind Grady
O’Connor on the hose, and they started inside.

House 15 guys hauled ladders to the front,
back and sides.

Jack recognized all this as usual stuff as he
headed to Incident Command. He’d not quite reached it when he
heard,
Pop, pop, pop
.

Stymied, he glanced at the house. Had
something exploded in there?

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop.

McCabe jumped on Lisa Beth. They both went
down.

Mitch pitched forward to his knees.

Noah Callahan lurched to stand behind
him.

Pop-pop-pop-pop.

The fire chief jerked backward and fell flat
on his back.
Oh, my God
, Jack thought as he dove behind the
truck.

Somebody was shooting at firefighters.

o0o

Sirens sounded in the distance. Jack crouched
behind the truck. Mitch and Noah lay flat out on the ground, so the
vehicle protected them, too. Jack prayed neither tried to crawl
away and reveal himself. The shooting had stopped only seconds ago.
He listened for it to start up again. Nothing. The sirens got
louder. After a few grace minutes, he made his way on his hands and
knees over to Mitch.

His best friend’s eyes were wide and his
breathing shallow. “Ch-check Noah,” Mitch croaked out. “He got hit
when he pushed me down.”

“How badly are
you
hurt?”

“A shoulder wound. Tend to him.” He clutched
at Jack’s arm. “Please, Doc. He shielded me.”

Sirens screeched now. One by one, cop cars
slammed to a halt inside the fire ground. Behind them the big white
ambulances arrived.

Amidst the noise and activity, Jack reached
Noah.

The chief was out cold. A gaping wound near
his heart bled profusely. Whipping off his shirt, Jack balled it up
and pressed it onto Noah’s chest.

Mitch called out, “Is he alive?”

Noah’s breathing was shallow. “Yeah.”

“How bad is it?”

“He’s unconscious, so I don’t know.” Jack
felt Noah’s neck. The chief’s pulse was thready.

Kneeling between his two friends, Jack
watched the police surround the area and fan out. But there was no
more shooting. Jack stayed down and kept the cloth on Noah’s chest,
waiting for the medics to come.

o0o

“All clear, all clear!” Jack heard the
message, but he didn’t know how much later it was. Maybe just
minutes. Noah lay still as death, and Mitch moaned. The person
who’d called out added, “The son of a bitch is dead.”

Ambulances hurtled into the fire ground.
Several medics piled out. One cupped his hands and ordered, “Make
your position known if you or someone near you is hurt.”

Jack stumbled to his feet. “Over here. Two
victims. It’s serious.”

Others shouted, then more. And more.

Two medics hustled to Incident Command. They
bent over Noah, and Jack turned back to Mitch. He was sweaty and
pale. Jack reached for his hand.

“Who else is hurt?” Mitch rasped out,
gripping him.

“I don’t know.”

“Go see.”

Another attendant came up to Mitch, so Jack
stood back and surveyed the scene. Groups had formed around the
bodies of the wounded—or worse. His gut told him they weren’t
getting out of this without fatalities. He hurried to one group. A
paramedic worked on Jackson McCabe, who lay on his back, unmoving.
“How is he?”

The medic looked up, his eyes bleak. “Not
good, Doc. He’s one of our own.”

Placing his hand on the guy’s shoulder, Jack
squeezed. It was about all he could do in the way of comfort.

Lisa Beth, seated on the ground, watching,
stared at her partner blankly. Jack crossed the few feet and
crouched in front of her. She looked up at him, shook her head.
Tears coursed silently down her cheeks, and he pulled her into his
arms. “I’m so sorry, Lisa Beth.”

“He…he pushed me down and covered me with his
body.”

Jack held on to her until some members of
Group 7 found her. Then he stood and crossed to three other people
on the ground. One lay spread-eagled, his helmet off, his legs at
an impossible angle. “Mary, Mother of God!”

Beside Jack, a medic whispered, “I can’t
believe it.”

Someone else said, “I thought Senate went to
the Academy.”

“Cramer’s only been a battalion chief for a
month,” a woman bending over another body whispered.

They were dead, Jack realized. They were all
dead.

o0o

Tess and Danny had talked for over two hours,
and it wasn’t until she got in the house did she note that no one
had come home yet. The first floor was dark inside, so she switched
on a foyer light and headed to the kitchen. She checked the clock.
It was nearing nine. Where was everybody? Frowning, she poured
herself some red wine and sipped it. The spicy Malbec went down
smooth. She went upstairs to Zach’s room, kicked off her shoes and
lay on the bed, thinking about the young recruit and how she’d
contributed to his angst.

Down deep, Danny Mauro was a normal kid, a
talented one. His behavior in class had been rooted in the fact
that he wanted to go to college, but he’d turned down a full
scholarship to fulfill his father’s wishes. The story rolled around
in her mind.

Eventually, thoughts of Danny were replaced
by thoughts of Jack and what had happened to their relationship in
that EMS office. They’d said awful things to each other, words that
couldn’t be taken back. The notion made her eyes mist. Damage had
been done. He’d asked her to come over, though, and she’d said no.
Should she go now? Deciding to finish her wine first, she switched
on the TV to catch the news.

Breaking News
flashed in big white
letters across the bottom of the screen. A sober-faced anchor from
a local channel stared out at the camera. His eyes were grim as he
said, “If you’re just joining us, there’s been a shooting in
downtown Hidden Cove.”

Megan! Oh no! But wait, she was with Sabby.
Still, Tess had gotten to know others in the police department who
could have been hurt.

“We’re going live now to Baker Street, where
our team is on the scene.” A female reporter appeared on screen.
“Julie, what’s going on?”

The woman’s face was pale and her lips
thinned. “We’ve had no official word about the incident. And we
can’t get near the area because it’s cordoned off as a crime scene.
But we saw ambulances race by.” She swallowed hard. “All we know
for sure is from the 911 call we monitored. Some firefighters are
down. We don’t know the extent of the injuries or if there are any
fatalities.”

The glass Tess was holding dropped onto the
bed, the wine soaking the spread. She bounded up and yanked her
phone out of her pocket. Oh, God, she’d tied it up with the 911
thing she’d punched in because of Danny.

Hurriedly, she clicked into her voice mail.
Zach had called more than once. She listened to the first message.
“Honey, it’s Zach. There’s been a shooting. So far, we know that
Mitch and Noah were at the fire. Ladder 15, Engine 4 and the Quint
and Midi 7, Rescue Squad 7 night shift were called.”

Jack had said,
“I’m going to cook for
Quint and Midi 7 night shift. Come over to my place later.

Her heart galloping in her chest, Tess
punched in Zach’s number.

He answered with, “Tess?”

“Oh, God, Zach. Any more news?”

“No. We still don’t know who was shot”—his
voice cracked—“or worse.”

Tess gripped the edge of the night table and
bit her lip. She wouldn’t burden Zach by falling apart. She mumbled
soothing words, then said, “Jack was cooking for House 7
tonight.”

“They never get calls when he cooks, so
there’s no reason to think he went to the scene.”

And he was hoping to meet her. Oh, God, maybe
he didn’t follow them to the call. “Where are you? I want to be
with you.”

“Jenn, Meggie and I are as close as we can
get to the scene. An ambo is leaving now. Damn, it just stopped.
Wait a sec.”

She heard the running of a motor and, over
it, someone call out, “Zach, one of the victims is Mitch. We’ve got
him. You guys can get in if you want.”

The phone went dead. And Tess was left alone
to wonder what had happened to her beloved cousin and the rest of
her firefighter brotherhood.

o0o

Forcing himself to blank his mind and ignore
the wrenching in his heart, Jack sat once again with the Malvaso
family, Eve Callahan and Ian Woodward at Memorial Hospital. They
were in one of the rooms designated for the families of the victims
of the shooting. Others waited in spaces next door, down the hall
or in the hospital lobby.

“Fuck it,” Zach said. “I can’t believe three
of ours died. It reminds me of Sinco.”

Years ago, a warehouse had caught on fire,
and ten people had died. The loss reverberated through the
department for years and had literally changed Zach’s life.

“Rightfully so, Zach,” Jack answered. “This
tragedy is as horrific.”

Jack scanned the group. Connie and Jenn were
holding hands. From their trip in with the ambulance, the Malvasos
knew Mitch was stable. Grady, who hadn’t been hurt, was grief
stricken and Connie’s husband talked softly to him. Sabina had also
come in with Will and sat stoically, as did the former police
chief, who was Noah’s best friend. Jack noticed they held
hands.

Megan had gone to the ladies’ room, to cry
probably, as Tess had that day Sabina was in danger. Briefly, he
thought of Tess, then pushed her out of his mind. No time for
regretting his own fuckups.

Just then, though, she walked through the
door. Her face was ashen. She headed right to Zach. Both he and
Casey stood, and Zach grabbed her. Jack was within hearing distance
of the conversation, but he was out of her range of vision. “Mitch
is wounded but stable, honey.”

“Thank God. It took me an hour to get here. I
made the mistake of calling a cab, then there was an accident…” She
trailed off.

“There’s more, honey.” Zach swallowed hard.
“Three of our people are dead.”

Her face drained of any color it had left.
“Jack?”

“What? Oh, no. He’s fine.” Still listening
in, Jack heard his friend tell Tess the morbid news—who had
died.

She pinched her eyes with her thumb and
forefinger. “Were others hurt?”

“Noah Callahan. It’s pretty bad.”

Knowing he had to see her, Jack joined them.
“You okay? You’re still in your work clothes.”

She turned and, right there in front of
everybody, she threw herself into his arms. It should have meant
more than it did, but he was numb by now. Still, he clasped her to
him.

“I thought… I knew you went to House 7.” She
gripped his neck tighter. “I’m glad you’re all right.”

When she drew back, Zach touched her arm. “He
was at the fire scene, too.”

“You were in the shooting?”

“Yeah, I was with Mitch and Noah at Incident
Command.”

She grasped his hand. “Thank God you weren’t
hit, too.”

“He helped Noah,” Zach told her. “Mitch only
has a shoulder wound, but Noah got hit in the chest. Jack staunched
the flow of blood with his shirt until help could get there.”

“This is so unreal.” He watched her scan the
area. “Poor Eve and Ian.”

Jack fisted his hands so hard, they hurt. “I
know. They’ve had so much to deal with in their lives.” He glanced
over at them. “I think I’ll go talk to them.”

They sat like mannequins, Eve on a chair, Ian
in front of her, holding her hand. “Can I get either of you
anything? Coffee? Water?”