“That’s funny, but romantic, right?” I asked her.
“I’m sure she’ll love it,” she replied, with a chuckle. “There isn’t much you could do to mess up a card that accompanies that many roses. Do you want to sign your name on the card?”
“Nah,” I replied. “I’m pretty sure she’ll know who it is from the poem.”
“I have no doubt,” the florist answered. “I’ll make sure she gets these first thing tomorrow, and thank you for your order.”
I said goodbye, and disconnected the call before turning to face the barrage of shit I knew was coming my way from the boys.
“Okay, okay, laugh it up fuckers,” I said, inviting them to do their worst.
“Never thought I’d see the day that you’d be sending a girl flowers and writing her poetry, Road Kill,” Fester commented with a chuckle.
“Seriously, you’re sticking with that Road Kill shite?” I asked, already knowing that the crappy moniker was one I’d be stuck with for the rest of my career.
“So, who’s the unlucky lady then?” Echo asked. I ignored the fucker, knowing the boys would jump on anything I gave away. Grabbing a mug, I started making a brew to give myself something to do.
“Holy shit! I know who it is. It’s the redhead you saved from the fire yesterday isn’t it? The one you went to the hospital with!” Hammer said, chipping in with his amazing insight. “What was her name again? Emma? Erin?”
“Evelyn,” I corrected, automatically. Her name running through my head, like it’d been doing all day.
“Evelyn, that’s it. So, what’s the story with you two? Three dozen roses is some serious shit,” Hammer said.
I sat down with my cuppa and dead eyed him in a vain attempt to get him to shut up, but the fucker knew me well enough to see through my bullshit. He met my evil stare with a stupid grin, that made it clear he wasn’t going to let this go.
“Whatever,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes as he laughed.
“You know we’re just going to keep asking until you tell us,” Wookie pointed out.
“Fuck me! You arseholes are worse than me Ma! She’s a friend of a friend. We had a bit of a misunderstandin’ when we first met, and I didn’t get an opportunity to put it right before the accident. After the fire, I see it that I’ve got a second chance with her, and I’m takin’ it,” I explained, but they were still giving me those goofy smiles and I cursed myself for not making the call to the florist before I started work.
“Well mate, I hope she says yes to being your girlfriend,” Hammer said.
“Why?” I asked, taking a sip of my tea and eying him suspiciously over the rim of the mug.
“Because you’re the king of easy pussy you don’t have to work for. Relationships are a whole new ballgame you’re not prepared for. Watching you crash and burn should be fairly fucking entertaining,” he replied, wearing a big grin on the face I suddenly wanted to take a jab at.
Before I got a chance to seriously entertain the idea, the bells went down.
“ONE FIVE PAPA ONE. ONE FIVE PAPA FOUR. FIRE. FIRE,” said the automated voice through the tannoy.
Abandoning my tea, I raced with the other guys to the engine bay, toed off my shoes and jammed my feet into my boots. My leggings were already wedged inside them, so once they were on, I pulled them up over my trousers and lifted the braces over my shoulders. Houston ripped the paper off the printer and climbed into the engine, with the rest of us only seconds behind.
“Where to?” Wookie asked, as the shutters in front of us rose.
“Balaam Leisure Centre,” Houston replied. Wookie didn’t need directions for this one. The place was on our patch again, and only a few miles away.
“QG ONE FIVE PAPA ONE, TEN THREE, mobile to incident at Balaam Leisure Centre. Do you have any further information?” Houston said, talking into the radio. QG was our call sign for the control centre where the emergency service calls were received and one five papa one was the call sign for the type of fire engine we were riding in, otherwise known as the ladder.
“ONE FIVE PAPA ONE, multiple calls received from local residents. No persons reported. We’ve made contact with the Leisure Centre manager who is en route to the incident to talk you through the layout of the premises.” The response from control sounded through the open radio in the engine.
“Okay. Many thanks QG,” Houston replied.
“Red Watch didn’t turn the wheel all day today, and we get fires at public buildings two nights in a row. What’re the odds?” Hammer said.
“Slim,” I mumbled, more to myself.
The rest of all our kits were already in the cab, so I put on my tunic and did it up, before strapping on my helmet and reaching for my gloves. Houston hadn’t given the order for breathing apparatus so I left off the mask and hood, figuring that she’d make a call on men going inside when she got there.
“Fuck me,” Wookie said, as we pulled into the car park. A small crowd of people had already gathered to observe, and I didn’t blame ’em. We’d been only minutes away and the fire was out of control.
“Jesus. It’s going like a fucking train,” Hammer added, and he wasn’t wrong. Most Council owned installations were fitted with sprinkler systems and fire doors, regularly checked to ensure that if a fire started, it would be compartmentalised long enough for us to get there. This was raging like it had been burning for hours.
“HG ONE FIVE PAPA ONE. TEN FOUR,” Houston said into the radio, letting control know we’d arrived on scene. “Right boys, you know what to do.”
The second the wheels stopped turning, we hit the ground. Wookie moved the crowd back to a safe distance, asking Houston to call in police to set up a cordon while me and Hammer rolled out the hose reels and jets and Echo connected us to the hydrant. Houston walked round the perimeter to access the job, and was talking with a panicked lookin’ fella who I assumed was the leisure centre manager. With a reassuring pat to his arm, she sent him to wait with the crowd and jogged over to us.
“At the moment, it’s no persons reported. Manager says the centre was closed and he checked it was vacant before locking up, so we tackle this defensively. Forget the hoses, they’re too small for this. I want two forty-five mil jets on either side of the building while I request additional pumps and turn tables so we can tackle this thing from above,” she ordered.
Hammer and I took the one jet, with Echo and Wookie on the other. Between us, after fifteen minutes and fuck knows how many gallons of water, we’d made zero headway. It looked like the shell of the building had been erected around an old, existing structure, leaving a cavity in between through which the fire kept spreading. Even with the additional units that turned up, it took five hours to put out the fire and it was still another two before we could leave. It was only a short run back to the station, but I would’ve given my left nut for a few minutes sleep along the way. I was that tired. I’d stayed at the hospital with Evelyn until the early hours of the morning, and then Houston had called asking me to come by the station before going home. The suspicious nature of the library fire meant that I needed to give a statement to the station officer about what I’d seen, so the investigators could piece together a picture of what happened.
I’d hoped to be able to go back to the hospital before work, but by the time my meeting at the station was done, morning visiting hours were over. I wasn’t too thrilled last night that I’d been sent home when she was transferred from resus to a ward, but it was a relief knowing it meant she was stable and doing well. I tried calling the hospital that morning to see how she was doing, but they wouldn’t tell me shite because I wasn’t family, so I’d been blowing up Joe’s phone instead. Finally, the fucker called me back as I was getting ready for work.
“Will you fucking cool it with the texting and shit?” he said as I answered.
“Fine. Give me Evie’s number and tell me she’s got her phone with her, and I’ll leave you alone. The hospital ain’t tellin’ me shit,” I replied, grumpily. Not kno
wing how she’d been today had been pissing me off.
“She doesn’t have her own phone,” he replied.
“Who the fuck doesn’t have a phone these days?” I replied, in horror. “Forget it. I’ll pick her up a pay as you go mobile and drop it into the hospital when I get off shift.”
“Look arsewipe, she’s not in the hospital. They released her an hour ago after her tests came back,” he said.
“An hour ago! Thanks for keeping me informed. It’s not like I’ve been worried or anything!” I replied, sarcastically.
“Listen turd blossom, you are really beginning to get on my tits. Before yesterday, you barely knew she existed and now you expect me to give you a minute by minute update of her condition?” he said, irritably.
“Yes,” I replied.
“What do you mean yes?” he asked.
“Yes, a minute by minute update would be nice. Then I wouldn’t have to wait a fuckin’ hour to learn she’d been released from hospital,” I responded in all seriousness.
“You’re either delusional or crazy, but either way it’s fucking exhausting having a conversation with you,” he answered, wearily.
“I’m both,” I replied. “Now, how’s Evie doing? Where is she and why doesn’t she have a phone?”
“Exhausted, but feeling much better. Staying at my place and she doesn’t have a phone because she was giving all her money to my leech of a mother and she probably didn’t want the extra expense,” he answered. Truthfully, I was quite surprised the impatient little fucker hadn’t hung up on me already. Figuring I had another sixty seconds max, before he cut me off, I pressed him for more information.
“What’s your address? I’ll have a phone delivered to her,” I asked.
“I’m not giving you my address!” he replied, sounding horrified I’d even asked.
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t want you coming to my house, trying to hook up with my kid sister!” he answered.
“You said I could date her!” I shouted, wondering if she’d still go out with me if I lost my shit and knocked out her brother.
“And dating doesn’t need to be done at my place, does it! You can take her to a restaurant and I’ll drop her there to meet you. And enough with this shit about a phone. I’ll get her one,” he said. I held my breath and counted to five in my head before replying. Given my tendency to land myself in shite whenever I opened my mouth, I should probably try and remember to do it more often.
“She’s not fifteen. You don’t need to drop her to a date. If I’m taking her out, I’m picking her up and walking her home to her door. But if it makes you feel better, I won’t call for her or come around unless I know you’ll be there,” I had no fucking intention of doing that, but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. “Now, can I have your address, so I can send her some get well soon flowers please?” Talk about trying to keep him on side. I used fuckin’ manners and everything. He rattled off his address lightning fast and hung up, the little shit. Luckily, I got the house number and post code. It was all the info I needed. Sheer fuckin’ persistence worked every time.
We pulled back into the station, seconds before I’m sure I would’ve nodded off. By the time we replenished the water in the engine, checked and double checked all the kit and grabbed a quick shower, the next watch was rolling in to take us off duty. Thankfully, the lovely Sue had also arrived, and was plating up fried breakfast when I walked through the door of the mess hall. I’d already been relieved of my shift so I could enjoy the whole thing without fear of the bells going down half way through.
“Sue, I mean this with all due respect to your husband, the lovely Roger, but every time you feed me, I really think I might be in love with you,” I said, giving her the full wattage smile as she handed me my meal.
“Get away you big bee charmer, you,” she replied, blushing. The guys groaned and rolled their eyes, but the arseholes got half the amount of bacon that was on my plate. To the side of the kitchen, a load of tables of the kind you’d see in school, were pushed together to form one large table that we all sat round. One bite in to my greasy slice of Heaven and I groaned.
“Oh my God Sue, this tastes as good as you look,” I hollered.
“Stop!” she ordered, giggling and blushing like a school girl. I didn’t blame her. I bet none of the fuckers on my watch had worshipped her mad cooking skills like she deserved.
“Shouldn’t you be keeping the sweet talk to yourself, now that you’re getting yourself a girlfriend?” Hammer suggested, with a smug looking grin on his face.
“No way will she worry about my love for Sue. If your woman is insecure, it’s not her failing, it’s yours. If she doesn’t know with absolute certainty that she’s your queen, then you’re not acting like a fucking king,” I replied, like the fountain of all knowledge I was.
“Wise words from a man who’s never had a girlfriend,” Hammer said, making the rest of the guys chuckle.
“I haven’t had a relationship because I didn’t want one. Doesn’t mean I don’t know women. You don’t need to be an alcoholic to be a connoisseur of wine,” I answered.
“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Are you saying that guys in a committed relationship are like alcoholics and that single guys are the connoisseurs?” he shot back.
“No dipshit. I’m saying that one abuses, and the other is a specialist in the knowledge and appreciation of all that should be worshipped. Any douchebag can be in a relationship. Doesn’t mean he knows fuck all about women or how they like to be treated,” I replied. Nobody spoke much after that. Either they were enlightened by my pearl of wisdom or struck dumb by how little sense I made. Fuck it. It’d sounded good in my head.
“Right ladies. I’m too fucking tired to school you any more on the wise ways of the woman. I’m off to woo then off to bed,” I told them, standing and walking my empty plate back to the kitchen.
“Not so fast Mr Riordon,” Houston ordered, walking through the door with a pile of papers and a bunch of pens. “Nobody is going anywhere until they write their recollections of the evening down on paper. It’s not an official report. I just want you to document as much as you can remember about the leisure centre incident in a way that you can re-read later and while it’s fresh in your mind. We’re all off now for four days and I guarantee that Fire Investigation are going to want to interview us all on this one.”
“You’re definitely thinking arson then?” Echo said.
“Two Council buildings in two days? I’d bet my mortgage on it.” Fester said. “The sprinklers didn’t go off in the library which is suspicious as hell. You could maybe write it off as a malfunction in the system, but they didn’t go off in the centre either and I’m pretty sure the fire doors were all propped open as well. Plus, with the way that place was burning when we got there, I’d say an accelerant was used.”
“Which is why we’re getting this stuff down on paper now. Anything and everything you can remember, and I want them lodged with me before you leave please,” Houston said, and was met with a collective groan. It looked like wooing and sleeping would be a long fucking time coming.
Chapter Seven
TOMMY
I knocked on the front door. Waited a couple of seconds. And knocked again. Then repeated the same for five minutes straight.
“I saw the curtain twitching. I know you’re in there,” I shouted through the letterbox, just before the door flew open.
“You know, when you knock the door and nobody answers, it generally means that either someone isn’t home or they don’t want to speak to you,” Joe said, crossing his arms as he stood in the doorway, making it clear I wasn’t coming in.
“Or it means they’re fucking rude, and they’re deliberately cock blocking their little sister,” I replied, crossing my own arms as I waited him out.
“We need some fucking ground rules Tommy. This is getting ridiculous,” Joe said.
“Did you get her a phone yet?” I asked.
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“Not yet,” he answered, defensively. “Ev just got out of the hospital yesterday. I wanted to wait until she’d had some rest and was feeling better so she could shop for a new phone with me.” I rolled my eyes at his lame arse excuse.
“Well, like I fucking said before. If you got her a phone then I wouldn’t have to use you as a middle man, would I?” I pointed out.
“Fine! I’ll get her one today! And I thought you agreed you wouldn’t turn up if I gave you my address,” he said. His face was starting to turn a little red. Joe needed to chill the fuck out or he’d have a heart attack by the time he was thirty. I thought about pointing that out, but I didn’t want him tossing me out before I’d even made it through the door.
“Don’t bother big brother. I picked her up one on the way here. Took all of five minutes. And quit your bitchin’. I said I wouldn’t come over unless you were here. And you’re here aren’t ya?” I replied, then brushed passed him to walk into the house.
“Yes, but you didn’t know I’d be here when you turned up,” he argued, shutting the door behind him.
“Sure I did,” I replied absently, as I looked around. Seeing no sign of her, I called out her name at the top of my voice.
“Jesus Christ! Will you shut the fuck up! She’s in the shower arsehole,” Joe said, but it was the girl standing behind him who had my full attention. Damp red hair, curling in waves around her flushed, pink face. Not a stitch of makeup on and wearing a huge over-sized sweater that probably belonged to her brother. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and I was momentarily struck dumb.
“Wow. Never did I think I’d see the day that Tommy Riordon was lost for words. You okay, sis?” Joe asked her, and she nodded shyly.
“Thanks Joe. Are you still going into work?” she asked him.
The Fire (Hurricane Book 4) Page 6