First One In Last One Out

by Laura Marie Henion

He continued to hold Katie as she cried.

  A few moments later she slowly pulled away. Ryan clasped her hands and held them on her lap.

  The tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. Ryan absorbed all the emotion, the anxiety that Katie felt and his own heart ached for her.

  "It will all work out, you'll see, honey.” He pulled one hand away from her to reach up and gently smooth away the tears from her cheek.

  Katie sobbed.

  "I can't help thinking about Bradley,” she gasped for air, for control of her emotions.

  "You don't have to. You loved him,” Ryan whispered.

  Katie slowly raised her eyes and locked gazes with Ryan.

  "I don't want to hurt you, Ryan."

  He smiled at her.

  "I love you and I understand and respect what you had with Bradley. This is a bad situation Katie and you need all of us around for support."

  Katie inhaled and exhaled before responding.

  "Katie?"

  "There's more to it than that Ryan. I won't stand by and place you or my family in danger.... This has to stop now."

  "There's a patrol car outside,” Lea said, appearing in the doorway. “Can you please come out and explain what's going on, Katie? I'm so scared.” The tear rolled down her mom's cheek.

  Katie rose from the bed and walked over towards her mother, embracing her.

  Ryan followed the women back out to the living room.

  "Oh my God Katie this is crazy,” Lea said as everyone gathered around the room.

  The chief explained the situation and where the police were in the case.

  "So he's headed here from Bolton Bay to kill her,” Michael said, and Lea began to cry.

  Katie held her face in her hands, trying to fight the urge to lose it in front of her family.

  "He won't succeed,” William said. “Obviously, they have numerous sketches of Redding. Different disguises he has worn while trying to evade capture. Katie will be under surveillance and we're all going to pitch in since the locals are understaffed.” “No,” Katie stated in a low tone and stood up from the chair. “I told you that is not a choice. I won't put your lives in jeopardy because of me."

  "Because of you? What are you talking about? You did not bring this on. This psycho did and we are your family,” Michael yelled.

  "You've pushed us away once before and you're not going to do it again. You are not alone in this Katie,” Billy added next then Donny added a similar comment.

  "You don't know what he's capable of. What if he tries to hurt one of you to get to me? Then what? I would die if anything ever happened to any of you."

  "That's not going to happen. We are going to protect you and one another as well. We will talk to this detective Bachelli when he arrives. In the interim the chief can keep us posted on everything,” Ryan added then looked at Katie.

  "We'll work out a plan so you're never alone, Katie, or your mom. The guys in the squad will pitch in.” Ryan pulled Katie into an embrace.

  "What if he comes after you or my brothers? I can't lose another...” Katie could not complete her sentence, the tears rolled down her cheeks.

  Ryan gently took her face into his hands. He looked into her eyes as the tears continued to flow. She was shaking with fear and he was sure visions of the past and Bradley were consuming her thoughts.

  He softly wiped away some tears with his thumb.

  "I love you Angel. I would do anything for you. Now we are going to handle this guy. I know you are scared, we all are, but he has chosen the wrong weapon. We're firefighters, it's what we do and if he starts setting fires around Warrens Cove then we'll be there to put them out."

  "How can you be so sure, so confident about that?"

  "It's what we do, Angel, and Redding no longer has the element of surprise."

  "Ryan's right. We know Redding is coming,” Billy added.

  "We'll be on top of this Katie. He won't get his hands on you,” the chief added and Ryan hugged Katie tighter then placed his hand against her cheek.

  Katie looked up into Ryan's eyes. He kissed her softly.

  The chief cleared his throat.

  "Now let's start getting organized. This s.o.b. has messed with the wrong family of firefighters."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter 15

  A few days had passed and Katie could not wait to see Ryan. Unfortunately, they were working on opposite shifts. Katie worked nights when Ryan worked days. Ryan and her brothers had a few friends on the police force that offered to patrol near the hospital during Katie's shifts. The hospital security had a sketch of Redding and was on guard as well.

  Katie found herself missing Ryan.

  She attempted to see him when she got off her shift yesterday morning by stopping by his place. She had taken a shower and lay down next to him on the bed but passed out a few minutes later.

  Ryan did not mind, he called her an hour ago and laughed about it.

  She was embarrassed but Ryan insisted that all he cared about was seeing her and holding her in his arms, knowing she was safe.

  "We've got a two-alarm fire, multiple injuries,” Diane yelled from the front desk. The fear filled Katie's heart. She thought about Ryan, Billy and Michael. Damn it! She knew if it were a two-alarm fire more then likely Ladder three was responding.

  "Katie, Lucy, let's get the ER set up pronto. The paramedics will update us on their way in,” Dr Broderick yelled. Just then, Donny came running around the corner form the hallway.

  Katie let out a small sigh of relief. At least Donny was safe.

  Fifteen minutes later, injured victims filled the ER. A fire had started at a bar near the boardwalk called The Crab House and as always, it was crowded with people. They provided live music on Friday nights and their award winning crab cake sandwiches were well known.

  The fire spread quickly and the flames were so intense that a few cars in the parking lot close to the building exploded. Multiple firefighters suffered from smoke inhalation and dizziness.

  Katie aided Dr. Broderick with the patients who had the worst injuries. She was moving diligently, trying to help ease the victims’ pain as quickly as possible.

  A half hour went by with fewer critically injured victims entering the hospital. An extra staff of nurses from the surrounding departments joined in assisting to keep things organized. Certain staff members logged in the treated patients then brought them to numerous rooms, depending on the follow up treatment needed.

  Suddenly paramedics were accompanying a group of five firefighters into the hospital's ER unit.

  Katie helped give out oxygen masks and attended to minor burns.

  "Get that thing away from me!” Katie's attention was drawn towards a firefighter who was refusing to be treated. He claimed he was fine but kept coughing up a storm.

  Moving closer to see if she could assist, Katie identified the firefighter as Theo Walters.

  "Ella, why don't you continue bandaging up Alex over there? I'll get this one,” Katie stated and Ella rolled her eyes at Theo.

  "Good luck Katie, he needs a kick in the ass."

  Ella walked away looking agitated and Katie immediately took Ella's place beside Theo.

  "I see you're still as charming as usual, Theo.” Katie checked Theo's neck wound and began to check his breathing with the stethoscope.

  "I'm fine, Katie.” Theo began coughing.

  "Oh yeah, you sound just fine,” Katie stated sarcastically while raising her eyebrows, challenging his statement.

  "I am!” he blurted out before starting another coughing fit.

  "Listen Theo, just sit back and let me do my job."

  Behind them, more firefighters entered the ER for treatment.

  "I'm fine, really."

  Theo stood up too quickly and Katie caught him in time, wrapping her arms around his waist.

  He grabbed a tight hold of her.

  "Somebody assist please!” Katie yelled as Captain Franks from Ladder Two grabbed Th
eo and Katie. The three of them wobbled a moment as Theo continued to claim he was fine.

  "You're not fine Theo, just sit down.” Captain Franks pushed forward a bit too hard.

  They crashed to the chair, Katie on top of Theo and the Captain half on top of Katie.

  The hooting and hollers, whistles and sexual innuendos started to fill the air.

  Dr. Broderick started laughing then yelling the second he saw the scowl on Katie's face.

  "Let go of me Theo!” Katie demanded with clenched teeth.

  Theo let his hand glide across Katie's backside as she pushed herself up off him.

  "I want that nurse!” Another firefighter yelled from across the room.

  Katie could feel her cheeks burning. She roughly turned his face to the side so she could work on the injuries to his neck.

  "Sorry about that, Miss,” Captain Franks said, clearing his throat and smirking at the same time.

  He stood by Theo's chair and watched Katie work on Theo. They would need some blood samples to test for carbon monoxide, this would help the doctors determine the intensity of treatment required.

  A few minutes later, she finished applying some burn ointment to Theo's wound then cut out some gauze and bandaged up his neck.

  Katie ignored Theo's gaze as best she could while she wrapped the band around his arm to test his blood pressure. He was trying to speak to her and she pointed to the stethoscope she wore, indicating that she could not hear him. She placed her hand against his chest warning him to stay still while she took his blood pressure. It was a little high, so she wrote it down in his chart and would inform Dr. Broderick. They would need to keep his blood pressure level or it could indicate a problem.

  Theo attempted to speak.

  "No Theo, I don't want to hear it,” she stated as she secured the bandage on his neck. Theo covered her hand with his.

  "Please.” he whispered.

  "What's the problem, Walters?” Katie called him by his last name keeping a mean look on her face.

  "You're gorgeous."

  Katie tried to walk away.

  He grabbed her wrist.

  "When you're ready to be with the best you let me know Katie, I'll set that body of yours on fire."

  Theo touched Katie's leg with his other hand.

  "Move your hand Theo."

  "Katie! You're wanted by Dr. Broderick over there,” Lucy called out.

  Katie turned towards Lucy's line of sight and her mouth dropped.

  Ryan and Dr. Broderick stood near the corner of the room. Billy was sitting in a chair receiving treatment.

  She immediately headed over towards them hoping that Billy was okay and that Ryan had not witnessed Theo's actions.

  "Oh my God, Billy, are you okay?” Katie asked, immediately by her brother's side.

  "He's fine Katie, just inhaled a bit too much smoke. I won't be taking away his ‘blue tag,’ I figured you needed some help getting away from that firefighter. He's a bit too touchy with you."

  Ryan appeared to be clenching his teeth.

  "It was nothing I couldn't handle,” Katie replied then looked at Billy.

  The thought was still on her mind about Dr. Broderick's statement and Billy's ‘blue tag'. That wasn't exactly something to joke about. When a firefighter had his blue tag taken away, it meant that he could not fight fires. Whenever the firefighters entered the fire truck on their way to a fire, they all had a number of tags clipped onto their turnout coats.

  Upon entering the truck and arriving at the location, the firefighters present removed their yellow tag and clipped it onto the truck. Upon entering the fire itself, each firefighter had to hand their red tag to the chief, or whoever was in charge.

  The ‘blue tag’ was their medical card. Without it, a firefighter could no longer do the job.

  "I'll go wrap things up over there. You did great Katie, as usual,” Dr. Broderick said with a smile then walked away.

  Billy cleared his throat.

  Ryan pulled Katie closer to him.

  "Are you all right?” Ryan asked.

  "We saw what Theo did. That asshole,” Billy said.

  "You mean—

  Ryan took a deep breath. “He's lucky your brother was here to stop me. What did he say to you?” Ryan asked.

  "Nothing worth mentioning. I'd better head back. Are you sure you're all right?” Katie asked Billy.

  "I'm fine."

  Katie looked at Ryan and smiled.

  "I'll talk to you tomorrow.” She began to move away when Ryan grabbed her hand and moved closer to her.

  Over her shoulder, Ryan saw Theo, Captain Franks and a few other members of Ladder Two watching.

  Ryan gently lifted Katie's chin up towards him and kissed her on the lips pulling her into an embrace. He gently released her and smiled.

  "Was that for me or for them?” Katie asked looking Ryan in the eye.

  He winked and she smiled. “I'll fill you in later. Don't take any of his shit."

  Katie turned back towards the group of onlookers.

  By 7:00 a.m., she was exhausted.

  * * * *

  Redding Jr. walked around the corner of the building to get a closer look at the warehouse found in the business district of Warrens Cove. It was perfect and if he planned the fire correctly then he could light up more than a thousand feet of the building. The whole four blocks of commercial property including a condominium complex could go up in flames in a matter of minutes if planned precisely. Redding smiled at the thought. Especially the image of Angel trapped in the middle with no escape. She would be a pile of dust and lost forever. Everything good and heavenly replaced by fire. He could watch from a distance this time or he could be even closer. After all, what fun would it be to stay so far away from the spectacular flames?

  Redding crossed the street, taking in the enormity of the warehouse, the close proximity to the surrounding buildings including a fencing company and an electrical supply store. If he planned the fire accurately then he could use the electrical supply store as a barrier for the firefighters to get by. He wanted the detonator to be something unique and symbolic, something that would grab the firefighters’ attention and lure them to it. All this would happen while the precious ‘Angel’ of Warrens Cove, along with multimillion dollars worth of businesses, burned to the ground. There would not be time to save anyone.

  Redding smiled. He needed a few days. Just a few days and everything would come together nicely.

  Then came the voice, telling him to set smaller fires in the upcoming days that would send the authorities in the opposite direction. Break down their resources, tire them out and the rescuers wouldn't be good to anyone.

  He had to be careful, it was a small town and people noticed strangers, especially in the business district, where tourists and vacationers tended not to explore. An hour ago and only a day after his arrival, someone introduced himself and welcomed him to the island. Redding tried to play it off as no big deal but the Devil felt otherwise. The Devil saw the stranger as a threat and so did Redding. He would head there next, to remove the possible spy from the equation. Smiling, Redding continued to explore and plan the precise locations for the other explosions.

  He would not underestimate the abilities of these local firefighters. They were a combination of paid firefighters and volunteers, which meant that they lived for the job.

  His little test at the Crab House bar, was a definite indicator of the enemy's abilities. Redding did not think the fire was that intense, yet the first responding department called for immediate backup. Redding was glad he had done his research. He found out that there were really only three ladder companies in the surrounding area of Warrens Cove. Two other firefighting companies were miles away and probably prepared to come to the local's aid if necessary. Redding counted on it and planned his attack accordingly. The intensity and speed of this fire would be so extreme, the other two Ladder companies would not make it to the scene in time.

  Perhaps they could
be the body bag collectors? Redding laughed aloud at the thought. The whole town of Warrens Cove would burn and burn until nothing remained.

  Timing was everything and now that he knew where his precious Angel lived and worked, catching her and presenting her to his Master would be simple.

  He smiled confidently then moved on to his next mission.

  * * * *

  "I missed you, Angel. You have no idea.” Ryan pulled Katie into an embrace.

  She met him at his house for dinner. Billy dropped her off on his way home. Katie and Ryan had finally made some time to spend together.

  "I missed you too, handsome. You look a little tired,” Katie noticed as Ryan took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen.

  Ryan had started dinner and opened a bottle of wine.

  "I am a bit tired. I've been training crazy and busy at work."

  "You shouldn't overdue it."

  "I had to keep my mind off missing you.” He smiled and winked.

  "Well just be careful. I don't want you to get hurt."

  Ryan's facial expression changed. He looked insulted.

  "Contrary to what your old friend Theo may have told you, I'm going to kick his ass this September."

  Katie did not like Ryan's tone. Did he think she was interested in Theo?

  Katie moved closer to Ryan pulling him into an embrace.

  She gently touched his cheek with her hand.

  "What's really bothering you Ryan? You know better than to be jealous with me. Theo means nothing. I don't care what he has to say about you."

  "He bad-mouthed me to you?"

  Ryan's jaw tightened. Katie needed to calm him down.

  She stood on her tip toes, held Ryan's gaze then kissed him on the mouth. He was stubborn as he held his facial expression firm and unemotional. As if her tactics couldn't penetrate the invisible shield he held. He was not budging and she realized she needed to get through to him. For such a confident person it seemed he was insecure when it came to his emotions and commitments. He would have to learn to trust her just as she learned to open up her heart again.

  She decided to resort to using her sexuality.

  Keeping her hands on his shoulders she rubbed the skin and hardness beneath her palms. She could feel the muscles protruding from under his T-shirt. It was sexy and she could tell he had been training hard and the definition in his muscles showed. Staring at her own hands squeezing and manipulating the muscles, she focused on the sensations and desire she felt from touching him.