by Claire Adams
"Look, you're getting your money, aren't you?" I said as I handed him the cash. "Why ask questions? Now give me a receipt and send a receipt to Ms. Pierce so that she knows she's paid through to the end of the term."
"She's not going to like this," he said as he went to his computer and printed a receipt for me. "And what am I supposed to tell her when she comes asking who paid this?"
"I don't care how you explain it, so long as you don't say a word about me," I said as I walked toward the door. I turned and added, "And if you do, rest assured that you will regret it."
I called Alex to see if I could bring dinner to the hospital for her and Liz, but her phone went directly to voicemail, so I ordered dinner to be delivered and headed home to call Leo.
Leo and I arranged to meet at O'Neil's to discuss our plan for Metzler's announcement. When I arrived, Leo was entertaining a group of attractive young women who were skimpily dressed.
"Cam, I want you to meet the girls," Leo said holding a glass of whiskey in one hand and gesturing to his companions with the other. "Girls, this is Cam."
"Hi, Cam," the pretty young things said in unison. I smiled and waved, then turned to Leo and tipped my head toward a back table.
"Sorry, girls," Leo said with the proper amount of regret, then turning to the bartender said, "Billy, buy these beautiful ladies a drink on me."
We moved to the back table and sat down before I could order a drink, so Billy had the waitress bring me a beer and a shot. I downed the shot and then said, "Okay, so what's our plan for Metzler's announcement?"
"Well, we both need to be there with the security team," Leo said. "He's requesting extra security for the first couple of weeks, so I've hired two more guys to work into the rotation."
"What the hell, Leo?" I said looking at him. "We never talked about these guys! How do we know they can be trusted? Jesus!"
"Hey, I've been doing this for almost ten years," Leo said defensively. "I know what the fuck I'm doing, Cam, so back off."
"But you never run anything by me anymore," I protested as I took a swig of my beer and slammed the glass down on the table. "If we're going to do this together, then you have to treat me like I'm actually a part of the team, Leo."
"My bad," he said holding up his hands in a show of surrender. "I'm used to flying solo, I screwed up. It won't happen again."
"Make sure it doesn't," I grumbled as I took another swig.
"What's got your boxers in a bunch tonight?" Leo asked as he signaled to the waitress for another round.
"I just...nah, forget it," I said waving him off. I wanted to tell Leo about what had happened with Alex, but since I hadn't gotten an entirely positive response from her, I didn't want to jinx it by spilling the beans prematurely. What if she decided to walk away? I didn't want to have to deal with the pity Leo would feel.
"What's wrong, Cam?" Leo pressed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Alex
I stayed with Liz in her room all night, and then before the sun rose, I got up and went downstairs to see if Leslie could find me a pair of scrubs for my shift. I was tired, but I knew that if I were going to be able to keep things on track, I would have to adhere to my schedule and finish my internship. The only thing that was distressing me was how I would pay for rent and tuition if they didn't settle the cheating case soon.
I had nothing to worry about and I knew it. I hadn't cheated, but the question was whether they would figure that out in time to allow me to pay my tuition and keep from getting evicted from my apartment. I was worried about Liz, too.
It was obvious that she had some kind of serious problem that she wasn't ready to face, but there was no way to make her own it if she wasn't ready to. I could understand why she would have turned to drugs in the first place, but now that she'd gotten caught, I couldn't understand why she continued to deny it.
Leslie handed me scrubs and a pair of old tennis shoes, and I quickly changed into them and headed back to the floor. I needed to talk to someone, but I was afraid that if I did, I'd sink Liz's chances for reinstatement when she was released. Mrs. Rikka didn't like her to begin with, and this absence was going to cause a bigger rift in the already tenuous relationship.
"Ms. Pierce," Mrs. Rikka said as she found me walking down the hallway. "What on earth is going on with you and Ms. Baker?"
"Liz is sick, Mrs. Rikka," I said simply as I tried to avoid having the conversation altogether. "She should be back in a few days."
"I’m already aware of the situation," Mrs. Rikka said looking over her glasses at me. She was a tall, imposing woman, and I felt dwarfed by her presence. "And what, prey tell, was she doing that made her so sick?"
"I'm sure Liz would be happy to tell you if you talk with her," I said trying to dance around the need to talk about Liz's problems when she wasn't here. "I need to get to the floor."
"Mmm hmm," Mrs. Rikka nodded as she raised and eyebrow and pivoted on her heel before walking the opposite way down the corridor. I breathed a sigh of relief and headed back to the safety of the ER.
Leslie asked me how Liz was doing, and I wasn't quiet sure how to respond. I wanted to ask her what she thought might be the problem, but I also knew that Leslie was our supervisor, and as such was required to report any improprieties. So, I held back and let her talk, but didn't answer many of her questions.
"Alex, if you girls are in some kid of trouble, there are people who can help you out, you know," Leslie said as she looked through the stack of files that the residents had piled next to her computer. "I can give you the number of some resources, lawyers, recovery therapists and such."
"Thank you," I nodded feeling uncomfortable talking with her about Liz's problems when Liz wasn't here to explain herself. "We're good, but if I need anything, I'll let you know."
"You don't have to shoulder this alone," Leslie said as she gave me a pointed look before returning to the files.
I wasn't sure how I was going to handle this, but I knew Leslie was definitely wrong about her last assertion. Liz was telling me that she wasn’t doing drugs, and I wanted to believe her. I also knew that I was alone in this mess and I was going to do what I had always done and handle it.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Cam
"Engine One, Truck One, Ambulance Fifty-four, warehouse fire at Jackson and Green. Be advised there are workers trapped in the building."
"Shit, I hate warehouse fires," Newsome said as he and I climbed up onto the engine and waited for Mike to hop into the driver's seat. It wasn't like Mike to be lagging behind us, but today he seemed a little slower than usual.
"You okay, Kelly?" I hollered as he turned the key and fired up the engine.
"Yeah, fine," Mike yelled. "Your cooking was a little off this morning, that's all!"
"My cooking is never off, you asshole!" I yelled back with a grin. "It's your pansy ass stomach that's incapable of making even the slightest change! From now on, I'm gonna make you plain oatmeal with fruit."
"Aww, fuck off, Connor," Mike grinned as he turned on the siren and pulled out of the firehouse.
He drove like a bat out of hell down Jackson and pulled up to the fire less than five minutes later. I wondered what was going on, but then got busy hooking up the hose and getting ready to go in and forgot to ask.
"Vangel, don't go in till Chief gets here," I yelled as Victor shouldered his axe and headed for the door taking the new probationary firefighters with him.
"Fuck you, Connor," he said waving me off. "I've been doing this job longer than you've been wishing you could do it."
"It's not safe, you dumbass," I said loud enough for him and the probationary candidates to hear me then turned back to helping Danny get the hose ready.
The next thing I knew, Victor was at the side door to the warehouse knocking the handle off the door with his axe. There was a momentary silence before the familiar woosh.
"GET AWAY FROM THAT DOOR!" I shouted as the air entered the building and fed the flames.
Suddenly there were flames shooting out of the door and windows shattered as the intensity of the heat that had been trapped inside the warehouse struggled to escape.
Victor jumped to the side, but the two probies behind him didn't have the reflexes that he'd developed and were quickly engulfed in flames.
"Hose! WATER!" I shouted at Danny who cranked the hydrant and sent water shooting out of the nozzle. I pointed the hose at the probies and doused them as I pushed them back a good ten feet. Neither one was burned, or even hurt, but they were both shaken by the close call.
"Get back to the truck," I said motioning toward the engine. "Just sit there and wait for Chief to tell you what to do next. You got it?"
Two heads bobbed in unison as they moved back to the back of the engine.
"Vangel, you son of a bitch, you almost got the probies killed!" I shouted as I pulled on my mask and prepared to enter the building.
"They need to get some on the job training sometime," he shouted back. "Don't be such a pussy, Connor!"
"Asshole," I muttered into my mask. Danny nodded at me as if to say he understood and we headed inside. The entire building was in flames, and I could hear people yelling in the back of the room. They'd gone into the back room to escape the flames, but it didn't have a way out and now they were trapped. The building was a textile mill, so there was plenty of material to be burned as the fire leapt from bolts of cloth and machinery used to sew enormous rugs.
"There's a shit load of flammable stuff here," I shouted at Danny as we sprayed the room, trying to get the flames under control enough to get to the people who were trapped. "Be careful, Newsome! Hold the hose, I'm gonna spray it all down."
Danny saluted me as held onto the hose and helped me guide it toward the worst parts of the fire. The rest of the guys were working their way across the floor looking for those who might have been trapped under the tables or injured by the explosion. Mike signaled that he'd found someone, and moments later he pulled a small girl out from under the table. She couldn't have been more than fifteen, if that. He gave me a "what the fuck?" look as he carried her small body out to the waiting paramedics.
"They're in here! They're in here!" Victor shouted as he pried open a door that had been sealed shut by the intense heat.
"VANGEL, LOOK OUT!" I shouted as he slammed his axe into the door handle and pried the door open. There was a wave of air that cut across the sewing floor and then sucked the fired back into the room before everything exploded. Machinery went flying and I could see the flames spreading up the walls that hadn't yet been ignited.
Overhead, I heard the sound of cracking wood and looked up to see a large portion of the roof being pulled back by the guys from the ladder. They were venting the fire and looking for the trapped workers, so I aimed the hose at the area where Victor had opened the door and moved forward with Danny right behind me.
"Stay close!" I shouted over my shoulder and felt Danny pat my shoulder to let me know he would. The flames on the far side of the warehouse refused to die no matter how much water we poured on them, and I knew we were running out of time.
Victor had recovered from the blast and was now moving through the warehouse hacking wet equipment out of our way as Danny and I did our best to quell the flames. The guys above us sliced holes in the rest of the ceiling and vented the smoke in the hope that it would keep the oxygen flowing to the people trapped in the back room.
It was almost an hour before we were able to get the fire under control and access the back room. What we found there stunned us all into silence. The workers had all crowded into the small back room that was now filled with soot and ash. Two people were groaning and coughing, but the rest were still, and as we felt for pulses, we came up empty.
"Dammit!" I growled as I walked out of the room and slammed my fist against the doorframe yelling, "This is all your fault, Vangel! You're recklessness cost these people their lives! You're a menace!"
"Me? It's my fault that a bunch of illegals are dead in the back room of a sweat shop?" he shouted. "I don't think so, Connor!"
"You slammed your axe into that door and set off the explosion!" I yelled. "You're careless and dangerous! You could have gotten us all killed!"
"But I didn't," he shot back. "I vented the heat and got us closer to the back room, so I'd be careful about how you go spinning the story, Connor."
"Oh, I'm going to tell the truth, Vangel," I said. "Unlike you, I still value it."
"You'd better be careful how you go about telling your truth, Connor," Victor snarled. "I've got enough ammunition to put you six feet under in no time."
"Try it, and I'll make sure you never work in this town again," I said in a cold voice that made Danny do a double take. I leaned down and lifted one of the moaning workers off the floor and headed out to the ambulance, "Now, let's get these people out of here. MOVE!"
I was furious at myself for losing my cool with Victor, but I was even angrier at him for costing these people their lives. He was irresponsible and reckless and he needed to be stopped before there were more deaths. I wasn't sure how I was going to approach Chief with the problem, but I knew that it couldn't wait.
"Chief, when we get back to the station, I need to talk to you," I said as I grabbed my axe and headed back in to help the guys make sure the fire was completely out before we rolled up the hoses and headed back to base. Chief gave me a funny look, then nodded as he spoke to dispatch over the radio.
I was going to keep Victor from doing any more damage, come hell or high water -- that much was absolutely certain.
#
Back at the station, I stepped into Chief's office and closed the door. It wasn't going to be easy having this conversation with him, but once it was over I wasn't going to have to worry about Victor outing me at the station anymore.
"You wanted to talk, Connor?" Chief Riley said as he looked over the schedules for the next month.
"Chief, I need to tell you something that I've been keeping to myself," I began.
"Shit, Connor, tell me this is not drug or alcohol related," Chief said as he stood up.
"No, no, nothing like that, sir," I said shaking my head. "It's something outside of the department. Something I do on my own time, sir."
"Jesus, you're not coming out, are you?" Chief asked. "'Cause if you are, we're gonna need to bring in HR and get everyone into sensitivity training, and that's going to take scheduling."
"Chief, it's nothing like that," I said trying to steer the conversation back to the issue at hand. "But a little sensitivity training never hurt anyone, you know."
"I know, I need to get it on the books anyway," he nodded as he bent down and made a note on his calendar. "I just didn't know how quickly I'd have to do it."
"I see, sir," I said as I took a deep breath and blurted it out, "I am part owner of Chicago Security Company and we're taking on a contract to protect Richard Metzler during his upcoming run for office."
"Okay," Chief said as he stood looking at me with an expression that told me he wasn't particularly shocked or bothered by my revelation. "And you're telling me this because?"
"Because Victor Vangel has been trying to blackmail me into supporting his bid for the Lieutenant position in this station by threatening to tell everyone that I am part owner of a multi-million dollar corporation," I quickly said. "I'm tired of his threats."
"That sneaky little bastard," Chief said as he sat down in his chair and made another note on his calendar. "I'll take care of his sorry ass, don't you worry about that."
"That's just it, Chief; he's getting dangerous," I said. "Today at the fire, he didn't check the door before he opened it. I can't say if those people were still alive when he set off the explosion, but if they were..."
"I'll take care of it, Connor," Chief said with a determined look. "There's no reason to go spreading rumors or discussing this with anyone else, got it?"
"Yes, Chief," I nodded solemnly.
"And as far as your personal business goe
s, son, it's your personal business," he said bracing himself on his desk. "If anyone has an issue with you doing something to better your situation outside of work, then tell them to come see me and I'll set them straight."
"Yes, sir," I smiled as I stood up and waited for him to end the meeting.
"You are free to go, Connor," Chief said as he began punching his keyboard.
I walked out of the office and back to the common room where Kelly was wrestling with Tesla as he tried to pull her stuffed elephant out of her mouth. She was wagging her tail and growling happily as he reached out and took a hold of one end of the stuffed animal and pulled. Tesla's only flaw was that when she got overly excited, she would bark. She barked and Mike pulled the elephant away and held it over her head. Tesla crouched low and then sprang up and grabbed the toy bringing it and Mike's arm back down to tugging level.
"Don't you ever get tired of that?" I laughed as I watched the two of them repeat the action over and over.
"Nah, she loves it!" Mike said as he growled back. If he'd had a tail, it would have been wagging a mile a minute.
"Where's Vangel?" I asked. Mike pointed out toward the bay where I could see Victor wiping down the trucks. I walked out and looked at him for a long time before speaking, "You can stop trying to blackmail me now."
"What the hell are you talking about?" he said looking around nervously.
"You asshole, there's no one around, and even if there was, it doesn't matter anymore," I said. "Chief knows and he doesn't care."
"But the guys don't know," Victor said in a snooty tone. "What would they think if they knew one of their own was a multi-millionaire running a security firm on his off days?"
"They'd probably congratulate me and then ask for a job," I scoffed. "You're the only one who seems to have an issue with it, Vangel. So, now's the time for you to get over yourself."
"Does HQ know that you sunk your insurance check into the business?" Victor asked. "And does your little girlfriend? She's quite the hot piece of ass If she’s got a friend maybe we can do a double date some time and switch it up, eh?"