1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Samuel

Since I’d become the station chief at Station 69, I didn’t work a rotating shift like the others, but I did try to arrive before shift change each morning. That allowed me to be the one to set the tone for the day, and on this day, the tone was all about training.

I let the shift captain, Robert, run the morning meeting as always, but once he’d finished, I stepped forward.

“I have a meeting later this morning, but I want us to run through some training drills first. Things have been a little crazy around here lately, and I feel like everyone could use a little physical activity to destress.”

A collective groan came from the guys that stood around me. That was the thing about training. No one wanted to do it, but once we got started, they always enjoyed it.

“That’s enough,” Robert commanded. “Chief Sheridan’s right, and you know it.”

“Let’s start out back with some hose relays,” I said, clapping my hands.

The guys all made their way behind the station to our training ground. I stood at the edge of the field and watched as they stretched and yawned, preparing for the training exercises.

“Okay, guys, split into teams. I’ll be nice and let you choose. Just think of this as a good way to wake up.”

The relay race was a classic drill. The first guy had to grab a rolled hose off the wall, hook it up to the fake hydrant, and then run to the designated spot where their partner waited. Then, that person had to roll the hose up on and hang it back on the wall. It was good for building teamwork—and, let’s be real, a little bit of competitive trash-talking.

This shift had six members, so we had three teams. They lined up, with Ronda, Robert, and Andy on the first leg, each gripping a coiled hose as if it was their shot at Olympic gold. I raised my whistle. “Alright, try not to trip over yourselves like last time.”

“That was one time, and I was new!” Andy shouted, earning a few chuckles.

With a sharp blast of the whistle, they were off. Heavy boots pounded the dirt, kicking up small clouds as they charged across the field. The hoses snaked along behind them as they raced towards the fence where they would hand off the hose, and their partner would head back.

Kevin, Keith, and Ford were on the second leg, with Kevin just edging out the other two for a win. He did a little victory dance when he hung his hose up on the wall.

“Way to go, Kevin.” Ronda grinned. “You know how to handle a hose.”

“That’s what his husband says,” Ford teased, and everyone laughed.

“Okay, enough of that. Swap places, and let’s go again,” I said. I watched proudly as they went again. I liked all the people at Station 69, but I knew the ones on A shift the best. That was the shift I’d been on before our previous captain retired and I’d been promoted. I enjoyed the new job, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss being part of the crew.

We did a couple more relay rounds, and then I told them it was time to move on to ladder drills. These were my favorite. First, they had to put the ladder in place against the building and go up and back down as quickly as they could.

The teams lined up, and Ford reached down and rubbed the edge of the ladder. “Be good to me, baby, don’t drop me.”

“Dude, it’s a ladder, not your ex,” Kevin called out from the back of the line, earning a round of snickers.

Normally, I would’ve gotten on to them about clowning around. After all, these training drills were where we created the muscle memory necessary to do our jobs in stressful situations, but I let it go for today. Things had been a little bleak around here ever since one of our fellow firefighters, Cody, had his record store torched by an arsonist, so it was good to see them all laughing.

Even with all the teasing and joking around, they still managed to ascend and descend like pros, though not without a few colorful curses when Ronda’s boot got stuck on a rung.

“You cuss like a sailor, Poloski,” Ford called out.

“That’s because I was a sailor, jackwagon.” She punctuated her statement with two middle fingers, and everyone laughed.

I ran them through that drill a few times, and then when I felt like they were warmed up, it was time for the fun to start.

“Okay, last drill of the day. Follow me.” They all trailed behind me into the bay where we parked the trucks. “Simon, Becca, you guys come join us for this one.”

They were the A shift’s paramedics. They’d been getting their ambulance detailed while we trained, but this was right up their alley.

Our station was a two-story building, and the bay had a railed walkway that went around the top that had been installed for training purposes. I pointed to the far corner of the railing where I’d staged our rescue dummy, formally known as Bob. Bob was sitting slumped over to the side.

“Bob is up there on top. He’s unconscious, and he’s waiting for you to rescue him.”

“Don’t be afraid, Bob, we’re coming after you,” Andy called out, and the guys all chuckled.

“Okay, crew,” I said. “Bob’s counting on you. Try not to drop him this time.”

“Drop a dummy on his head one time, and you never live it down,” Keith grumbled.

“Okay, guys. Two of you at a time, and I’m going to time you on this one.” I watched while they paired up.

“All right, Chief, we’re ready,” Robert said.

“Ready, set, go.” I blew the whistle and pressed the button on my stopwatch as Robert and Keith went first. They rushed up the series of steps that led to the top.

They made their way up smoothly, and Keith grabbed the dummy and headed back down. I pressed the button to stop the timer.

“Good job, guys. Who’s next?”

“We are, Chief,” Kevin said, motioning between himself and Ronda.

“Great. Probie, put Bob back in the corner.”

Andy sighed and picked up the dummy, tossed it over his shoulder, trudged back up the stairs, and flopped Bob back in his spot.

“I’ll be glad when this year is over,” he grumbled as he started to head back down.

“Aw, you’ll always be probie to me,” Ford called up, blowing him a kiss, and Andy flipped him off before he started down.

As soon as Andy was back on the ground, Kevin and Ronda lined up. I blew the whistle and started the timer as they ran for the steps. I watched as they took the steps two at a time, grabbed Bob up, and headed back down.

As soon as Bob hit the ground, I hit the button. “Great time, guys.”

All eyes turned to Andy, and he just sighed and rolled his eyes. “Nobody else move. I got him.” He picked Bob up and took him back up the steps, which made me chuckle. The life of a probie was hard.

“Okay, guys, you’re up.” I pointed at Simon and Becca.

As soon as he was back down the steps, Simon and Becca got ready to go. I blew the whistle and pressed the button on the stopwatch, as they ran for it. They were surprisingly quick, but not as fast as Kevin and Ronda.

“Okay, someone else take Bob up. We don’t want Andy to be too tired on his run,” I said, and Keith grabbed Bob up and ran him up to the top.

“Thank you, Daddy,” Andy said, batting his eyes at Keith.

“Keep that shit up, and I’ll tell Jesse,” Keith warned, and the guys all laughed, telling me I’d made the right choice in choosing drills for today. This was exactly what they needed.

“Okay, this is the last run, so let’s see what you two got.”

Like before, I blew the whistle, and they ran for it. They were both surprisingly fast, but once they reached the top, Ford couldn’t help but put on a show. “Don’t worry, Bob! I’ll save you!” he shouted theatrically before hoisting the mannequin over his shoulder in the most exaggerated way possible and running down the stairs with Andy trailing him.

When he reached the bottom step, he lowered Bob to the ground, and I clicked the stopwatch. “Not bad guys. That was the best time of the day. Not fast enough to take the record, but not bad at all.”

“The record? There’s a record?” Ford asked. “Why didn’t I know about that? I want the record. Who set it? Who do I have to beat?”

Robert laughed and pointed at me.

“No way.”

“Yes, way, and I can still kick your butt, but not today. Time’s up, and I have a meeting to get ready for. You guys get everything put away.”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Robert said, and I left them in the bay to go about their daily work.

I sat down at my desk and opened up the folder Fox had shared with me that had everything they’d collected so far on the serial arsonist who seemed to have it out for the 69. So far, we’d managed to keep the fact that he was targeting our station out of the news. We didn’t know what his motivation was, but until we did, we didn’t want people making assumptions.

It was true we were the most diverse station in town, with a mix of ethnicities, genders, and sexual orientations, and it was possible that was the reason he’d targeted us. But it was also possible none of these things had anything to do with it at all, and until we knew the truth, it was best to keep that under wraps.

Unfortunately, what we knew about the guy was limited. We had an approximate height and knew he wore gloves, a hoodie, and sneakers. That was basically it. Well, that and the fact that he was targeting Station 69.

I’d just finished looking over all the material in the folder when there was a knock on the door, and Christopher Ross, the city’s fire chief and my boss, opened the door.

“Hey, Sam. How’s it going?”

“Good, Chris, thanks for coming.”

“Sure thing. Fox is right behind me. He stopped to speak to Keith Brooks on our way in.”

“I hope we catch this guy soon. Everyone’s on edge. We have eight people on per shift, with four shifts, so that means thirty-two people are at risk.”

“I hear you. Fox is on this full-time now, and he’s doing everything he can to find this guy.”

A second later, I heard voices in the hall, and then Fox walked in. “Hey.” He dropped into the chair next to Chief Ross.

“Thanks for coming by. I’m assuming you don’t have any new information.”

“No, all I have is official confirmation that the fire at the record store is the same guy who’s been setting fires in empty buildings, including the one where Keith was injured, but we knew that.”

I sighed. “I figured if you had anything, you would let us know. What I really wanted to talk to y’all about is what we can do to protect our people.”

“I think the best thing we can do is encourage them to get additional video surveillance of their homes and businesses,” Fox said. “I don’t know if it’s really necessary since, so far, he hasn’t targeted anyone’s home. He hit empty buildings in your area, Andy’s car, and Cody’s shop, but I say better safe than sorry.”

“I agree with that.” I handed them both a folder I’d prepared for them. “Naturally, everyone’s free to choose their own protection, but a friend of mine is one of the owners of Three Bears Tactical Services here in town, and he’s put together a plan to help out.”

Christopher opened up the folder and looked at the proposal. “This is very generous of them.”

“His father was Thomas Hawkins,” I said.

“Ah.” Christopher sighed. “That makes sense then.” Thomas Hawkins had been a firefighter here in Vesper for years until he was killed trying to rescue a baby that was sleeping in an upstairs bedroom back in the early 90s. “His father was a hero, and we hated to lose him.”

“This is a good plan,” Fox said. “This, plus a reminder for everyone to be vigilant. He hasn’t killed anyone yet, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.”

“We should encourage all of our firefighters to make sure they have a family evacuation plan and that they go over it with their families. I don’t want to scare anyone, but they need to be prepared,” Christopher suggested.

“I’ll remind them to do that,” I assured him.

“Okay, I’ll update the mayor. He’s already told me he’s going to increase patrols in your coverage area. I know he’s on board with doing what he can to help. So if you need anything, just let me know.”

“We will,” Fox nodded. “This guy’s bound to screw up sooner or later.”

“I hope so. I was wondering if I should suggest that my son, Steven, consider getting some security, as well. I don’t know if it’s necessary, but I’d feel better if he did,” Samuel said.

“It probably wouldn’t hurt,” Fox said. “I’m not even an official part of Station sixty-nine, but I’m going to talk to my family about it.”

“Sounds like we have a plan. I’ll get with all my captains, and we’ll get this information out to everyone.”