America's Bravest (8 page)

“I have no idea.” Rachel looked to the rest
of them. “Nobody posted anything about the party on Facebook, did
they?”

They hadn’t. They knew better.

“She musta been spying on us.” Tony ran his
hand through his hair. “Sorry about this guys. It was my shindig
and we shouldn’t have been in a public place.”

Rachel straightened. “We weren’t. The party
was at my
home
, Tony.” Her blood pressure spiked at the
thought. “That woman had no right to invade our privacy. She must
have taken pictures from the lake.”

Pacing now, Felicia finally said, “Well, we
can’t let this go unanswered.”

“Yes, we can.” Gabe stood in the doorway, his
face like thunderclouds.

“What do you mean, Cap?” Syd asked.

“If we fight back, it will only give her more
ammunition.” He crossed to them. “Listen to me, all of you. We did
nothing wrong by having a good time on our day off. My guess is
Allen’s pissed about the women’s new blog. It hit her pretty hard.”
His features were set in stern, hard lines. “We use that to fight
her. I got an idea. I want some time on the new site. I’ll post
about our schedule, our days off, even our downtime and how we’re
entitled to
that
.” He pointed to the computer.

“Hey, maybe we can have a ‘Captain’s Corner’
once in a while.” This from Felicia. “You can give the boring
details of our existence.”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Rachel put
in.

“Holy hell.” This from Brody again who was
scrolling down Allen’s site.

“What now?” Gabe asked.

“There’s more pictures.”

Gabe peered over Brody’s shoulder. “Those
weren’t taken at the picnic.”

“Um, no. They’re from Saturday night.”

“Hell,” Felicia said. “I knew I shouldn’t
have gone to that damn club.”

“Jesus.” Gabe’s voice raised a notch. “It’s
the four of you, Ryan and another woman dancing.”

Brody flushed. “We, um, went out to dinner
then to a local hot spot in Camden Cove.”

“You and Wellington?”

Brody’s face reddened. “No, I’d never date a
group member! Nothing but trouble in that. Me and Wellington’s
sister. Ryan took Rachel.”

Tension was back in Gabe’s shoulders and his
hands fisted. “Oh, great. Just great.”

Syd put in, “Hey, at least we look good.”

Gabe stared at the screen, then his gaze flew
to Rachel’s. She froze at the fire in it. After a moment, he turned
and stalked out.

“What was that all about?” Sydney asked,
offended.

“Guess the blog’s getting to him, too.”

It was more than the blog. Rachel knew what
she saw in his eyes, and she wasn’t happy about it. Man, wasn’t
this going to get any easier?

One of the reasons Gabe was a good officer
was because he had a sixth sense about the people who worked for
him. And after yesterday, Rachel admitted tension was building
among the group and not just between her and Gabe. So, she wasn’t
surprised when the crew arrived the next day that Gabe greeted them
warmly but directly. The Quint and Midi were out so they were
alone.

“Good morning, everybody. Get coffee. Sit.
Help yourself to the donuts I brought in.” The scent of the strong
morning brew and the pastries made Rachel’s stomach growl. “Then we
need to talk.”

Rachel wondered what their captain was up to.
But she avoided his gaze and he ignored her. Sitting next to
Felicia, she took the gooiest, custard-filled pastry in the box and
bit into it. The others followed suit, then they all looked to
Gabe.

“I was in a foul mood yesterday for a
shitload of reasons.” He scanned the five of them, focusing for an
extra minute on Rachel. “So were some of you. We all bring personal
conflicts to work, and all of us, me included, need to remind
ourselves to leave them at the door. I think problems get
heightened when there are other kinds of tension around us. The
danger we face. Victims we don’t save. Those things we can’t do
anything about. But we can address our own stresses and those from
Parker Allen.” He tossed Rachel a warm smile. “I think you said it
first, Wellington. No bad days.”

Rumbles of agreement.

“I want to reiterate what I said about Allen
yesterday. We keep at our goal of counteracting her through the
blog.” He smiled at Felicia and Rachel’s heart did a flip-flop.
“Thanks, Licia for giving us a mechanism to fight back with. I
wrote a great blog about us last night.”

“You’re right,” Ramirez agreed. “We gotta
stick together.”

Others nodded.

“I’m glad you all agree. So, today, to put us
all in a good mood right off, we’re starting with the Joke
Jar.”

Groans from the women. Each group in the
station house had their own traditions, like Mitch Malvaso’s crew,
who, when things got tough, told old firefighter stories of past
saves, or ones that had been floating around the department for a
long time. Mitch had started the ritual with his kids, and it had
spilled over into the firehouse. Rachel had heard the story of the
origin of Gabe’s Joke Jar.

Years ago, when Gabe became captain, he
decided the firehouse needed lightening up. They had a series of
injuries and more losses that year than any other. Gabe instituted
the jar for everybody to bring in firefighter jokes, and when the
group was particularly down or when they plain wanted to have fun,
they’d read some aloud. Over the years, the game transformed into
putting in a dollar with each joke entered, and every time jokes
were read, they’d all vote on the best one. Whoever put in the one
chosen got the cash. Some of the guys brought in sexist jokes,
which the women pretended to be outraged about.

“It’s a little early for juvenile male humor,
isn’t it?” Felicia asked, donning a fake grumpy facade.

“We have to live in the present, appreciate
things more, Licia. That’s what we’re gonna do today. We’ll start
off this way, then I got a surprise for you for lunch. Maybe we can
leave here in a good mood for a change.”

Gabe passed around the big jar Sydney had
decorated with flowers and rainbows. Each person took a slip of
paper.

“I’ll start.” Gabe quietly read his joke.
“The captain said to the rookie, ‘How can one person make so many
mistakes, probie?’ The firefighter gave him a big grin. ‘I get up
early!’”

Tony poked Sydney in the ribs. “One on you,
bonita
.

Her eyes narrowed. “Fine. ’Cause I got a male
one. An older firefighter was schmoozing a new woman in the
department at the Fireman’s Ball. He said, ‘Where have you been all
my life, darling?’ The pretty young firefighter drawled, ‘I wasn’t
born for half of it.’” Sydney was grinning when she finished.

“She gotcha, guys.” Tony perused his paper
silently “Aw, crap…”

“Read it,
bombero
.”

“Okay, but I don’t agree with it.” He
continued, “A firefighter approached the eighteenth tee. ‘I’m
really eager to hit this shot. That’s my mother-in-law in the
clubhouse porch watching.’

“‘Hell,’ the captain playing with him said.
‘You can’t hit her from here. It’s over two hundred yards
away.’”

Brody guffawed. “Ryan would love that
one.”

Felicia rolled her eyes. “Spoken by one of
the twin Peter Pans who’ll never grow up.”

“Here’s one for you, Licia,” Brody retorted.
“Did you hear about the female EMT who is so conceited she takes a
victim’s pulse then subtracts ten beats for her effect on
them?”

Gabe jumped in again. “I’m gonna read one for
Cal, since he’s busy this morning.”

“No fair,” Rachel whined, teasing.

“Hush, Wellington,” Gabe said. “A blond,
female firefighter visited the doctor and said ‘Every time I have a
cup of coffee, I get a stabbing pain in my eye.’ The doctor fixed
her a cup. ‘Here, show me.’ After the demonstration, he said, ‘Take
the spoon out of the cup first.’”

“That’s stupid.” This from steel-blond
Rachel. “And insulting.”

Brody shrugged. “If the shoe fits,
Wellington.”

Felicia grinned evilly after she scanned
hers. “A sign on the wall of the shower room in a firehouse reads,
‘A firefighter’s wife’s definition of retirement: Twice as much
husband, half as much money.’ Not a good deal, I’d say.”

Rachel could see that the jokes, stupid
though they were, had indeed put them all in a good mood. The joke
about the blonde won, of course, four to two, with Gabe voting for
Cal. It had been turned in by Brody, so he got the money. But the
exercise worked its charm.

When the call came for a flooded basement, a
really crappy job, they approached it in a good mood. Even Rachel,
who’d reveled in the laughter and smiles on Gabe’s face. He’d been
right, they needed this lightheartedness.

oOo

All the while he fixed lunch, Gabe kept
picturing Rachel’s face this morning. She had a beautiful smile,
one he hadn’t seen much of lately. And she’d teased him, warmth
emanating from her dark eyes. “Argh….”

Brody entered the kitchen, disrupting his
thoughts. “Hey, no bad days, Cap.”

“I know. It snuck up on me.” Like she always
did.

“Gabe, is it okay if I invite Ryan over for
lunch? He loves turkey.”

“Sure. I invited Mitch, and Tony asked
Sophia, but she has surgery.” Tony’s wife was a surgical pediatric
nurse.

Mention of Ryan made Gabe picture Rachel in
the short dress she’d had on in the photos, being dipped by the guy
on the dance floor last week. Gabe had gone online to look at the
pictures again after work that night. He’d stared at them until
he’d gotten aroused by the sight of those slim legs and toned body.
At least he hadn’t printed out the photos.

“Brody, can I ask you something serious?”

“Sure.”

“No harm intended, but is Ryan interested in
Wellington? I’d hate to see her get hurt.”

Brody plucked a piece of celery from the
mound Gabe had cut for stuffing. “Nah. He’s not ready to settle
down, and he won’t, what’s the word,
trifle
with a
firefighter in the group. We were all bored, so we made plans to
get together.” He chewed on the stalk. “Besides, he said she was
preoccupied with some other guy and even he couldn’t charm her out
of her mood.”

“Is that so?”
Hoo-rah!
“Um, set the
table will you?”

Brody asked as he got out plates, “Are you
worried about Wellington?”

“Not her specifically.”
Liar.
“
Unrequited love wreaks havoc on station house life.” He
should know, only his feelings weren’t exactly spurned. He could
still remember how she responded to his touch.

By one o’clock, after another short call
while the bird cooked, Gabe’s group as well as the members of the
Quint and Midi sat at the table with succulent turkey, spicy
stuffing and tart cranberry sauce in front of them. Cal came in and
Gabe waited for him to get his plate.

“Geez,” Sydney said, staring at the feast, “I
hope we don’t get a call. I’ve been smelling this all morning and
I’m famished.”

Cal shot Mitch a glance. Gabe didn’t get why.
“We won’t,” Mitch said, forking some turkey onto his plate. “Cal
got the chief to take you out of service for an hour.”

“Super. What’s the occasion?” Felicia
asked.

Cal lifted his ice tea. “To a job well-done
in all our calls.” Then he murmured. “And for handling the piranha
out to get us.”

Sydney smiled. “Parker the Piranha. It has a
nice ring to it.”

They ate, and when Mitch finished, he lazed
back in his chair. “Hey, cuz, you ever tell them about the pop-up
turkey pin thing that happened to us in our rookie year?”

Both Gabe and Mitch had served a few years in
the FDNY together. When 9/11 happened, they’d moved out here but
stayed friends with the city guys.

“No, you tell them.”

Mitch stood, crossed to the stove and got the
little button thing off the turkey, then sat back down. “When we
were green and on the line in New York, one of the battalion chiefs
came in to talk to the rookies. I don’t know where he got these,
but he gave each of us an un-popped turkey button. He described how
the things popped in turkeys when the internal temperature hit
three hundred and fifty degrees. He told us to put them all in the
bands on the inside of our helmets and after the next fire we went
into, to check them.”

Gabe grinned. “Anybody got a guess to what
happened?”

“The fuckers popped, right?” Ryan shook his
head and threw his twin a look. “Hell, bro, you work in three
hundred and fifty degree heat? Unbelievable.”

Mitch said, “Anytime people like Allen start
to give you shit, remember what we really do.”

“Want to write a blog on that story, Chief
Malvaso?” Felicia asked.

Mitch’s smile was broad. “Yeah, I can do
that. I’ll get points with my wife for it.”

Gabe glanced around the table. His crew was
all relaxed. Then his gaze snagged on Rachel. She was talking
quietly with Sydney. Her features had softened. She caught him
looking at her and gave him a private smile. “Thanks,” she
mouthed.

“You’re welcome.”

Damn it to hell, he longed to put that smile
on her face again but for very different reasons.

oOo

Rachel didn’t know what was worse, fighting
with Gabe or having fun with him. The jokes and the turkey
yesterday had soothed tempers and put everybody in a good mood. The
mellow mood only made her want him more.

The next morning, a call came in at seven
o’clock. “Rescue 7, an incident on Granger Drive. Male, fifty-five,
needs medical attention. Extrication equipment needed. Specific
details are unavailable.”

The team hurried out, got on the truck and
sped to the scene. When they arrived at a two-storey home on the
outskirts of the city, they entered the back bedroom as a group.
Gabe went in first, with Brody at his side. They stopped short, so
Felicia, Tony, Sydney and Rachel bumped into their backs.