Rekindle The Flames (The Men of CLE-FD Book 4) (4 page)

Chapter Five

Ryan threw his helmet on the ground and sat on the bumper
of the fire engine, he had made a major mistake for the first time as a
firefighter.  His personal life was affecting his job and he was becoming
completely unhinged.  His mind was drifting while working and that put him and
the others around him in jeopardy. 

Ryan coughed and the taste of smoke filled his mouth. 
Wiping sweat from his forehead, he looked at the plumes of white smoke drifting
from the house that was entirely engulfed in flames minutes ago.  He missed a
victim lying unconscious on the floor.  If Nick hadn’t searched the room again,
the man would be dead.

Nick joined him at the fire truck and handed him a bottle
of water. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, but I fucked up,” he muttered after taking a sip of
water. “I’m sure I’ll get my ass chewed out by the Chief.”

“Yeah, he will go off.  You know you’re too far along to
make these kinds of mistakes, Ryan.  I know you have personal issues going on
but when you’re on the job, we need you to focus.  If you can’t do that right
now, maybe you should request a leave of absence.”

“I’m not making excuses for my screw-up, Nick.  I’ll take
whatever punishment I have to come because I deserve it. But, I don’t want to
take any time off.  Once my divorce is final, I’ll be good to go.”

“Man, I’m sorry to hear you’re going forward with that. 
If there is anything Lincoln and I can do just let me know. Personally, I feel
Megan is making a mistake.  You’re a good guy.  You think fast and give 100% of
your attention to the job.”

Ryan shook his head. “Not today I didn’t.  It won’t happen
again, though; I promise you that.”

“We sometimes slip, so don’t beat yourself up about it,”
Nick said patting Ryan on the back.  “The Chief will talk to Jon first and
he’ll decide how to handle it.  It is your first mistake so he’ll go easy on
you with a warning.”

“No, I don’t want him to go easy on me,” Ryan said putting
his helmet on.  It had to be 90-degrees outside and extremely stuffy with the
high humidity.  The turnout gear he wore and the heat inside the burning home
increased his body temperature even more.  He felt dehydrated and weak, but
that wasn’t an excuse for his bad performance.  He knew the cause and had to
find a way to separate it.

It didn’t help that Megan was still staying at the house.
On his days off he kept busy by cleaning the yard or working out in the
garage.  Megan stayed away from home until late most nights also.  It bothered
him that he didn’t know where she was or who she was with.  They barely spoke
to each other in passing and he didn’t feel it was his right to ask her where
she was going and with whom, whenever she left the house.

Back at the firehouse Ryan cleaned up and put on a fresh
uniform.  Jon entered the locker room. When you’re done come to the Chief’s
office.”

The hair on the back of Ryan’s neck stood up, but he
didn’t let the nervousness show.  He tucked his shirt in his pants and nodded,
“I’ll be there in a second.”

He closed the locker and snapped the lock together.  This
could be his last day as a firefighter.  Megan would get her wish after all and
probably want to call off the divorce since the threat of danger would be gone.
That would solve her problem but what about his?  He could teach again.  He
would have to take the State test to renew his license, but that would be a
last option if he couldn’t find a job doing something else that didn’t involve
working with teenagers.

Ryan leaned his hand against the locker and held down his
head.  He didn’t want to do anything else.  He could almost attest that the
curse that haunted the Tisdale family was out to ruin him.  First his teaching
career, then his marriage and now this. He banged his fist on the locker and
walked away.

After a brief consultation with the Chief before Jon
joined them, he felt better knowing the mishap was not entirely his fault, but
still took responsibility for not being more thorough in searching the house.

Ryan stood next to Jon as the Chief sat behind his desk. 
“Ryan, I asked Jon to join us because you’re tenure as a cadet is over.  You
are now a full-fledged firefighter.”

Ryan’s grin spread across his face. “I thought I had at
least a month left.”

“Because of the dedication and outstanding quality of work
you have provided to CLE-FD, you exceeded at every level of training.  So much
so, instead of assigning you to Ladder 30 how would you like to be part of the
Heavy Rescue Squad?”

The rescue company is one of the most versatile and
highest trained companies in the fire service. Its duties range from everyday
normal operations and vehicle extrications to more complex confined space,
building collapse, and water rescue responses. The members traditionally on this
unit consist of highly trained veterans with an extensive training background
and have seen a fair number of fires. They concentrate their technical training
in building construction, confined space, rope and rigging, water rescue
operations, vehicle rescues, and rapid intervention. The CLE-FD rescue
companies are the workhorses of the department.  He would be proud to be a part
of this specialized team with the little experience he had. He had to get his
act together before reporting. With one mistake already made under his belt,
there was no room for mistakes with this assignment.

Ryan’s knees buckled under him, but he managed to remain
standing. “Seriously? Wow, I was expecting to lose my job today; not to get
promoted to a specialized unit.  This is awesome!”

Jon nudged him on the arm. “Does that mean you want it or
do you want to be on the ladder instead?”

“Hell, yeah I’ll take it! I mean yes, Sir, I want it,” he
corrected quickly and Jon and the Chief laughed.

The Chief stood up and took a red helmet from the shelf
and handed it to him.  “Here is your helmet and you’ll report to Otto from now
on.”  He turned to Jon and said. “Jon, you did a great job training him but
since you two are related, I believe it is best he doesn’t work under your
command.”

“Thanks, Chief.”  The Chief left the room and Jon extended
his hand to Ryan. “Congratulations, Ryan; you’ve earned this promotion.  We’ll
continue work together and you know Otto is an excellent Lieutenant and you can
trust him.  And he can also teach you how to ballroom dance if you ever need to
learn to do that,” Jon joked.

Ryan clapped his hands together. “This is fantastic and
I’m excited to get started with these guys.  I can’t wait to tell…”  He stopped
mid-sentence.  He had no one to tell.

“Come on, Ryan.  You can tell Megan you got promoted. 
You’re still in the same house together.”

“She is not going to be happy about this, Jon.  I’m
waiting for her attorney to contact me about the divorce.”

“All right, this is crazy.  How can two people that love
each other give up so easily?  Take charge of your marriage and sit her ass
down and make her listen to you.”

“Too late for that.  I think she might be seeing a guy. 
She’s gone all the time or closed up in the bedroom when I get home.”

“Do you have any idea who she is seeing?”

He shook his head. “No.  I don’t want to ask Gabby or
Pam.  I don’t want them to betray her if she’s said anything to them.”

Nick tapped on the door before opening it. “Hey, Ryan, you
got a visitor waiting to see you.”

Ryan raised his brow.  “Wonder who it is?”

“Let’s go find out.  You know this house is known for its
drama; seems like you’re up next,” Jon said laughing.

Ryan and Jon entered the common area to find a
well-dressed man standing against the wall while the rest of the firefighters
in the room ignored him.  Ryan walked over to him. “You want to see me?”

The man gave a curt smile. “Mr. Tisdale?”

“That’s me,” Ryan answered.

“My name is Emin Grigorian.  I’m a friend of Megan’s—your
wife.”

Ryan crossed his arms revealing the bulge of muscles that
made up his strong arms. “I know who she is. What do you want?” he asked
harshly.

Emin took a step back to put room between them.  Ryan
Tisdale’s height and bulk made him appear to be an intimidating man. “Well, I
thought we could talk about Megan.  Megan and I have been friends since high
school.”

Ryan spoke louder as he interrupted Emin. “Again, what do
you want? Are you dating my wife?”

Jon walked away to join the other firefighters that were
now glued to the conversation taking place.  The Chief was even in the room but
didn’t say anything. Emin cleared his throat looking around at the seated men
that had quieted.  Not one female was present.  “Is there someplace we can talk
privately?”

“This is about as private as it’s going to get and that
might work to your advantage depending on what you have to say about my wife.”

“Look, I’m here because I care about Megan.  She is
hurting badly and I think you need to ease up on her.  If you agree to sign the
divorce papers today, I’ll take care of the process for free.  Why pay two
lawyers when I’m offering to do it for the both of you free of charge. My only
stipulation is that you give Megan whatever she wants.”

Jon and Nick stood up once they saw Ryan’s body go tense. 
He was boiling inside and it took all his restraint not to throttle the man’s
throat.  “Did Megan send you here?”

Emin stammered. “I-I…”

Ryan frowned and his lips thinned. “Did she specifically
ask you to come here to do this?  What is so hard about that question?”

“No, no she didn’t ask me to come here.  I took it upon
myself to help a friend.”

“You know what, FRIEND…you have a lot of fucking nerve
coming here to confront me.  Now, I’m not a violent person and I’m not
threatening you in any way, but I suggest you get in whatever you drove over
here in and leave before you’ll need an escort.”

“Mr. Tisdale, you are in fact posing a threat to me.  I’m
feeling a little intimated at the way you’re coming at me.  You’ve already been
through one tedious trial, I’m sure you don’t want to go through another one
for assault and battery.  You have a lot more to lose than a teaching job this
time around.”

Ryan’s face turned to stone. “Get out!”

“Why are you fighting this?  You both want the divorce and
face it I’m better suited for Megan anyhow.  She’ll have everything she could
ever want if she marries me.  She’ll be set for life.  You do want her happy,
don’t you?”

Jon and Nick were now standing on either side of Ryan.
“Just let it go, Ryan,” Nick said trying to drag Ryan away.

Ryan pulled his arm away and asked. “Is he for real?  Does
he realize I’ll stomp his midget ass into the ground and not give a damn?”

“He’s not worth catching a case over, Ryan; come out back
with me so you can cool off.”

Jon ushered Emin to the bay doors. “You need to go and
don’t come back here again.  If Megan hires you as her attorney, she can let
Ryan know herself.”

“I’m trying to help both of them,” Emin stated.

“By telling the man you’re better for his wife?  How is
that helping him?  As I see it, you were trying to push Ryan’s buttons and make
him attack you.  We weren’t going to let that happen.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with the brotherhood among firefighters
code; you all stick together.”

Jon chuckled. “In this case, we were protecting you.  See,
our EMT’s are out on a call and we don’t have the right equipment to treat
injuries from a beat down at the moment.”

“I don’t care for your humor.  I know my rights and this
is intimidation at best.”

Jon narrowed his eyes. “Huh, it seems you came here to
intimidate Ryan.  I don’t have a law degree, but you threw his past in his face
knowing that has nothing to do with his divorce.  You started this shit.  I’m
making sure you walk out of this firehouse under your own power and none of
your blood is on my floor.”

Emin fumbled in his briefcase for a notepad. “What is your
name? I want all of the names of the men that witnessed what happened.”

“Lieutenant Jonathon DiMinico.  And, if you’re cocky
enough to go back in there and get names, got for it.”  Jon shook his head as
Emin looked out the bay doors before stepping outside. He hurried to his car
and took off.  “Damn coward,” Jon mumbled.

*****

The house was dark when Ryan walked in and clicked on the
light.  Megan’s car wasn’t in the garage either.  He dropped his duffle bag on the
floor and sorted through the mail on the table thinking she was probably out
with Emin.  It took him a minute to remember that name, but it came back to him
that Emin was the boyfriend before him.  For 24-hours, he had to stew at work
with that on his mind.

As he dumped the junk mail in the trashcan, one piece
caught his attention.  He flipped over the card that had Megan’s name on it. 
He wasn’t actually invading her privacy since it was a postcard and not a
letter in an envelope. He frowned. “What the hell is this?”

The door opened and Megan walked in the house. “Oh, didn’t
know you would be home tonight.  How are you?”

“I’m fine.  What is this, Megan?” He asked in a stern
voice.

“What? I don’t know what you are talking about?”

“Look, I’ve had a bad day and I don’t need any bullshit
right now.  I’ve had time to calm down from your boyfriend visiting me
yesterday, I just want the straight truth about this,” he said shaking the
postcard in front of her.

“What boyfriend visited you? I’m not seeing anyone and
what are you shaking in my face?” She snatched it from his hand.  The look on
her face took a tumble.  It was where she registered at the baby warehouse when
she found out she was pregnant three years ago.  They were sending her
information on their new store location.  She swallowed. “It’s an advertisement
for a baby outlet store…what’s the big deal?”