The Fire Inside (29 page)

Olive brightened a bit. “I have an idea. Why
don’t you all come over to my house? About four. After we’re done
here, classes are canceled, and you should catch some sleep. But
we’ll get together off campus and just be with each other.”

Every single one of them agreed to come.

Jack stood. “I’m headed out to be with the
Callahans at the hospital.” He surveyed the class. “I’m proud of
your maturity here. Thanks for rising to the occasion.”

Because she couldn’t leave, Tess said aloud,
“Dr. Harrison?”

He shot her a surprised look. “Yes,
Captain.”

“Remember what Mauro said. You should be with
your colleagues, too.”

“Point taken.”

He walked out, and Tess turned back to the
recruits. They needed her now, as did Jack, but only these kids
knew it.

Jack held Eve’s hand and placed his other one
on Ian’s shoulder. Lisel clutched her husband’s arm when the doctor
told them Noah might never recover. These people were strong, had
dealt with tragedy, but this…

Instead of bursting into tears, Eve dropped
onto a chair. Silent tears coursed down her cheeks. It was more
heartbreaking than a fit would have been. Ian, who loved Noah like
a brother, struggled to stay calm for his twin. But he swallowed
hard and bit the inside of his jaw. The pall that settled over the
room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Jack turned to the doctor. “Is the diagnosis
because he hasn’t woken up?”

“That, and his vitals are erratic.” The
doctor leaned in closer. “We already had to revive him once.”

“It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours.”
Eve’s voice was raw.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Callahan. But I think you
should be prepared. I don’t believe he’s going to make it through
the day.”

Now Eve started to cry in earnest. Drawing
her up, Jack held her to his chest. She felt slight as she clung to
his shirt and sobbed into it. This was going to get worse before it
got better, so best she get rid of some of the emotion stuck inside
her. The doctor waited until she calmed.

Eve drew back and scrubbed her cheeks. “I
want to see him.”

“I’ll show you back.”

“Want me to come, Evie?” Ian asked.


“Not yet, if that’s okay.”

“Of course it is.”

On shaky legs, she crossed to the entrance to
the ER and went in to see Noah alone.

Ian stared blankly after her. Lisel gripped
his hand. She wasn’t crying, and Jack knew she was holding back for
her husband.

He’d try a stab at comfort. “I’m so sorry,
Ian.”

“I can’t believe it.” His voice was hoarse
and hollow. “I wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for him.”

Dropping down on the chair Eve had vacated,
he came level with Ian. The bleak look in his friend’s gray eyes
was familiar. “You talked about that in our PTSD group.” Jack
remembered the horror of Ian’s confessions.

“I was suicidal and he was instrumental in my
recovery.” Ian shook his head. “He kicked my butt six ways to
Sunday to get me to the Academy.”

“He’s helped a lot of people.” Jack thought
back to Noah’s accomplishments: Hale’s Haven which, without his
support, would never have flourished. Promoting women. Handling the
bad seeds like Ed Snyder, who’d been a blight on the department
even before the guy turned into an arsonist.

When Jack started to recall the hours he and
Noah had spent together professionally and personally, he had to
battle back his own grief.

“Jack?” He looked at Ian. “Your phone’s
ringing.”

Fishing the cell out of his pocket, Jack
checked the caller ID. “Hello, Nancy.” Noah’s secretary.

“I’m sorry to bother you at the hospital, but
people have been coming to me all morning. Everybody’s upset.
Terrified, really. And they want to know how Noah is, when
you’ll
be back…”

“I’m not sure. I’m at the hospital with the
chief’s family.”

“Jack?” Ian again.


“Hold on a second, Nancy.”

“You can go to the office. I imagine you’re
in demand right now.”

“I should check in.” He told Nancy he’d be
there soon. To Ian, he promised, “I’ll be back.” Just as Jack
stood, Mitch and Megan came through the waiting room door.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he asked
Mitch. The man’s shoulder was in a sling and he was pale. He’d been
gravely injured, too.

“It’s bad, isn’t it? With Noah.”

Time for the truth. “Yes, Mitch, it is.”

Mitch stepped aside to reveal Noah’s adult
daughter, Valerie, his granddaughter, Abby, and…oh my God,
seven-year-old Iana.

Jack almost lost it at the sight of Noah’s
family. They’d say good-bye to him today.

o0o

Limp and exhausted, Tess blew out a heavy
breath when the recruit session ended and the kids filed out the
door. They’d poured their hearts out, and the morning had been
draining. Word had come down that Noah might not make it through
the day—and the cloud of doom over all of them intensified.

“See you later,” Olive told her hoarsely.

Bedraggled and drained, they both still wore
their sweaty shirts and shorts. Tess could see Olive was barely
holding it together as she walked out the classroom door. These
people who’d known Noah for years were suffering. Since she was an
outsider, who hadn’t known Noah well, she vowed to try to make
things easier on the rest of them.

While Tess was still seated, staring out at
the sunny day, Danny came back inside. “Captain Righetti? You
okay?”

“As much as I can be.”

“Is it all right if I come to the gathering
at Chief Hennessey’s today?”

“We’d all like that.”

“I’m so sorry about the chief.”

Tess could only nod. Danny squeezed her arm
and left.

Minutes later, she went in search of Olive.
She found her looking through the window of her office. Her back
impossibly stiff, the battalion chief had wrapped her arms around
her waist. Tess thought of Jack and his similar stance this
morning.

“Olive?”

The woman shook her head. “Please, give me
some time.”

Tess was torn about pushing this. So she
crossed the room and placed her hand on Olive’s shoulder. “It’s
okay. You might be better off if you let go.”

Olive shook her head. “I can’t. Later. Not
yet.”

Still torn, she walked away, letting the
strong, brave woman, who’d fought like hell to get where she was,
deal with this tragedy in her own way.

o0o

The halls of the Academy were deadly silent,
broken only by phones ringing. Jack had spent most of the day with
people who were already mourning Noah’s death. Now he was headed to
Noah’s office area to console more staff who loved the chief.

When he reached the area, Noah’s secretary
looked up. Her eyes were swollen, her nose red and runny. “Thanks
for coming, Doc.”

“How are you holding up?”

She shook her head.

“Could you get everybody together in the
conference room? I want to give them a chance to vent.”

“It’ll be horrible. But welcomed.” Her voice
cracked on the last word. She’d worked for Noah for his whole stint
as chief.

Once the staff had gathered, Jack went into
psychologist mode and comforted them as best he could, but the pain
in his gut almost leveled him. When the meeting ended, he headed
out the door to return to the hospital.

o0o

Tess was walking to her car when she noticed
Jack come out of the Academy. She waited until he caught up to her.
What she saw on his face made her want to weep. “You’re a wreck,
aren’t you?”

His gaze sought hers, and he gestured to the
building behind them. “So many people in so much pain.”

“In addition to your own. He’s been your
friend for decades.”

“Fuck.” His eyes welled, and he looked to the
heavens. “I’ve got to be strong, I…” He didn’t finish.

“You
do
have to be strong, Jack. But
not right this minute. Come on, get into my car with me.”

The fact that he didn’t object told Tess he
was barely holding it together. She clicked open the vehicle, and
he got in the passenger side. She closed the door, circled the car
and slid behind the wheel.

His fists were white-knuckled. His head back,
his eyes were shut. He was a man on the edge.

She put her hands on his shoulders and tugged
him around. He went into her arms in an awkward embrace over the
gearshift.

When she clasped his neck to keep him close,
Jack came apart.

o0o

Danny went home to rest and change his
clothes. In his room, he found his mother seated on the bed, a pile
of shirts in her lap.

“Mom, I told you not to do my laundry. You’re
not a maid.”

She didn’t pick up on the humor, so he
crossed to her. And saw she was holding a paper. Her hands trembled
a bit.

“What’s that?”

“Your acceptance to Notre Dame.” She looked
up at him. “Honey, why didn’t you tell us you applied to a
college?”

Before his talk with Captain Righetti, he
would have lied. Instead, he knelt down in front of her and grasped
hands that had guided him through childhood and adolescence. “I
haven’t been honest with you.”

“I know something’s wrong. So does Dad. You
haven’t been yourself these past weeks.” Holding up the paper, she
asked, “It’s about this, isn’t it?”

Danny nodded. “I wanted to go to
college.”

“Why didn’t you? The letter says you got a
scholarship. A full scholarship. So it couldn’t have been the
money.”

Captain Righetti’s words echoed in his head.
You have to be honest with them, Danny. And if they don’t
support you, you’ll have to be strong.

“I was afraid of disappointing Dad and the
guys.”

“By not wanting to be a firefighter?”

He nodded.

“Oh, honey. Even if that’s true, they’ll get
over it. They want you to be happy. Dad’s noticed your mood, too.
He worried that you weren’t doing well at the Fire Academy.”

Danny felt his eyes sting… It had been an
emotional day anyway, and now this. He wished he’d talked to her
before and spared everybody the grief he’d caused them.

You know, you can make up for your
mistakes,
Captain Righetti also said yesterday.

He thought of Chief Callahan dying in the
hospital right now. But Danny still had time to fix things. “Then I
made a mistake. But I can change this, Mom.”

Standing, she pulled him up. “Yes, you can,
buddy. Now give me hug and we’ll talk about how.”

o0o

Dressed in her best tie-dyed skirt and a
white top, Anita Cruz rang the bell of Chief Hennessey’s house; one
of the recruits pulled open the door. Danny Mauro. He looked
different.

She said, “Hey.” The foyer was empty behind
him, but she could hear talk off to the side.

Danny stared at the child she was holding.
“Who’s this?” He didn’t sound sarcastic.

“My daughter, Charlotte.”

“You got a kid?”

Anita nodded, waiting for an attack.

“Come on in. Holy cow, we didn’t know.”

“I kept it a secret.”

When she stepped inside, a few of the other
recruits came out to the foyer.

Anita held Charlotte up straight. She was
done hiding things, being afraid. “The baby’s mine.”

“Well, hell.” Murphy rummaged his way through
the others to get to her and reached out his arms. “Let me hold
her. Hi, baby. What’s your name?” He frowned at Anita. “And what
were you doin’ keeping this little miracle a secret?”

Relieved, Anita smiled at his easy
acceptance. “I was… I don’t know. I guess we all have secrets.” Her
gaze narrowed on them. “I brought her today because I’m revealing
mine. And I wanna know all yours.”

Murphy wiggled his brows. “Not sure you do,
but let’s go tell everybody.”

“Can I get you a drink?” Danny asked.

“Yeah, sure, ice tea.”

After each recruit had a chance to coo over
the baby, Captain Righetti joined them. Anita asked her, “Any word
on Chief Callahan?”

“None. Dr. Harrison said he’d call us if
there was.”

Anita saw the shadows in the woman’s eyes.
The unnatural way she held herself. Impulsively, she gave the
captain a hug.

And was surprised when the captain hugged
back. Hard.

o0o

Jack watched his friends wait for the
devastating news. Thank God, he’d let down with Tess. He wouldn’t
have been able to handle the next few hours any other way. He was
missing the recruits get-together at Olive’s, but he couldn’t leave
these people. Olive had stopped by, spent some time with Eve, then
gone home to get ready for the gathering.

Firefighters packed the downstairs lobby,
waiting for the verdict on their beloved boss. Up here, the family
talked quietly with each other and the Malvasos, who’d gathered
along with Will Rossettie. Right now, Mitch held Eve’s hand. While
Lisel stood by, Ian cuddled his niece Iana on his lap. She sensed
the somber surroundings.

Will got up and headed toward Jack. He nodded
to Eve. “She’s so strong,” he said.

“I know she is. Eve and her brother have been
through a lot.” He studied Will’s face. “What about you?”

Rossettie’s eyes moistened. “I can’t believe
I’m gonna lose my bud-dy.” He barely got the last word out.

Jack clapped him on the shoulder. Physical
contact helped at a time like this. “I understand, Will. I
understand.”

The others approached him…

Jenn Malvaso. “Hell, Jack, this is
awful.”

Mitch. “How you holding up?”

To which Jack replied, “Forget me. Go lie
down on the couch.”

Zach. “Man, I love the guy.” Previously,
they’d been at odds. In his old life, Zach had an affair with
Noah’s wife.

When Iana started to squirm on her uncle’s
lap, Jack crossed to them. Crouching in front of the little girl,
he noticed her eyes were the same color as her dad’s and her dark
blond hair curled a bit, like his. “How you doing, sweetheart?”