ARSON: Part 2
by Charli911
Disclaimer: Emergency!" and its characters belong to © Mark VII Productions, Inc. All rights
Reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity to actual persons or events is purely coincidental.
I do not own the men and women of Emergency! and only use them here for the purposes of entertainment. No money is made and I hope the creators, writers and actors appreciate that they're creation still resonates with fans after all these years.
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CHAPTER 1
Chet Kelly had been quiet for most of the shift. He couldn't believe it. The arsonist that killed Jake was still alive. Alive! Damn it! It wasn't fair that Jake was dead and that…that son of a….damn it! Kelly was so mad, if the bastard had walked in the door, he would have been a dead man. Chet would have killed him. He figured that was only fair.
It had been a long time since Kelly had thought this much about Jake. It had taken him months to get over Jake's death, to put it behind him. And now, all those feelings were back. The shame, the helplessness…the guilt. Mostly the guilt. It had caused Kelly a lot of sleepless nights. Had almost cost him his job. He thought about quitting, fearful he wouldn't be able to go back into a burning building. But he had. It was who he was…who he is.
Johnny and Marco had both tried to talk to Chet, but he just brushed them off. Everyone was concerned for him, but didn't want to push him. They knew he was going to have to deal with this in his own way. Johnny figured when Chet was ready, he would seek out one of them to talk to—he'd done it before.
And Johnny was right. Chet found him while he was in the dorm, sweeping up.
"Hey, Gage," Kelly said as he sat down on one of the bunks.
Johnny stopped sweeping and gazed at his friend. He could tell that Chet was depressed, even a little confused. Gage set the broom aside and walked over to sit down across from Kelly.
"How you doing, Chet?" he asked, concerned.
"I'm okay," Chet answered. Johnny didn't respond, waiting for Kelly to continue. He watched as Kelly started to say something, then stopped. Chet was staring at the floor, trying to voice the emotions he was feeling.
Gage leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "What is it Chet? You've been quiet all day. Too quiet. The rest of us are starting to get worried."
Kelly looked up at Johnny and smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to make you guys feel bad. It's just that, the other day when we talked, the whole idea of that guy still being alive was kinda farfetched, ya know? It seemed like a bad dream. But you and Roy saw him, you identified him from the pictures in that book. It's not a bad dream anymore, Gage. I'm wide awake, but the nightmare just won't go away."
"You've been thinking a lot about Jake, haven't you?"
Chet just nodded, his eyes asking how Gage knew that.
"I've been thinking about Steve, too," Johnny said, answering the unspoken question. "About how I felt when the man who killed him was only given two years in jail. Two years for killing a man. He's out of jail now, getting on with his life. And I'm sure he's out driving his car again. But Steve is still dead and buried. I went to the guy's trial, sat there almost every day with Steve's sister and his folks. I kept watching the guy. I wanted to remember his face. These last few days, I've been thinking about what I'd do if I ever saw him again."
"And what did you decide?" Kelly wanted to know.
"That I wouldn't know until it actually happened," Gage said with a shrug. "I don't know what to tell you, Chet. The guy that killed Steve, he got drunk, and drove his car. He probably doesn't even remember the accident, ya know. But this guy, this arsonist, he's a whole different breed. He starts fires for the fun of it. He doesn't care if anybody dies. And the sad part is, he wanted to be a fireman. He could have been working in this very station."
"Yeah, I know. At least now we have the chance to do something about him. Johnny, you and Roy can put this guy away. When Marten finds him, you can testify that he was the one who started that fire the other night."
"It won't bring Jake back, Chet."
"No, maybe not, but at least you can get the guy off the street. Keep him from killing somebody else. I only wish I'd been there with you. Maybe between the two of us, we could have caught him."
"At least now we know who the guy is. And Marten wants this guy, Chet, almost as much as you do."
They heard footsteps then, and in a moment Roy walked in. "There you are, Johnny, I figured you'd be done by now…" Roy then saw Chet sitting there, and realized he'd interrupted something. "Sorry, guys. Ah, Johnny, when you get through we need to make a run to the hospital to get some supplies."
Chet jumped up from the bed, walking over to grab the broom Gage had earlier discarded.
"That's okay, Roy, we were done. Johnny, I'll finish up in here. You go ahead with Roy."
"Okay, Chet, thanks," Johnny said, amused, since Chet seldom volunteered to do anyone's chores for them. But, he figured Chet was embarrassed that Roy had come in when they had been talking so seriously. Johnny started to follow Roy out to the squad. He stopped and turned back when Chet spoke again.
"Johnny….thanks. Again." Chet looked away and began sweeping again. Johnny just nodded, turning back to see Roy watching him, curiously. Johnny just smiled and walked past Roy. DeSoto shook his head and followed his partner out of the room, still not quite sure what just happened.
/
The next week, as the crew was seated around the table eating dinner, Jack Marten entered the station. They exchanged greetings as Marten poured himself a cup of coffee, then sat down at the table with them. He declined Marco's offer of a bowl of chili. He sipped at the coffee as Roy asked him how the investigation was going.
Marten hesitated before answering him. "Actually, that's why I'm here. I don't know if you've heard, but we had another arson fire night before last."
"Anybody hurt?" asked Stanley.
"No, empty warehouse. But, there is a problem. A television reporter happened to be passing by when the units responded to this one. He overheard one of my investigators talking to the Chief. He's been doing some digging and got Beckman's name from arson reports from several years ago, including the one that killed Jacobs."
"So, why is that a problem, Jack?" asked Roy.
Marten looked over at DeSoto, then shifted his gaze to John Gage. "This reporter has a friend who works for the judge who signed the arrest warrant for Beckman. This friend gave him the information about two firemen who witnessed the suspect leaving the scene of one of the fires. He plans on airing the story tonight. And, I'm sorry to say, he plans on naming the two of you as the witnesses."
Roy and Johnny looked at each other, reading shock in each other's expressions.
Everyone at the table had stopped eating, surprised by Marten's pronouncement. Captain Stanley set his spoon down on the table, pushing the bowl away, having suddenly lost his appetite.
"So, what does this mean?" he asked Jack. "Is this going to put Johnny and Roy in danger?"
"I don't know, Hank. I just don't know. I've talked to the reporter. So has the Chief. We've even offered the guy an exclusive if he withholds their identities. All he would say is that he would 'think about it'. His report is supposed to air at six o'clock."
Everyone glanced at either the clock or their wristwatches. It was ten minutes until six. Stanley got up from his chair and walked over to turn on the television that sat on a table on the other side of the room. The others followed, gathering around the television.
As they waited for the news to begin, they talked to Marten about Beckman and the investigation. He gave them the rundown on what had been learned in the last week. They hadn't been able to get an address on the suspect, yet. At least, not a current one. But, they had learned where he had been living until about six months earlier.
They were working with the sheriff's department and several state government agencies trying to locate any kind of lead that would tell them where he might be now. The best news was that the lab had been able to get a partial print from one of the buckets that they had found in the building where Johnny and Roy had confronted the arsonist. And the print matched Beckman. There was no longer any doubt that Matthew Beckman was still alive.
The news began, and the recent arson fires was the top story. The men anxiously watched the screen, waiting for the reporter to get to the part about witnesses. Everyone held their breath when the reporter mentioned that two firefighters had interrupted the arsonist at the scene of a fire, but had been unable to catch and detain him. He stated that the witnesses had gotten a good enough look at the suspect to be able to identify him as Beckman. He didn't mention Roy and Johnny by name, however, which caused a collective sigh of relief. The reporter went on to give a rundown on Beckman's background, even showing a picture of him.
"Well," stated Marten, "it looks like I'm going to owe that guy an exclusive. Cap, if you don't mind, I'd like to use your phone. I want to call the station and thank him."
"Be my guest, Jack. And, ah, give him our thanks, too." Marten smiled and nodded, then headed into the Captain's office to make his call.
/
The klaxons started sounding and the lights blazed on, as effective an alarm clock as anyone could want. The crew jumped from their beds, pulling on their turnout gear, as the Captain acknowledged the call over the radio. They ran to their vehicles, and with lights flashing, sped down the road.
As they pulled into the parking lot, they realized it was the same building where Roy and Johnny had seen the arson suspect. Only this time, the building was completely engulfed. Stanley called in a third alarm, requesting more equipment, and telling dispatch to notify arson investigators. Two fires at the same building in less than a month was more than coincidence, especially considering the earlier news report.
The men got to work, grabbing air tanks, and pulling hose. It took 4 hours to knock the fire down. By that time, Marten and his people were on scene. It would be another hour or two before they could begin their search, however. They would need to wait until the debris cooled down before they started moving around inside. Marten figured they probably wouldn't get much here anyway. The building was a total loss. There wasn't much left. But in his line of work, he had learned that sometimes the smallest piece of evidence was what convicted someone. So they would search the debris, and sift through the ashes, looking for anything to link a suspect to the fire. To link Beckman to the fire.
Marten was convinced that Beckman was responsible. He had already tried to burn the building down once and had been thwarted. He had returned to finish the job. And finish it he did. Most of the roof had collapsed and the back wall was nearly gone. The ruins of the building would need to be demolished, of that there was no doubt.
The crew of Station 51 was making a final sweep of the building, to be sure no one had been caught inside, and also to be sure there were no 'hot spots', nothing that would cause the fire to re-ignite. Although, there wasn't much left that could catch fire again. But they were watering down the debris anyway, just to be safe.
/
As the squad backed into the station, followed by the engine, the sun was just starting to rise. Since the shift would be over in just a couple of hours, they decided to get cleaned up and gather in the kitchen for coffee and wait for their relief. They were exhausted.
Gage walked into the kitchen to put a fresh pot of coffee on before heading into the locker room to change and clean-up. As he headed back out of the kitchen, the phone rang.
"Station 51, Fireman Gage," he said into the phone.
"Good morning, Fireman Gage," the voice on the other end of the line said. "I would like to speak to one of the members of your crew who works on the rescue squad."
"I work on the squad, sir. I'm a paramedic. How can I help you? Do you need medical assistance?"
"No, Fireman Gage. I don't. But you may," said the man on the phone.
"Excuse me?!" said Gage. "I don't understand. What are talking about, sir?"
"I saw you at the fire tonight. You and your partner. Which one are you? Are you the one who tried to chase me, or the one who struggled with me inside? You couldn't stop me this time, could you? And you couldn't stop the building from burning to the ground."
Johnny felt like he's been kicked in the stomach. He almost dropped the phone.
"Who is this?" he asked quietly, as the others joined him in the kitchen. "What do you want?" Roy looked at Johnny, curious as to who would be calling at this hour. He froze when he saw the expression on Johnny's face.
The voice was speaking again, ominous, cold. "You know who this is, don't you? I can tell you do. I watched you guys at the fire. You were out-matched. I saw the TV report too. I figure it's you guys who identified me, since you're the only ones who ever saw me. Am I right?"
"What do you want?" Johnny managed to get out, trying to keep his voice calm.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be watching you. One of these days, the fire is going to get you. And when it does, remember that I started it. Remember that as the flames get too close, Fireman Gage." And then the caller hung up. Johnny gripped the phone, and closed his eyes. Roy moved over next to him, afraid he might pass out. All the blood had drained from Johnny's face and he looked like he'd had the scare of his life.
"Johnny, are you okay? Who the hell was that?" But Johnny didn't answer.
Once Roy finally got the phone out of Johnny's hand, he was able to lead Gage to a chair. The others had also gathered around, upset by the look on Johnny's face.
"Johnny?" Roy prompted his partner. "Who was on the phone? What did they say to you? You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"I haven't seen one Roy, but I just talked to one."
"What are you talking about?"
Johnny looked up at his partner, then looked around the room. His gaze stopped on Chet Kelly. "Beckman. It was Beckman." He saw Chet go pale and collapse onto a chair.
The others exchanged glances, shocked by what Johnny had just told them. Captain Stanley recovered first, headed for the phone, and dialed Jack Marten's number.
"Jack, this is Hank Stanley. It looks like your reporter friend made an impression with that story. Beckman just called the station!"
/