The Pike: Ships In The Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

him.  I regarded him a moment as Millie arrived and set plates piled high with onion rings and our French dips in front of us.  She rested a hand on my shoulder a moment and said, “Let me know if you two need anything else.”  I nodded, and she headed off to quell the lunch rush.
    I picked up an oversize onion ring, examined it then took a bite and asked as I chewed, “So what does old man Porter want?”
    Captain Porter took me under his wing when I first arrived at the Five as a snot nosed probie myself.  He didn't take shit from anyone, so it was easy to see why he was captain of the gem of the SFD.  Men fought to lead the Five.  Porter had the ear of the Chief and the Mayor.  I saw the old leather-lunged bastard as a sort of father figure.
    He dipped his sandwich in au jus and took a big bite, speaking around the roast beef and swiss creation. “We all miss having you around.”
    I chuckled as I ate while I studied the hedging man. “Sweet talking now?  What sort of shit storm am I sailing into here?”
    He chuckled and swallowed. “Just laying some groundwork.  Jesus Sparks, you don't make anything easy for people do you?”
    I shook my head and dunked my sandwich into my au jus and took a bite.
    He chuckled and said, “Well he has an...”  He searched for a word.  “Opportunity... nay, an offer for you.”
    I cocked an eyebrow. “Nay?  Did you really just say nay?”
    He blushed, and that just made his cacophony of freckles stand out on his cheeks more prominently.  “Shut up.  I'm trying to expand my vocabulary.”
    I shrugged, giving that one to him, I was too busy scarfing down the food to tease any more than that.  PT made me ravenous.  What kind of opportunity was he talking about?  I started to get a bad feeling.
    He set his sandwich down and braced his arms on the table as he looked at me.  Then he just came out and said it, “Gonzales is retiring at the end of the month.”
    I set my sandwich down and pushed back from the table, suddenly not hungry as my stomach tightened into knots.  “A goddamn Fire Inspector?  That's the offer?”
    He looked around quickly, looking sheepish and apologetically at the people around us.  I saw Dave and Chuck pause on their way out the door, shooting looks of empathy toward me as Trip held out a hand in a calming gesture as he patted the table. “Just let me speak.”
    I wiped my mouth with my napkin and stood, grabbing my cane.  “Thanks for the meal, Trip.”
    He stood quickly and dropped a couple twenties on the table as he pursued me out of the Cafe.  “It'll keep you in the business, and you know your shit, Allison.  Cap has the Chief holding off on filling the slot.  The qualification training is only six weeks.”
    I whirled on him, and he almost bumped into me.  “Keep me in the business?  You mean all except the actual firefighting?  Guys who wash out of the academy or decide they don't need to risk their lives every day before they retire become fire inspectors.”
    He got defensive and called me on that, “Hey.  That's not fair.”
    He was right.  I was lashing out.  There were some pretty damn respectable fire inspectors out there.  Gonzales was one of them.  The old leather lung was a hose jockey until age slowed him down too much.  Instead of retiring, he had donned the badge to stay in the game.  He was a lifer.
    I stopped and leaned my back against the wall and nodded. “Yeah.  Sorry.  I know.  It's just frustrating.”  Then I made an admission to him as I looked down at my scarred hand on the cane, “I don't know if I can be around the red beast and not be able to...  It would hurt too much Trip.”
    He rested a hand on my arm near the cane and squeezed once.  “Just say you'll think about it?  It will get the old man off my ass.”
    I nodded then smirked at the man. “Fine.  I'll think about it.”
    He gave me a cheesy grin. “Great.”
    I rolled my eyes at him and couldn't hide my smile.