An emergent call from the Chief

I fell asleep with ease that night. I didn’t even wake up when Vince woke up at 8 to clean the entire apartment; vacuuming, dusting, mopping the floor and everything else in between. I must’ve been so tired that I couldn’t hear a single damn thing.

My apartment was far from dirty; I vacuum twice a week, dust once a week…..but Vince is a clean freak. He vacuums every day, dusts every few days, mops the floors twice a week, uses Windex on all mirrors and windows every week. By the time I woke up an hour after he started cleaning, I saw that he had two bags of garbage and a bag of recycling by the door.

“Is my apartment not clean enough for you, bub?” I asked Vince; winking as I walked by.

“It’s ok. You know that I love a super clean place,” Vince replied as my phone was buzzing.

“Hey, Chief. ¿Qué pasa, jefe? A fire? (I paused) Where? In Jersey? Ok. (I paused again)  Where in Jersey? Damn it! He won’t like it….especially if I don’t take him with me. Ok, ok, ok. I’m on my way. 20 minutes top.” I said. “Vince, there’s a fire at your apartment complex. I have to go. The chief said I can take you; he doesn’t know if your apartment was burned or not. I just need a few minutes to call the office and then I’ll be ready.”

“Ok. Are we taking your car or your bike?” Vince asked.

“My 'other' bike. I’ve got one of the FD ones in the valet parking. I’ll text them to let them know I need that one and yes, you’re allowed on it.” I said.

Vince nodded as I sent the text. After it was sent, I called the office as I went to my room to get my bag. See, I don’t go to a fire without my bag. It’s got my personal firefighters uniform and two oxygen tanks. I grabbed it out from underneath my bed, threw on jeans, my boots and my leather jacket; which, thankfully, still contained all my stuff – minus the phones.

“Hey, I’m ready, bub,” I said as I pulled my hair into a knot. “Let’s go!”

We threw our jackets on, I grabbed bag which nearly made me stumble as I slung it on my shoulder and Vince grabbed our helmets. We ran down the stairs.

“Wait. You’re with the PD and the new CEO slash President of a company and NOW I find out that you’re with the FD? You have three jobs, you’re nonstop and yet you make time to go to the gym. How do have time for everything?”

“Well, that’s easy. I go to the office as the CEO/President 4 ½ days a week, I go work with the PD 2 ½ days a week and I make runs with the FD when they require. We’ll talk more about it later. We gotta book it!” I said.

We hopped on the bike that the valet staff had ready for us. At times like this I was grateful that the Chief let me permanently borrow the FD motorcycle; with the lights and siren going, it got me places a lot faster than my personal bike did. Thankfully this bike was custom designed and custom built for me; it was significantly lighter and more manageable to go around turns/bends.

Thankfully we arrived sooner than I originally told my boss. I parked near his SUV, struggled with the bag and jogged over to him.
“Jefe, need me to gear up?” I asked.

“You got it. Don’t use the oxygen yet. Go around and use that magic nose of yours. Here’s a radio; I don’t want your phones to melt. Lock your personal stuff in the bike but keep your badge and weapon. Please have Vince stay with me as you investigate,” my boss said.

“You got is, boss man!” I said as headed back to the bike.

I quickly took off my jacket and threw on my gear and attached the radio. As I locked up my personal stuff in the bike I asked Vince to join the Chief as I use my nose and search just outside the building. After watching my husband join my boss and I started to check out the remains of the complex.
I went around one of the corners of the complex and then I smelled it. I smelled gasoline. I radioed the chief and told him to meet me because I believed I found the cause of the fire.