Well, I had planned on making "Suspicion" all one chapter, but it turns out when I have a lot of original content to write, it turns into one hefty chapter. So, it's ending up split in two. Plus, I need a win after my dad tested positive for COVID (I'm a close contact), last night's Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D., and I need something to get my mind off potentially panicking over what could happen on tonight's Law & Order, so . . . expect a lot of angst next chapter.
Bobby and Matt respond to one hell of a wedding, the Buckley-Diaz family has a reunion, Owen gets back in the saddle, Athena turns to a certain captain for advice, Grainger is going to have a migraine by the end of his time in Los Angeles, and at the end of the day, Sylvie doesn't go back to her room.
Enjoy the first part of "Suspicion!"
***
A groan from the desk across from her made Grace look up from her morning coffee, just in time to see Maddie drop her head onto her arms. "Is everything OK, Maddie?" she asked in concern.
"I don't know," she muttered.
"Is this about the barbecue that Bobby's trying to get a time for?" May asked from her computer.
"A get-together while Buck, Eddie, Christopher, and I are here," Maddie sighed. "Yes."
"Is it trying to get a time figured out?" Grace looked around.
"No," Maddie groused. "I'm trying to figure out how I keep my girlfriend from killing my ex, because I'm told to bring a plus-one if I want."
May's eyes brightened. "You have a girlfriend?"
Maddie smiled. "Yeah. You remember Nancy?"
May grinned. "Yeah, I remember her! And Lena said she was the one who chewed Chimney out at the wildfires, right?"
"It was awesome," Maddie gushed.
Grace giggled. "Girl, it is good to see you like this."
Maddie leaned back in her chair with a dopey smile. "It's good to feel like this."
"So just bring Nancy to the party!" May urged. "And . . . well, if Chimney gets punched in the face, then he gets punched in the face."
"Maybe just warn Eddie, in case he needs to be the responsible paramedic in the room," Grace advised.
May snorted. "That'd be Hen. Eddie would probably take a punch at Chimney himself."
Maddie pointed at May in agreement, and Grace shook her head with a chuckle. "Yeah, you're probably right." Her earpiece beeped with an incoming call, and she sat back in her chair, tapping the key to answer. "9-1-1, what's your emergency?"
"We have several," a female voice deadpanned on the other end.
***
"Los Angeles Engine 118. Chicago Truck 81. Chicago Ambulance 61."
***
Gallo wrinkled his nose as he finished spraying the last of the flames with his extinguisher. "Guess it's not a white wedding any longer."
"Yeah," Mouch eyed the black drapes. "Maybe a black wedding now."
"You know, while I was in Austin the first time, we got a caller who said their emergency was 'worse than the Red Wedding,'" Matt remarked as he set down his extinguisher.
Grainger blinked in surprise at him. "You watched Game of Thrones?"
"Sylvie watched Game of Thrones," Matt corrected.
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Danger Zone (File One of The First Responders Files)
Fanfiction"Highway to the danger zone, take it right into the danger zone." ~ "Danger Zone," Kenny Loggins In which Owen Strand gets the clearance for a new rig, brings his son along for the ride, and finds out said son adopted two siblings under his nose. A...
