Page 5 of A Sudden Response

Oh, this was perfect. She smiled sweetly, making sure that she was looking at Eric when she said, “I’m sorry, but I already have plans this weekend. I’m going deep-sea fishing for three days.”

“You betraying bitch!” Eric hissed as she released a satisfied sigh and shot him a wink. There were really only five things in this world that Eric really loved and deep-sea fishing was one of them.

“Echo seventeen?” dispatch called.

Eric leveled a glare on her as he brought the portable radio up to his mouth. “I’m going.”

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Joe said, loving the power that she held over him. Ah, it looked like she was finally going to get her garage painted since there wasn’t much that Eric wouldn’t do for a weekend of deep-sea fishing.

“Watch me,” Eric said before he keyed in. “Echo seventeen.”

“What’s your location, echo seventeen?” dispatch asked.

“East side,” Eric answered.

“Echo seventeen, take a priority one call at 258 Lawson for an assault. Police are already en route.”

“Echo seventeen received, 258 Lawson.”

“Oh, my god!” Greg said, shaking. “Oh, my god!” He dropped the candy bar that he’d been toying with on the floor and ran for the door, tripped over his own feet, and stumbled, but he didn’t let that stop him from sprinting towards the ambulance and diving in. With a heavy sigh, Joe put her candy bar back and walked with Eric back to the ambulance.

“Where are you going?” Eric asked as he held the door open for her.

“Cape Cod.”

“That’s a six-hour drive,” Eric pointed out.

“Which is why I’m leaving early Friday morning. I won’t be back until late Sunday night, but don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll have fun without me,” Joe said with a satisfied sigh.

“Bullshit, I’m going and we both know it,” Eric said as he climbed into the passenger seat.

“Oh, my god! Oh, my god!”Greg mumbled somewhat hysterically from the back as Joe climbed in behind the wheel and started the rig. She flicked on the emergency lights as she pulled out. She kept one hand on the wheel and the other on the emergency switchboard, switching the sirens from the foghorn to the wailing sound as she drove.

Eric pulled out an emergency run sheet and attached it to his clipboard, ignoring Greg’s panicked, “Oh, my god,” which had now turned to pure excitement. The kid was about to start operating on pure adrenaline. No doubt it would make the call more interesting.

“I’m going,” Eric said again as he filled in the date and their names while Joe maneuvered the truck in and out of traffic with the grace of a pro. “You’re really not, though.”

“Why not?” Eric asked.

“Probably because I didn’t invite you?” Joe said, admittedly enjoying screwing with his head.

He snorted. “And you think that means anything to me? I’m going. End of story.”

“We’ll see,” she said.

“Yeah, we will, won’t we?” Eric said as they pulled in behind two police cruisers in front of a small yellow house that had seen better days.

“Echo seventeen on scene,” he informed dispatch.

They stepped out of the ambulance at the same time the front door flew open and a naked man wielding a large butcher knife ran out, yelling, “Fuck you, bitches!” as he ran towards them.

“I’m so going,” Eric said before he grabbed the man’s hand and twisted it behind his back, making him drop the knife in the process.

Joe ignored the man’s screams as she kicked the knife away and helped Eric take him to the ground. She held his legs down while Eric restrained him to the ground. Two cops came running towards them from behind the house as an older officer came out of the house, leading two men, who looked like they had the shit kicked out of them, towards them only to grin when he spotted them.

“Oh, look, Eric and Joe brought us a present,” Bret said as he shoved the two men in front of him. “Don’t worry we brought you something, too,” he said, gesturing to the two men under arrest.

“Oh, Bret, you are just the sweetest man alive,” Joe said with a sweet smile that had the older man chuckling.

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