Page 27 of Too Much Heat

Five jaws dropped.

“There are many stereotypes about women in the department. Most aren’t true, like the content of the last question. And in some cases, women firefighters are better than men.”

“What?” Louis didn’t have a question but was paying attention.

“Women are more flexible than men.”

“Why do you need that?”

“In car accidents, for one. Women can crawl into vehicles easier than men.” He gave more examples.

“What about eating?” O’Malley asked. “Is it true you cook your own meals?”

“Yep.”

“How do you get the ingredients?”

"We go to grocery stores.”

“What happens if you get a call when you do that?”

“All of us have to go to the store together. That way, we can rush right out if we get a call.”

“I never seen that.” This from Harlan again.

Tim said. “I been to stores before I got sent here. I saw firetrucks parked outside.”

“Let’s move on to other things.”

Joe let them continue to question him. When they ran out, he picked up a pile of papers from the front desk. “I got a sheet here that tells you some important facts about firefighters.” After he distributed them, he said, “Let’s start with how to become a firefighter.” He asked them to volunteer to read an item because he wasn’t sure how well some of them read. His points covered the ranks of firefighters, drills they did every shift and firefighter terminology.

When the chime sounded signaling the end of class, the kids were animated as they left. “Thanks, Captain.”

“Thiswascool.”

“Great class. Can you come back?”

“We’ll talk about that at another time.” Annie told them to put their journals in the bin on the way out, spoke briefly to Louis and said goodbye to them.

She walked over to Joe. “That was a perfect lesson, Joey.”

“I agree.” Jackson Kane came into the room. “I was next door heard the whole thing.” He grinned. “Thanks, buddy.”

“Any time.”

They chatted some then Joe left the school on a high. He strode to his car. When he got there, he stopped abruptly.

Somebody had smashed in his front window.

* * *

Lara wasn’t surprised when another person knocked on the front door at noon the next day. There were two of them this time, Pike and Deluca. Parked on the street behind them was a firetruck. “Hey, Swanson,” Pike said. “Can we come in?”

“Of course.”

“Hey, Lara.” Danny said.

They entered the house and Abe spoke up. “We wanna see your husband.”

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