Page 12 of All Too Well
I laugh because I should’ve known better. These three never take the option to switch and work well together.
“All right then. Nights for another month.”
They head to their cars, and I enter the station. I check in on the day shift crew, making sure everyone is doing well before going to my office.
There isn’t a lot of work to do in a town this size, but as the newly appointed chief, it’s my responsibility to make sure everything is ready in case of an emergency. My firefighters are always on the ready, and this month I’m instituting a new set of weekly drills to be run by the captains of each shift.
Today I get to tell them about it and hear the grumbling.
I grab the paperwork and schedule, then head to the bunk room and find them doing what they’re always doing—gossiping.
“Did you hear about the girl staying at Brickman’s lodge?” one of them asks.
“The lodge? For what?”
“The asshole put it up as a short-term rental. He was in the coffee shop talking about how much he got for it.”
I shiver at that thought. The cabin is old, dingy, and there’s not a chance in hell it’s up to code.
I go inside and see my day guys sitting around. “What’s up, fellas?” I say.
“Chief.” They stand as I enter.
I really hate this. I was a captain as of two weeks ago, but since the fire and additional press coverage, the mayor decided I should get the vacant chief spot.
Which is ridiculous because I’m one of the youngest officers on the squad, and I’m definitely not the most qualified. However, publicity dictated it.
“Who is renting the Brickman cabin?” I ask.
“Oh, he’s calling it a lodge now, as though that’ll class it up. Anyway, some girl from New York or something. She saw the listing, and I can only imagine what her face looked like when she actually saw the place,” one of my captains says with a laugh.
“Did he get approval to rent it out?”
Considering it would have to go through the fire department, I can’t imagine anyone would’ve signed off on it.
He shrugs. “No clue. Either way, the girl showed up late last night. He was talking about it at the coffee shop this morning.”
I sigh. “If he doesn’t have it permitted, he can’t do that.”
“Are you going to tell the mayor’s son that?” Don, my other captain, counters.
If it’s between someone getting injured in that shithole or pissing off the mayor, I’ll battle the old guy any day.
“That’s not the point. Who signed off on the certificate of occupancy?”
All of them look to one another, and either they’ve never seen a permit request or one of them knows I’m about to chew their asses and make them do a whole host of chores until I feel less murderous.
Don speaks. “We can find out if it was submitted and if anyone from the station approved it.”
I nod. “Let’s do that. I’ll head down there and make sure whoever is there is at least safe.”
Without another word, I leave, get in my truck, and make my way to the cabin. It’s about two miles from my house, but back in the woods. Last time I was there was because a bunch of high school kids were drinking and lit a bonfire. We headed out because we got the reports of smoke and thought for sure the place finally had gone up in flames.
Too bad that didn’t happen if he’s got someone paying to live there.
When I pull up, there’s a newer luxury car with New York plates parked out front, and I can see the smoke coming out of the wood-burning stove because ... there’s no heat and the only electricity is off the generator out back.
We’re still in that weird time of year where it’s cold in the morning and then it warms up out of nowhere. I swear, Mother Nature is a moody bitch lately.
