Feisty Firefighters Bundle

‘The one that left the puir wee bairn on the doorstep in the first place.’

Jason learned about the man soon enough, and Laura heard enough to piece the whole sorry story together as she sat on station in the company of two fire and ambulance crews at shift changeover time.

‘It has to be her brother.’

‘It was no brother that I saw that morning. No’ the way they were kissing each other.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us that in the first place, Mackie?’

‘Because you wouldn’t have taken your wee girl home with you. That Shelley creature is no’ fit to be a mother.’

‘That was part of the reason I refused to leave Megan at home.’ Jason nodded. ‘She doesn’t know much about babies and she cares even less.’ He groaned. ‘I had a suspicion she might try and pull a stunt like this. We had an argument last night when her brother was backing her up and trying to intimidate me. They both went oddly quiet when I said we’d have to see what the courts had to say about custody.’

‘It’s my fault it happened.’ If Mrs Mack had been wearing an apron, it would have surprised no one if she’d thrown it over her head.

‘You were set up, Mackie. She must have plugged that basin and turned the taps on as soon as she saw Tim and Laura get called out. She had to know you’d go and see what was causing the flood. She was just waiting here long enough for us all to be out at the same time.’

‘What are we going to do?’ Laura said quietly.

‘We didn’t see any sign of them on the streets,’ Stick said unhappily.

‘What did your mate in the police force reckon, Jase?’ asked Bruce. ‘You did ring him, didn’t you?’

Jason nodded wearily. ‘He said that it would not be considered kidnapping and if there’s no evidence that she’s planning to harm the baby then there’s absolutely nothing they can do.’

‘She’s not going to leave town in a hurry.’ Stick gave Jason’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. ‘Let’s face it, mate. It’s you she wants, not the kid.’

‘But she can’t look after her. She only took her bottle and her blanket. She doesn’t even have any clean nappies.’

‘She’s a woman,’ Cliff said somewhat acidly. ‘She’ll find the shops.’

‘She must have looked after her for the first month of her life,’ someone from Red Watch added. ‘So she must have some idea what she’s doing.’

‘Ha!’ Both Jason and Mrs Mack made identical sounds of contempt.

‘She must be staying somewhere.’ Laura stood up. ‘Let’s get the phone book and start ringing motels.’

‘And backpackers’ hostels,’ Jason said. ‘Camping grounds, even. You’re right, Laura. They’re not going to be sleeping on the streets with a baby, even if they don’t have much money. We’ll find them.’

But they couldn’t. They spent hour after hour on the phone until it was so late the responses from motel managers became abusive and Laura finally agreed to go home and get some sleep.

‘You’ve got work starting at seven a.m.’

‘So do you.’

‘I’ll see if I can get someone to cover for me. I need to be around in case Shelley decides to make contact.’

The next day dragged more than any Laura had known. Interest in her patients was at an all-time low and she was very thankful that Tim was prepared to pick up the slack. Between calls, she rang Jason, hoping for news. She found him on station that afternoon, looking bleak.

‘I’m not getting anywhere,’ he told her wearily. ‘Most managers quite rightly refuse to give out any information on their clients.’

‘Then let’s go and talk to them in person. Even if they won’t tell us anything, we can keep our eyes open and even snoop around a bit. We should make a list of all the less expensive places and visit them tomorrow. I’ll help as soon as my shift finishes. Are you going home again now?’

‘No, I think I’ll stay here tonight. She left Megan here the last time she wanted to make a point.’

‘She might go back to the house.’

‘She didn’t last night. I’ll go home to get some clothes in the morning and check to see if she’s left any kind of message.’

The only message Shelley left was a broken window. Baby equipment and other items were missing but Jason couldn’t see any point in reporting the burglary to the police. There was no proof that it had been Shelley and they would be wasting valuable searching time by trying to persuade the authorities to become involved.

Jason and Laura spent the whole of the day visiting the motels in person, trying to persuade people how important it was that they find Megan.

‘She’s got a medical condition,’ Laura invented desperately in the end. ‘And her mother hasn’t got the medication she needs.’

‘Try the police, then. It’s none of our business. How do we know you’ve got any right to be tracking her down, anyway?’

‘We could hire a private detective,’ Laura suggested late that afternoon. ‘They might be better at this than we are.’

‘What could they do that we’re not doing?’

‘I don’t know. They might have contacts to track things like credit-card use.’

‘She won’t need a card for a while,’ Jason said. ‘She cleaned out my wallet when she broke into the house and I had the rent money for a month in there.’

‘She’ll be in touch.’ Laura was trying to reassure herself as much as Jason. ‘As Stick pointed out, it’s you she wants. She’s just trying to show you that she’s capable of taking Megan away. She’s betting that you’ll be missing her enough to agree to anything to get her back.’

‘I am missing her. Crazy, isn’t it?’ Jason pulled Laura into his arms and held her tightly. ‘I know you’re worried about her just as much as I am but don’t worry. We’ll get her back…somehow.’

‘Are you coming into work tonight?’

‘May as well,’ Jason said grimly. ‘We’re not getting anywhere like this so we’re going to have to wait for her to contact us. Waiting for that will be a lot easier at work than sitting at home by myself.’

It was a busy night for both the fire and ambulance crews. Laura hardly saw Jason and when they were diverted from returning to station after a job that finished at 6 a.m. she groaned aloud.

‘No sleep all night and now a job that will probably make us late and I really wanted to see Jason.’

‘Must be tough for you guys at the moment,’ Tim said sympathetically. ‘Have you got the details for this priority-one through on your pager yet?’

‘No. I don’t even know what suburb we’re supposed to be heading for.’ Laura picked up the radio handpiece. ‘Inglewood 950 to Control.’

‘Must be busy.’ Tim noted the length of time taken to respond. ‘We’ll just keep cruising for a minute.’

‘Towards the station,’ Laura suggested with a smile. ‘That way, if we’re too far away from the action they’ll have to send someone else.’

‘Yeah.’ Tim returned the smile but it faded quickly. ‘This business with Megan isn’t great for you, is it?’

‘You could say that.’

‘It’s funny, but I never thought Jason would be so cut up. He gave the impression that the sooner the mum came back to collect, the better.’

‘Things changed,’ Laura sighed. ‘He fell in love with his baby.’

‘And with you?’ Tim suggested softly.

‘With the whole package,’ Laura corrected. ‘He doesn’t want to lose the family he was given.’

‘I can understand that,’ Tim said. ‘And I can under-’

Whatever else Tim understood was never made clear. The radio crackled into life abruptly.

‘Inglewood 950. Priority-one callout. Standby for house fire. Code 61 in attendance.’

Code 61 was the fire service. Maybe Laura would get to see Jason after all. She pushed the button on the side of her microphone.

‘Roger. What address?’

Tim had the beacons going. He caught Laura’s eye, waiting for the street name. There was no point in picking