Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 67

Ben's Point of View

The covers for my bed fell to the floor from all my tossing and turning. I have not slept so badly since meeting Lucy, but here I was covered in a film of sweat. The thoughts of those dead were people haunting my mind every time I closed my eyes. Looking at the clock, I saw I had just a couple of hours before I had to get up, go fetch Lucy from work, and head back for my second night shift. I let out a long breath, willing myself to try and catch an hour of sleep, but it was to no avail. After another 15-minutes of restlessness, I got out of bed, grabbing the covers from the floor and made it ready for Lucy tonight, then headed into the shower.

As the hot streams of water massaged my aching muscles, my mind was full of the undeniable fact that there was an arsonist, and one who clearly wanted to kill as part of his sick games. This was more than just some pyromaniac who liked watching things burn. This was a cold-blooded killer.

My thoughts also went to the boss, his announcement today that the police wanted to interview us was nothing unexpected, but the reason, that they felt this person could have a vendetta against the fire brigade was something that turned my blood to ice. I did not know anyone who would kill people in revenge for something. Taking a deep breath as I rinsed the soap from my skin, I grabbed the towel from the radiator then slung it around my waist, before heading into the bedroom and drying off, finding a fresh uniform neatly pressed in the wardrobe. A small smile adorned my lips. Lucy. Bless her, she really did not have to do the ironing, and s**t like that for me, but she had done it anyway. Pulling on my uniform, I headed downstairs, grabbing myself a coffee, along with a couple of protein bars, before grabbing my car keys and heading to pick her up from work.

As I pulled into the car park, I realised I was an hour early for her, so sat back and decided I just had to wait. My phone buzzed, picking it up from the centre console a smile reached my lips.

Lucy - Hey handsome, is that you in the carpark? You are early. Xxx

Ben - Hey beautiful, yes, couldn't sleep, didn't realise I was here so early xxx

Lucy Come up, you can sit in my new office. Xxx

Ben - Will Anders not mind? Xxx

Lucy - It was him who noticed you, and his suggestion, xxx

It never failed to amaze me just how a few texts from the woman I loved could change my mood from doom and despair to full-on joy and happiness. Getting out of the car, I headed into the office, Climbing the staircase. The new receptionist greeted me with a warm smile, telling me to go through. Yes, she was so much better than the last one, that is for sure.

Lucy stood at the doorway of her office, with a wide smile on her beautiful face.

"Hey, do you want a coffee?" she asked.

"Just had one, sorry I got here so early," I apologised, not wanting to cause her a problem at work.

"Hey Ben," Anders shouted as he poked his head around the office door.

I walked over and shook his hand, as he stepped into Lucy's office, closing the glass door behind him.

"Josie told me about last night. I am worried," Anders stated, running his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, it is not the best situation. Hopefully the boys and girls in blue find out who this fucker is and gets them locked up ASAP," I sigh out.

"Agreed." Anders sighed, clearly concerned.

"We just need to be a little more vigilant at the moment. It will be okay," I tell him, not wanting to have Lucy worried all night, or him truth be told. "Lucy, do you have any call-backs to do?" Anders asked

"Nope, all done, got a couple of big decisions tomorrow morning though." Lucy smiled.

"Then get yourself away. I will lock up after everyone is finished for the day." Anders smiled softly, then headed out of the office.

With a shrug of her shoulders, and raising of her eyebrows, Lucy grabbed her bag, smiling at me, as we headed out the door.

"Given I have a spare hour, can we pop in to see Cal? I have some information for him," I ask her.

"Yeah, of course." Lucy grins at me.

As we pull up outside the terraced house, I let out a frustrated sigh. Samantha was stood, kicking the door with her foot, then began pounding it with her fists.

"You f*****g cunt. I need some money, so give me some money!" she was screaming.

The neighbours left and right were hanging out of their doors, and those who lived across the narrow street were all stood in a group, gossiping and laughing at the show she was giving.

"Stay in the car Lucy," I told her, as she went to open the door.

Lucy looked at me, as if to tell me there was not a chance in hell she was going to remain in the car, I let out a defeated sigh, it was not worth falling out over.

"YOU!" Samantha shouted, pointing at Lucy.

“You f*****g b***h. You tell him to give me some money. I want to go out tonight," the woman screamed.

"Try getting a job, then you will have money. What about also trying to be a mother," Lucy responded, her body tensed up, her beautiful eyes wild with anger.

"They stopped all my money because of HIM!" Samantha screamed out, kicking the door once more with her foot.

"No, they stopped your money because you are no longer living at this address, and no longer look after or live with your children. That money was for them, not you," Lucy stated, her body shaking with anger. "Samantha, might I suggest you move along now," I told her.

Snapping her head towards me she sneered.

"Look at you, thinking you are all that. You're not, just because you are a fire fighter, you think you are better than the rest of us," she shouted. Then begun to laugh manically.

"Yeah well, something will happen to make you realise you are not some f*****g hero. Hope you BURN." Samantha laughed again.

My blood chilled, as I listened to the manic laughter, as the words registered in my head. What the hell did she mean by that?

"What does that mean?" I bellowed, wondering why she would say that, the thought that she was probably deranged enough to set fires not far from my mind.

"Oh, f**k off. Keep the money and the kids," she shouted, then with one last kick of the door, she stormed off up the street.

Lucy looked up at me, her face pale.

"What the hell, are you thinking what I am thinking?" she asked.

"Yeah, I need to let the police know tonight, Lucy." Lucy nodded then let out a sigh.

"The kids, they are looking out of the window, poor things," she muttered, as we knocked on the door.

Cal answered, holding a crying Dante in his arms, as Kristie looked on, eyes wide with fear.

"Mammy was bad," she announced.

"It is okay sweetheart," Lucy declared, lifting the little girl into her arms and giving her a huge hug.

"Sorry guys, she just turned up demanding money, she didn't even want to see the kids, or ask how they were. I had all the child benefits swapped over to me, and informed Universal Credit she no longer lived her, and that she had left the kids with me, so her claim was stopped." Cal sighed out.

We walked over to the large sofa, as Lucy tried to comfort Kirstie and Cal comforted Dante.

"Has she been here before?" I asked. If she was the person responsible for setting fires, I really feared for Cal and the kids.

"Yeah, a couple of times, gets more deranged each visit." Cal sighed out.

"I wish we could just move, but the waiting list for a council house is long, and this place is all I can afford private renting." Cal sighed out.

"Well, that may all change. I got you the forms to apply for the fire brigade. My mam said the Boss was keen to have you apply, and would fast track your application." I smiled, hoping this would be a bit of good news for him.

"Wow, thanks. I will get those filled out tonight when the kids go to bed." Cal smiled gratefully.

I could see the relief in his face, almost like I was throwing him a lifeline.

"How often has she come here?" Lucy asked.

"Just a couple of times before, mostly when she is drunk in the middle of the night. It wakes the kids up, and they get upset." Cal sighed out.

I looked at Lucy, who had fear in her eyes, clearly thinking exactly the same as me. This family could not stay here. Even if the arsonist is not Samantha, she is upsetting the children coming around disturbing their sleep; it could not continue. "Hey kids, do you want to stay at our house tonight, with Aunty Lucy? You can help daddy look after her whilst I am at work, would that be cool?" I asked the kids.

"Can we go for ice cream at the beach?" Kirstie asked, suddenly excited.

"I think we can manage that, and maybe some chips if you are really good." Lucy smiled at her niece.

Cal looked over and mouthed a thank you, it was not a long-term solution, but it would get him out of this place and away from Samantha for at least one or two nights.

We bundled the kids into the car, as Cal squashed himself in the centre between the car seats, I placed the bag of clothes they had in the boot, before heading round to the driver's side. Lucy smiled at me, her fingers tracing over my hand that was resting on the gear stick.

After dropping them all off, I had to make my way to the station, so I said my goodbyes, making sure to give Lucy an extra-long kiss, because nightshifts were bad at the best of times, but with everything else going on, I needed her to know that I was going to miss her.

Pulling up outside the fire station, I see the police car sat in the carpark. I head into work, making my way up to the common room. Davey is sat with his Sunderland echo, pretending to read it as always. The atmosphere was flat, nobody really bantering, a reminder that every one of us was still dealing with the events of last night. Josie walked around, tidying up from Yellow Watch, normally she is the first to try and lift team moral, but even she was lost in her thoughts. "Police are interviewing everyone; they are in with Headache at the moment," Davey shouted over.

Nodding my head, I walked over to the kitchen and grabbed another coffee. After no sleep, I was going to need it to get through this shift. "Ben!" the boss shouted over to me.

I looked over and nodded my head, following him to the makeshift interview room, as Headache walked out, shaking his head at me.

As I entered, I see two officers sat behind the desk.

"Come in Ben, just an informal meeting to see if you have seen or heard anything suspicious." Jason, the officer we all know, smiled at me.

"Actually, up until an hour ago I had nothing, but now, I am not sure, but you may want to hear this." I sigh, then take a seat to give them all the information on Samantha.