Danny O'brien let out a long low moan as he lifted a fire hose from the back of the fire truck.
"Sounds like someone is getting old," Cooper said as he smiled at his friend.
Danny rubbed his shoulder. "Not old, only tired. Can't wait to get home in the morning and snuggle up to Alice."
"Married for six years and you still got the hots for your wife. That's damn impressive," Cooper said.
"Why do you always turn the conversation into sex?" Danny asked.
"Listen, it's simple. We're firefighters for the FDNY. Women can't control their hormones when they're around us," Cooper said then smiled a big shitting grin.
Cooper was right. Danny was a firefighter. Fighting fires was what his father had done, as did his grandfather and his great grandfather. The lineage went all the way back to the old country.
Saturdays were always hectic in the city that never sleeps. Yet busy times were always better than cleaning equipment and checking fire hoses. Fires can't tell time so firefighters work on the weekend while most people are having a good time. This evening Danny would finish his shift at seven in the morning.
The early hours of his shift were consumed by automobile accidents and dumpster fires. For a Saturday night, it was an easy shift for Danny. Around one in the morning the alarms sounded, and Danny and his fellow firefighters jumped into action. An elevator was stuck between the eighteenth and nineteenth floors of a high-rise apartment complex.
Upon arrival, they split into two teams. One took to the elevator next to the faulty one, and the other team went in the service elevator. As they waited for the Captain to arrive, Danny took charge.
The two riders inside yelled and pleaded with the firefighters to get them out of the stuck car. The firefighters blocked the doors open, and they could see the elevator was two thirds past the eighteenth floor. The occupants continued to yell as a firefighter tried to calm them down.
It didn't take but ten minutes for the captain to arrive, and when he got on scene, the captain rubbed his chin. "Looks like you got things under control. What do you think, Danny?"
"According to Cooper, the two inside said the elevator shuddered a few times, dropped from the twentieth floor and stopped here."
"All right. Here's what we'll do. Cooper, take your group, go to the elevator's penthouse, and lock the cables. Then power down this elevator only. You got that? Make damn sure you have all the cables locked in. I sure as hell don't want this thing to drop while we're in the process of getting those civilians out."
It took Cooper's team almost half-an-hour to secure the elevator. Then, one at a time, the firefighters removed the passengers. First out was a woman in a small black dress, followed by a well-dressed older man. The woman in black kept looking away from the firefighters. The man seemed to be more pissed than frightened, barking orders and issuing demands. The captain stepped into the guy's face and confronted him.
"If you don't shut up, and shut up right now, I'll have my men toss you back inside the car, you got me?"
"Do you have any idea who I am?"
"Yeah, I do. You're the loudmouth I saved from certain death if the brakes had failed. That's who you are."
The woman, on the other hand, tried not to be heard or seen, she hid behind the firefighter she had attached herself to when he got her out of the car. It was quite apparent that she didn't want to be seen by anyone.
"Are you okay, ma'am?" One of the firefighters asked.
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine and I really need to go."
When the woman spoke, her voice caught Danny's attention. He came over and the woman turned away. "Alice? Alice is that you?"
"Danny, before you say anything, let me explain."
Danny looked at his wife standing beside this stranger. Her little black dress was in fact quite little as the hem was easily eight inches above her knees. When she turned just so, the darker stitching of the panty part of her hose was exposed. She pulled at her dress in a desperate attempt to avoid giving the firefighters a show. Alice appeared much taller than normal, and that's when Danny noticed the extra tall high heels she had on.
At first many of the firefighters figured she was an escort with a customer.
"Jesus Christ," Cooper mumbled. He did a double glance to make sure the woman in the black dress was in fact Danny's wife. There was no doubt. Cooper knew her.
Suddenly a fellow firefighter grabbed Cooper by the arm. "Is that Alice? Danny's wife?"
Danny stood and stared at the floor. He simply couldn't un-hear what he had overheard.
Danny took a half a dozen steps and stopped in front of his wife. "Jesus, Alice. Why?"
Captain Morris worked his way between Danny and his wife. "This is not the place. It's certainly not the time. Go downstairs and put the equipment away. You got that?"
"She's my wife, and she's with another man!"
"Did you get what I said?" Captain Morris repeated.
"Yes SIR. I got it all right. Captain." He looked over at Alice. "Maybe you can pull the knife out of my back on the way down."
*********Chapter Two********
The start of the new week brought rain to the Big Apple. Danny sat in his recliner as Monday slowly came to an end. The only light in his apartment was the flicker from the television. The sound was turned down. Danny was deep in thought when the front door clicked and opened. It squeaked, and then the latch clicked again as it closed.
"Danny, are you in here?" Alice asked.
He didn't say a word. Alice moved toward the flickering light and noticed Danny in the chair.
"You didn't hear me coming in?" Alice asked.
"I heard you."
"I need to get some things. I figured you'd need a few days to calm down before I came over."
"Take whatever you want. Take it all, I don't care."
"All I came over for was some clothing and personal items, and I'll be as quick as possible."
"May I ask you one question?"
"What is it?"
"Why? Why did you do it?"
Danny watched Alice as she moved into the living room. Alice was the type of woman that didn't need, or wore, much makeup. While she would never be seen walking down a fashion show runway, Alice was girl-next-door pretty. Her face had the warm gold tone of a ripe peach. Her eyelashes were long and sooty black. Raven black hair tumbled over her shoulders. Her sable eyes had an almost magical glow that held people captive. She had an inch-long scar above her right eye, the result of a childhood boating accident.
