Free Flashover by Dana Mentink

case. Greenly told us Cyril’s last name is Donovan. Madge said he’s known Moe for five years or so.”
    Together they brainstormed a scant list of details about the mysterious man.
    â€œOh, and he was fired from a job, I think Madge said, but she wouldn’t tell me where.”
    â€œOkay, that’s a start. I’ll try to find out what I can.” Tim glanced at his watch. “I’ve got a game this afternoon, so we’ll have to pick this up tonight.”
    â€œWhy don’t I come?” She knew a couple of the guys from work would be there and she desperately wanted to close the gap that seemed to be growing between herself and her career. She felt a stab of guilt to see Tim’s face light up.
    â€œYou want to cheer us on? Great. I didn’t think you were interested.”
    You should be, Ivy. You should want to go for Tim’s sake, not for selfish reasons. “Sure. I’ll come and root, root, root for the home team, as they say.”
    He nodded, still grinning, and gathered up his papers.
    They took the elevator downstairs and drove to the high school.
    Ivy took her place in the stands. Surreptitiously she scanned the bleachers for the stranger. He would probably not risk making himself too obvious. He’d already ascertained that Cyril didn’t hang around the basketball court. Then again, she thought with a shiver, he may have been watching when Cyril showed up at the apartment, in which case she’d be a target now. Maybe he’d go after more than her purse this time. She shivered.
    The home and visiting teams piled onto the court, sneakers squeaking against the waxed floor. Ivy waved to Jeff and his wife, who came to sit with her.
    Jeff shook his head. “Man, Ivy, things aren’t the same without you.”
    She couldn’t hide her smile. “I’m glad. I was afraid you didn’t even notice I was gone.”
    â€œOh, we noticed. I’ve been going crazy trying to cover your workload, too, until they…” He broke off, a guilty look in his eyes.
    â€œUntil what?”
    Jeff’s wife patted her knee. “Nothing, Ivy. Jeff is just babbling away. Too much coffee and he turns into a chatterbox.”
    Ivy raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think it’s the coffee. What is it, Jeff? What don’t you want me to know?”
    â€œOh, it’s not important. Don’t sweat it, Ivy.” He made a great show of watching the kids drill. “Wow, look at that rebound. Tim’s really got them whipped into shape.”
    â€œJeff, if you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to post the story to Firefighters Online. You know the one I mean.” She saw it clearly in her mind.
    The deck gun on Engine Five was leaking. Jeff turned it on to show the maintenance guy and it came loose, falling directly into the open cab. The front end flooded with gallons of water. When the captain opened the door to survey the damage, a waterfall of gear including the battalion chief’s helmet came pouring out all over the place. Every time they’d turned on the siren for months afterward, the thing sounded like a whale with intestinal problems.
    She fought to keep the smile off her lips at the memory.
    He blanched. “Now, that’s low, Ivy. You wouldn’t dare. They only recently stopped calling me Noah.”
    She folded her arms.
    Jeff cleared his throat. “It’s no big thing, anyway. Strong just brought in someone to backfill, while you’re healing.”
    She had expected that much. “Who?”
    â€œUh, well, you know…”
    â€œWho?”
    He exhaled loudly. “Williams.”
    Her stomach clenched like a fist. Denise Williams was a firefighter with a neighboring county who had tried to get on with Ivy’s department for years. She was also the woman who had stolen Antonio from her. She was sharp, competent and aggressive, a woman who knew an opportunity when she saw