22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Samuel

Monday morning, I went up to the station in time for the morning meeting, but as soon as it was over and I was sure everyone was set for the day, I left to go spend the day helping out at the school.

When I got there, Sydney Brown was there directing the students on what they should do to help with the clean-up. She was the director of the fire school, but she also taught classes. In my time teaching at the school, I’d found her to be a tough but fair boss and instructor.

I walked up to where they were busy hauling out all the debris from the fire and stopped next to her to watch what they were doing. “Morning, Syd. How’s it going?”

She shook her head. “It’s a mess, Samuel. We’re going to spend today on clean-up, and then, starting tomorrow, we’ll be doing classes in the old building until the insurance cuts us a check so we can make repairs.”

“I’m so sorry about this, Syd.”

“It’s not your fault, Samuel. You didn’t start the fire.”

“I know, but still, I’m sorry you have to deal with this mess.” I motioned towards the pile of debris the students had dragged out so far.

“What should I do with these, Cap?” one of the students asked Sydney.

We both turned to find a young man standing there holding a stack of pictures.

“Hey, James, are those the photos from the Honor Wall?” she asked.

“They are. I don’t know if you have copies of them or not. The glass is cracked in all of them but one, so they’re probably ruined.”

He held up one of the pictures, and sure enough, the glass was cracked, but it didn’t look like that was from the fire. It looked more like the photo had been smashed. I glanced over at Syd, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

“Are they all like that?” she asked.

“Yeah, all but the bottom one. They were all on the ground, but that one was still hanging on the wall.”

“Can you show me the one that was still hanging on the wall?” I pulled out my phone, and while he shifted the pictures around, I called Fox, and he answered right away.

“Hey, Samuel, what’s up?”

“Have you watched all of the security footage from the school yet?”

“I haven’t. I’ve been over at the lab all morning trying to get them to rush everything through for me.”

“I need you to find anything you can from the front hallway.”

“What’re we looking for?”

“I want to see if he damaged the photos that hang in that hallway.”

“The Honor Wall?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll watch it and call you back.”

I put my phone back in my pocket and turned back to Syd and James. “I have Fox checking the security footage. But odds are, we’re going to need to take those photos with us. Now let’s see the one that wasn’t broken.”

James handed me the photograph. It was a panoramic shot that I recognized right away. It was from the second year I was an instructor. The fire academy received a grant from the state that paid for the construction of the new building. They’d gotten it completed just in time for the new fall class, and we’d had a ribbon cutting on their first day of class.

Syd stood by the mayor, who was holding a massive pair of scissors and posed like he was about to cut the red ribbon that was stretched across the walkway leading up to the new building.

A group of city council members and a few other local men of importance were standing off to the left, and I was standing to the right with the young men and women who would be the first group to use the new building.

“So this is the only one that was still hanging on the wall?”

“Yes, sir.”

I was looking at the picture, trying to remember anything I could about that particular cohort when my phone rang.

“Sheridon.”

“He busted all the photos with a pipe wrench. It’s the weirdest thing. He smashed them all one at a time and then went over to the other wall, took down a photo, and moved it to where the ones he’d just broken used to hang. I can’t tell what’s in the photo, though. It’s too grainy.”

“I got it right here. It’s from the ribbon cutting on the new building.”

“Were you there?” he asked.

“I was, and I’m in the photo.”

“Okay, I’ll need those pictures. I should have caught that myself, but I was focusing on the areas where the fires started. I just assumed all that damage was from the water. If I’d looked closer, I would’ve caught that they were broken.”

“Well, we have them now, and that’s what counts.”

“Can you identify the other people in the photo?” he asked.

“Maybe. It was a few years ago. I think most of the kids in the class were from out of town and were just here for school. I’m not sure where they’re all working, but Syd is here with me, and I bet between the two of us, we can figure out who they all are.”

“Okay, I’ll be there shortly.”

I pocketed the phone and turned to Syd. “We need to see if we can figure out who all the people are in this photograph.”

She nodded. “Let’s go to my office and see what we can do… Marcel,” she called, and one of the other instructors said something to the person he was talking to and then jogged over to us. “Keep an eye on everyone. I’ll be in my office if you need anything.”

“Sure thing, Cap.”

I followed Syd around the building to her temporary office in the old building, and we put the photograph on her desk.

“Let me grab a piece of paper, and I’ll pull up old class registers. That should help us identify everyone.”

“Sounds good. We can work left to right. I recognize most of the people on the left-hand side.”

She handed me the paper and a pen. “Here you go then. I’ll let you get started while I pull up that class list.”

I took them from her and started making a list of the people who attended the ribbon cutting, starting with the city manager, the fire chief, and one of our state representatives whose name I couldn’t remember, but I was sure Syd would know. One by one, I wrote down their names, finishing when I got to the Mayor and Syd.

“Hey, Syd, what was his name?” I pointed at the state representative.

“Jim Richards. He lost his seat like two months after this.”

“Yeah, I just forgot his name. I didn’t vote for him either time.”

She laughed. “Me either. I had to make myself be nice that day. Anyway, here’s the class list. Let’s see if we can put names with the faces.”

We started each class with right at thirty students, but there was typically some attrition. It’s a hard class, both physically and mentally, and we’d much rather someone figure out this isn’t for them here at the school than after they are out in the field.

I looked at the photo, and while I didn’t remember everyone’s name, most everyone looked familiar. “I remember these two.” I tapped on the image. Emmitt and Von Pruit.

“I do, too. Only time I know of that we had twins come through together.”

“They both went back home to Sweet Springs and are working for the department there.”

We made our way through, not only identifying each person but trying to locate them. It took a bit of social media stalking, but we were successful with all but three of the students.

“I don’t remember Alicia Bass, but that must be her.” Syd pointed at the only female of the three. “Hold on.”

She turned back to the computer and did her thing. “Okay, looks like Alicia Bass left in the first week for health reasons.”

“I don’t even remember her,” I said.

“I’m not surprised. That was a wild year. We were technically in the new building, but actually, we were still working out of both.”

“Now that, I remember. What about the other two?” I pointed at a skinny kid who couldn’t have been much over the minimum age to sign up and another guy who was a little older and quite a bit heavier.

She pointed at the young kid. “I know him. Ricky Andrews. He couldn’t handle the physical requirements.”

“Okay, I remember that. He ended up joining the Navy, I think.”

“That’s right.” She nodded. “Last I heard, he was stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. He married one of my daughter’s friends, and they have a baby.”

“So not him then. Who does that leave?”

“Donovan Michaels.”

“Hmm, Donovan Michaels. That name sounds familiar.” I leaned down and took a closer look.

She pulled up his details and shook her head. “I’m not surprised. He was dismissed from the program at your recommendation because he failed to pass his SCBA certification.”

“Fuck, I remember him now. Thought he knew everything because his father was a firefighter, but no amount of knowledge can fix claustrophobia.”

“That’s true, and if you can’t wear the safety gear, you can’t fight fires.”

“No, but you can start them,” I said.

“You think it’s him?”

“If it’s him, he’s lost probably forty pounds. The guy on the security cameras is scrawny.” There was something niggling in the back of my mind. Like I was missing something important. “It’s been at least three years. I suppose he could have lost some weight.”

Donovan. Donovan, where are you? “Did you find him on Facebook or Instagram ?”

“No, he has an old Facebook , but he hasn’t posted anything in a couple of years. But there are a bunch of people posting condolences from about six months ago. Looks like his father died.”

“Well, there’s a potential trigger.” I stared at the photo and tried to imagine him thinner and a few years older. “I swear I’ve seen him somewhere recently. I just don’t know where.”

“Seen who recently?” Fox stuck his head around the corner.

“This guy right here. Donovan Michaels.”

“He a firefighter?”

“No, he washed out early on.”

“Ahh.” Fox nodded his head. “Let me guess, you’re the one who booted him?”

“Yep.”

“I don’t know him, but I’ll see if we can find him.”

“Did you get the broken pictures we left up front?” I asked.

“I did. We’ll check them for prints, but I’m pretty sure our guy was wearing gloves.”

“Sorry, Syd. I know I came to help you clean up, but I think I’m gonna go with Fox and see if we can figure this out.”

“Sure thing, Sam.” She handed Fox the photo. “You’ll catch him.”

“That’s the plan,” he said. “Have you had lunch, Chief?”

“I haven’t. Want to stop and grab something?”

“Yeah, I’m craving some wings at The Dog.”

“Sounds good to me.”

Mars

Ziva pulled back the curtain on the front window a tiny bit and peeked out. “Should we see if he wants us to get him something for lunch?”

“I guess. I don’t know. I’ve never had a bodyguard before.”

When I’d arrived at the shop this morning, Gator was waiting for me. He seemed nice enough, although I hadn’t talked to him much. He introduced himself and told me he would be staying outside to keep an eye on the place. So far, that was exactly what he’d done.

“Okay, I’ll check and see. Do you know what you want?”

I debated getting something healthy, but since Samuel sent me with something for lunch most days, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to splurge.

“I want an order of the loaded fajita fries from Winchesters.”

“Oh, that sounds good. I’ll add a side salad, and I can pretend it’s healthy.”

She went out, talked with Gator for a minute, and came back in. “He says he would eat a Philly from Winchesters. You want to call it all in?”

“Sure.” I placed the order for the food and then went back to work while she went after the food. I was trying to get all the stock I’d ordered for the holidays out on the shelves.

I also had to decide where to put all of Roxy’s cute little gingerbread men. Seemed to me that they would do best up front where people would see them as soon as they came in, so I moved a stack of tarot cards over with the others and used that shelf for her creations. It made the shelf a little crowded, but it would be okay.

A few minutes later, Ziva came back with our food, so I stuck my head out the door where Gator was standing. “Hey, can you come in long enough to eat?”

He shrugged. “I guess I could come in for that long. Let me take a walk around the property first, and I’ll meet you inside.”

I got three bottles of water out of the fridge and then joined Ziva at the table. “He’ll be in here in a minute.”

“I can’t believe you have a bodyguard. I’ve never even met one in person and sure never thought I’d be picking up lunch for one.”

“I put on my pants one leg at a time like everyone else, sugar. Ain’t nothing special about me,” Gator said, sauntering into the room.

“Maybe so, but it’s a really cool job.” Ziva handed him the bag with his Philly cheesesteak in it.

He shrugged. “It’s not bad.”

“I wouldn’t have thought there was a lot of need for your services in a place like Vesper,” I said.

“There really isn’t, but we go where we’re needed.”

The door chimed, letting me know someone had come inside, and Gator made a frustrated growl sound. “You need to put up some mirrors so you can see that front door.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t going to admit it. “We’re in the tea room,” I called out.

“It’s just me,” a familiar voice called back, and then Mika entered the room. “Darn it. I’ve interrupted your lunch again.”

“It’s fine, Mika. Pull up a chair and join us. There are more of these fries than I can possibly eat so we can share.”

Mika looked at Gator, and I could tell the big guy made him nervous.

“This is Gator. Samuel arranged for him to hang out at the shop while I’m at work to keep an eye on things,” I explained.

“Oh, okay. Is there a reason for that or—”

“Or is Samuel being overprotective?” I shrugged. “I don’t know, but it makes him feel better, so I’m not going to complain.”

“You’re lucky, but I know you know that.”

“I do. Now sit down and help me eat all this food.”

“Fine, it’s not like I have anything else to do today.” Mika pulled out a chair and took a seat.

“So, Gator, you said you go wherever you’re needed. What’s the most interesting place you’ve been?”

“For this job, I’d have to say it was probably a job we did in South Dakota. A guy out of Austin hired us to go with him to Sturgis. He was debuting a new prototype motorcycle engine, and he wanted it guarded twenty-four-seven.”

Mika’s face visibly paled, and I wondered what the deal was, but before I could say anything, Gator continued.

“I’m not a big motorcycle guy, but it was interesting to see how this town morphed from a little nowhere town to this super busy place with people everywhere. It’s almost like the place just exploded out of nowhere. Then the rally was over, and everyone left, and it was this sleepy little town again.”

“It’s scary. There are so many people there, and they’re just everywhere,” Mika said quietly.

“Oh, you’ve been to Sturgis?” Gator asked.

“Once, years ago. I wouldn’t want to go back, though.”

Gator laughed. “Yeah, I could agree with that. It’s one of those things that if you aren’t a biker, once in a lifetime is probably enough.”

I looked over at my friend, trying to figure out what he wasn’t saying, but I didn’t want to push him here at the tea table with people around.

“So, how did you come to work for Three Bears Tactical?” I asked, changing the subject.

“I’m actually one of the owners. Me and two of the guys that I served with started up TBT.”

“Oh, so you’re one of the bears then?” Ziva asked.

“That I am. Me and my friends Hawk and Wolfe.”

“Gator, Hawk, and Wolfe, huh?” I asked.

He chuckled. “Yep, and together we’re the three bears.”

“Somebody had a sense of humor,” Mika said.

“That would be Wolfe. He was actually our commanding officer when we were in the military, and the security company was his idea. We’re just glad he brought us along for the ride.”

“So why Vesper?” I asked.

“Wolfe’s from here.” He took the last bite of his sandwich, balled up the wrapper, and put it in his bag. “Thanks for lunch, Mars. What time will you be leaving today?”

“The shop closes at five, so I’ll be leaving shortly thereafter.”

“Sounds good.”