24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Samuel

I’d spent most of my time the last couple of days at Mars’s shop. But today, I was sitting in my office across from Hawk. Fox had been giving me daily updates from the law enforcement end, but today, Hawk was here to tell me what his team had found, which wasn’t much.

“So there’s just no sign of him?” I asked. It had been three days since Don had taken off, and so far, no one had seen hide nor hair of him.

“Nothing so far.”

“Maybe he left town. I would have if I knew half the city was looking for me.”

“Yeah, but you’re thinking rationally, Samuel. He isn’t. Which doesn’t mean he isn’t long gone, just that you can’t attribute rational thinking to an irrational person.”

“I know you’re right, but it’s just so frustrating. We’re all on pins and needles, worrying about what he might do next. We can’t live like this indefinitely.”

“I know, but in my experience, you won’t have to. He was starting to come undone, and that won’t change because he’s on the run. If anything, that will make him desperate to prove whatever point he was trying to make.”

“He’s done a lot of damage, but up to this point, he hasn’t killed anyone. I hope him feeling cornered doesn’t change that.”

“You worried about your boy?” he asked.

“All the time,” I said honestly. I was sure Don blamed me for him washing out of the academy, and I worried he would try to get back at me by going after Mars.

Hawk chuckled. “Don’t you worry about Mars. Gator is there with him, and he won’t let any harm come to him. Although, I have to tell you, it’s good to see you all tied up in knots like this.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say. You don’t—”

My phone rang, interrupting what I was about to say. I glanced down to see that it was Becca Brooks, one of the paramedics who was on shift today, who was calling, which was odd. Normally, if anyone needed anything, they would simply come to my office.

“Hey, Becca, what’s up?”

“Chief,” she whispered into the phone. “We’ve got a situation up front.”

The frightened tone of her voice was enough to make my heart lurch. “What’s going on, Becca?”

Before she could respond, I heard it in the background—a man shouting, his voice high-pitched with panic. “Don’t come any closer! I’ll do it!”

My blood ran cold, and I looked at Hawk. “I think he’s here.” We both bolted out of the office and headed for the front.

I rounded the corner, and sure enough, there he was, standing in the middle of the bay. He wore a jacket zipped up tight, and his eyes looked frantic. But it was what he held in his hand that froze the air in my lungs.

“Is that a detonator?” I hissed at Hawk.

“Looks like it.”

“Everyone, stay back!” Don shouted, his voice cracking. He reached up and unzipped his jacket, revealing what looked like a homemade bomb. “I’m not kidding! This thing’s real!”

Ford, Kevin, Robert, Ronda, and Simon had formed a semi-circle around him, their faces tense but calm. They had all faced terrifying situations before, and I knew they weren’t going to panic. I didn’t see Becca anywhere, but since she’d been able to call, my guess was she was in the back of one of the ambulances. I also didn’t see Andy and Keith, but they were probably in the kitchen preparing lunch, and if they were smart, they would stay there.

I’d expected him to do something big, but I hadn’t considered a direct attack like this.

I stepped forward, my hands raised, palms out. “Take it easy, Don,” I said, keeping my voice low and steady. “No one’s doing anything here. Let’s just talk.”

The man’s eyes snapped to me. “You,” he hissed. “You did this to me. You’re the one who said I couldn’t cut it. That I wasn’t good enough to be a firefighter.”

“Don, I never said you weren’t good enough,” I said carefully. “You couldn’t pass the SCBA test. It was a safety issue. I had to make that call to protect you and everyone else.”

“Liar!” he shouted, his voice rising to a near scream. “You didn’t even give me a chance! You just wanted me out, and now—now you’ll pay!”

“You’re right. I was the one who made that decision. None of these people had anything to do with it. So why don’t you just let them all leave, and you and I can sort this out.”

I hadn’t had a choice back then, but I knew he didn’t see it that way, and I didn’t want any of my crew to suffer because of my actions.

Andy and Keith slipped in the side door from the kitchen. They were behind him, moving slowly and being extra careful not to make a sound. Here I was, trying to get everyone else out, and those two had willingly walked in.

Of course, what else would you expect from guys who willingly ran into burning buildings instead of running out?

“No. They all stay. Every one of them,” he shouted. His eyes were wild, and his breathing heavy. Coming undone. That was what Hawk had said earlier, that Don was coming undone. It was easy to see why he’d chosen those words because that was exactly how it appeared.

This wasn’t going to end well, and the only thing I could think of was the fact that I’d never told Mars I loved him. I’d thought it, but I’d been afraid it was too soon for me to say it out loud, and now I might not ever get the chance.

Behind him, I saw Keith give a nod to Andy. They were in position, waiting for an opening. I needed to keep him focused on me.

“Don,” I said, softening my tone. “I know you’re angry. But this? This isn’t going to fix anything. It’s just going to make things worse.”

“You don’t understand!” he shouted, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. “I wanted this more than anything. I wanted to be one of you.” He waved the detonator around, frantically pointing it at each of the firefighters. “I wanted to be like my dad. I wanted to save people. And you stole that from me!”

“It’s not too late, Don,” I said, even though we all knew that wasn’t true. “You walk out of here with me, and we figure this out. Together.”

His hand trembled on the detonator, and for a moment, I thought I was getting through to him. But then he shook his head violently. “No. No more talking. You’re going to—”

A loud clatter came from behind him, interrupting what he was saying. Andy had knocked over a bucket near the door, drawing Don’s attention for a split second. That was all Hawk needed. He lunged forward, grabbing Don’s wrist and twisting it upward. The detonator flew from Don’s hand and skittered across the floor.

From there, chaos erupted. Hawk took Don down, pinning him to the ground with his knee in the middle of his back. I kicked the detonator across the floor, far out of reach, and Keith secured it.

Hawk looked up. “Anyone have any zip ties?”

“We do,” Kevin said. He headed over to the supply cabinet, returned with a few, and handed them over to Hawk. He took them and secured Don’s hands before looking up at us. “Everyone, back up.”

My crew didn’t know Hawk well enough to follow his orders, so they all looked to me, and when I nodded, they all moved back.

I assumed Hawk was trained for this, but still, it was a bomb. “You know what you’re doing over there, Hawk?”

He looked up at me and scoffed. “This ain’t my first rodeo, Samuel. I got this. Besides, this is barely even a bomb.”

I motioned for everyone to move further back just to be safe, and then we stood there and watched while he rolled Don onto his back and went to work on the mess of wires and shit that were strapped to his chest.

We all held our breath while we waited until he finally looked up at us. “Bomb’s neutralized!” he called out, and relief swept through the room like a wave.

Don was sobbing on the floor, his chest heaving as snot and tears ran down his cheeks. He didn’t resist as Hawk pulled him to his feet. It was like his anger had burned out and had been replaced by exhaustion and despair.

I felt sorry for him in a way, but I’d obviously made the right choice back then. Being a firefighter was a tough job, and it could wear on you mentally. He obviously wasn’t capable of handling the stress this job could cause.

A few minutes later, sirens blared from out front, and a hoard of police officers swarmed the building. We explained what had happened, and they took him into custody. I could only hope that, over time, he would get the help he needed, but at least he was off the streets, and this nightmare was over.