Page 15 of Fire and Bones

“Of course.” Thacker arced a palm toward the food. “Please join us.”

“No, thank you.”

“Dr. Brennan, I’d like you to meet Luis Burgos. Goes by Lubu if I recall correctly?”

Burgos didn’t confirm or deny.

“Sergeant Burgos is the investigator assigned to this terrible fire.”

I extended a hand.

Burgos didn’t shake it.

Alrighty, then.

“Please, have a seat.” Thacker’s palm was now aimed at the Naugahyde and chrome.

Burgos yanked the closest chair and sat. Raised his left ankle onto his right knee, body language radiating his eagerness to be gone.

Plate in hand, Thacker circled to her ergonomic perch. Noting that she’d taken only a few spoonfuls of edamame beans to gnaw on, I moved to the seat beside Burgos.

“Dr. Brennan is the forensic anthropologist I told Captain Hickey about. She’s come—”

“Where’s Gaynor?”

“Portugal.”

Burgos flicked the upraised foot several times but said nothing.

“If I’m not mistaken, Engine Company 23 was the first unit to respond to the fire?”

Burgos nodded.

“And you’ve been there with them right from the start.” Thacker’s voice oozed compassion and gratitude.

Burgos’s foot flicked again.

To me, Thacker said, “Sergeant Burgos is here to brief you on the situation.”

Burgos spoke to Thacker, ignored me. “The situation is that the bastard’s still hot and I’ve gotta get back there.”

“Of course. A short summary will give Dr. Brennan an idea of the conditions she’ll encounter.”

Burgos sighed. “What do you wanna know?”

Having worked with equally hostile cops, I recognized the signals. The man thought his time too valuable to be wasted on coaching a geek scientist.

“It would help to have a sense of the fire’s intensity,” I said.

“The call came in as a two-alarm, quickly went to three. Right now, there’s six engine companies with four personnel each, three ladder companies with five personnel each, a heavy rescue squad with five, an ambulance with two EMTs, a medic unit with two paramedics, an air unit, and a rehab unit on site. That give you some sense?”

“Thank you. That’s very thorough. What does the air unit do?” I asked, unfamiliar with the term.

Burgos answered, still without looking at me. “Refill the firefighters’ air bottles.”

“The rehab unit?”

“Provide a rest platform and rehydration liquids.”

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