Page 27 of Hot Zone

“How was your shift?” I asked Robert.

“Pretty standard. We had two medical emergencies and three automobile accidents.”

“Morning, Chief.” Jax walked through the door, carrying his duffle bag. “You got a morning meeting today?”

“That’s the plan,” I said. He nodded and headed on through to the station.

“Fox is in the office.” Robert motioned his head towards the door that opened into the station. “He’s pushing himself really hard, trying to find this arsonist.”

I sighed. “I know, but he can only work with what evidence he has. He can’t just magically figure out who the guy is.”

“I agree, but he seems to think if he stares at the stuff hard enough, an answer will come to him.”

“I’ll go check on him while the other guys from B-shift arrive.”

I walked through the door that opened into the communal area of the station and went down the hall to the offices. Sure enough, just like Robert said, I found Fox standing there staring at the board he’d put together that showed the location of the fires we’d confirmed as all set by our guy.

“What are you doing, Fox?”

He let out a sigh. “Same thing I do every day, Chief. There has to be a pattern of some kind here besides the buildings being empty. And I can’t figure out how Andy’s car and Cody’s store fit in aside from them being at this station. But out of thirty-plus crew members, why them? We assumed it was because of news coverage, but was that it or something else? I just don’t know.”

“I hear you. It feels like there’s something that has to be tying everything together.”

“I think the time of day could be—”

The tones sounded, and we both stopped talking so we could hear the announcement over the PA.

Structure Fire, 1426 Pecan. Cross streets Pecan and 14th Street. Engine 113, Ambulance 73.

“Shit, right at shift change,” I grumbled.

“Mind if I ride along?”

“Not at all.”

Just then, my cell phone rang, and I flipped it over to see the number for our dispatch center. That couldn’t be good.

“Chief Sheridan,” I answered.

“Chief, it’s Maggie from dispatch. Listen, that call is ugly, and I know it’s shift change, so I wanted to touch base. The fire is at the old Majestic Theater, and it’s a big one.”

“Damn, okay, stay with me for a second, Maggie.” I motioned for Fox to come with me and rushed to the bay where Robert and his crew were getting suited up. “Jax,” I called out. “Is everyone here?”

“Yeah, Chief, want us to take it?”

“I want both of you to respond. Robert, take the engine. Jax, your crew is on the ladder truck.”

“You got it, Chief.” They both called out.

“Maggie, dispatch one-two-seven as well. The crew is all here, and we need to hit this one with everything we have.”

“Sure thing, Chief. If you need me to send someone from Station twenty, let me know.”

“Thanks. I’ll let you know if we need backup as soon as we get there.” I hung up and quickly suited up. Fox was waiting for me in my truck, and we headed to Pecan Street.

“Damn, the Majestic has always been here,” Fox said.

“I know. I saw my first ever movie in that theater. Of course, shortly after that, they got the big multi-screen theater at the mall, and everyone started going there instead of the Majestic.”

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