Page 7 of Hot Zone

Chapter 3

Samuel

With Fox focusing solely on the arsonist, he was here at the station a lot, so we’d shifted some things around and set him up with a temporary desk in the office the shift captains normally used to do their reports.

I could tell he was excited to be back in a firehouse environment, even if it was in a different capacity.

He stepped into my office with two cups of coffee mid-morning. He held one out to me. “I brought you a cup. I asked Jax what you liked.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” I took the coffee and inhaled the aroma before taking a drink. “What are you working on in there?”

“Just comparing people who adopted animals from the shelter to people who bought kerosene or large propane tanks and trying to find any cross-over.”

“Ah, any luck?” I asked.

“Nothing that amounts to anything. That puppy Keith found tied up in the old hotel had to come from somewhere, but, so far, I haven’t found a connection.”

“Yeah, I was hoping that would be a good lead for you. But something will break.”

“I sure hope so. How are things going on your end?”

“Pretty good. Three Bears Tactical have been great. Over the last week, they’ve installed cameras with video monitoring on at least ten of the firefighters’ houses, including mine, and I know they have even more scheduled.”

It surprised me how quickly they got everything done at my place over the weekend. They’d shown up Saturday morning,and a few hours later, I had a full set of outside cameras installed and an app that I could use to monitor them.

“That’s good. I have them coming to do my place next week. I felt weird about doing it because I’m not technically Station 69, but when I talked to Duncan Hawkins, he said that since I was investigating the arsonist, I was as likely to need security as anyone else.”

“They know their stuff. They’ve really stepped up to do all this for us, and at the price they’re doing it for, I would be surprised if they were making much off of it.”

He sat down in a chair and sighed. “I feel so useless, but I don’t really have anything to go on. There has to be something I’m missing.”

“You’re not useless. You’ve been digging through all the evidence and double-checking everything. You’re going to catch him.”

“I know you’re right, but I hate the idea that I can’t do my job until he strikes again. Who knows how long that will be? Nobody told me when I became a fire investigator, the work would be twenty percent investigating and eighty percent paperwork.”

“Tell me about it.” I picked up the papers I’d been working on when he walked in. “I had some big shoes to fill with Michael retiring, but I’d been honored to take his place. I just underestimated how much I’d hate all the red tape.”

“And how much you would miss the action?” he asked.

“That, too,” I agreed. The tones sounded just then, and Fox raised an eyebrow in question. “Don’t ask me.”

Structure Fire, 708 San Jose. Cross streets San Jose and 7th street. Engine 113, Ambulance 73.

“Want to ride along?” I asked.

A grin spread across his face. “Yeah, I do.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you at the pick-up.” As the station chief, the department provided me with what they called a fire command vehicle. It was anF-250pick-up with a cap on the back. It had all the bells and whistles, literally, meaning it had been outfitted with a light bar and siren.

We headed to the bay where the guys were all getting their gear on. “I’ll meet y’all there,” I told Jax.

“Sounds good, Chief,” he said before running for the truck. “Come on. Load up,” he called out to the other members of his crew.

I pulled on my bunker gear and jumped in the pick-up. I flipped on the lights and sirens and pulled out.

San Jose was a quiet little street that was lined with older homes. It wasn’t a bad part of town, but it was mostly older residents and rental properties.

We could see the smoke way before we got to the house, and the closer we got, the more familiar the neighborhood looked. I was trying to remember who I knew that lived over here.

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