Page 39 of From the Flames
“I understand. But you have to realize that these people have their minions everywhere, and when they don’t, they buy them. It’s that simple.” He sounded desperate.
“What did you lose in the fire?” Willy asked, calming down somewhat. He tried to think about what he would do to get to the bottom of all this, and a little harassment wasn’t out of the realm of possibility if he thought it might get results. Though he hoped he would do a better job of it and track down the people who truly deserved to stay awake at night.
“Everything. All the family pictures, the things I got from my grandparents. Yeah, I got out, but ever since then I’ve felt like….”
“Like part of your past and who you are has been ripped away?” Willy supplied, his anger evaporating when he got a nod.
“I’ve been so lost. I find myself looking for something and then remembering that it’s gone. I know it’s only stuff, but there are memories attached to those things—or there were—and it’s like losing those memories too.”
Willy could understand that. “The same thing happened to me. But my situation was made worse because I was threatened.” He leaned against Kevin, letting him be his strength for a little while. He felt wiped out, but at least he had an answer for part of what was going on. “I’m Willy, by the way.” He realized he didn’t know the man’s name.
“Frankie White,” the other man said. “I know I handled this badly and I shouldn’t have shown up at your house, but I needed help and didn’t know if I’d get it. No one else seemed to understand.” This man was definitely lost, and Willy hoped like hell that he never got to that point.
“We are going to get to the bottom of this. Don’t worry about that. And I’m not going to press charges, but get the help you need. Talk to someone who can help you deal with this.” Willy had heard of people losing themselves in a cycle of grief and lossand not being able to get out. He’d just never met anyone like that before. But then, losing your home was traumatic. That kind of shakeup could be tough, and Willy had the idea that Frankie was alone. At least Willy had plenty of support—Kevin, Ellen, Evelyn, and other people who filled his life. Going through this alone would be frightening as all hell. “I bet Red and Carter can help you with that. They’re good officers.”
Carter seemed taken by surprise. “So everything is okay?”
Willy shrugged. “We have an explanation, and that’s good enough for now.” It lifted the threat of intimidation and someone watching the house. But someone still needed to pay for the destruction of his home—and everyone else’s. “Do you need to take Frankie home?”
“He came here to talk to you of his own volition, so Mr. White is free to go,” Red said, and Frankie looked around and then stood. He left the room but stopped at the door.
“I wish I had had people like you after the fire.” He looked almost broken as he left.
Willy was tempted to go after him, and maybe he should have, but he stayed in his chair. There was nothing he could do for Frankie. If Frankie wanted to change his life, then he needed to do it himself.
“I’ll get the concrete tested,” Carter said.
“That will help,” Kevin added.
Willy shook his head. “No, it won’t. We already know that they cut corners. There’s plenty of evidence, and if we wanted to go after Kraft and Hobson, we could do that now. But what good is it going to do? This was years ago, and they’ll blame it on former management and go right on. There’s no proof to tie them to any of the fires.”
Red put his hands on the table. “What do you propose to do? Not give up, I hope.”
“God, no. They have ruined a lot of people’s lives, and they need to pay. If they keep it up, they are going to kill someone.” He tapped his fingers on top of the table. “Can you find out every building they built in this area? There have to be more.” An idea was taking shape in his mind.
“What are you thinking?” Carter asked.
“Well, we need to find out what they worked on, then see if there is a building we can use as bait. Let it be known that we are investigating this particular building for code violations and quite possibly criminal fraud. You can put together the proper language to make it sound really official and that the department here is serious about taking them down. If they burned what was left of my building, as well as others, to cover up what they are doing, then our threat will have to be neutralized.”
Kevin gasped. “But that means putting others in danger. as well as other property.”
Willy nodded. “I know. And that’s why we need to find out everything they worked on. I don’t know if there is a building that we could use as bait. Understand, I don’t want more people put in danger, but as long as these criminals are in business, everyone living in any of those buildings is threatened if every time someone suspects what they are doing, they torch the evidence. Someone is going to get hurt.”
Red leaned forward. “I can see if I can get that information, but we’re going to have to proceed carefully.”
“I know. And I’m not saying that it’s something we can do, but we have to look into setting a trap for them. I think it may be the only way to bring all of this to an end. All we need is to get a couple of their people, and from there you should be able to go up the line. At least it would be a place to start.”
“Okay. We’ll look into it. But I’m not making any promises,” Red told them.
Willy rolled his eyes. “I’m not asking you to commit to anything. But a trap, coordinated between the police and fire departments, could be a way to flush these people out. They don’t waste time, so it wouldn’t be a long operation. It would be a matter of finding a property where no one could get hurt.” He could see it now and leaned over the table. “These people do a crap job installing the fire-suppression systems. So make sure it’s working in the building you intend to use as a trap. That way whatever they do isn’t going to get very far.”
Carter nodded and smiled. “I get it. They are going to count on their shoddy work helping them.”
“Exactly. Make sure the system is working, so that if there is a fire, the system kicks in and douses it in the area affected without damaging the rest of the building. In the meantime, the fire department is on alert because they know what’s happening, and the police department can have the building under surveillance so that they catch the people intent on setting the fire. If we’re lucky, you catch them before they actually set the fire.” The more he thought about it, the more he knew it could work. “Or is this too much like a television episode?”
Carter and Red spoke softly. “We’ll look into the idea, but under no circumstances is either of you to take it upon yourselves to get involved. We don’t want you two on their radar. Is that understood?”
Willy nodded. “I just wanted to share my idea. I’m a father of two, and I’m not going to put myself or my kids in danger.” And the thought of Kevin being on the front line scared him too. “As long as we promise not to go out on our own, do you promise to keep me informed?”
