“Yes, sweetie?”
I’m helping Kailee into her car seat. The straps got twisted somehow and I’m doing my best not to let my frustration show. I keep glancing back at the house, wondering what could be so dangerous about it. There’s no gas leak, like there was at Dennis’s. I didn’t see any signs of an intruder either.
“Where are we going?” Kailee asks, before letting out a big yawn, which makes her little nose crinkle up. I swear, if child actors didn’t end up miserable half the time, I’d audition her for commercials. No one’s cuter than my baby, and I ain’t just saying that ’cause I’m her dad.
“We’re going to . . . gramma’s.”
“Oh, okay.” Gotta love kids. They’ll ask you a million questions about things that seem perfectly ordinary, but hardly bat an eye at a situation like this.
“We’re going to surprise her,” I say. “Isn’t that fun?”
“Uh huh,” Kailee says, through another yawn.
I finally get the damn straps sorted out and get into the driver’s seat. My pickup’s got an extended cab with a backseat, and I can see Kailee’s little face, absorbed in thought. She’s probably thinking about something totally random. I can sense that a question is brewing.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, sweet potato?”
“Does Stella dream?”
Shit. Stella. Totally forgot her. “Hold on, sweet pea. Daddy’s gonna go back for Stella. She’s coming too.”
I may not like that yappy furball, but she’s family. And you don’t abandon your family. I guess Laci never got that memo.
Once we get to the police station, a female officer takes Kailee to a room designated for children. They have dolls there for her to play with.
Kailee looks at me before going with the woman.I smile and reassure that it’s safe to go with the nice lady. But I can tell she’s still hesitant.
On the way to the station, I told her that we have to make a pit stop before heading to gramma’s. Kailee asked me what a ‘pit stop’ was. I explained the best I could. Then she asked me if the moon was as big as the earth.
Looks like I’m the first guy to arrive. According to Marcus the others are en route. So the danger that necessitated my leaving my house in the middle of the night applies to all of us. Interesting. And by ‘interesting’ I mean super weird and creepy.
We hang out in a waiting area, awkwardly making small talk until Joey and Jax show up. A few minutes later, Manny and Dennis roll in, followed by the probie, whose blonde hair is sticking out every which way. He looks around nervously, probably expecting this to be some sort of elaborate prank. To be fair, staging his arrest wouldn’t be the most outrageous stunt pulled on a probie by our house. In fact, it might not even make the top five. Once, before my time, a probie opened his locker one morning to find a six-foot python waiting for him. According to Dennis, the probie shrieked like a little girl.
“All right, gents,” Marcus says, his face and tone more serious than usual. “Follow me.”
We walk to his office. A few jokes are cracked, but it’s forced. No one’s in a lighthearted mood, and we’re all on edge, whether we wanna admit it or not.
Once we’re inside, the detective takes a seat behind his desk. I’m a little surprised by the sparse furnishings. Judging my Marcus’s dress sense, I was half expecting his office to be kitted out with a leather couch and a mahogany bookshelf. But it’s basically empty, and his desk is a mess.
Marcus rests his hands on his desk, fingers interlocked, and says, “You fellas are gonna have to fight over the chairs.”
There are only two other chairs here. No one goes for them. We remain standing, nervous, and impatient to hear why we’re here.
“So what’s up — why are we here?” Jax says, folding his arms across his chest.
“Forensics found a piece of hair on a shard of glass at Dennis’s house. We got a DNA match. Does the name Evan Zwick mean anything to any of y’all?”
We exchange looks. Heads shake. No bells have rung.
“I see. Well, apparently, you boys dragged his ass out of his burning home a few years back. Place in Lincolnwood.”
A few heads hang. I swallow heavily. We all remember the place. Except for probie, who’d yet to join our battalion. Evan must be the guy we saved. As for his wife and two kids . . . well, we couldn’t get to them in time. I feel sick remembering his youngest daughter. How badly burned she was by the time I found her in a closet. I carried her tiny, lifeless body out to the street, and handed her over to the paramedics. They looked at me, wondering if I really thought she was still alive. I didn’t think she was. But that didn’t mean I accepted it. You never get used to finding kids. Ever. That was a huge blow to the battalion.
“So he wants revenge?” Dennis says.
Marcus sits back. “We’re not 100% sure what his motive is, but we think he resents you guys for saving his life, and forcing him to live with the pain of losing his family.”
