"But you didn't want to follow in their footsteps?"
"I believe in service and helping people, but I do not like fire. That blast yesterday…it shook me."
He gave her a thoughtful look. "Yet, you ran back into a burning building. Sounds like you're as brave as the rest of your family."
"No, I'm not, but the firefighters weren't there yet, and I had to do something. I also didn't have time to think about it, which was a good thing."
"If you'd thought about it, you would have made the same decision."
"Maybe…maybe not." She saw the questioning gleam in his eyes and had a feeling she'd revealed too much to backtrack now, so she finished the story. "My father died on 9/11."
"Oh. I'm sorry," he said, his tone sounding genuine for the first time. "That's terrible."
"I was only six, but I can still remember that day. It started out normally, and then the world fell apart. My mom picked my little brother and I up from school and daycare. We spent all day watching the news, and family kept showing up at the house, crying, scared, hopeful. We didn't know about my father for a long time. He was in one of the towers. He rescued a lot of people before…" She cleared her throat, not sure why she'd told him such a personal thing. "Anyway, I couldn't become a firefighter after that. Not that it stopped others in the family. My uncle is a battalion chief, and his kids followed in his footsteps. I took a different path."
"That's understandable. Your father sounds like a hero."
"He really was. Not just that day, either. It was the way he lived his life." She took a sip of her tea. "We have gotten way off topic."
"Do you want more rice?" he asked as he picked up the bowl.
"No, you go ahead," she said, relieved with the change in subject. "I have to say, it was delicious. Do you eat here all the time?"
"Once or twice a week, but Mrs. Kim is often sending food upstairs. I've had just about everything on the menu. So, have you learned anything about the bombing, about the man who bumped into Samantha?"
"Actually, I spoke to a barista this afternoon. She told me she remembered the guy with the coffee topped with whipped cream because he asked for extra whip. She thought his name was Jonas. She said he'd been there a couple of times that week, but he'd never ordered coffee with so much whipped cream before."
"Maybe he was checking the place out," he murmured.
"That's my thought. We're going back in time to see if we can catch him on a camera and try to get a last name and an address. Unfortunately, the camera on the front of the building has been out for the past week. Someone smashed it, and they hadn't gotten it fixed yet."
"Well, that sounds like too big of a coincidence."
"It does." She wiped her mouth as she finished eating and took her phone out of her pocket. "In lieu of a photo, I worked with a sketch artist, and this is what he came up with." She pulled up the image and handed him the phone. "Do you recognize him?"
His lips tightened. "Yes. He was leaving the cafe when I arrived."
"Do you know who he is?"
Max looked at the sketch once more, his jaw tightening. "No, but I think I saw him outside Forge Fitness last week."
She sat up straighter. "Where's that?"
"Soho. I was leaving Dominic's apartment building, and I saw Samantha on the street. She was waiting for a cab to take her to the gym, and I offered her a ride. I'm fairly sure this guy was standing in front of the fitness center when I dropped her off."
"Did Samantha talk to him?"
"No. I only noticed him because while she was in my car, she'd gotten a phone call, and she was finishing up. I double-parked until she was ready to go, and I was just looking around."
"When she got out of your vehicle, did they interact?"
Max shook his head. "I don't believe so, but I'm not sure I watched her go all the way into the gym."
"I need to go to that gym and show the sketch around, see if anyone can identify him. If I can get a name, that could be a huge break," she said with excitement.
"I'll go with you. Let me get the check."
"It's my treat," she said, more than happy to pay for dinner, because she might finally have a significant lead. "But I have to say that if you're sending me on a wild goose chase, you will regret it."
