“Walked in this morning and said I wanted him with me today.” Bruce gave my shoulder a quick squeeze. “Captain agreed, so I grabbed him and left before he could change his mind.”
I didn’t know whether to be more surprised the inspector knew my real name or that he requested me to shadow him. Though I kept my thoughts to myself, having learned that nothing good ever came from calling out those in my field with more authority than me.
Bruce checked all the binders that George put in front of him, detailing all the drills, tests, and inspections that were done by the maintenance team or professional contractors. At the end of each, he added his stamp before examining the room itself. He shone his flashlight into corners and along the ceiling. “If only everyone were as organized as you, George.” Then Bruce turned to me. “Quite often maintenance rooms are used as storagerooms, becoming fire hazards instead of the building hub they’re meant to be.”
After clapping his hands, Bruce folded them together. “Now, all we need is to test the fire alarm while we’re here.”
George nodded. “I’ll let everyone know and then we can go ahead.” He announced over the building’s PA system that the system was going to be tested, giving them a five-minute warning.
We exited the maintenance room into the concourse of tower one once the alarm had been tested and we said goodbye to George. There were many businesses on the first floor alone, and we had seventy floors to visit in one building.
We visited food markets, bookstores, medical clinics, lawyers’ offices, and so many more businesses, each of them with a slightly different checklist of what we looked for. To get to the next floor, we walked up, ensuring neither the stairs nor the exit doors were blocked in any way. While it wasn’t the training I was used to, the process required focus and endurance.
For lunch, we went back down to NJ Foods—a place I didn’t know was there until that morning—and bought prepared meals to enjoy before getting back to work. Luckily, we rode the elevator from the main floor up to the twentieth, instead of taking the stairs, to start where we’d left off.
We visited the coding school first, finding only the woman who owned the business there.
“Hi, Madeleine.” Bruce greeted her in a much friendlier tone than any of the other people we’d visited already.
She smiled at him. “I see you’re Inspector Stanfield today instead of Hudson’s dad.”
Nodding, he leaned against the reception desk. “I have to do this as a formal visit even though I know we’ve already discussed fire safety issues.”
“Go ahead.” She gestured down the hall. “The classrooms are open. I’ll just be here doing some admin work.”
From the brief interaction, I assumed Bruce had at least one child, Hudson, and took him to the coding school on a regular basis. Since I missed the Christmas party last year, I had yet to meet most of the family members of those I worked with.
“In a place with so many computers,” Bruce said as we walked down the hall, “it’s important to ensure there are enough outlets for everything so that no outlet or circuit is overloaded. I know Madeleine has had an electrician come in to work on that, but we’re here to check everything officially.”
Within ten minutes, we had checked the outlets, the alternate exit, the fire extinguishers, and all the sprinkler heads before saying goodbye and heading across the hall to the day care.
Unlike the frosted-glass-fronted businesses on the various floors we’d visited so far, the day care had walls all along the hallway except a four-foot pane of glass on either side of the entrance door. To keep the children in? I didn’t know much about kids and wasn’t in a rush to find a mate and have some. Not after my last relationship blew up in my face and led to me leaving my family and the town I grew up in.
“Good afternoon.” Bruce sauntered up to the counter where a young omega stood behind the counter, glasses resting on the tip of his nose as he glanced up from the computer to look at us. “I’m Inspector Stanfield and this is Firefighter Gillinois. We’re here from Station 347 to inspect all the businesses in Shifter Towers for fire code compliance. May we come in and have a look around?”
His lips pressed together in a grim smile before he removed his glasses. That’s when I got a good look at him. Combed-backed blond hair, crystal blue eyes, and full cheeks that gave him a boyish charm. He wore a gray knit sweater with his sleevespulled up and blue jeans, both of which hugged his body enough to hint at his curves, but not skintight. And a gold-colored name tag with “Ladon” engraved into it in black lettering. A very cute omega even though he didn’t seem impressed by our visit.
With a sigh, he crossed his arms. “It’s nap time for our students. Can you do this with the lights dimmed and try to be quiet?”
Bruce chuckled. “How about we go up to the next floor then come back down?”
It was the first time he’d offered to come back later all day. Though this seemed to be a circumstance where that was warranted.
“Who’s here?” a sleepy voice asked from somewhere beyond the desk.
“Is it my daddy?” another voice called out much louder.
“Shh,” was the response before multiple voices had multiple questions for whomever was back with them.
Another grim smile from Ladon. “Never mind. It seems nap time is over. Go ahead in and be prepared to be inundated with questions from all the little monsters.”
Bruce chuckled as he stepped behind me and rubbed my shoulders. “That’s why I brought Blaze along with me.”
Terror filled my veins and my stomach twisted in knots. I really had no idea what to do with kids. With the inspector guiding me ahead, I took one step and then another, fearing what would greet me on the other side.
Yet, as I stepped past the counter, I caught a whiff of something faint and familiar. Another dragon shifter. I quickly glanced over at Ladon and purposefully sniffed for his scent. It was him. I was right. Another dragon did exist in Saramto.
I didn’t have time to ask him where he was from, barely had time to process the idea, before I was surrounded by dozens of children tugging on my hand or my pant leg, each with multiplethings to say. I couldn’t make out any more than a single word here and there.
