The Blackout

by K J Kalis

  Taking the stairs two at a time, Kat headed upstairs for a shower, pulling on a pair of jeans and a tank top. She trotted downstairs, finding the dogs laying at the bottom of the steps waiting for her, both of them sprawled out on the cool tile. They followed as she went into the kitchen, two grunts echoing as they chose places to rest. The questions were still chasing Kat. She needed to talk to Theresa again. Kat quickly sent her a text, asking her to call when she had a moment. Kat hoped it would be soon. She knew she needed to either move forward on the story or hold back. She wasn’t sure which yet.

  Kat spent the next several hours researching Palm Coast Electric & Power to get more background, a pad of paper quickly filling up next to her with her own written code. It was something that many journalists used when they had handwritten notes. Not only did it keep their information protected until they could publish, but it made it nearly impossible for them to be prosecuted.

  Palm Coast Electric & Power had been accused of starting some of the wildfires. Not intentionally, of course, Kat read, but because of lax maintenance on some of their equipment. Old equipment tended to spark from time to time, she read. If those sparks happened at just the right time, a wildfire could start. While the company vehemently denied having any equipment that would spark, they did agree, after a lot of pressure from California’s utility association, to do rolling blackouts in the most susceptible areas of the valley. Somehow, the geniuses who wrote policies like these thought that would curb the wildfire epidemic.

  Kat clicked on another story about the blackouts. The blackouts had not only put a lot of pressure on the families in the areas where they occurred, but they didn’t seem to be working. Every family seemed to have a small generator to keep their refrigerator and fans running. There were cases when the homeowner’s equipment sparked, caught on fire or gasoline was dripped onto brush when they were trying to refill the tank. Kat shook her head. The blackouts looked like a way for Palm Coast Electric & Power to avoid lawsuits. Kat scribbled a few more notes on her pad before turning to Bart Walsh.

  The company’s website had the traditional biography and picture you’d expect for a CEO. Kat had only seen him once at a baseball game. Theresa said he was always working and didn’t have time to come. He had dark hair and a medium build. The most striking thing about him was that he wasn’t striking at all. He had graduated college with a degree in engineering and had worked his way up the ladder to become CEO at Palm Coast. Kat searched for his college and looked for articles in the time period he had been there, wondering about his past. Within a few minutes, she had discovered that he was part of a fraternity, a Theta Sigma Delta chapter, and had played baseball for a couple of semesters. Given his background, Kat was surprised he didn’t make more of Mike’s games.

  At the bottom of the search page, she found an article titled, “Roommates Create Program to Save Power.” Kat clicked on it. It was from the archives of the school’s newspaper. Under the headline, there was a picture of two young men. Kat squinted at the screen and realized Bart was on the right. The citation under the picture read, “Connor Lewis (left) and Bart Walsh (right) show off their latest software.”

  Kat read the rest of the article. It was badly written, clearly by an undergraduate who was trying to meet a deadline. Kat smiled to herself. That had been her at one time. Overlooking the typos and the sentence structure issues, the article went on to describe how two fraternity brothers, over a couple of beers, had decided they were smart enough to fix issues with power management for the rest of the world. They had created a software program that would take care of keeping electricity flowing smoothly for communities even in the most remote areas of the world.

  Kat immediately thought of the company they had called the night before. What was the name of it? Kat thumbed through her notes. Power Management Solutions. Kat pulled up their website and went through their corporate listings. Kat found the Board of Directors and listed as the Chairman of the Board was Bart Walsh.

  Kat leaned back in her chair, looking at the ceiling, the only noise in the kitchen the soft snoring of Tyrant, who was laying on her pink blanket. How was it that only Bart’s name was listed in the company? Kat knew it could be as simple as Connor selling out his shares or losing interest in their idea and moving on with his life. Kat looked back at her computer knowing there was more to the story. There had to be.

  It was time to backtrack. She started a timeline on her pad of paper and added what she knew. The space between the article and where Bart was today encompassed a couple of decades. She needed to know what had happened and if it was linked in any way to what Theresa had found. She felt a tension in her chest, as though this might hold the key to what Theresa had seen in Bart. Maybe he really was in trouble.

  16

  Sitting in her chair made her back ache. Kat got up from her computer and started a pot of coffee. As she poured the water in, her phone rang. It was Jack’s school, “Ms. Beckman?”

  “Yes?”

  “This is Mrs. DiBlasi at Westchester Elementary.”

  Kat interrupted her, her heart pounding in her chest. “Is Jack okay?”

  “Yes, yes. That’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling about Michael Walsh.”

  Kat stopped breathing for a minute. Mike was Theresa and Bart’s son. “Yes?”

  “Mike passed out a few minutes ago. We have been unable to reach either of his parents. His mom listed you as their alternate contact.”

  Kat vaguely remembered talking to Theresa at baseball and having a conversation with her about it. She had said something about both of their families being out of town and having no one else to ask. Kat remembered being surprised at the time. She was more surprised that Theresa hadn’t found someone she was closer to. “Yes, of course. What can I do?”

  “I wanted to let you know that we’ve called an ambulance. Could you come up to the school? We can send Jack with you if you’d like, or he can stay in class.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Kat shut her laptop, grabbed her keys, a jacket and her purse and left, getting into the blue Jeep she had gotten when they moved to California. It had been Van’s thank you gift for pulling up their lives and leaving what they knew.

  The drive to school only took five minutes. Kat had the windows open, the wind whipping through the Jeep more than usual. Kat used both hands on the wheel to keep the Jeep on the straight and narrow.

  As she pulled into the driveway of Westchester Elementary, a red ambulance with lights flashing was already there, the back doors open. Kat parked the Jeep and walked as fast as she could into the building. Michael was already on the gurney. Jack was standing next to him. “Mike! Jack! What happened?”

  She was intercepted by a short woman with jet black hair and a face as round as the moon wearing white nurses’ scrubs and a flowered cardigan. “Are you Ms. Beckman?”

  Kat answered, but didn’t look at the woman, “Yes. What’s going on?”

  “The paramedics are working on Mike right now. They will take him into the hospital just as a precaution. He’s got a fever, but I didn’t want to give him any medication without hearing from his parents. Did you have any luck getting ahold of Mr. or Mrs. Walsh?”

  “No. I mean, I didn’t try. I just came right here.” Kat looked at the woman. “You called both of them and no one answered?”

  “That’s right. We left messages, but no one has called back. I’ll make a note that we released Mike to you.” She patted Kat on the arm, “I’m sure he’ll be okay. Just give me a call and let me know what the doctor says when you are done.”

  Kat nodded, knowing that Mrs. DiBlasi would have to get her information from Mike’s family, not her. She wasn’t about to violate their privacy.

  A blue jacketed paramedic looked at her, “Ma’am, we’re going to load him up. You can follow if you’d like.”

  “Yes, we’ll do that.” She looked at Jack. “Go get your backpack. We’ll go to the hospital together.” As soon as Jack trotte
d away, she walked to Mike. The paramedics were putting what looked like seatbelts around his waist, legs and chest before they rolled him out to the ambulance. “What happened, Mike?”

  “I don’t know. I just couldn’t see and then I woke up on the floor. It was weird.”

  Kat smoothed the hair from his forehead. He was pale and clammy. “I’m sure it’s just a virus or something. We’ll get you over to the hospital for them to take a look at you. Do you know where your mom and dad are?”

  “If it’s the morning, then mom’s out walking. She always has her phone with her though. Dad should be at work.” A trace of fear passed over Mike’s face.

  “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll get ahold of them. Maybe your mom was just in the shower or something.”

  The paramedic started to pull the gurney away just as Jack bolted around the corner carrying his backpack. “I’m ready!”

  “Perfect timing.”

  “Ms. Beckman?” Mike called.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah. Can Jack ride with me?”

  Kat glanced at the paramedic who gave a nod. “It’s fine with me if it’s fine with the paramedics.”

  “Good.” Mike sighed and closed his eyes.

  Kat put her hand on Jack’s shoulder. She whispered, “Give me your backpack. Whatever the paramedics tell you to do, do that. Be strong for your friend. He’s scared.”

  “I know, mom. I’ve been in an ambulance before, remember?” With no other comment, Jack ran right behind the gurney. Kat could hear him say, “Hey, Mike. I’m right behind you, buddy.”

  Kat’s heart clenched inside her chest. Yes, Jack had been in an ambulance. It had been the night he’d been kidnapped, and she’d had to shoot his attacker to save his life. They both rode in an ambulance behind one carrying Van, Jack strapped to the gurney, wrapped in a blanket, tears and dirt and blood on his face. It wasn’t a night that Kat supposed she’d ever forget.

  Kat trotted to the Jeep, Jack’s backpack slung over her shoulder. She started the engine as the paramedics slammed the back doors of the ambulance. She put the Jeep into gear and slid in right behind them. She knew she couldn’t go through the lights, but she could stay as close as possible. As they pulled out of the school parking lot, Kat pulled up Theresa’s phone number again, letting it ring. “Theresa, hey, it’s Kat again. Listen, I’m at school. There’s something going on with Mike. He passed out and they called an ambulance. I’m going to the hospital with him now. They couldn’t reach you or Bart. Call me back as soon as you get this, okay?”

  Kat felt frustrated as she ended the call. Why were neither of them answering? It didn’t make any sense. As the ambulance pulled ahead of her, lights and sirens wailing, she dialed Van. “You need me already? I just left,” he said, jokingly.

  “Well, kinda…”

  “What do I hear in the background?”

  Kat quickly brought him up to speed on where she was and what was going on.

  “What do you mean they can’t reach Bart or Theresa?”

  Kat paused for a minute, checking both ways to make sure she could follow the ambulance without getting hit. “I don’t know. I guess they tried to call both of them and neither of them answered.”

  “That’s strange...”

  “Yeah. I called Theresa twice already this morning. Once with follow-up questions and once about Mike. Even if she was in the shower, she should have had enough time to see people were calling. I’m sure her phone was blowing up.”

  “Okay. Keep me posted on what’s going on. Do you need me to come?”

  “I think I’m fine. I’ll text you when I know something. I’m almost there already.”

  Kat hung up the phone using the remote allow button on her steering wheel. As soon as she did, she saw the red signs for the hospital’s emergency room ahead. She followed the ambulance in and parked in the emergency lot in as close of a spot as she could find to the front door. Leaving Jack’s backpack in the Jeep, she locked it up and ran across the parking lot, just as they unloaded Mike.

  A doctor appeared at the door. “What we got?”

  The paramedic began to rattle off Mike’s information. “Male, eight years old, passed out at school this morning. Blood pressure is a little high. Heart rate is fast. We’ve started him on a normal saline drip.”

  “Thanks. Bay five.”

  Jack came and stood by her. The security guard waved them through a second set of doors so they could register. Kat quickly explained to the nurse that she was the emergency contact for the school, that his mom and dad had been called, but they hadn’t been able to get in touch with them. “Can I go back with him? He’s all alone.”

  “And I’m his best friend. He told me that in the ambulance,” Jack added.

  The nurse smiled. “Yep, we definitely need all best friends to be with their people. Come with me.”

  By the time Kat and Jack walked through the sliding doors, the nurse pointing to where they needed to go, Mike was already in the bed and the paramedics were walking back down the hallway. A different nurse was standing over Mike.

  “Mike, we’re here!” Jack said, running over to his bed.

  The nurse looked at Jack. “Oh, you must be Jack. Mike said his best friend had ridden in the ambulance with him.”

  Jack nodded.

  “I’ll tell you what. You sit on that chair right there so we can take a look at him, okay.”

  Jack nodded again and sat on the rolling stool that was in the corner of the room. The nurse stepped out into the hallway. “Are you Mike’s mom?”

  “No, I’m Kat. I’m her emergency contact. We can’t seem to find the mom or the dad. The school called them already a couple of times.”

  “Don’t worry. This happens. Since you are their emergency contact, let me just give you a quick update. We are going to keep the IV running for right now and the doctor has ordered some lab work. It’s gonna be a slow process. When kiddos pass out like this, we like to let them rest a bit before we send them home so we can keep an eye on them.”

  Kat nodded. The nurse’s calm demeanor made Kat feel better. She took a deep breath. “That’s fine. I’ll reach out to his parents again while we wait. There’s no hurry.”

  “Good.” The nurse put her hand on Kat’s arm. “The cafeteria has a decent salad and great ice cream and pie if you get hungry. Mike will be fine with us if you and Jack want to go down and get a bite to eat.” She looked at her watch. “It’s getting close to lunchtime.”

  Kat nodded, “We might just do that.”

  By the time that Kat had finished talking to the nurse, Jack was already spinning in circles on the stool, talking up a storm with Mike. “Doing okay, Mike?”

  “Yeah. Just sleepy.”

  “That’s fine. You rest. If you wake up and Jack and I aren’t here, we are going to run to the cafeteria for a little lunch.”

  “Okay,” Mike mumbled, his eyes closing.

  Kat motioned for Jack to be quiet and follow her. They stepped out into the hallway. “Let’s let Mike rest. How about a burger for lunch?”

  “That sounds good! Can I have ice cream too?”

  “Sure.” Kat put her hand on his shoulder. “Let me just tell his nurse that we are going to the cafeteria for a few minutes…” As the words came out, Mike’s nurse came around the corner, pushing a cart. “We are going to eat. We’ll be right back.” The nurse nodded, “No problem. The school sent your number along with Mike. I’ll call if we need you.”

  On the way to the cafeteria, Kat sent Theresa a quick text. “At hospital. Mike is resting. Where are you?” Kat didn’t know Bart’s cell phone number. She decided when they sat down to eat, she’d try to call him at his office. Surely someone there would know where he was.

  There wasn’t much of a crowd in the cafeteria yet, just a few small groups of people eating silently, their heads hanging down. Kat paid for their food, the plates stacked on dusky green trays, as they found a table. As Jack started eating his hamburger, Kat pul
led out her phone, looking for a contact number for Bart. “Whatcha doing, mom?”

  “Trying to call Mike’s dad.” Kat found the contact information for the corporate offices and dialed.

  “Palm Coast Electric & Power, how may I help you?”

  “Hi, this is Kat Beckman. I need to speak to Bart Walsh immediately. It’s an emergency.”

  There was a pause. Kat was sure the company got a lot of calls for Bart that he didn’t need to answer.

  “Can I ask the nature of the emergency, please?”

  “I’m with his son at the hospital.”

  “One moment, please.”

  The line sounded like it went dead. Anger drove itself up through Kat. Why was it so hard to get through to these people?

  Kat was ready to hang up when she heard a ringing and a click, “This is Sal Manko, can I help you?”

  “I have no idea. This is Kat Beckman. I’m looking for Bart Walsh. Can you find him?” Kat knew she sounded frustrated. She was. She had been calling Theresa for what seemed like hours. She felt bad for Mike without his family. Her heart was breaking and furious at the same time.

  “What is this in regard to, Ms. Beckman?”

  “I’ll explain it again. I’m at the hospital with his son, Mike. No one can get in touch with Bart or Theresa. We are here with him. He needs his parents.”

  “What hospital are you at?”

  “West Road. Mike’s in the emergency room.”

  “Can I get a number to call you back?”

  At least this Sal person seemed to be taking her somewhat seriously. Kat gave him her number. He promised to call her back or have Bart call as soon as they could locate him.

  By the time Kat got done with whoever Sal was, Jack was pretty much done eating. She sent him off with a few dollars to buy some ice cream, watching him the whole time in between eating bites of salad. It was average at best, but given she didn’t have much else to eat, it would do.

  When Jack got back to the table, Kat wiped her mouth. “How about if you bring your ice cream upstairs and we will go check on Mike?”