by K J Kalis
“About this morning?”
“About the whole thing…”
“Well…” Van took a bite of his burger and wiped his mouth with a napkin, “I think that there’s something going on. Seems weird to me that he didn’t know where Theresa is. Even when couples fight, they still have a read on where the other one is.”
“And on the company stuff?”
“I think he’s a man that thinks he’s got everything under control and is watching it crumble around him.”
Kat knew he was right. There was definitely more going on. “The question is, do we try to help?”
Van tilted his head and shook it slightly, “Not sure he wants our help. But, if you are asking me if there is a story there, I’d say yes. He’s hiding something.”
Kat lifted her shoulders up to her ears and dropped them, trying to release the tension that had built up. There was a gnawing in her stomach and not one from hunger. She felt the same way when she’d been blackmailed to save her mother-in-law, when she’d agreed to help find a kidnapped Carlye Morgan, and help Hannah find out what happened at the Stratham Cathedral in England. Something inside of her was warning her, like a flashing yellow light. She knew if she continued moving forward, she might get caught up in something. What, she didn’t know. “I think there is a story here, too,” she admitted.
Van looked at her, “The question is, do you want to follow it?”
* * *
As soon as lunch was over, Van headed back to work, leaving her with a kiss on the cheek. “Have a good afternoon. Try to stay out of trouble.” Although it seemed like Van already knew what she was going to do, Kat wasn’t so sure that she did. She realized she was weighing whether the pursuit of the story was worth it. She grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge and her journal. Jack was in the family room playing video games. “How about if you and the dogs come outside for a little bit? You can play ball with them. Maybe practice your pitching?”
Jack shook his head, “Mom, I’m right in the middle of this. I don’t want to come out until my game is over!”
“Let’s go. You can come in and play a little more later. The dogs want to go outside, too. Look at them.” The dogs sat up, ears perked, staring at Kat and Jack.
Jack laughed. “Okay guys, I see you.” He pressed the pause button on his game. “Let’s go.”
Kat went out the back door, picking up her phone on the way out, hearing the scratch of dog nails on the tile as Woof and Tyrant jostled around Jack to see who could get out the door first. Kat left the patio door open. She knew Jack and the dogs would be right behind her in a minute. She sat down under a nearby tree where there was some shade. The branches above her were rustling in the wind. She looked up, wondering how hard it would blow tonight.
She opened up her journal just in time to see Jack and the dogs barging out of the door, barking and growling. “Easy, dogs!” Jack yelled, the ball in his hand. Tyrant and Woof were play biting each other, ready to chase the ball. Jack launched the tennis ball toward the back of the yard. He seemed to get better every time he threw it, Kat noticed. The years of him being little were over. She wondered what the next stage in life would bring, a shiver running up and down her spine.
They had been through a lot, the two of them, Kat thought. She was proud of the healthy boy Jack had become. The nightmares that had chased him after he was kidnapped drifted away within a few months and his relationship with Van had become a solid, healthy one. Even with that progress, keeping her family safe seemed like a fragile balance.
The idea of where they were in their life right now, new to California, Van taking on more responsibility, Jack busy with school and sports and Kat’s own work brought her back to what had happened over the last day. She opened her journal, intent on writing out what she was feeling when the dogs barking caught her attention. She looked up to see Jack running in a circle in the yard, the dogs chasing him, nipping his heels trying to get the ball. She smiled and watched, her mind working.
There was no doubt that Bart was hiding something. Kat was worried about Theresa. What mom would abandon her kid when he was at the hospital? She didn’t know Theresa that well, but she couldn’t imagine a situation where Theresa wouldn’t have come to check on Mike, no matter what was going on with Bart and their marriage. Kat picked up her pen and jotted a few notes, wondering if there could be foul play involved.
The thought brought her back around to how the whole conversation started. The blue dots on the power management system. What were they? Why did they line up with the newest wildfires that had started?
Kat closed her journal. She wasn’t in a writing mood. Her mind was rattling through the possibilities of what was going on, but everything came to a halt when she remembered what Van had said before he left. Did she really want to follow this story, no matter where it led?
She took a deep breath, not knowing what that might mean. The stories seemed to have a life of their own. All she could do was follow the trail, if she was willing. That was the key, she realized. Was she willing? Part of her said no. Part of her wanted things to stay the same as they were. She was finally in a really good place. Part of her, though, worried about Theresa. Where was she? Was she in trouble? Had Bart done something to her or hired someone to do something to her?
Kat sighed. She knew that she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try to find Theresa and see what happened to her. A tingle of fear ran through her legs. What she would find as she looked for Theresa, she didn’t know...
21
The afternoon flew by watching Jack and the dogs play. Despite her fears about where the story could lead, Kat texted Van and told him that she was going to pursue it. If nothing else, she had to know what happened to Theresa. The idea that she’d abandon Mike at the hospital was unthinkable. Van sent back nothing but a smiley face. Kat knew he wasn’t surprised. Jack went back in the house, the dogs trailing after him. She followed. “Give them some fresh water before you go back to your video games, okay?” She didn’t hear him reply but heard the faucet running as she walked into the small office that she shared with Van.
She gathered up her laptop and a notebook and took them to the kitchen table, wiping off the last bits of salt from the french fries off the surface before she sat down. She opened her computer and pulled up the image Theresa sent her and typed a quick text to her one more time. There was no response. Kat’s skin prickled, wondering where her friend was.
She studied the images Theresa had sent. The fires were an exact match to the blue dots on the image. At least two of them were. Were they connected? Theresa must have thought so. Kat scowled. How could she find out for sure? She typed in a few words in the search bar and information for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection came up. Most people just called them Cal Fire. She wondered if she should just call their office but realized that she’d have nothing to tell them. She searched through the site some more and found a listing for their arson investigation unit.
She picked up her phone and called the number. It clicked onto what she imagined was a recorded line. “Cal Fire Arson, Sauk Valley, how can I help you?”
“Hi, I had a couple of questions about one of the fires from last night. Is there someone I could speak to?”
“Are you a homeowner in the area?”
“No.”
“What is your interest in the fire?”
“I might have some information that could be helpful. Could you connect me to an investigator?”
There was a pause. Kat wasn’t sure if the person on the other end of the line had hung up or not. “What address did you have information on?”
Kat quickly thumbed through her notes. “It would be the fire in Modesto on Rock Creek Parkway.”
“Let me connect you…”
The phone rang for another minute before a man’s voice answered. “Arson, this is Henderson.”
“Hi, I’m calling because I might have some information on the Modesto fire
from last night. The one on Rock Creek Parkway.”
“Thanks for calling in. What’s your name?”
The man on the other end of the line, Henderson, sounded friendly. She was sure that he’d want her name in case she was the one that set the fire. For a moment she wondered how many arsonists called the department to harass them about what they’d done. “My name is Kat Beckman. I live in Sauk Valley.”
“So, you don’t live in Modesto.”
“No.”
“What kind of information do you have?”
Kat stopped. She wasn’t sure what to say. Her instincts as a journalist kicked in. She didn’t want to give away all of her information to someone she didn’t know. “I’m a journalist and someone gave me a lead. I’m just following up.”
Henderson sounded a bit colder when he answered. “If you are looking for a story, I can transfer you over to our PR department…”
“No, wait. I think this is something you are going to want to see. Are you in an office somewhere? Can I come to you?”
There was a pause. “Sure. I’m here for the next hour or so. Can you get here that fast?”
Kat looked at the clock on her phone. If she could get their sitter, Callie, to come over and stay with Jack and take him to baseball, she’d be all set. If she couldn’t, then Jack would have to go with her. “Yeah. Give me the address. And, your name, please.”
“It’s Freddie Henderson.” He gave her the address, which she scrawled on a piece of paper.
“Great, I’ll be there in a half-hour.” Kat quickly sent a text to the next-door neighbors, whose daughter was in high school and watched Jack from time to time. Callie replied right away that she was home and would be happy to take care of Jack and get him to and from baseball. “Gotta love teenagers and their phones,” Kat muttered as she pushed her laptop and notebook into her backpack.
The backdoor creaked when Callie came in. “Ms. Beckman?” Callie called, “Aus, Tyrant!”
“In here!”
Callie had been around the house long enough to use the one word that Tyrant knew to differentiate friend from foe. Her training as a military dog made her suspicious of people. While Kat didn’t want to give away her commands to just anyone, people like Callie who were in and out of their house and alone with Tyrant needed to know how to deal with her. The dogs trailed Callie into the kitchen, sniffing the back of her legs.
“Thanks for coming over. Same as last time. Jack’s gotta be at the park by four-thirty for warm-ups and then if you could just hang out until either I get back or Van does, that would be great.” She glanced at the refrigerator. “I didn’t plan anything for dinner, but feel free to grab a sandwich. There’s plenty of meat, cheese and bread.”
“Not a problem. I’ll take good care of him.”
Kat looked at her, “Thanks. I know you will.” Kat pulled her backpack on, “Jack?”
“Yeah, Mom?” he called from the other room. The sound of video games paused for a moment. “Callie is here. She’s gonna take you to baseball and then bring you home.”
“Okay! Be careful!”
Kat smiled. He always told her that. She didn’t think he really thought she could get herself in trouble, even though one of the things she had learned over the last few years was that anything was possible. It was just cute how he watched out for her. He was a good boy. She was proud of him. “I will! Love you!”
“Love you more!”
* * *
The drive to Cal Fire’s headquarters only took about twenty minutes. Kat was able to avoid the highways, which seemed to always be jam-packed in California, in favor of a few local roads that didn’t have as much traffic. She pulled up to the brick building and parked on the side in the spots marked visitors. As she walked to the front door, she noticed the amount of surveillance equipment that was in place. Two cameras in the parking lot and one over the door as she walked in. She shrugged the backpack up higher on her shoulders as she approached the front desk. A woman in a blue polo shirt emblazoned with Cal Fire looked up from her computer, “Can I help you?”
“Yes, thanks. I’m here to see Freddie Henderson in Arson.”
The woman nodded. “I’ll let him know you are here.”
Kat waited for a moment, unsure if she was supposed to wait at the counter or sit. She stood while the woman was on the phone, trying not to stare.
Behind the woman on the phone was a large room of cubicles where she could see at least a dozen people wearing the same blue shirt sitting in front of computer monitors, headsets over their ears. To her immediate right, there was a flight of stairs and behind her were the metal doors for an elevator. Between the elevator doors and the stairs was a hallway that looked like it led to offices.
There was a constant hum of voices coming from behind the woman who was working at the desk. She didn’t seem to hear it, but Kat did. Snippets of conversations, “You saw what, ma’am?”, “No, the wildfire is about fifty miles from you and running the other direction. Just watch the news. They will let you know if you need to evacuate,” “Sir, I’m sorry, but if you are having trouble because of the blackout, you’ll need to let the power company know,” echoed through the building.
“Ms. Beckman?” the woman behind the counter called her.
“Yes?”
“Freddie is ready for you. Please go up the steps. His office is on the right. You can also take the elevator if you’d like.”
“Thanks.” Kat picked up her backpack and walked up the steps, her hand sliding on the cool metal rail.
At the landing, she looked around. There was a bank of offices to her right and straight ahead. To her left, there was a catwalk that went over the room of dispatchers that she had seen from below. From where she was standing, you could hear their chatter quite clearly. Kat glanced to the end of the catwalk. There seemed to be another bank of offices there, though she couldn’t be sure. To her right, there was a door with the name Freddie Henderson on it. She noticed as she knocked that the nameplate read Chief Arson Investigator, Sauk Valley. She figured that if anyone had the power to help her, it would be him. “Come on in,” she heard the voice answer.
Behind the desk was a long, gangly man that looked like he could hardly fold his legs enough to get them to fit under the desk. He unfurled himself as he stood up. “You must be Ms. Beckman. I’m Freddie Henderson,” he said, the words coming out from around a toothpick that was lodged in the corner of his mouth.
“Kat. Please call me Kat.” She suddenly felt uncomfortable. Freddie was tall, very tall, with a mop of red hair on the top of his head. His height seemed even more pronounced against her petite frame.
He motioned for her to sit down as he refolded himself back onto his chair.
“What can I do for you, Ms. Beckman? You said you had some information on the fire from last night in Modesto?”
“I’m not sure it’s anything, but can I ask you a question first?”
“Shoot,” he said, rolling the toothpick between his lips.
“When you sat down, I thought I saw a gun on your hip. Did I?”
Freddie smiled. “Yup. You didn’t expect a fireman to have a gun. Am I right?”
Kat smiled back, surprised at how relaxed Freddie was. She guessed that nothing really bothered him. A little part of her was envious. It would be a great way to go through life if you had that gift. She knew that she did not. “I didn’t. Can you tell me about that?”
He leaned back in his chair, the back of it squeaking in protest. “Sure enough. Cal Fire, because we are a state agency, has certain other powers that most normal fire departments don’t have. Our investigative unit has been given full fire and police power. That’s the deal with the gun. Would you like to see my handcuffs?” He gave her a broad, toothy grin.
“No, thanks. I’m good.”
He laughed, the sound filling the room. “I love to say that. Just cracks me up every single time.” He leaned forward toward his desk, the chair squeaking again. “So, what bri
ngs you in, Ms. Beckman?”
“Kat, please.”
“All right then, Kat. How can I help?”
“I have a couple of images I wanted to show you. I’m not sure what to make of them.” She pointed to her bag. “May I?”
Freddie nodded. “Of course.”
Kat pulled her laptop out of her bag and set it on Freddie’s desk. She opened the lid and watched it flicker to life. She turned the screen to face Freddie. Leaning around the desk, she pointed, “Is this where the fire from last night started?” She pointed to one of the blue dots on the screen.
“Let me get my bearings on this picture. Where did you get this?” Freddie said, the toothpick rolling to the other side of his mouth. “What is this, exactly?”
“I got this from a friend. It’s an image of the power supply in the area. Can you just tell me if this is where that fire started?”
Freddie typed something on his computer and then opened a file that was sitting on the edge of his desk. He glanced from the screen to the file a couple of times and then back at the image that Kat had on her screen. “It looks like it is exactly where the fire started.” He leaned back in his chair, the squeak crowing through the room again, “You have my attention, Kat. What’s going on here?”
“I’m not exactly sure…” Though she didn’t intend to, the whole story came out in a rush. Kat told Freddie about Theresa and how she got the pictures from Bart’s tablet. “And now we can’t find Theresa,” she said. “Her son was at the hospital this morning and Bart told me he couldn’t reach her either.” Kat immediately stopped, realizing that she had told Freddie more than she really wanted to. As a journalist, she was committed to keeping her sources secret, but this had gotten out of hand. She had spilled the whole story. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, embarrassment flooding over her. She closed her laptop and stood up. “I shouldn’t have come. I’ll figure this out. Sorry to have wasted your time.”
