The Blackout

by K J Kalis

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “If I text you another set of coordinates, can you go take a look?”

  “Is it in my jurisdiction?”

  “No.”

  “I gotta ask my Chief.”

  Freddie slammed the back of the SUV closed. “I’ll take care of your Chief. Can you do it for me so I can take Kat back to the office?”

  “If you’ll square it with the Chief, then yeah, sure. I’m on until tomorrow morning, anyway.”

  Freddie pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent a text. “All set. Send me the pictures and measurements, okay?

  Chuck nodded and they said their goodbyes. Kat got back in the SUV with Freddie as they went back to the office.

  The first few miles back to the office, Kat noticed that Freddie was quiet. “Penny for your thoughts?” she asked.

  “Geez, I haven’t heard that in a minute! That reminds me of my Gramma.” He sighed, “Sorry for being quiet. Just thinking…”

  “About the fires?”

  “Yeah and the blue dots. If what you brought to me is true, then we’ve got a big problem on our hands.” He glanced toward Kat. “Any news from your friend? Theresa? Was that her name?”

  Kat looked at her phone. “No. I can’t figure out where she is. Doesn’t make any sense that she wouldn’t get in touch about her son.”

  Freddie rolled the toothpick in his mouth. “I’ve never been married, but I can’t imagine that if your kid needed something, you wouldn’t do everything to help them.” He smiled. “I’m kinda married to my fires. I figure them out and then divorce them.”

  “That’s funny. Probably a lot less expensive, too.”

  Their joking broke up the serious nature of what they had both seen. Kat typed a quick text to Van letting him know that they were on their way back to the station and that she’d be home to meet Jack after baseball. Questions were crawling through her head. What had blown the transformers off of the poles? Was there really a link between the blue dots and Theresa’s disappearance? Maybe Bart and Theresa were just having serious marital issues?

  The rest of the drive, both she and Freddie were quiet. When they got back to the station, Freddie stopped the SUV by her Jeep. As she stepped out, he said, “I’ll give you a call as soon as I hear anything more, okay? Chuck should be back to me soon. He’d better be, or he’s gonna be out there in the dark!”

  Kat smiled and thanked him, glad to be back in her car. Her gut told her that she would hear from Freddie. Probably sooner than later.

  26

  Kat walked in the door to find Van and Jack, covered in dirt, making grilled cheese sandwiches in the kitchen. Tyrant and Woof waited nearby for a snack. Her stomach rumbled as she smelled the melting butter and toasted bread. “That smells good,” she said, giving Van a kiss on the cheek. “How was baseball, buddy?”

  “I did great, Mom! I smacked it over second base and got to first. Benny managed to strike out on the next play, so I didn’t get to go to second, though.”

  “Good job! Next time you’ll get there, I’m sure.” She looked closer at Jack and Van. “How on earth did both of you get so dirty?”

  Van did his best interpretation of an evil laugh. “After the game, we decided to practice sliding into home base. We got a little dirty, though.”

  “For sure! You two go get cleaned up. I’ll finish the sandwiches.”

  “But Mom,” Jack protested, “I’m hungry.”

  Kat didn’t have to answer. Van stepped in, “Lucky for you, they aren’t ready yet. Race you to see who gets back here first!”

  As soon as Van and Jack took off, Kat stopped to slip off her shoes. Behind her, Woof and Tyrant were circling to say hello, momentarily distracted from the smell of the grilled cheese. She reached into a cabinet. “I know what you two want,” she said, pulling two dog biscuits out of the box. She held the treats in her hand waiting for the dogs. They both sat, knowing there would be no treats if they didn’t. They took their treats and wandered away.

  Within a couple of minutes, Van came back in the kitchen wearing a fresh t-shirt and a pair of baggy shorts, his feet bare and his hair wet from the shower. As he kissed her neck, she could smell the shampoo. “Things go okay today?” he asked, leaning his elbows on the counter.

  “I guess. There are a lot of loose ends. I’ve got a lot of questions.”

  “Any news from Theresa?”

  “No.” Kat sighed, “It’s strange, isn’t it?”

  A shadow passed over Van’s face. “Very. There seem to be a lot of unrelated pieces. Any idea if Theresa and Bart were having problems? Maybe she just took off?”

  “I was thinking about that on my way back from the fire. She didn’t say anything. I didn’t get the impression that their marriage was all that good, but it wasn’t like she told me she was leaving. Why would she leave Mike behind?”

  Van shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense to me. I feel like we are missing part of the picture. Is this just a case of domestic estrangement or is there something more? Maybe both are issues, but are unrelated?”

  Kat shrugged. Her stomach tightened. “This whole thing is so frustrating. It’s like we can see part of the picture, but not all of it.” She leaned her back on the counter, her head down. “The part I don’t understand is how she could leave Mike behind.”

  She felt Van’s warm hand on her arm. “I don’t get it either. Let’s just eat and we’ll tackle this more after dinner.”

  Kat nodded and pulled a couple of plates out of the cabinet. “Jack! Dinner!” She heard footsteps behind her.

  “You beat me!” Jack said, pretending to punch Van.

  “Yeah, you gotta move fast to get past me.”

  “Mom, can I eat upstairs so I can do my homework?”

  “Sure, that’s fine.” Kat handed him his plate. “Just don’t spill, okay?”

  Jack nodded, looking at Woof. “Woof’ll help. He doesn’t like messes, do you boy?”

  Woof perked up his ears, hearing his name called. The two scampered off, the noise of Woof’s nails tapping on the tile, Jack’s laughter filling the hallway until he disappeared upstairs.

  Kat served two sandwiches to Van and put one on a plate for herself, pulling some salad from the night before out of the refrigerator. She took a bite and chewed, not really paying attention to the taste. She was focused on one thing — Theresa. She put her sandwich down and looked at Van. “I know I keep saying this, but I can’t figure out where Theresa went. This whole thing doesn’t make sense.”

  “I know…” Before Van could finish his sentence, there was a knock at the door. Van got up. “I’ll get it.”

  “That’s okay. Keep eating. I’ll take a look.”

  Van nodded and took another bite of his sandwich.

  Kat went to the door, Tyrant on her heels, barking. She peered through the peephole. There was a woman on the other side with a badge strung around her neck. After telling Tyrant to sit, Kat opened the door.

  “Kat Beckman?”

  “Yes.” Kat frowned. Who was this woman? Why was she at Kat’s house?

  “I’m Yasmin Lee with the FBI.” She lifted up her badge. “Can I come in?”

  Kat nodded, raising her eyebrows. “Van? The FBI is here.” Kat led Yasmin into the kitchen, Tyrant in tow, where Van stood up. “Van, this is Yasmin Lee.”

  “Hi. What can we do for you?” Van said, wiping his face with a napkin.

  “Well, I heard that you stepped in for Theresa Walsh this morning at the hospital.”

  Kat instantly felt defensive. How did she know that?

  Another knock came at the front door, followed by a voice booming into the house, “Am I late? Did you start without me?”

  Tyrant growled. Kat moved to the doorway and saw Freddie Henderson making his way into the house. “Oh man, Yasmin, you beat me here again.”

  “I’ve told you, Freddie, the FBI doesn’t mess around.”

  The two of them stood together. Seeing them next to each oth
er was a study in contrast, Kat thought. As tall and red-haired as Freddie was, Yasmin Lee was slight and petite with inky black hair tied into a severe knot at the base of her neck. Freddie was jovial and happy. Yasmin seemed anything but.

  “Sorry about this Kat. Meant to call you,” Freddie said, and then stopped. “You must be Van.” Freddie reached out his hand to shake Van’s hand. “I heard all about you this afternoon. I think she kinda likes you.” The grin on Freddie’s face stretched ear-to-ear. He rolled the toothpick in his mouth. “Yeah, so Kat, after you told me that Theresa hasn’t shown up and given the little we know about those pesky blue dots, I thought I’d better give my pal Yasmin a call.”

  “I’m not sure we are pals, Freddie,” Yasmin scowled.

  “Sure, we are, Yasmin! You just don’t know it yet.”

  Kat saw Yasmin close her eyes for a moment as if she was gathering her thoughts or trying not to punch Freddie. Kat wasn’t sure which. “Would either of you like something to drink?”

  “I sure would!” Freddie said. “Anything cold would be great. I’m parched!”

  Kat got both Freddie and Yasmin glasses of water. They sat down at the kitchen table. “Maybe you can tell us why you made a house call?”

  Freddie folded his long arms across the edge of the table. “Kat, after we went out to see that fire scene, I saw how worried you are about your friend. We don’t know if the fires and her disappearance are connected, but I thought maybe we should loop Yasmin in before things go any further.”

  Kat nodded and started to reply when Jack came bounding into the kitchen. He came to a complete stop when he saw the visitors. Woof gave a short bark as if emphasizing the point. “It’s okay. Jack, this is Mr. Henderson from Cal Fire and Ms. Lee from the FBI.”

  “What? Cool! Are you a real FBI agent?” Jack looked at Yasmin.

  “That would be correct.”

  “And you are a firefighter?”

  Freddie unfolded himself from the chair that seemed way too short for him. “Actually, I’m a fire investigator. We find the bad guys who like to set fires and send them to jail.” Freddie reached into his back pocket. “I heard what a great guy you are when I spent some time with your mom this afternoon, so I brought you this.” Freddie pulled out a blue baseball cap with Cal Fire emblazoned on the front, complete with the logo. “Only really cool guys get one of these. Think you can handle it?”

  Jack’s eyes were wide. “What? Really? Yeah, I can! Thanks!”

  Kat put her hand on Jack’s back. “How about if you go up and finish your homework while Van and I talk to Mr. Henderson and Ms. Lee?”

  “I’m done. Can’t I stay?”

  “Nope. Head on up. You can have some extra video game time, though.”

  Jack pulled the hat on, “Awesome! Thanks again for the hat!”

  Kat looked around the table. “Okay, now that the introductions are over, what can we do for you?”

  Yasmin was the first to speak. “Kat, Freddie called and said a friend of yours is missing. It might be related to fires he’s investigating.”

  “Well,” Kat sighed. “I wish I had more facts to give you. Yesterday at baseball, Theresa was acting funny. She wanted to talk. Told me her husband…”

  “Bart Walsh?” Yasmin asked, scrawling notes into a notebook.

  “Yup. She was worried that Bart might be in some trouble, but she wasn’t sure what kind. She wanted us to look into it.”

  “Why you? Why not call the police?”

  “Well, Van and I are journalists. I think she wanted to keep this low profile to protect her husband. The conversation didn’t go well. She stomped off, then called later to apologize and sent us the images from the electric company.”

  “The ones with the blue dots?”

  Kat looked at Freddie. He shrugged and moved the toothpick to the other side of his mouth. “I gave her what we have so far.”

  Kat nodded. “Yes, those would be the ones. She called later on last night and told us that she was worried. The newest fires that had been reported online exactly matched where the blue dots were on the images she found.”

  Yasmin looked at Kat. Kat noticed there was nothing out of place on Yasmin. Not a stray hair, not a smudge of lipstick. “How did Theresa get the images?”

  “She took the pictures from her phone. I think she said she saw them on his tablet.”

  “Any ideas why she was suspicious?”

  Van interrupted. “Hold on for a sec. We’ve given you some information, so how about if you return the favor? What’s going on here? Why’s the FBI interested?”

  Yasmin leaned back in the chair, tugging the sleeves of her black blazer back into place. “Freddie called because of the strange nature of the three fires that are in the same spots as the images that you showed him.”

  Kat raised her eyebrows, “So, Chuck found the same thing at the third site?”

  Freddie nodded but didn’t say anything.

  Yasmin continued, her gaze settling on Kat. “When you told Freddie about Theresa being missing, that sent up a flare for us. The wife of a CEO of a major power company goes missing and doesn’t show up at the hospital when her son is sick? That’s a little strange. And that, to answer your question Van, is why we are interested.” Yasmin picked up her pen again. “How long have you known the Walsh’s?”

  “A few months. Through baseball.” Kat chewed her lip.

  “And yet they put you on their son’s emergency forms?” Yasmin stared at Kat and Van.

  Van spoke first, “Yes. But I don’t like where you are going with this. No, it doesn’t make sense, but Theresa told Kat they didn’t have any family in the area.”

  “Right.” Yasmin scrawled more notes in her notebook.

  “Wait, you aren’t suggesting that we have anything to do with this, are you?” Kat leaned back from the table.

  “We have to look at all the possibilities. Can you tell me where you were this morning?”

  “Do we need a lawyer?” Van asked.

  Kat glanced over at Freddie, who was staring at the table, his cheeks flushed. He was clearly embarrassed.

  Yasmin’s jaw jutted out. “Not as long as you answer my questions.”

  “This is the last one. I was at work. You can check the security footage. Kat was here for just a little while and then had to run back to school to follow the ambulance to the hospital. We both ended up there when Bart came running in.”

  Yasmin closed her notebook. “Listen, I know this is hard. I know that no one likes to be under pressure to answer questions. I’m just doing my job.”

  Van stared right back. Kat saw the muscles along his jaw as they rippled. “Listen, Yasmin, we are just trying to do the right thing.”

  Yasmin opened her notebook again. “One last question. When was the last time you heard from Theresa?”

  Kat opened the text feature on her phone and showed Yasmin the thread. Yasmin used her own phone to take pictures of the conversation. “And here,” Kat said, opening the phone feature, “here’s when I tried to call her.”

  Yasmin nodded. “So, neither of you have heard from her since then?”

  “No, not since she called us last night,” Van said. “Has Bart reached out to you?”

  Yasmin shook her head as she replaced the notebook in her bag. “No, he hasn’t. Maybe this is a domestic issue. I don’t know that yet.” She stood up. “I’ll be in touch.”

  * * *

  Kat heard the door click closed and the tap of Tyrant’s nails as she made sure Yasmin actually left. Tyrant came back into the kitchen with a sniff and laid down on her pink bed. “Freddie, what was that?”

  Freddie shook his head, “Yeah, I’m sorry. She’s a bit uptight.”

  Van looked at him, shaking his head. “Why did you call her?”

  “Procedure. When there’s a larger issue present — usually it’s a fire that is used to commit a larger crime, like to cover up a bank robbery — I gotta give them a call. Since Bart Walsh is a big shot an
d this could be an issue of national security, you know, the power grid and all that, the locals sent me over to the FBI.” He rolled his head on his long neck, “The bad thing is that she has no sense of humor at all, but she’s really good at what she does.”

  “Yeah, she’s suspicious as all get out,” Van said. “More water, big guy? You want a sandwich?”

  Freddie’s eyes lit up. “I thought you’d never ask. I’m starving!”

  Kat laughed. How Freddie could be such a hotshot in the fire department and so lighthearted was a mystery. He was a lot more fun than the FBI’s Yasmin Lee, that was for sure.

  Van made a sandwich for Freddie and they all sat back down at the table again. “So, what are the next steps?” Kat asked, watching Freddie take big bites out of his sandwich.

  Freddie swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing on his long neck. “I’m not sure. We have to figure out what’s blowing those transformers off the poles.”

  “The transformers are actually getting blown off the poles?” Van asked.

  “Yeah, sorry. I didn’t have a chance to tell him,” Kat said.

  Freddie took a long drink of water. “Thanks for the sandwich. Yeah, we have three small wildfires that almost got going last night — in total, they burned about ten acres — but the ignition point was weird. Something caused the transformer to come right off the pole, taking the lines with it.”

  “Like an explosive device? Any evidence someone drilled into the poles?” Van asked.

  Freddie pulled out his phone and showed Van the images. “No, I don’t think so. See how the wood splintered?”

  Van nodded. “But the bolts held fast?”

  It was Freddie’s turn to nod. “That’s right. In cases where the transformer ends up on the ground, it’s normally because someone hit the pole with their car and the whole thing comes down or the bolts somehow come loose, and it falls. This one is different though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Freddie pointed to one of the pictures from the site he and Kat had visited earlier that day. “See how far the transformer is from the pole? We wouldn’t expect that. In all three cases, whatever happened had such force that it shattered the pole and sent the transformer flying. Crazy, right?”