by Andrew Grey
“Then rest. Close your eyes, and I’ll wake you in an hour to make sure you’re okay, and then we can go to bed. Abey is going to be up early in the morning, and he’s going to be looking for his papa.” Alan held Tyler, and soon enough he was asleep sitting up. Alan slipped away, soothing him down onto the cushion.
He took the time to pack up all the records and mark the places he needed to copy for the police. Then he got Tyler up and the two of them went to bed. Alan set his alarm so he could check on Tyler in the middle of the night.
ALAN MADE sure Tyler was awake and responsive in the morning. Unfortunately, he had to leave early. He went right to the store, made his copies, and returned the records to the town hall, leaving before most people in town were out and about. Then he cleaned up and changed clothes, went back to the store, and called Officer Marks, who came in an hour later. Alan explained everything that they had found and where to find an envelope with the wrong PO box on it.
“Please don’t tell anyone that I passed this information to you. At least not until you have the proof you need. Otherwise it could cost me my business. I think someone already attacked it to try to get to me.” Alan was determined not to play the part of the scared townsperson in this drama, but he wasn’t going to take any chances either.
“I understand,” Andrew said. “How is Tyler? I wasn’t at the fire last night, but I heard he got injured.”
“A burn and a concussion. He’s staying home for a couple of days to recuperate.” Alan turned to his phone and reminded himself to send Tyler a message just to make sure he was okay, though if he was a betting man, he’d place money that Mrs. Banik was already there to look after him. “He’s going to be all right. He needs a chance to rest.”
“My colleagues said he was brilliant and kept the disaster from getting a lot worse. The tank that caught fire and burst could have spread to the other tanks. Tyler prevented that by thinking fast.” Officer Marks gathered all the things Alan had given him. “I’m going to look into this myself, and once I get the envelope with the wrong address on it, I’ll be able to request the records of who rented the box. Hopefully it will go quickly.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help.”
Officer Marks nodded. “I’m glad you turned this over to us. We get private citizens investigating things all the time. The detective shows on television aren’t doing us any good and only get people in trouble and mess up evidence.”
“What I gave you are copies. The official records are in the town hall. You can easily get them with a request. They’re public, and if you have any more questions, you know where to find me.” They shook hands, and then Officer Marks left the store and Alan breathed a sigh of relief. They had done their work, and he’d turned over what he’d found to the police. Now he could relax and try not to worry about it. If there was anything to it, then the police would get to the bottom of it.
Alan sent Tyler a text and got a message that he was doing okay, resting.
Mom is here and she’s watching Abey so I can rest. I’m tired, but my head is feeling better.
Have you heard anything from work? Alan asked.
No. I’ll have to see what happens. Will I see you after the store closes?
Alan smiled. Of course. He was looking forward to making sure Tyler was okay and doing a very personal, up-close investigation. I’ll message when I’m closing the store. He set his phone on the desk and got up to assist a pair of customers who had just walked in the store.
“YOU HAVE got to be kidding me!” Alan said. He and Officer Marks stood in the back room late that afternoon. “There is no way that I did that.”
Officer Marks showed him a copy of the signature card. “It’s your name.”
“Yes. But it’s not my signature.” Alan went to his drawer and pulled out a number of papers that he had signed over the past months. He handed them to Officer Marks.
“No. It most definitely isn’t your signature. I can agree to that. Our post office isn’t that big, but they don’t remember who opened the box.”
“But who comes to get the mail?” Alan asked. “Someone has to collect it.”
“We’re working on that now. The staff doesn’t pay attention to that sort of thing. They have enough work handling customers who come to the counter. But I’m hopeful that we’ll figure this little mystery out.” Officer Marks put the papers away, and Alan made him copies of his signature so he had documentation. “However, one thing is clear—someone doesn’t like you very much.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Alan wanted to scream. “But that also means that whoever did this had to have some kind of fake identification to open the PO box account. You need a driver’s license.”
“Yes, you do. I’m not done with this, but I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t think you had opened the post office box—it made no sense to me. But it does make sense that if someone did get this far, whoever is behind it would want to throw suspicion somewhere else. Don’t worry, we will get to the bottom of this. The activity and the intent behind it are pretty clear and getting clearer. This wasn’t a mistake on someone’s part. There is a clear intent to defraud and embezzle.”
“Thank you.” Alan was still shaken up. “I wonder when my name was put on the box. It has to have been recently. I wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar until I took my seat on the council,” he mused out loud.
“You never know. You could have just been convenient. Fraud is often a matter of the easiest way to try to cloud the issue.”
Alan shook his head. “I believe this is deliberate. If someone followed the trail this far and found my name on the account, then I’d be under investigation, the papers would have a field day with it, and I’d probably have to resign from the council. That would be good for the fire chief. It’s no secret that I’m not a fan.” Alan could see the picture very clearly.
“What if it isn’t the chief?”
Alan sighed. “There’s no way that this sort of thing could go on in the department and him not know about it. He controls the fund. If the chief isn’t behind it, then he’s involved somehow. He has to be.” Officer Marks had planted the seed of doubt, though, and once again, Alan wondered if he could have been wrong all along. “It’s possible that one of the other men in the department is doing this. What if the chief delegated the task of coordinating the donations? That would make the chief incompetent, but not a criminal.”
Officer Marks nodded. “We can’t jump to conclusions. I’m going to follow this trail and see where it leads. The first big thing is to try to find out who picks up the mail. They aren’t going to be able to claim innocence so easily.” He tapped the top of the desk. “I’ll figure this out.”
“Thank you.” Alan shook his hand, and Officer Marks left the store. Alan went back to work. He was tired, on edge, and wanted to be able to see Tyler.
HE KNOCKED at Tyler’s front door after closing the store for the day. It wasn’t too late, and Tyler answered it, with Abey behind him, jumping up and down when he spotted him.
“I maked waffles,” Abey said proudly.
“I helped him,” Tyler supplied, and stepped back.
“How are you feeling?” Alan asked.
“I still have a headache, but it’s going away. Everything else is okay, and my head is clear. I’m still tired and figured I’d go to bed early tonight, but other than that, I’m okay. My arm aches a little, but the hospital said it will heal on its own and I need to keep it clean.” He sank into the chair, and Abey climbed onto Tyler’s lap. It looked like he hadn’t been too far away from his papa, judging by the toys clustered around the chair. “How was the store?”
“Busy. I had a couple come in and buy a complete sofa set, the one that had been in the front of the store for two months. It was leather and in amazing shape, and they wanted it. I don’t usually have things that expensive, but it would retail for a lot more.” Alan sat down. “Officer Marks stopped in the store. He had followed up on the post office box. Whoever is b
ehind this put my name on the box.”
Tyler started. “You’re kidding.”
“No. I showed him a number of documents that I’d signed, and it was obvious that I hadn’t done it. The box was paid for in cash, he said, but it wasn’t my signature. I think he believed me and is looking for who is behind it, but that was pretty unexpected and unsettling.” Alan swallowed.
Tyler spoke softly to Abey, who got down, playing with his trucks, and Tyler sat next to him on the sofa. “I’m sorry about that. I thought it would be so easy, but nothing is ever easy. Did anyone remember who opened the box?”
“No. I’m known in the post office. But who knows? How they managed to pull this off is something I can’t quite figure out. Still, Officer Marks hasn’t given up.”
“That’s good.” Tyler leaned closer. “Gregory called an hour ago. He said the chief is on the warpath because I countermanded him at the fire scene. He’s in the process of writing me up.” Tyler turned to him. “But he isn’t getting very far because the men are taking my side. And it seems he spoke to the other company captains on the scene. They apparently told the chief what they think of him, which only made him angrier.”
“I see.”
“No. Apparently he’s going to write me up anyway, then suspend me and bring my dismissal to the council. At least that’s what Gregory overheard. He’s going to claim that I caused my own injury, as well as Jerry’s. Which is absurd. I saved the chief from getting burned and took the hit.” Tyler held his arm.
“It isn’t going to get very far.”
“Don’t count on that. Gregory said that the chief was on the phone all afternoon shoring up support and seemed very smug.” Tyler hung his head. “I don’t need this kind of crap. I didn’t come here for drama. I relocated here to give Abey the chance at a better life, one that wasn’t as fast as the city.” Tyler lifted his gaze. “I think maybe I should find another place to live. There are plenty of places I can go, and if I resign before the chief can file anything, then my work record will still be good and I can hope to get another job.”
The thought of Tyler leaving sent a rush of fear through Alan. “Either that or you can stay and fight. Do you want to build a life here?” Alan knew he was getting to the heart of an issue and in a way forcing Tyler to voice what he wanted. Asking the question was taking a chance. If Tyler decided that he was going to leave, then it was likely Alan’s question could push him further in that direction.
“Of course I do.”
“Then you might have to go to battle to have what you want.” He wanted to judge Tyler’s reaction, but he seemed tired. “You spent years helping others and fighting for them. You fight for Abey and what you think he needs all the time. Heck, I’m willing to bet you would have taken on everyone in the government in order to adopt Abey so you could give him a home. So why not fight for what you want with the same fierceness?” Alan caught his eye.
“How do I do that?”
“The chief can’t fire you. He has to bring it to the council because we hired you, and like it or not, he can’t suspend you either. I’ll ask the council president to send a letter explaining the facts of life to the chief.” Alan smiled. “That will probably knock the wind out of his sails. He can petition the council to act, but that’s all he can do.”
“Other than make my life miserable,” Tyler explained.
Alan shrugged. “Do the men respect you?”
Tyler nodded slowly. “I think they do. They asked me to provide some training, but the chief shot it down. He was trying to hurt me, but he only hurt himself.”
“Exactly. You have their respect, and they were willing to follow you. Even when you countermanded the chief at the fire, they followed you. They trust your abilities, and that’s why the chief is pissed. It has less to do with you and more to do with the fact that he’s losing control of his own men.” Alan sat down next to him. “Document everything the chief does and says. If he’s nasty or snide, document it with the day and time and anyone else who heard it. If he makes questionable decisions, then note what they are, the circumstances, the date and time, and any witnesses.”
“Dang, you have one hell of a devious mind.”
“Yup. Remember, if he does go to the council, then you get to defend yourself, and that means calling his character and motives into question. Once the chief figures that out, there’s a chance that he’ll back down.”
Tyler groaned. “Nope. He’s the kind of man who pushes forward, never retreating. He thinks he has support and has been shoring it up.”
“Maybe. But… are you going to fight?”
Tyler sat still for a few seconds, his eyes seemingly staring at nothing. Then he turned, looking at him and down at Abey, then back at Alan. “Yes.” Tyler put an arm around him. “I have plenty here to fight for.” Tyler looked at him, sending a wave of heat through Alan. He liked that Tyler thought he was one of the things worth staking a claim over.
“Abey, it’s almost time for you to go to bed,” Tyler said. “Put your toys away, and you can come sit here next to me, and we will watch Mouse before you go to bed. But only if you clean up your toys.”
Abey hurried to put his toys in the box in the corner and then climbed onto the sofa, shimmying between them. Tyler put on the program, and Abey watched, with one hand on his papa’s arm and the other clutching one of Alan’s fingers.
In those few seconds, Alan realized just how far he’d fallen for Tyler and Abey, and how much he wanted to be part of their small family.
Chapter 11
SOMETIMES THINGS moved really fast, and the last week was a blur. Alan had done exactly what he said he would, and the chief had been angry. Not that Tyler actually saw it firsthand, because he and the chief worked different shifts, and when they were working at the same time, the chief kept himself in his office, no doubt working to get rid of Tyler. Jerry and Gregory in particular kept him informed of the chief’s ire, but made it clear that they were on Tyler’s side.
“I don’t know what to do. Do you want us to speak for you?” Jerry asked in the break room as the three of them got coffee just after shift turnover. “We will, you know that.”
Tyler shook his head. “I appreciate it, I really do. But if things don’t go my way, then I don’t want either of you on the firing line. The chief is going to play nasty, and you know he isn’t the kind to forgive.” He was nervous as hell, but Alan had been working to shore up support of his own, and the special meeting tonight looked to be as much a battle between Alan and the chief as it did between himself and the chief. Thinking about Alan standing up for him made him feel better.
He had come to realize that Alan was many things. He was a great businessman, he cared about the community, he had guts for days, brass balls when he needed them, and was a tiger in the bedroom. It also seemed that when it came to the people he cared for, Alan was a lion of epic proportions, and dammit, Tyler was completely in love with him. The fact that he would fight so hard for him and Abey to have the chance at a home made Tyler unbelievably happy. He hadn’t realized it when he’d first moved here, but he knew it now.
“Screw that,” Jerry said, cutting off Tyler’s line of thought. “You’re great for the department, and there are a lot of guys who want to stand up for you.”
“Thank you. But you all have families that you need to look out for.”
“And you don’t?” Gregory countered. “What’s going on isn’t right. The chief was out of line, and he made a bad call at that fire that could have cost lives—a lot of lives. If those tanks had gone up, the departments were all in danger and so were the people who lived in the surrounding areas.”
Tyler leaned forward. “You guys have to do what you think is best.” He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if things didn’t go his way. The thought of leaving now, finding another job, moving away from town… it was nearly too much. He had been able to put down roots here, his parents and Abey were really bonding, and Alan…. The thought of not seeing
him every day, of moving away and seeing him maybe only on weekends when his schedule allowed for it—that entire idea really sucked.
“Are you ready for the meeting?”
Tyler nodded. “As I’ll ever be.” He finished his coffee, washed his mug, and put it in the cupboard, wondering if he would be coming in tomorrow to remove his things and clear out his work area.
AT THE end of his shift, Tyler left the station and stopped at Second Chances, where he found Marcie and Alan in a glaring contest.
“Just go and make sure you have everything,” Marcie said. “I have things here under control.”
“But you’ve covered for me a lot lately….” Alan stared right back.
“Please. When Mom had surgery, you stayed here for a week and never left this place, and you paid me for the time so I wouldn’t have to worry. Go on. Make sure you have everything you need and fight for your man.” She grinned.
“Getting a bit dramatic?”
Tyler slipped an arm around Alan’s waist. “I don’t think so.” He tugged Alan nearer, leaning close, inhaling the clean scent of his hair, and some of the nervousness calmed. “I like that you’re willing to fight for me.”
Alan turned, and Tyler lost himself in his eyes for a split second.
“You two are so cute,” Marcie said with a sigh. “Go on and spend some time together before you have to be at the meeting, which starts in an hour.” She turned and walked toward the front of the store as a customer came in.
Alan closed the computer program he was working on and locked his system. “Have you eaten?”
Tyler shook his head. “I’m too wound up. I face fires and dangerous situations every day, and they don’t make me as nervous as this does.”
“No matter what happens, we’ll figure it out. The chief is bringing charges of insubordination, but we are going to counter that with bad decision-making on his part. You acted out of the interest of public safety. Then I can take it from there.” Alan paused. “We need to be convincing and truthful and ready to counter any argument the chief makes.”
