The Blackout

by K J Kalis

  “Well, yeah, I brought you here…”

  “I mean how far it went.”

  Chuck frowned and shook his head. “I didn’t really think about it, I guess.”

  Freddie nodded. “Tell me something. If you were a five-hundred-pound gorilla and someone tossed you out a window, where would you fall?”

  “Straight down.” Chuck looked at Freddie. “Oh yeah. That’s a problem.”

  “See what I mean? The transformer should have come straight down off that pole, not twenty, thirty feet away, even if the wood shattered.”

  “Could the wind have carried it?”

  “Nope, too heavy. It got blown off the pole by something. That’s why it’s so far away. Normally, you’d see the lines still attached too.” Freddie walked over to one of the lines, careful not to step on the scorch marks he’d need to take pictures of. He knelt down. “Check out how far the line is from the transformer. Has to be twenty feet. That sucker really blew.”

  “What do you think happened?”

  “I have no idea.” Freddie glanced up the hills at the v-shaped swath of charred acreage. “We’re just lucky it didn’t get any further. Could have been a disaster.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “Write the report and see what we can find out. If this was electrical, we’ve got a big problem…”

  18

  Although Kat was curious about Bart’s work problems and the fact that he couldn’t find Theresa, Kat was more worried about the boys. She stepped out of the conference room that was down the hall from Mike’s emergency room bay and walked back to check on them, letting Van take over the conversation. She knew Van could handle Bart. It was probably better that way.

  “How are things going in here?” she whispered to Jack, seeing that Mike was resting.

  “Fine. He ate his cookie.” Jack had moved over to a recliner that was pushed next to Mike’s bed. Kat bet the nurse had brought it for him. She must have, because he had a blanket and a pillow and some sort of orange drink too. She smiled. Jack was loyal, that was for sure.

  Kat caught a glance of movement behind her. It was the nurse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself earlier. I’m Paula.”

  Kat extended her hand, “It’s nice to meet you. I’m assuming you are the one that set Jack up?”

  Paula smiled. “Yup. He’s a good little guy.”

  “Sure is. Any news on Mike?”

  “That’s the thing. I wanted to talk to Mike’s dad. Is he here now?”

  “Yup,” Kat pointed to the conference room. “He’s in there.”

  Paula walked into the room, just as Van was asking Bart a question. Though Kat didn’t hear the question, she could tell it must have been serious by the look on both of their faces. “Mr. Walsh, I’m Paula, Mike’s nurse. I just wanted to update you. Would you like to come out here?”

  Kat started to worry. She didn’t know if Paula was just pulling him out of the room so they could have some privacy or if it was because there was something serious going on. Either way, she had a second with Van. “What is going on?”

  “He’s in deep, Kat.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was going to ask him, but the nurse interrupted. He’s edgy, that’s for sure. Said he’s got this internal guy, Sal Manko, who has been working on whatever the problem is for him, but they haven’t made much progress. The thing is…” Van’s eyes drifted down the hallway. Kat looked to see what Van was staring at. Bart had gone pale talking to the nurse. “The thing is that it’s bigger than just Theresa going missing, I think. There is a lot more to the story for sure.”

  “I talked to that Sal Manko guy when I called to find Bart this morning. He sounded shady.” Kat turned back to the hallway where she saw Paula put her hand on Bart’s arm and walk away. Bart walked back to the conference room, his tie loosened.

  “Everything okay?” Kat asked.

  “I’m not sure. The nurse said they don’t know anything yet, but that the doctors have ordered more tests. She said he’d be in to update me once they have more of the results back. They want to keep him here until then.”

  Kat sighed. She couldn’t imagine what Bart was feeling. She watched as Bart started to pace. “I don’t know what to do,” she could hear him muttering.

  “Bart, what’s going on?”

  Bart threw his hands up in the air with such force that both Kat and Van stepped back. Out of the corner of her eye, Kat saw Mike’s nurse watching. “I can’t be here and out looking for Theresa and taking care of the company. I need Theresa to take care of Mike. It’s too much. It’s too much…”

  The nurse approached Kat from behind. “Is everything okay?”

  “To be honest, I’m not sure. He seems to be having a bit of a meltdown.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw Bart swallow hard and put his hand on his chest. Van helped him sit down, guiding him gently to the linoleum floor of the emergency room. Within seconds, a doctor and Mike’s nurse, Paula, ran over. “Are you okay?” The doctor said, kneeling over Bart. He looked at Paula. “Let’s get him into a bed.” Paula nodded and came back with a wheelchair.

  “My chest is killing me,” he said.

  “Easy, chief. We need to get you into a bed and see what’s going on,” the doctor said, standing up.

  Paula was kneeling by him. “We’re gonna check you out, okay?”

  “No. I’m fine. I promise. I’m okay.” Bart struggled to a stand up, his color pallid, pink splotches on his cheeks.

  The doctor leaned toward him. “You look like a bottom-line guy to me. Here’s the bottom line. We’ve got to check you out if you want us to be able to release your son to you. Make sense?”

  Bart closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded. “Okay.”

  The doctor looked at Paula. “Can you put him next to his son? Let’s get an IV started, check his pressure, run an EKG and draw a cardiac blood panel.”

  Paula nodded. “Will do.” Paula looked at Bart, “Come on. Let’s go over here and let them check you out. You got ahead of yourself, didn’t you?”

  Bart shook his head, his gait wobbly. “I don’t know what happened. It’s just too much.”

  “Let’s get you in a bed, big boy, and let the doctors figure out the rest, okay?” Van put his arm under Bart to help him get to the room next to Mike’s.

  The noise in the hallway had startled Mike. He and Jack were staring at Bart as Paula and Van helped him get into bed. “It’s okay, boys,” Kat said, opening the curtain between the two bays so that Mike could see his dad. “Your dad just got a little upset. The doctors are going to take care of him.”

  “Dad, are you okay?” Mike said.

  “Yeah, buddy. I’m fine. Have you heard from your mom?”

  Kat shook her head. Bart was clearly focused on the fact that he couldn’t find Theresa. Before she could say anything, a tech carrying a tablet stopped in Mike’s room. “Hey, are you Mike?”

  Mike nodded. “I’m here to take you for a couple of tests. That okay?”

  Kat glanced at Bart, who was trying to get out of bed. “Nope, you’ve gotta stay here.”

  Paula came down the hallway. “Don’t worry. I’ll go with him. It won’t take long.”

  Jack hopped out of his chair. “I’m going too! He’s my best friend!”

  Kat shook her head. The idea of having Jack roaming around the hospital with a nurse she didn’t know made her stomach clench. “Jack, I know you want to be there for Mike, but let’s give him some privacy, okay? You can log onto your games from my phone while Mike is gone.”

  Paula nodded. “That’s a good idea. Jack, we really need someone to keep an eye on Mike’s stuff while he’s gone. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Oh yeah! I can. I won’t let anyone take your stuff, Mike. Don’t worry!”

  Kat smiled a thank you to Paula. She walked over to Jack and handed him her phone. She pulled earbuds out of her purse. “I just happen to have these with me.
Why don’t you watch a movie or play a game for a few minutes while Mike is gone?”

  Jack settled back down into his chair, staring at the phone. “Sure, Mom.”

  With Jack paying attention to her phone and Mike off to testing, Kat could concentrate on Bart. She looked toward him. He was still pale. He had taken his jacket off, the armpits of his shirt soaked through. Whatever was bothering him was taking a toll. What was it though? There had to be more to the story.

  Kat moved into the bay where he was stationed, keeping an eye on Jack, waiting for another nurse to finish taking his blood pressure and running an EKG. She drew a vial of blood and nodded. “The doctor will be back in a bit.”

  Van was the first to speak. “Bart, start at the beginning. What is going on? Where’s Theresa?”

  He shook his head, “I told you. I don’t know. The last time I saw her was last night. I spent the night at the golf club…”

  “Why?”

  Bart frowned. “We got into a fight. Actually, I was just mad. There’s a lot going on.”

  Kat could tell that Van had enough of Bart’s drama. It wasn’t the way that Van was tuned up, that was for sure. “Cut to the chase, Bart. Kat and I can do one of two things. We can stay here and try to help you and Mike, or we can go on our merry way. I’ve got no problem helping out, but if you are going to be a jerk, then I’ve got other things to do and my wife does too.”

  Kat looked at the floor. Van’s bluntness was more than she would have said, but she did like the way he called her his wife. It made her feel protected.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. I know you guys are trying to help.”

  “Do you want help or not?” Van said, stepping back from the bed.

  The question hung in the air for a moment. Kat guessed that Bart was calculating his options. From what Theresa said, she knew they didn’t have any family nearby. Based on Bart’s tantrum, Kat could easily believe that Bart didn’t have too many friends besides a couple of golfing buddies.

  Bart didn’t look at either of them. Kat watched him for a moment. He looked far away.

  “Bart. Give me an answer,” Van stared at Bart.

  “Okay, okay,” Bart said. “I don’t even know where to start. Last night, I got some bad news at work. I can’t talk to Theresa about this stuff. She knows that. A lot of proprietary things go into my work. She asked a couple of questions and it made me mad.”

  “Do you think maybe she was trying to help?” Kat could feel herself getting angry. She knew that Theresa had wanted to help, and more importantly, with her degree in engineering, she could absolutely understand what was going on with Bart’s business.

  Bart sighed. “Maybe she was. I don’t know. All I know is that when I left last night, she was on the patio. I think Mike was upstairs or something. I went to the driving range at the golf club to think, had a late dinner with a couple of buddies and too many drinks. I stayed there in one of the guest rooms. I went straight to work from there this morning.”

  Van frowned. “You didn’t go home or reach out to Theresa?”

  Bart shook his head, the monitor next to him offering a quiet beep, “I have a change of clothes in my car just in case. I took a shower at the club and went straight into work. I planned…” his voice broke. “I planned on texting her after my morning meetings.”

  Kat closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get a handle on the timeline. “What you are saying is that you have no idea where Theresa was from the time you left last night. Is that right?”

  Bart nodded.

  “And you can’t for sure even tell me that Mike was home?”

  Bart nodded again. “Listen, I know how it looks. It looks like I don’t care, but I do. I really do. I just… I don’t know what to say. Things have gotten out of control.”

  Van raised his voice, “You keep saying that, but what does it mean?”

  Bart looked off to the side again. “I’m not sure I can talk about it.”

  “Kat, I’m done with this joker. He doesn’t want our help and I don’t have the energy. Let’s get Jack and get out of here.” Van started to walk away from Bart’s bed. Kat followed with no argument. Based on what Theresa had told her about Bart, he wasn’t worth their time. He had treated his wife badly.

  “Wait,” Bart whispered. “I don’t have anyone else I can turn to. You have to help me. You guys are journalists, right?”

  Kat stopped, putting her hand on Van’s arm. “We are. But we can only help you if you are honest with us. We can’t help if you fight us every step of the way.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Kat noticed something in Bart had changed. He seemed to shrink in the bed, finally understanding he couldn’t do whatever he’d been trying to do on his own. Kat walked back closer to his bed. “No more games, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Kat could tell by Van’s stance, his arms folded over his chest, that he wasn’t convinced. From being with Van, she knew that he didn’t suffer fools well. At the moment, Kat could tell that Van had put Bart in the category of a fool. Bart would have some work to do if he wanted to get himself out of it.

  Kat restarted the conversation before Van got frustrated again. “Start where you left off. You saw Theresa last night. Pretty sure Mike was home with her.”

  “He was. I yelled goodbye to him when I left, but I didn’t hear him respond.”

  Kat pointed to Jack. “Kids and their earbuds.”

  Bart nodded. “It was my fault. I was tense. I’ve had an ongoing problem at work for the last few months that I haven’t been able to resolve. I’ve had Sal Manko — he works for me — trying to help, but I don’t think it’s working.”

  “So, you were mad about this problem...”

  Van squinted, “What kind of problem?”

  Bart sighed and shifted in the bed. Kat could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. When she ran across people like this as a journalist in the past, it was either because they were embarrassed, or they had something to lose. Kat wasn’t sure which was the case with Bart. “Listen, Bart, whatever the problem is, you need help. You and your son are in the hospital and as far as I can tell, Theresa is nowhere to be found. Last chance.” It was Kat’s turn to lose patience.

  Bart sighed again as if pulling the words up and out of his chest was painful. Kat knew that verbalizing what was going on could make things more real, like the memories she’d had to face when her wrist was shattered in an IED attack in Afghanistan or when she’d had to shoot the man that kidnapped Jack to save his life. Just getting the words out could be the hardest part of the process. But the reality was that Van was right. They couldn’t help Bart if he didn’t tell them what was going on. If they wanted his help, he’d have to tell them the truth.

  Another moment passed, Bart shifting uncomfortably in his bed. He glanced at where Mike’s bed had been, the empty bay only filled with Jack who was unaware of what was going on between the adults that were just feet from him. Bart pulled on the wires that were attached to his chest. For a moment, Kat was afraid that he was going to unhook them. He looked at his feet and then finally spoke. “The reason that I’m afraid Theresa is in trouble is because someone has it out for me. She might have gotten caught up in it.”

  Kat exhaled. At least at this point, Bart was talking. He had opened the door for them to ask questions. “Caught up in what?”

  “I can’t talk about it. It’s a company thing. Now, I’m in here hooked up to all of this junk and there’s something wrong with Mike and I can’t get out of this bed without all of you giving me a look.” Bart started to swing his legs over the edge of his bed.

  “Hold on, there.” Van stepped closer to the bed. “Before you go and do something stupid, tell us the rest of it. What are you talking about?”

  “Just find Theresa…”

  19

  Theresa’s body was making noise in the trunk every time he turned a corner, Connor realized, on the way back to his house. He wished he felt guilty, but he didn’t. He
wondered for a moment if she was alive or dead. Maybe her body was just making noise in the back as it shifted? Maybe she was kicking with her one good leg to try to get out? He didn’t know. It didn’t really matter to him. It was fitting that she was in the trunk of Janet’s old car. He hoped that if she was alive that she could smell the perfume Janet used to wear, just like he could.

  As he drove down his street, his mind turned to what would happen next. Bart Walsh had stolen everything from him. Just the thought of his name, not even the words coming out of his mouth, uncapped a fury within him.

  His life had been so full of promise when he’d gone to college. He was the first to go to a university out of his family. His parents had packed him up with a stern lecture of what he was responsible for, how much money they were spending and how he was representing the family. At the time, he blew it off, thinking that every first-year college student was getting the same lecture from their parents on the day he left. Only now did he understand the gravity of what they had told him.

  The turn onto his driveway caused another bump from the back of the car. He pulled into the garage and cut the engine, walking into the house. He didn’t check the truck. He wasn’t all that concerned about what happened to her.

  The door slammed behind him, the hinges rattling. He went straight to his office, where his laptop had been plugged in, charging. There was work to do. He sat down in the chair behind his desk, logging into his program and moving the information to a larger monitor where he could get the full effect of the software.

  In front of him was the power grid for Palm Coast Electric & Power. He could see all the power levels, who had power and who didn’t. There were areas that were green and red, as he expected. He zoomed in the view. From his desk drawer, he pulled out a black leather notebook, one he had in college. On the back cover was a list of coordinates. There were at least fifty of them, all carefully selected to ensure the best level of success. He had taken road trips to see each site, the pictures numbered and labeled on a map that he had folded in his drawer. He hadn’t written them in his notebook until he had put them in order. Connor rolled his neck, trying to get the tension out of it. He’d had headaches since he lost Janet.