by Olivia Rush
“Agreed,” said the chief. “So, what do you think’s going on?”
“I can’t say for sure, but I’d be willing to bet anything that they’re pulling some kind of crime involving stealing money from these places.”
“Oh yeah?” asked the chief.
“They just don’t seem like normal arsons, and the targeting of financial firms seems like more than a coincidence.”
“Part of me was hoping they felt like they’d earned enough money and that they were through. But that was wishful thinking—criminals don’t operate like that. They move onto bigger and bigger jobs. What I’m thinking is that not only are they planning a new job, they’re planning their biggest one yet—three firms at once.”
“Shit,” said the chief, sitting back in his seat.
“I’d bet any amount of money that this Praetorian company’s planning on hitting these last three firms at once, electronically transferring millions of dollars, then starting three fires and destroying all the evidence.”
I was done. Chief said nothing for several long moments, appearing to take in all of the information.
“That’s a hell of a theory,” he said. “You and this reporter put it all together yourselves?”
There was a little glimmer in his eyes that suggested he was thinking there was more going on between me and Callie than I was letting on. But he knew better than to pry.
“That’s right,” I said.
“I mean, it all sounds pretty solid,” he said. “But you know there’s not a damn bit of this we can take to the NYPD without getting you and Callie into serious trouble, right?”
“I know,” I said. “And I also know that there’s a really good chance I could be totally off base about all of this. But there’s no way I’m going to risk not doing anything.”
“I get it,” said Chief Stokes. “And I know better than anyone here just what it’s like to be on the wrong end of the NYPD, having them not believe a word you have to say even when the evidence is overwhelming. They have their own way of doing things.”
“Right,” I said. “But we need to be on alert. I’m going to look into the matter more, but I’m thinking that now that they know people are sniffing around, they’re going to move their schedule up. We might be looking at something major happening in the next few days. Maybe even sooner than that.”
The chief regarded me for a few long moments before standing up, turning his back to me, and clasping his hands behind him, his body framed by the city visible through the window behind his desk.
“You know, Stone, that I can’t act on any of this information. And by that, I mean I can’t ‘officially’ act on any of this information. But just between you and me, I think you’re onto something. So, I’m not giving you a command, mind you, I’m just telling you that what you and Callie do with your free time is none of my business. And if you two happen to find out something you think the station ought to know about during your free time, then I wouldn’t be against the idea of you letting some of the boys know. They like to talk, and information has a way of reaching me in a station this size. Understand?”
I gave him a slow nod, a little smirk on my lips. It was clear just what Chief was saying: You’re onto something—check it out, but don’t make it official FDNY business.
Chief went on.
“I’ll pass it along to the boys that something might be going down in the next couple of days. And if you happened to find something out, maybe it might happen that the information makes its way up to me. You know how these things go.”
“You got it, Chief.”
“So, go on and get out of my hair,” he said. “And good luck.”
29
CALLIE
I banged hard on the door to Stone’s apartment. I knew it was early in the morning, and I knew that I was probably going to wake up Jason. But I’d been up all night going over the notes I’d taken during our investigation, and what I had to say couldn’t wait even another minute.
After some more banging, the front door finally opened. Stone stood there, a sleepy and perplexed look on his face. He was dressed in a pair of black pajama pants and a sleeveless gray shirt, and despite everything going on, I had to use all my mental energy to not stare at his thick, muscular arms.
“Morning,” he said with a yawn.
Behind him I spotted Jason stepping into the room dressed in some oversized pajamas, the footies dragging on the floor behind him.
“Who’s banging on the door?” he asked, his voice even sleepier than Stone’s.
He rubbed his eyes and saw that it was me, and his expression brightened right away.
“Hey!” he said. “Hi, Miss Callie!”
“Hey, champ!” I said, giving him a friendly wave.
In my other hand were two bags. I raised them to eye level and gave them both a shake.
“I know I’m being a pain in the butt by coming here so early, so I brought breakfast. This bag’s doughnuts, and this bag’s bagels. Not sure what kind of house this is as far as ‘sugar for breakfast’ is concerned.”
Stone gave me another look, one that suggested that he was wondering whether or not to shut the door in my face and go back to bed. That was just the sleep talking. I knew he was secretly glad to see me.
He eventually stepped back from the door and wordlessly gestured for me to come in.
“Thanks,” I said. “You’re gonna be happy you heard me out when you hear what I have to say.”
“Can I have a doughnut, Dad?” asked Jason, hopping eagerly from one foot to the other.
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “But just one. Don’t need you turning into a little marshmallow.”
The three of us sat down at the kitchen bar, Jason’s excited eyes locked onto the bag of doughnuts.
“You want chocolate or glazed?” I asked.
“I want the kind with the stuff in the middle!” he shouted.
“Ah,” I said. “A man with discerning tastes.”
I reached into the bag and pulled out the Boston cream and then into the other bag which contained the two extra-large coffees. Stone’s expression woke up a little upon seeing his, and he quickly popped open the plastic top and took a sip.
“OK,” he said, sitting back in his chair and crossing his burly arms over his chest. “You’ve successfully bribed us with breakfast. Now, what’s this all about?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I did my eyes shot to Jason. Stone got the hint.
“Yo, kiddo,” he said. “Go ahead and eat in front of the TV. Miss Callie and I have boring grown-up stuff to talk about.”
“I get to eat doughnuts and watch TV?” he asked excitedly.
“Yep,” said Stone. “Special occasion.”
Jason didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed his food and hurried over to the TV so fast that I worried he might trip and do a face-plant right into his doughnut. Stone turned back to me, his expression suggesting that I go on.
“OK,” I said, pulling my notes out of my bag and spreading them out on the counter. “Something about the fires stuck in my head, something about how we’d narrowed it down to the three possible offices.”
Stone nodded. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said. “But I knew that there was more to it than that. So, I went over all the information from the fires, trying to figure out a commonality with the dates. And sure enough, there was a pattern. One week from the first one to the second, then seven days after that, then seven days after that, and so on.”
Stone said nothing, his eyes fixed in an expression of concentration.
“Then we had the problem with why the fires stopped. I mean, that’s not a ‘problem,’ but you know what I mean. So, I was up all night, going over everything, trying to figure out if there was some kind of code. But then it finally hit me, the most obvious thing in the world: They’re waiting the number of days for all three that they would’ve for just one fire, but multiplied by the
number of places they’re going to hit at once! Seven days, times three offices equals three weeks.”
Stone leaned forward in interest.
I pulled out a paper calendar and showed him my work, moving my finger along and coming to a stop on the day that this amount of time indicated: today.
“Holy shit,” said Stone, quickly covering his mouth in the event that Jason had heard him. “You think the fire’s going to happen tonight?”
I gave an affirmative nod.
“It’s either that or they’re just giving up on the whole thing. And considering that the techie at the office didn’t seem too keen on stopping to chat, I think they’re getting ready to make a move. And I think it’s going to happen today.”
“Fuck,” said Stone, this time keeping his voice lowered. “That means we don’t have much time to act.”
“We need to get to the office where we found the tech. I’d bet you any amount of money that they’re planning on accessing the other networks from that place and setting all of the fires at once.”
“And why do you think that?”
“Because if they’re able to access the computer networks of all three places, then there’s a good chance they’ve set it up so they can get to all of them from one of the networks.”
Stone glanced away for a moment, taking in what I’d said. “You want to go there?” asked Stone. “And do what? I don’t think either of us is all that tech-savvy.”
“We’re not going to try and stop them ourselves,” I said. “We’re going to talk to the person in charge and warn them! Maybe they’ll see reason and evacuate the building or something. I don’t know. But we have to try.”
“You’re right,” said Stone.
He took a glance at the wall clock.
“If we leave now, we can get there before they open, maybe get to the boss before the workday starts.”
I glanced over at Jason who was happily munching his doughnut, his eyes fixed on the TV.
“What about the kid?” I asked.
“Damn,” said Stone under his breath. “We’ll have to bring him. Not the best solution, but it’s not like I can call a babysitter and have them come over in the next ten minutes.”
He leaned over in his chair and called out to his son.
“Yo, Jason!” he said. “You want to go on a little trip?”
“Sure!” he said. “Can I have some more doughnuts?”
“Guess we’re bribing him with sugar,” said Stone to me. “Sure! Go get some clothes on!”
Jason sprang up and hurried out of the living room.
“Give me a second,” said Stone.
He got up, disappeared down the hall, and came back a few minutes later dressed in his dark jeans and station shirt. Once he was back on the barstool, he took a long sip of his coffee before ripping one of the whole wheat bagels in half, dunking it into the cream cheese, and popping it into his mouth.
“Hey,” I said, lowering my tone. “Does, um, does Jason know what’s going on?”
Stone raised his eyebrows as he chewed.
“You mean with the fire?” he asked. “No, I didn’t think that was anything I needed to burden him with.”
“No!” I hissed. “I mean about the fact that, you know, he’s about to have a new brother or sister?”
Stone mouthed “ohhh,” as if he had just remembered this very, very minor detail.
“No, I haven’t talked to him about that,” he said.
“Then what’s your plan, exactly?” I asked. “Just have me keep coming over, my belly getting bigger by the week until it’s like, surprise—baby brother or sister!”
Stone took another bite of his bagel and chewed it slowly. “I know, I know,” he said. “I need to tell him. But I guess I figured that it could all wait until we had this whole situation with the serial arson and thieves under control.”
It made sense, but it still felt like he was keeping a secret that should be out in the open, if not yet, then soon. Then again, I couldn’t really talk—it’s not like I was chomping at the bit to let my editor know I was pregnant.
Stone took my hand into his.
“Listen,” he said. “We’re gonna get this all worked out. But for now, let’s just see what we can do about the fires. Maybe the boss at the firm will do the smart thing, warn the other offices, and we can put this all in the NYPD’s hands.”
“And if he doesn’t?” I asked.
“We can figure it out from there,” he said.
Right at that moment, Jason burst into the room and shoved his fist into the air.
“Field trip time!” he shouted.
At least one of us was feeling something other than fear, I thought.
30
STONE
“Wow!” said Jason, popping the last bit of doughnut into his mouth as he stared up at the towering office building before us.
“What’re you ‘wowing’ at, kiddo?” I asked. “We’re in the center of the universe with tall buildings. You should be used to it by now.”
“Yeah,” said Jason. “But this one just looks extra-tall.”
Callie and I shared a worried glance. I didn’t have a good feeling about our plan of trying to talk sense into the head of this firm, and having Jason along for the ride wasn’t going to make things easier. But it was all we could do for now.
The three of us entered the lobby, and I knew that bluffing with a kid in tow probably wasn’t the best idea in the world. I marched up to the man at the front desk and prepared to give it to him straight.
“Hi,” I said. “I’m Stone Black with the FDNY. I have reason to believe that one of the offices in this building might be at risk for arson.”
The serious-looking man let his eyes drift over me, Callie, and Jason.
“I see,” he said. “There a reason you brought your family along for this, ah, important FDNY business?”
“Oh, we’re not—” said Callie and I both at the same time. “I mean— We mean—”
We both stopped, and I’m sure she was feeling just as silly as I was.
“It’s a long story,” I said. “But we’ve been investigating the fires that’ve been happening around the city, and we think this place might be next. Please, can we speak to the head of the firm?”
The guard gave me a hard stare. “You got ID?”
I pulled my FDNY badge out of my pocket and handed it over. The guard took a look and, satisfied, handed it back to me.
“Give me a sec,” he said, picking up the black phone near his hand.
He dialed a number and spoke into the receiver. After a little bit of chatting, he hung up and turned his attention back to me.
“Believe it or not, he said to come up.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“But, uh, you might want to leave the kid in the lobby.”
If Jason heard what the guard said, he didn’t pay it any mind. He was too distracted by the wide open space of the lobby and the businessmen and women zipping around.
“Will do,” I said.
We took the elevator up and soon arrived at the same lobby we’d been to before. I gestured for Jason to take a seat, and Callie and I prepared to approach the receptionist’s desk. As we entered, however, a man dressed in a jumpsuit, the logo for Praetorian on his chest, passed us, his eyes flicking from me to Callie to Jason in a way that I couldn’t help but be troubled by.
Was he part of the Praetorian team?
Before I had too much time to think about it, Callie stepped up to the desk and told the receptionist who we were, and Jason took a seat in one of the big chairs in the lobby.
“Mrs. Withers said that you’ll have five minutes with her,” she said. “Normally a walk-in appointment like this wouldn’t even be considered, but we like to cooperate with city employees.”
“Thanks,” I said. “We appreciate it.”
We were hurried down one of the office’s long hallways and led to a massive set of oak double doors. The receptionist gave the
doors a knock and a voice inside called for us to come in.
The doors opened, revealing a spacious, modern office complete with a sweeping view of eastern Brooklyn. Seated at the large desk was a middle-aged woman dressed in a power suit, her expression severe.
“Have a seat,” she said.
Callie and I slipped into the two high-backed leather chairs across from her desk.
“First of all,” said Callie. “I want to thank you so much for mak—”
Mrs. Withers raised her hand, making it clear she wanted to get right down to business. “I don’t know who you are,” she said, her voice low. “I’m only interested in hearing from the FDNY employee.”
Callie flashed me a look, one that seemed to say: “Can you believe this woman?”
I pushed past Mrs. Withers’s prickliness and went right into it. I told her everything, from the research that Callie and I had done, to the investigations, to the conclusion that we’d come to about the fires that we anticipated happening tonight.
When we were done, Mrs. Withers sat back in her chair and let the information settle in her mind.
“So,” she said, finally speaking. “You want me to do what about this, exactly?”
I was a little shocked to hear this.
“I don’t know,” I said. “First thing I’d suggest is closing down the offices for the foreseeable future.”
“Listen, Mr. Black,” she said, folding her hands on her lap and sitting forward. “This sounds like you all went through quite a bit of work to put together this…presentation, or whatever you want to call it, but I’m not convinced. For one, why is it you two—” She pointed to Callie. “—one of whom I don’t even know her job or her name, and not the rest of the FDNY? And the NYPD?”
Callie and I shared another look.
“I’m Callie Sullivan, with New York Weekly,” shot out Callie, as if that was all Mrs. Withers needed to put her mind at ease.