by Tara Rose
Zach glanced at Harrison, a question in his eyes. Harrison couldn’t see any reason why they should stay away. City Hall was part of Zach’s district, and if Dean decided they needed more officers at the scene, Harrison would have to go to work anyway. They might as well go.
* * * *
The crowd on Market Street was angrier this time than simply curious as they’d been on Sunday morning. City Hall had been badly damaged in the tornado as it was, and Harrison couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to burn the existing structure other than to send a message. He spotted Cameron and Storm, and asked Zach and Gina to wait while he went over to see if he could find out more details.
“Same thing this time?” he asked Cameron. “Remote control bomb?”
Cameron nodded. “Yeah. This is amateur stuff though. He could have bought the ingredients anywhere in Racy. We’ll start local to run down the individual purchases.”
“And if that turns up nothing? He could just as easily have driven into Lafayette or even Indy.”
“I know.”
“What’ll it be next time, Cameron? Another building downtown? A condo complex?
“I wish I knew.”
Harrison scanned the tops of the buildings that surrounded City Hall. “What are the chances of getting all the security cameras operational again?”
Cameron shook his head. “No idea yet. Adison Kincaid has been working with Notus to try and get them up and running again, but we’re slamming into roadblocks because the entire electrical grid had to be rerouted downtown. No one thought we’d need all the cameras working until we’d rebuilt everything. You know how it is here. No one believes anything like this can happen in Racy.”
Harrison nodded. “Yeah. Amazing, isn’t it? Considering we’ve had a serial killer, a stalker, and an AWOL soldier all show up here looking for someone in the past six months.”
Harrison studied the street and placement of cameras for a few seconds, and something that should have been obvious before suddenly occurred to him. “It could be someone with inside knowledge of where the operational cameras are currently pointed. I’ve looked at the footage myself and it’s spotty. There are huge gaps in the coverage that weren’t there before the tornado. Whoever this is knows that they won’t be seen going into the buildings, or waiting close enough to detonate the bombs.”
Cameron chuckled. “Now I know why Storm said he should hire you, Harrison. Yeah, we already had that figured out. But unless Dean puts his entire force on permanent OT to sit out here day and night and watch for this guy, right now we’re at the mercy of Notus.”
“This couldn’t be someone from outside Racy, could it?”
“We’re going on the assumption that it’s someone local, so Chad and Sean are digging into the backgrounds of everyone who works downtown now or once did. It could be someone from outside, but if it is, they know someone from Racy very well. Someone who is telling them where they can and can’t be seen on surveillance right now.”
After Harrison finished his conversation, he crossed the street to join Zach and Gina, but they weren’t where he’d left them. He finally found them around the corner. Gina was sitting on the pavement behind Phil’s Corner Drugstore with her head in her hands. “What happened?”
“She got dizzy and said the smell was bothering her.”
“Harrison, I have to tell you something. I have to tell you both.”
* * * *
Gina told Harrison and Zach what had happened with their neighbor’s house when she was seven, and how she’d had nightmares for years afterwards. “I’ve never really gotten over it. Seeing freshly burned buildings makes me hyperventilate, and the smell…I can’t get the smell out of my head for days.”
Zach took her hand and helped her stand up. “Let’s get out of here then.”
They walked in the alley behind the buildings, which Gina found kind of creepy because it was so deserted. A single streetlight at the opposite end illuminated the way, but it also cast shadows that had her glancing around and jumping at every sound. What if the person who’d set the fire was still lurking around? When they reached the end of the alley, she took a deep breath, glad to be back on the main sidewalk. “You guys get up as early as I do. We should get some rest.”
Zach glanced at his cell phone. “It’s not even eight, and some fresh air might do us all good. Want to walk down by the river?”
“I’m not working tonight,” said Harrison, “so it doesn’t matter when I get up tomorrow.”
“I wish I could call in sick tomorrow,” said Gina.
Zach stopped walking and gave her a thoughtful look. “So why don’t you?”
Gina shrugged. “Too much to do.”
“You have a staff. They’ll deal with it for one day.”
She smiled at him. “And what about you? When was the last time you took off work?”
He scrunched up his face as if he were deep in thought. “Um…nineteen ninety-two, I think. No wait. That can’t be right. I was still in college. Yeah, okay. Never.”
Gina couldn’t help but laugh. They were so much alike in that regard. She’d never taken a sick day, even when she truly should have. “Maybe we’ll both be sick tomorrow.” She let out a couple of fake coughs. “I think this night air is making me ill.”
“Problem is,” said Zach, “we came downtown. About fifty people saw us out here.”
She coughed again. “It came on suddenly.”
“If you two are seriously planning on doing this, we need to get out of sight, not walk along the river,” said Harrison.
“That’s it,” said Zach, steering them toward where he’d parked his car. “We’re going undercover.” He covered Gina’s head with an arm. “Must hide her face. She’s too recognizable.”
Gina giggled as she tried to walk forward with Zach’s arm almost entirely obscuring her vision. He kept calling out obstacles that weren’t actually there, and she assumed it was in an effort to make her laugh even more. Harrison joined in, and soon they were trying to convince Gina that everything from zombies to open manhole covers were in her way. This carefree, teasing side of both men wasn’t something she’d seen before, and she loved it.
Gina hadn’t had much occasion to laugh and joke around while growing up. Her parents were hardworking, stoic people who’d never joked around with their children or indulged them when they just wanted to be silly. And she never cut loose at work. She couldn’t, especially not in front of her staff. It would make her look unprofessional. Most of the men Gina had dated didn’t joke around the way Harrison and Zach did, and she’d never had this much fun with one of them, let alone two.
They’d been walking around for at least ten minutes, and she knew Zach hadn’t parked that far away from City Hall, so she suspected the guys had led her down a maze of streets on purpose.
Zach stopped suddenly but Gina tried to keep moving forward, assuming it was still part of the game. “Wait,” he whispered. Something in the tone of his voice froze her in place. He moved his arm away from her face and she followed his gaze into the alley between Market Street and Ash Lane. Most of the buildings on this end of Market hadn’t been damaged by the tornado, so Gina wondered what had caught Zach’s attention. It wouldn’t be unusual for a business owner along this strip to be outside in the alley, as the Dumpsters and storage sheds for the individual businesses were back here.
She started to ask him what was wrong, but Harrison put a finger to his lips. Gina watched as a figure moved up and down in one of the Dumpsters behind the buildings on Ash Lane, as if he were digging in it. Who would do such a thing? She pictured which stores were along that part of the street. The man digging in the trash was directly behind Racy Auto Detailing.
Harrison motioned to Zach, and then Zach took Gina’s arm and pulled her around a building. Zach stayed with her while Harrison sprinted to the opposite corner of the building, his cell phone out. Was he calling the station? What was the big deal? The guy was only digging in a Dum
pster. She tried to quietly ask Zach what was going on, but he merely shook his head.
When Harrison returned to where they stood, he told them to stay put, and then he went into the alley. Was he out of his mind? Gina tapped the heel of her shoe against the pavement out of nervousness more than annoyance. What had them both so upset?
She heard no sirens, but suddenly several Racy police cars were entering the alley from both sides. Now she couldn’t stay put any longer. She wanted to know what was going on. As she broke free of Zach’s grasp, she turned the corner into the alley and heard shouting. A sound reminiscent of several firecrackers going off at once rang out, and she let out a loud exhale as someone pushed her to the ground from behind.
Gina lifted her head and saw people running but could make out no details of who was chasing whom. Sirens blared and tires screeched as some of the police cruisers spun around to head back toward the road. People were shouting, and she heard something about the roof. When the man on top of her finally climbed off and hauled her to her feet, he spun her around. She’d never seen Zach look so angry.
“Are you completely out of your mind? You could have been shot!”
“Is that what that was?” Gina had never heard gunfire before.
Sean sprinted toward them. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” She glanced into the alley, but the only cruiser in it now was Sean’s.
“Only because I pushed her to the ground,” said Zach, running a hand through his hair. “Gina, when a cop tells you to stay put, that means stay put.”
“Okay. I’m sorry. What the hell is going on? That guy was just digging in the trash. What’s the big deal?”
Zach and Sean exchanged a glance. “Harrison called it in because that Dumpster belongs to Racy Auto Detailing,” said Sean. “We didn’t share this detail with the public yet. One of the items used to make the first bomb was drain cleaner. Les Loveless, who owns the business, recently had a major issue with the plumbing in his store. Before he finally called in an expert, he was pouring large quantities of drain cleaner down the sinks, trying to fix it himself.”
Gina blinked a few times, wishing she could turn back time. She felt very foolish. She hadn’t been thinking clearly, but she should have known better. Harrison wasn’t one to react without a good reason. But how had Zach known?
She glanced up at him. “They didn’t share it with the public, but you knew it, didn’t you? That’s why you reacted that way when we saw the guy digging in the trash.”
Zach and Sean exchanged another quick glance. “Gina, it’s my district. I had to know.”
“Okay. So then, I’m taking it Les has recently fired a disgruntled employee?”
“Something like that.” Sean’s voice left no doubt that the discussion was now closed, at least as far as her involvement in it was concerned.
“I’m sorry. I should have stayed put.” It seemed horribly inadequate, but she didn’t know what else to say.
Sean started to speak again, but his radio went off with the code 10-00. Gina had no time to ask what that was. Sean turned and ran toward his cruiser.
She turned toward Zach. “What does that mean? 10-00?”
“Officer down. It means a police officer has been shot, Gina.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Zach, can’t you call Sean or Chad and find out if he’s all right?”
“No. They’re working, Gina. We’ll be there in a moment and then we’ll know.”
Zach hadn’t meant to sound so blunt. He was still pissed off as he raced toward Riverfront Drive, where the 10-00 had been reported, but not because Gina hadn’t stayed out of the alley. He was upset because she could have been hurt. And now she was crying softly next to him, afraid that Harrison was the officer who’d been shot. He was afraid, too, but he had to stay strong for her.
“What if it’s Harrison?”
Zach didn’t answer. There was nothing to say until they knew what had happened. When he pulled up in front of the Racy Animal Clinic on Riverfront, they were still a considerable distance away from where the officer had been shot, but he couldn’t get any closer because of all the police cruisers in the way. An ambulance came screaming up behind him, and he swore under his breath as he pulled onto the grass so it could get past him.
Gina jumped out of the car before he’d brought it to a complete stop, and by the time he parked it and caught up to her, their worst fears were confirmed. Harrison was lying on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face. His shirt was stained with blood over the left shoulder. Gina was practically hysterical.
Zach sprinted over and put his arms around her, pulling her back so the EMS personnel could load Harrison into the bus. He caught Sean’s eye, and Sean motioned him away from the crowd. Gina didn’t want to go with him until Zach promised her they’d follow Harrison to the hospital in his car.
“How bad is he?” asked Zach.
“Don’t know for sure, but he’s conscious. We had the guy up on the roofs downtown, but then he made a leap across an alley that I swear only fucking Batman could have done. He climbed down a fire escape and then took off down Riverfront. We had him trapped behind the stores along this strip, and that’s when he opened fire again. He shot two other officers as well but Harrison was closer and took the brunt of it.”
“Is he going to die?”
Zach’s heart broke at the sound of Gina’s voice. He’d never heard her sound like that.
“No.” Sean put his hands on her shoulders. “No, Gina, he’s not going to die. He’s too fucking stubborn for that. Now go to the hospital. I’ll be there in a bit.”
When Zach and Gina got to the hospital, they had to wait for Sean to show up before the staff would let him and Gina back to see Harrison. He was going to surgery within the hour, but he was still conscious enough to acknowledge Zach and Gina. Gina was crying pretty hard, and she was trying to tell Harrison she was sorry, but he kept waving his hand at her.
Finally, Zach took her aside and told her that Harrison wasn’t upset with her. He also reminded her that nothing she’d done tonight had contributed to him getting shot. Those words finally seemed to break through her fog.
“You’re right. You’re right. Okay. He’ll be all right, right?”
“Yes, Gina.”
“And this would have happened anyway. Even if I hadn’t gone into the alley, right?”
“Yes. It would have happened regardless of anything we did.”
She glanced around. “Can we find a doctor? I want to know how badly he’s hurt.”
“They won’t know that until they get in there and take a look around.”
A panic-stricken look came over her face. “Oh my God. Olivia. She doesn’t know yet.” Gina took out her cell phone, and Zach led her to a quiet corner so she could make the call.
As he listened to her talk to Olivia, Zach was struck by the logic in her voice, despite her own fear. She spoke in a calm, soothing tone to her friend, whom Zach heard crying on the other end of the phone. When it was clear that Olivia was on her way to the hospital, Zach took Gina to the surgical waiting room because Harrison was already in pre-op.
“Would you like some coffee? It’s going to be a long night for us.”
“Yes. Zach…” She placed a hand on his arm, and he was worried because her skin was so cold. “Thank you, for everything. For not being super pissed off at me, which you have every right to be, and for letting me call Olivia, and for…just for being so wonderful right now. So supportive. It means the world to me.”
Something shifted in his soul as he stared into Gina’s pretty eyes. Even red and puffy from crying, they were beautiful. The gold flecks deep in them seemed to be more obvious than usual in the soft lighting. There were a few other people in the room talking, but their conversation melted into the background like traffic noises you pay no attention to after a while. There was only Gina, her eyes, and her vulnerability.
He was so unaccustomed to seeing her like this. It
made him want to hold her and shield her from anything and everything that could hurt her or make her afraid. He recalled her sitting in a different alley earlier, just before she’d told them why she hated burned-out buildings so much. Before tonight, he’d have bet a month’s pay that nothing would faze Gina Santori. He’d imagined her totally fearless.
While he hated seeing her so upset, it was nice to know there was a part of her that he could comfort. She needed him, as much as he needed her. “Gina, I’d do anything for you.” He meant it. He knew it was true. He’d never said anything like to that to any woman, but now the words slipped out as easily as if he’d just asked her what time it was.
He pulled her close and held her, oblivious to everything and everyone around them. He inhaled her sweet scent and stroked her hair. When he finally released her, he told her he’d be right back. As he walked into the bright hallway and turned toward the coffee shop off the lobby, he knew he was in deep with Gina—deeper than he’d ever been with any sub. And he didn’t care this time. He wanted to be there. He wanted to lose his heart to her.
* * * *
Gina curled her legs underneath her body and hugged herself. She was so cold. Why hadn’t they gone straight back to Zach’s car? If she hadn’t been such a whiny baby about the fire, they never would have ended up in that alley to begin with, and then Harrison and Zach wouldn’t have tried to make her laugh. They wouldn’t have taken such a circuitous route back to his car, and then Harrison wouldn’t have been shot.
And they wouldn’t have seen the man digging in the Dumpster. But so what? The cops still hadn’t caught him. So what good had all this actually done? She glanced around, knowing every cop in Racy was out looking for this guy but wishing one of them were here so she could find out if they had any more clues to his identity than they had an hour ago. At least then she’d know that this had afforded them a positive outcome.