about to crack
wide open. What’s the harm in a fling? So he used you. Use him back. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Olivia sat up and swiped at her neck with a towel.
I become like you
, she thought,
with so many boyfriends I need a spreadsheet to keep track of them all
. But of course she said nothing of the kind. Paige was her oldest friend. “I’ll think about it,” was what she said instead.
“Let’s stretch. I have to catch a little sleep before morning meeting.”
Monday, September 20, 7:10 a.m.
“Whoa.” Jeff Zoellner stood on the condo’s first floor, staring up through the room-sized hole that went all the way up to
the fourth floor. “You woulda felt that for sure.”
Grimly, David followed his gaze up, then looked down into the basement. The first floor had also been burned through. “Yeah.
I guess I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.” Jeff starting walking again, tapping the handle of his ax on the floor as he sounded
for weak spots. David did the same with the end of his Halligan, and together they moved toward the back of the condo. Each
of the six floors had six units, but the units on this side of the building had sustained the worst damage. “I thinkwe’re solid from here on out,” Jeff said. “We can let Barlow in now.”
Micah waited in the doorway. He wore a hard hat and boots, but was otherwise dressed like a detective. The end of his yellow
tie poked up from the pocket of his suit. He held a video camera in one hand and a light bar in the other, and had worked
alongside them diligently but intelligently, treading in areas they’d declared safe.
And he hadn’t said another word about Olivia and for that David was grateful. There were too many dangers here to be thinking
about anything else but the job.
Which is what David had told himself every time he caught himself thinking about her, wondering why Micah Barlow felt she
was his business, wondering if the two of them had history, not wanting that picture in his head. David grimaced. Except now
that he’d thought it, the picture existed, if only in his imagination. Taunting him.
If Micah and Olivia had a past, at least they had no present. David had kept a close enough eye on her that he’d have known.
But if she did have someone?
I’ll walk away.
And if she doesn’t have anyone but just doesn’t want you?
Given the facts, that was the more likely outcome.
I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
“Where can I step?” Micah called from the doorway.
“Floor’s solid where you’re standing,” David said, forcing himself to focus yet again, “but it gets spongy about two feet
from the edge of the hole.”
Micah looked up, then down, just as David had. “Goddamn. You’re a lucky bastard.”
“Yeah, I got that part,” David said. “Over here waswhat we wanted you to see. They poured the carpet padding glue along this line.” David pointed to the pour patterns zigzagging
from the front door of the unit to the hole, continuing through to the back bedrooms. “It’s the same pour pattern we found
on the second floor. I think they poured a line from the door and from the back of the unit, meeting here.”
“Makes sense,” Micah said, filming. “They probably dumped what was left in the cans where the floor failed. Fire would have
been hotter there. The manager said rolls of carpet were stored here, same place on each floor. Waterlogged, that would have
been enough weight to crash through the second and third floors. When the first floor collapsed, all three carpet rolls fell
into the basement.”
For a minute David thought Micah would venture to the edge of the hole to get video straight down, but he stopped while still
in the safe zone. From the corner of his eye, David could see Jeff’s mouth snap shut, discarding the warning he’d been about
to bark. It hadn’t taken more than a few runs with Jeff to know cops made him real
wide open. What’s the harm in a fling? So he used you. Use him back. What’s the worst that can happen?”
Olivia sat up and swiped at her neck with a towel.
I become like you
, she thought,
with so many boyfriends I need a spreadsheet to keep track of them all
. But of course she said nothing of the kind. Paige was her oldest friend. “I’ll think about it,” was what she said instead.
“Let’s stretch. I have to catch a little sleep before morning meeting.”
Monday, September 20, 7:10 a.m.
“Whoa.” Jeff Zoellner stood on the condo’s first floor, staring up through the room-sized hole that went all the way up to
the fourth floor. “You woulda felt that for sure.”
Grimly, David followed his gaze up, then looked down into the basement. The first floor had also been burned through. “Yeah.
I guess I owe you one.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll think of something.” Jeff starting walking again, tapping the handle of his ax on the floor as he sounded
for weak spots. David did the same with the end of his Halligan, and together they moved toward the back of the condo. Each
of the six floors had six units, but the units on this side of the building had sustained the worst damage. “I thinkwe’re solid from here on out,” Jeff said. “We can let Barlow in now.”
Micah waited in the doorway. He wore a hard hat and boots, but was otherwise dressed like a detective. The end of his yellow
tie poked up from the pocket of his suit. He held a video camera in one hand and a light bar in the other, and had worked
alongside them diligently but intelligently, treading in areas they’d declared safe.
And he hadn’t said another word about Olivia and for that David was grateful. There were too many dangers here to be thinking
about anything else but the job.
Which is what David had told himself every time he caught himself thinking about her, wondering why Micah Barlow felt she
was his business, wondering if the two of them had history, not wanting that picture in his head. David grimaced. Except now
that he’d thought it, the picture existed, if only in his imagination. Taunting him.
If Micah and Olivia had a past, at least they had no present. David had kept a close enough eye on her that he’d have known.
But if she did have someone?
I’ll walk away.
And if she doesn’t have anyone but just doesn’t want you?
Given the facts, that was the more likely outcome.
I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.
“Where can I step?” Micah called from the doorway.
“Floor’s solid where you’re standing,” David said, forcing himself to focus yet again, “but it gets spongy about two feet
from the edge of the hole.”
Micah looked up, then down, just as David had. “Goddamn. You’re a lucky bastard.”
“Yeah, I got that part,” David said. “Over here waswhat we wanted you to see. They poured the carpet padding glue along this line.” David pointed to the pour patterns zigzagging
from the front door of the unit to the hole, continuing through to the back bedrooms. “It’s the same pour pattern we found
on the second floor. I think they poured a line from the door and from the back of the unit, meeting here.”
“Makes sense,” Micah said, filming. “They probably dumped what was left in the cans where the floor failed. Fire would have
been hotter there. The manager said rolls of carpet were stored here, same place on each floor. Waterlogged, that would have
been enough weight to crash through the second and third floors. When the first floor collapsed, all three carpet rolls fell
into the basement.”
For a minute David thought Micah would venture to the edge of the hole to get video straight down, but he stopped while still
in the safe zone. From the corner of his eye, David could see Jeff’s mouth snap shut, discarding the warning he’d been about
to bark. It hadn’t taken more than a few runs with Jeff to know cops made him real
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