Page 7 of Lion’s Legacy of Flame (Company 417 Shifters #52)

Chapter Seven

Brady

I look at the text and put the phone back in my pocket. “You know,” I say, and I suppose I’m definitely in a gray area here, “A good buddy of mine is a fire inspector. Name’s Clyde Anderson.”

“You got a point to make?” Steele asks. I want to punch the man so badly it hurts.

“A fire inspector can make construction difficult, you know. A good one identifies potential fire hazards in a building design that you might never even see. A good one might come up with problems that will require significant modifications, additional safety features, extensive documentation, evidence of compliance… More.”

“I always build to code, and I don’t…” His phone rings. He frowns and answers. I see the anger building in his eyes. My guess is Clyde has already shut something down. “What the hell is this?” he asks when he hangs up.

“Clyde is always delaying construction progress with re-inspections and stop-work orders. I guess it’s a common thing for a fire inspector.” Clyde isn’t breaking any rules right now. He’s just interpreting fire safety codes very strictly. Forest for the trees sort of stuff.

“What the hell do you want?” he asks.

“Sometime, the fire inspector might require extra smoke detectors, sprinklers, fire alarms. They might even make you add doors and emergency exits, right?”

“Damn it, what do you want?”

“Inspectors can request detailed plans, calculations, and certifications for fire-related systems…”

“Okay, you made your point! What do you?—”

“Follow-up inspections, specialized engineering calculations, materials inspections. I mean, can you imagine if every delivery of lumber had to be sampled and sent to a lab?”

The man roars and leaps to his feet. He steps toward me and says, “I’ve had enough!”

“Think very, very carefully about your next move,” I say, “because I’ve been fighting with myself to resist putting you in the hospital. You don’t want me to have an excuse to do what I very much want to do.”

He stops short and finally says, “Okay, what do you want?”

“You’re going to donate eighty-four thousand dollars to Mealtime.”

He scowls and then pretends to be confused. “Mealtime? What is that?”

“So, you’re going to donate one hundred thousand dollars there. That’s the estimated repairs to the building plus some capital. She has fire insurance but you’re donating the money anyway. Your downtown project isn’t going to happen. Every inspector will ensure that every single damned thing you do is done ten times, twenty times. You’ll have more failed inspections than you can even imagine.”

“This is blackmail!”

“Extortion. It would be blackmail if I threatened to tell the world about how you set a beloved charity’s building on fire if you don’t pay me. The building you already bought there, the charity will be happy to buy that. I mean the property right next to Mealtime’s. Mealtime will buy it for twenty-thousand dollars. If you like, you can just reconcile that ahead of time and cut your check for eighty thousand.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the man who’s likely to kill you, Mr. Steele,” I say. “If you ever threaten the life or livelihood of anyone associated with Mealtime ever again. I don’t mean that metaphorically. I will quite literally kill you.” I say these things in a pleasant voice. I hope that makes them a little bit shocking. I hope that makes the words terrifying.

“Get the hell out of my office. You know how many cops I own? How many politicians?”

“Have a nice day, Mr. Steele,” I say as I stand. Then, I say, “It’s amazing how little it helps to own a cop when you’re alone with a man who will tear your throat out until there’s nothing but a jagged, gaping hole there, and you’ll drown on your blood. The good news is you won’t overcome the shock fast enough to know what’s going on before you die.” I nod and walk to his door.

I’m not afraid of any politicians. You’d have to own the governor to be able to do anything to anyone in Company 417. We know where the shifter bodies are buried, so to speak. As for any corrupt cops, they’re just not a consideration for a firefighter. There’s already a cop/fireman rivalry, so even the slightest hassle will bring too much scrutiny. Oddly, firefighters are almost more untouchable than anyone else.

The whole point of this visit is to scare the man into giving up his harassment of Claire. It isn’t going to work. Something like this never does. The man has far too high an opinion of himself. He thinks he’s untouchable and, more than that, he needs to believe that he is. He needs to think nobody can get between him and whatever he wants. A man like him will never stop.

I still must give him a chance.

Of course, it’s also fair to say that part of that whole exchange was to get him to try something. I can’t pretend I didn’t want to… What do they say online? Oh yeah. I got it. I can’t pretend I don’t want to provoke him so he fucks around and finds out. I very much want him to find out. Oh, not in the beginning, but the fact that he reacted to my statements not with denial but with an attitude that he could do whatever he wants to do confirms everything Claire suspects.

I walk out and play a little game with myself about how long it will take the man to call someone to take care of the situation. To take care of me. It doesn’t matter. I’ve got several days off and I’ll be shadowing Claire so I’ll have no trouble protecting her. Some of my Company 417 brothers will take up the slack while I’m working my shift. Realistically, she’ll only be left alone if a fire breaks out that’s so large nobody gets a day off.

That happens a hell of a lot in movies but not a whole lot in real life, especially not in the spring when the grass is damp, there’s plenty of rain, and the temperature is moderate. I head to the station and check in. There’s no reason to at all. It’s just to let Garrett know about the situation. He says to enjoy my time off and let me know if I need more. He doesn’t tell me he’s got my back. He doesn’t have to.

All of the firefighters at Company 417 have my back.

Before shifters announced themselves to the world, some petty rivalries might have made some unreliable. These days most shifters have most shifters’ backs. But when you add to that the brotherhood that firefighters share, there’s no most involved. Every one of the firefighters at Company 417 will lay their lives down for me, and I’ll do the same for them.

I see a few of the others as I make my way back to my car. I wasn’t worried before coming here but now, the idea of worry seems pretty damned silly. I leave the firehouse feeling good, and I head to Claire’s place hoping we’ll have time for a little bit of fun before she has to get to her charity.

No luck.

She’s already gone. The door is open like she said it would be but she’s left. There’s a note telling me where she is complete with a heart at the bottom. Yeah, it’s a silly thing for me to feel so good about that heart but I do. I can’t help myself. She doesn’t know I intend to show up at Mealtime. I’m looking forward to surprising her.