Page 10

TEN

B ryce made a check mark on the clipboard. Nothing like the monotony of inventory checks to help shake Penny from his mind. He needed to be able to work this task force without her tying him up in knots.

Only, monotony wasn’t working all that well.

He could still feel the way her body had tensed when Mom had asked about her mother. Her father. Both were gone. She didn’t even seem that close to her sisters. Why hadn’t he noticed that before?

Back then he’d been all about the good times he and Penny enjoyed. How had he never noticed that hint of sadness, how uncomfortable she was talking about her past and her family?

John had said something in their discipleship group a while back.

As a new believer, you might notice things you never noticed before. Care about things you didn’t think mattered before. That’s God changing you from the inside.

Was that what this was?

Logan’s ringtone sounded from the phone in his pocket.

“Hey, little brother. How’s Montana?” Bryce asked.

“Awesome. When are you going to come out here and see for yourself? Not to mention stop holding it over my head that you were born, like, seven minutes before me?”

“Someone has to be the oldest. Apparently that means someone also has to stick around and watch over Mom and Dad.”

“Mom and Dad are fine. Sure it’s not because Penny Mitchell showed up in town?”

“How did you know she was back?” It had been two days since their family dinner. And yeah, his life was hardly recognizable from last week, what with the near-death experiences and all the shake-up Penny had brought with her, but that wasn’t why he was sticking closer to home lately. Logan was gone. Andi married. Who was left to protect his family?

“Dude. I moved away. It’s not like I don’t talk to anyone anymore.”

“Andi told you.” Pesky little sisters.

“The important thing is, what are you doing about your lady love being back?” Logan’s taunting tone didn’t improve Bryce’s mood.

“Not doing anything but my job. It doesn’t matter to me at all that she’s here.” He set the air tank he’d been checking back on the shelf.

“We shared a womb. I think I know you well enough to know when you’re lying. Maybe even to yourself.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He reached for another tank.

“Nice try. She messed you up.”

Logan would know. He’d been there in the aftermath. Trying to keep Bryce in line when he went on a wild spree doing things he shouldn’t do to forget her. Driving him home when he was too drunk to drive. Helping him find the truth and the light when everything went so very dark.

He let the weight of the tank fall and set it on the floor. “Look, I thought we had a good thing going.” Really good. He’d been picturing them together, considering something long-term. Permanent even. “And then she left. End of story.”

“You let her go. Without a fight.”

“Do you know how many times I tried to call or text her? She blocked me. I never heard from her again. After a month of that, I got the hint. She’d moved on. And I did too.” He checked the air pressure, wrote it down.

“Funny. I remember it differently. But you know, I’m not sure that you would’ve come to faith if she hadn’t left. Maybe there was a reason for all of this.”

“Then why is she back now? Is this supposed to be some kind of test? See if I’ve really changed?”

“I don’t think God works like that. Why did she say she’s back?”

The air tank clanked as he set it back on the shelf. “She’s working a case. Staying with her sister who moved out here.”

“Think you’ll give it another go?”

“No way. I mean, she’s great. But obviously whatever we had is long gone. But I do have to work with her. We were both recruited for this task force. Trying to figure out why we have a string of explosions and why some girl Penny is chasing down brought a bag of Glock clips to Last Chance.”

“So you have to investigate with her?”

“Yup.”

“And how’s that going?”

Bryce leaned against the truck. “I don’t know. I’m trying to play it cool. And she did apologize for leaving without a word. I even explained about Ashlee.”

“What did she say?”

“Not much. She said she believed me.”

“So maybe this is all about you getting some closure. And you can move on.”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Closure. Moving on. Bryce didn’t like the sound of those words at all. But they made sense. Did that mean he was destined to spend the rest of his life with someone like Sarai? Someone bland and boring? And…wait. He needed to tell Logan.

“Speaking of old flames, you should hear about Jamie Winters.”

“What about her?” Logan’s voice was strained.

Bryce could practically see the hackles rising on his twin.

If Logan wanted to talk about broken hearts and past relationships, Bryce at least had a little ammunition of his own. “You sure you wanna know? You two are ancient history, right?”

“Spill it. Now.” Bryce pictured Logan, hands probably fisted, mouth tight, brown eyes drawn.

“Touchy, touchy. Relax. It’s not even that big of a deal. I ran into her the other night. She told me she’s leaving Last Chance. I thought you’d wanna know.”

“For good?”

“Sounds like she’s heading for Alaska. Trying to find some long-lost brother or something.” Bryce sat on the back bumper of the rescue truck.

“Wait. What? Alaska?”

“Yeah, Land of the Midnight Sun and all that. I think she mentioned Copper Mountain area. Guess someone saw her brother up there and she’s gonna go find him.”

The silence on Logan’s end was very telling. They may be twin brothers, but they didn’t share everything. Jamie had been one of those unspoken things. Penny too. It was only fair that if Bryce was going to have to bare his wounds for others to poke, Logan did too.

“Well…good for her.” He sniffed. “Not that it means anything to me.”

Right. Like he believed a word of that. But he would let Logan hold on to his pride. “So, you gonna get out here for the big Memorial Day bash?”

“I wish. But I don’t have the time off.”

“That’s too bad. Not sure why, but I get the feeling Mom misses ya.”

“Just Mom, huh?”

“She’s the only one. Me? I’m just glad to have the apartment to myself.” Sometimes.

Because he did kinda miss having a built-in buddy to spot him on the weight bench or to share a sausage-and-olive pizza with. Missed co-coaching the Backdraft Bar & Grill community baseball team of third and fourth graders together. “Although, I could clear off the couch for you when you need a place to crash.”

“Miss you too.” Logan chuckled.

Izan Collins walked in.

“I gotta go,” Bryce said into the phone.

“Yeah, get back to work, slacker. Talk to you soon.”

“Later, bro.” Bryce pocketed his cell and nodded a greeting to Izan. “What’s up? Are you just getting in?”

“Yeah, I called the chief. I had a break-in at my place and had to wait for the cops.”

Bryce stood, looked Izan over. “You okay?”

“I’m good. It just took a while.”

“Did Officer Olivia Tazwell come to your rescue?” Bryce wagged his eyebrows.

“Shut up.” Izan grabbed the clipboard out of Bryce’s hand.

“What was stolen?”

“Nothing.” Izan shrugged. “They made a mess of the place, but I couldn’t find anything missing.”

“Weird. Someone trying to send you a message or something?”

“Dunno, but are you ready for the school?”

“You’re coming with me?”

“Yup.”

“Sweet. Let’s go.”

They packed their gear and soon parked the rescue truck in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School. A woman in a pencil skirt and blazer met them on the curb. “Thanks for coming today. I’m Principal Haywood. We have a lot of excited kids.”

“I’m Bryce Crawford. This is Izan Collins. We’re excited too.”

He might not admit it to the other guys, but this was one of his favorite parts of the job. He loved seeing the awe in the kids’ faces when they took in the shiny red truck, tried picking up the hoses, and their laughter when he told them a funny story. He and Izan grabbed a few of their tools and one set of turnout gear and followed the principal into the school and down a wide hallway into a media center.

Principal Haywood clapped her hands, settling the chatter in the room instantly. “All right, third graders. Let’s be kind and respectful to our guests today. I expect you to be on your best behavior.”

“Yes, Mrs. Haywood,” they said in unison.

She turned to Bryce. “They’re all yours.”

“Hi, Coach!” a little voice called from the middle of the group of kids sitting on the floor.

Bryce scanned the crowd. A tow-headed boy gave him a gap-toothed grin and waved. “Harry! Nice to see you, buddy. These are your friends?”

The boy nodded. “And Ty and Hayden are here too. But Charlotte is sick today. So she prob’ly won’t be at practice tonight.”

“Good to know.” Bryce winked at his toss ball player. “So.” He rubbed his hands together. “You guys are in third grade?”

Most of the kids nodded.

“Wow, third grade. Do you remember third grade, Izan?”

“Sure I do. Best four years of my life.”

The kids laughed.

“I remember in third grade I got to start staying home alone for a little bit. But we had to prove to my parents that we could be safe.” Bryce gave his usual safety spiel, reminding kids to stay away from fireworks, incendiary devices, and chemicals. Izan showed the kids the turnout gear, mask, and air tank. They asked for a volunteer. Harry waved his hand so hard he almost pulled his arm out of its socket.

Bryce chuckled. “Okay, Harry. Come on up.”

They dressed Harry in the coat and gloves, then plopped the helmet on his head.

The kids giggled to see the yellow sleeves on Harry hanging down to the floor and the helmet go sideways.

Bryce picked up the air tank. “Ready for this?” he asked. “It’s only twenty-eight more pounds.”

“What?” Some of the kids’ jaws dropped.

Bryce set the tank on the ground. “Go ahead and put it on, Harry.”

Harry picked it up and lifted it a few inches off the ground. “Ugh. This is soooo heavy!”

“I wanna try!” One of the other boys jumped up.

“First, we’re going to go see the fire truck outside. I’ll have the tank out there, and you can take turns picking it up?—”

Emergency tones for the fire department sounded from Bryce’s and Izan’s phones. The kids covered their ears at the piercing sound. Bryce froze, listening for his crew’s tones. He wasn’t technically on duty, and they’d brought the extra truck used only on occasion.

“Fire department, please respond to a confirmed fire at—” Nope. Just the fire crew. Bryce turned down the volume of his radio. The dispatcher called out an address on Broadway. Sounded like a restaurant.

“Do you have to go?” one of the girls in front asked. “Is there a fire?”

“There is, but—” Bryce’s phone buzzed. He ignored it and faced the kids for his last message, probably one of the most important things for them to hear. “Remember, Izan and I are firefighters, but you can be safety experts too. If you see anything dangerous or unsafe, or anyone who needs help, make sure you tell an adult who you trust.”

The phone buzzed again. Bryce leaned over to Izan and whispered, “I better take this call. You got this?”

He nodded and Bryce left the room. He pulled out the phone.

Allen Frees? What did the fire department community liaison want? “Hey, you should get down here.”

“Are you at the restaurant fire they just paged out?” Bryce asked.

“Yeah. One casualty. They cleared out the rest of the strip mall.”

“So why do you need me?”

“It’s a known hangout for the Honduran gang, the one that came up in the task force meeting.”

Oh. “So they think this has to do with our case?”

“I’ll fill you in when you get here. Bring Collins with you.”

Izan and Bryce quickly said goodbye to the kids and threw everything back on the truck before they headed to the scene of the fire.

It was a busy area of town, the strip housing a variety of stores. The other crews were still fighting the fire when they arrived, multiple trucks and hoses clogging the parking lot. The front display windows of the restaurant were busted, the glass door covered in black soot and ash. Thankfully, the restaurant was on the end, but the small nutrition store right next to it had probably suffered damage.

Bryce walked up to Allen Frees. “What do we know? More explosions?”

“Kind of. Molotov cocktails through the front window started the fire. There was also a hail of gunfire according to witnesses. A black Camaro in a drive-by shooting.”

“That’s the same car that tried to take out Penny and me the other day. Anyone hit?”

“The restaurant hadn’t opened yet, so only the cook and some employees were in the building. But one of the hostesses was setting tables and died on the scene.”

“So now we have a casualty.” Izan frowned.

“Not only that, but the way the witnesses described the gunfire made it sound like automatic weapons. Look at the brass in the parking lot.”

Empty casings scattered on the ground glinted in the sun.

“You thinking they had those Glock clips like Penny talked about?” Bryce asked.

“These are nine millimeter casings. It’s a reasonable explanation.”

Bryce tensed. “You think this is a gang war now?”

“Not sure, but we better get Penny and the others down here.”

So much for trying to keep her off his mind.