Against the Fire (13 page)

“I was talking to Becky. She mentioned you might have a problem with the schedule.”

Beneath the brim of his hard hat, Hank glanced down as if he were embarrassed. “I was out of line. My wife was getting a lot of crap from one of her coworkers at the office and I let it get to me.”

“What was the problem?”

“Seems like her being black and being this guy’s boss didn’t sit well. I was tired. I let her troubles become mine. Becky set me straight.”

“So you got no problems with me or the job?”

Hank shook his head. “Like I said, I was mostly just tired. I drew a couple of extra shifts and missed my kid’s dance recital. My daughter was disappointed and I felt guilty. It had nothing to do with you or the job.”

Gabe nodded. “All right. I’ll let you get back to work.”

Hank climbed back in the cab and prepared to crank the big diesel engine.

“Listen, I know this isn’t what you signed on for,” Gabe said, once more drawing his attention. “We’re supposed to be in the building business, not demolition.”

“I’m real sorry about the fires,” Hank said. “Police got any idea who did it?”

“Not yet.” Gabe glanced toward what was left of what was supposed to be McKinney Court. Four stories of smoke-blackened walls and broken windows, twisted metal beams and piles of water-soaked rubble inside. “Keep your eyes open, will you, Hank? If you notice anything out of the ordinary, let me know.”

“You bet I will.”

Gabe let the crane operator go back to work and headed for the Towers. Benny Jervis, the second man Becky had mentioned, worked on the crew as a general laborer. A rat-like little man with a grating personality, Benny was mostly an outsider with the men. But he was a very hard worker and that won him the crew’s grudging respect.

“Hey! Benny!” Gabe waved toward the small man with the dark brown hair and thin, pointed nose. He was busy with a shovel, scraping mud off the walks and digging it away from the side of the building. Benny stopped working, set the shovel aside and began walking toward Gabe.

“Starting to look a lot better,” Gabe said as Benny reached him.

“It’s a helluva lot harder cleaning up a mess like this than it was to build it in the first place.”

“I’m sure it is.” Gabe watched the men working to finish clearing the last of the burned debris out of the Towers. “But it looks like you’re making good progress.”

“Real good. Sam says we should be able to start rebuilding by the end of next week.”

“Listen, Benny, I was talking to Becky and she mentioned you seemed a little unhappy with the money you’re making.”

Benny shrugged his thin shoulders. He was short and wiry, but for a small man, he was strong. “I work hard. I know a couple of the guys on the crew are doing the same job I am and making more money.”

Gabe studied him closely. “They were hired after you signed on. Market price goes up. Sometimes that happens.”

Benny glanced away.

“I can see where that might piss you off. What I’m wondering is just how upset you really are?”

Benny frowned. “I don’t get your meaning.”

“Pissed enough to set a couple of fires?”

Benny’s narrow face went pale. His small eyes bulged with shock. “You think I set this place on fire just to get a raise?”

Gabe couldn’t misread Benny’s horrified expression. “To tell you the truth, no I don’t. But I have to check out every possibility.”

The little man sagged with relief. “I didn’t do it, boss. If I did, I’d just have to clean it up.”

Gabe felt the pull of a smile. “Good point. Matter of fact, that’s the second good point you’ve made. You’re a hard worker, Benny. You deserve to make as much as anyone else. I’ll talk to Becky. See what we can do about a pay increase.”

Benny Jervis beamed. “Thanks, boss.”

“And keep an eye out around here, will you? If you see anyone or anything that looks suspicious, give me a call.”

“I’ll keep watch,” Benny said. “I see anything, I’ll call.” Heading back to work, he walked over and grabbed his shovel, started digging into the piles of mud.

Mentally, Gabe crossed off two of the names on his list. Which wasn’t saying much, since he’d never actually believed the men in his crew had anything to do with the fires.

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Sam walking toward him.

“Hey, what’s up?” Sam asked.

“Not much. Daily called. McKinney Court was definitely arson.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“Yeah.”

“They have any idea who might have done it?”

“Not so far. I gave them a list of names—anyone I might have pissed off over the years. I sent the same list to Dev. He’s checking it out.”

“Your brother’s a pro. If anyone can come up with something, he can.”

“That’s what I’m hoping.”

Sam lifted his hard hat and blotted his forehead with the sleeve of his light blue work shirt. “Seen any more of Mattie?”

Gabe shook his head. “Not since she left me in the parking lot of the Zigman Gallery last Saturday night. How about you?”

“Tracy never called. I guess she wasn’t interested in anything more than what I could do for her in bed.”

Gabe thought of the night he’d spent in bed with Mattie. “That’s a problem I wouldn’t mind having.”

“It’s different with Tracy.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

Sam looked back at the building. “I’m happy with the progress. I’ve started ordering what we need to get started again.”

“Let’s get some security cameras up and working. And I’ll get a couple of guards posted. We don’t want that SOB getting back inside and lighting the place up again.”

“That’s for sure.”

The men parted company and Gabe headed off to check on his other projects.

In the back of his mind, he thought of calling Mattie, but in the end, he didn’t.

Wednesday arrived. Though Tracy did her best to persuade Mattie, she refused to go to Club Rio that night. There was a chance she would run into Gabe and if she did, she was afraid she would wind up in bed with him.

Thursday, Mattie jogged for an hour, then showered and dressed and went into the office. Earlier in the week, at the company reception celebrating her AIA award, she had received congratulations from everyone in the office.

Everyone except Mel Freeman.

She spotted him walking toward her as she was leaving the employee lounge and wished she could turn and go the opposite direction.

“I suppose I should extend my congratulations,” Mel said with what was supposed to pass for a smile.

“Not if you don’t mean it.” She tried to walk past him, but Mel stepped in her way.

“I worked on that gallery design for two months before you got involved.”

“Yes, you did. But the client didn’t like the design you presented. He wanted something different and that’s why Mr. Dewalt turned the assignment over to me.”

“You used a lot of the work I did. I deserved to be included in that award.”

“I used very little of what you did. And including you was not the way the committee saw it. Now if you’ll excuse me…” She started past him, felt the tension in his body as she brushed against his shoulder.

“Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you get preferential treatment.”

Mattie gritted her teeth. “I don’t get preferential treatment. I do my job and because I’m good at it, I get rewarded. I’m sorry if you can’t accept that.” Ignoring the dark look on his face, she walked away.

When she reached her office, she closed the door behind her and for a moment she leaned against it. This thing with Mel was getting out of hand. But the fact remained, he was nothing more than a jealous coworker. It happened to people all the time. And she really didn’t give a rip what Mel Freeman thought.

Forcing herself to relax and concentrate on what she needed to get done that day, Mattie headed for her desk. She was pulling out her black leather chair when a light knock sounded and Aaron opened the door.

Dressed in khaki slacks and a short-sleeved shirt, he wheeled himself into her office. “Hey, Mattie.”

“Hey, Aaron.”

He smiled. “If you’ve got a minute, I’d like your opinion on an idea I’ve got.” He wheeled himself over to the design table and spread out a set of plans.

“This is the school we’ve been working on. What do you think about moving this wall—” he tapped the plans “—out a couple of feet? The kitchen in the cafeteria could have fourteen more feet of additional counter space with cabinets above and below. It’s a small change at this point, but a major benefit to the school.”

Mattie checked the engineering. The addition would not change the structural requirements. “This is a great idea, Aaron.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

Mattie studied the drawing a little longer, then rolled it up and gave it back to him. “Put in the change. We’ll have to get an approval, but I’m sure the client is really going to like it.”

As Mattie started back to her desk, Aaron checked his watch. “It’s twelve-fifteen. You want to grab some lunch?”

Mattie looked at the gold wristwatch she had bought herself as a reward for her promotion. “I think I’ll pass. I’ve got a couple of things I need to do.”

Aaron shoved his glasses up on his nose. “Okay, then, maybe I’ll see you later.”

Mattie just nodded and returned to her desk. As Aaron rolled out the door, she caught a glimpse of Emily walking toward him. Looping a strand of dark hair behind her ear, she bent down and said something that made him smile. Aaron flicked a last glance toward Mattie’s office and left with Emily.

Mattie hoped they were going to lunch. It would be nice to see the two of them together. But so far Aaron hadn’t shown the slightest interest in the pretty brunette. Mattie wondered if it would do any good to talk to him.

Reminding herself it was really none of her business, she seated herself behind her desk, reached over and picked up a file and heard the intercom buzz.

The receptionist’s voice floated across the desk. “A woman named Rosa Ramirez is on the phone,” Shirley said. “She sounds really upset.”

“Put her through.” Worry kicked up her heart rate. Angel’s mother had never called the office. “What is it, Rosa?”

“It’s Angel, Mattie. Someone beat him up. He is in the hospital. It’s bad, Mattie.” She started crying. “They cannot wake him up.”

Mattie’s heart clenched. “Where is he?”

“He is at Baylor.”

“I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone with a shaky hand, grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. Her stomach was squeezing. Angel was hurt. From what Rosa said, it sounded serious.

Mattie hurried out of her office, pausing only a moment to tell Shirley where she was going and how to handle her calls.

Silently, she prayed that the boy she’d grown so fond of was going to be all right.

Thirteen

The humid heat of September spread over the city. The sky was streaked with thin, pale clouds and the air felt dense and heavy. Perspiration settled between Gabe’s shoulder blades as he crossed the sidewalk to the glass doors leading into the lobby of Baylor Hospital.

An hour ago, he had gotten a call from Captain Daily.

“I have some news you might be interested in,” Daily had said. “Since you spoke to the police on behalf of the Ramirez boy, I thought you might want to know he’s in Intensive Care over at Baylor Hospital. Looks like he was assaulted. Someone found him unconscious in an alley and called the police.”

Gabe felt a squeezing in his chest. He thought of the boy who was doing his best to climb out of the ghetto he had been born into. He thought of Mattie and knew how upset she must be. “Any idea what happened?”

“Police don’t know. So far, he hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“I appreciate the call, Captain.” Gabe hung up and immediately left for the hospital. As far as he could tell and from what Mattie had said, Angel was a really good kid. No gang involvement. Liked by his peers. He couldn’t imagine why anyone would want to hurt him.

Gabe reached the heavy glass doors to the hospital and pulled them open, felt the shock of cold as he stepped into the air-conditioned lobby. He crossed to the information desk.

“I’m looking for a patient. His name is Angel Ramirez.”

An older, gray-haired woman sat behind the counter. She typed the name into her computer.

“You’ll find him in Intensive Care. Unless you’re immediate family you can’t go in, but there’s a waiting room down the hall. Just go through those doors, follow the arrows to the elevator and get off on the third floor.”

“Thanks.”

Gabe stepped away from the counter and made his way down the hall, passing patients in wheelchairs and a group of nurses in scrubs. The smell of antiseptic hit him with an acrid punch, making his mind spin.

Memories struck. The night when he was ten years old and his mother overdosed on pain pills and wound up in the Wind Canyon Hospital. He remembered how scared he and Dev had been when they went to see her and how Jackson had promised she was going to be all right.

Usually, antiseptic reminded him of his visits to fellow marines he had gone to see in the hospital after their return from Afghanistan. He was out of the service by then but he’d made some damn good friends in the corps. Some of them he’d stayed in touch with over the years, and a couple of guys lived right here in Dallas.

Exhaling a slow, deep breath, Gabe shook off the unpleasant memories, got onto the elevator and pushed Three.

The elevator stopped on the second floor, then opened again on the third and the woman beside him walked out. Gabe followed her until she turned down another corridor and he continued going straight, following the signs directing him to the ICU.

As he approached the nurse’s station, an uneasy feeling settled over him, an instinct he’d developed in the marines that warned him when something was wrong. Two fires and now someone he knew had been assaulted and put in the hospital. The warning voice was telling him this wasn’t just another coincidence.

A pair of nurses walked past, their soft-soled shoes squeaking on the spotless floors.

“I’d like some information on one of your patients, a boy named Angel Ramirez.”

The nurse behind the counter, young, blonde and pretty, looked up at him with concern.