Page 7 of Backdraft
Taylor was gone by the time Shannon arrived. He may have left, but I was still wound tighter than a drum. I couldn't shake it, and Shannon knew me well enough to pick up on it. We’d known each other for years. When I’d started training, she was also sitting in on a course, and we connected quickly. We’d shared some fun times together during the course and did a few girls weekends away after. We kept in touch over the years and had the occasional fatal scene where we crossed over. Aside from the scene, it was great to see each other in person. But I had to be cautious. I'd never told her about the weekend.
I never told anyone.
She was the one that had told me about this opportunity. I was glad to have her by my side as we crawled through the debris to recover the bodies. It definitely was not a nice task.
I briefed her on the three bodies, and she was in pure professional business mode. That's how Shannon was. She was all business when it came to fires, but once the workday was done, she turned into a wild thing. We'd had lots of fun together, and she brought out my less-inhibited side. Much like Taylor had. We'd gotten ourselves into some fun situations.
Shannon drew in a breath. "Okay, so one is beneath debris with only a hand exposed. That's the toddler. The child is in a closet in the second bedroom and is disarticulated. The mom is in the third bedroom."
"That's right."
She shook her head. "So sad. Is there any other family?"
"I'm not sure. I haven't been informed yet."
"What do you think? Suspicious or accidental?"
"I haven't done a full investigation yet, but so far, not suspicious. Depends what I find on the main floor. Let's gear up so we can get in there."
Inside the house, I put my toolkit, which looked much like a tackle box, down where we'd be working to recover the first body
Shannon crouched down in front of the closet. She always whispered a few words quiet words to the bodies. I never asked her what she said. I respected her moment.
She took out the tools — a trowel, brushes of different sizes, and some other items she used to gently move away the debris to expose the body. It was much like peeling back an onion layer by layer, and as the body was revealed, we were able to remove it all. The recovery would be time-consuming, and this was the first body.
I held out a piece of aluminum foil, and Shannon carefully placed the bones and flesh she retrieved on the sheet. I layered another on top and gently pressed the foil together. It molded around the bones and kept them intact to transport for Shannon's examination later. It was especially important for the numerous bones of the hands and feet. I marked the tin foil with black marker stating the location it was found, left leg, right arm, etc…
All evidence was bagged, labeled, and photographed.
Hours later, the bodies had been removed. The evidence bags had been sealed and documented with chain of custody tags and placed in the coroner’s van. The bodies would be taken to the morgue for autopsy the next day.
I would wait for a time notification since I was always at the PMs. Tomorrow, with us all in attendance for documentation, the evidence seals would be broken, and the autopsy would begin.
After the hours of work, I’d completely forgotten about Taylor. Now, with a moment to think, I was surprised when a tremor of excitement at seeing him tomorrow shivered along my flesh. But on the heels of that, I remembered the cat in my truck.
"Shit!"
"What? What's wrong?" Shannon asked in the middle of removing her protective gear and flung her arms out. She was always easily startled and ready to bolt if needed.
She made me laugh. It’s so easy to jump scare her. Not that I did it on purpose or anything.
I laughed. "Calm down. Nothing crazy. I found a cat in the wall earlier and put him in my truck."
She grimaced. "Arg, you could have a nasty-smelling truck waiting for you."
I close my eyes briefly and shake my head. "Probably, but it's just par for the course right now. Anyway, the poor little guy was distraught, and I wasn't going to just let him fend for himself."
"Once you check on him and we get cleaned up, we need to chill and relax. It was an awful long day, and I'm hungry, parched and getting moody."
"You're always hungry and parched. But, rarely moody." I smiled as I shed my own gear.
"What can I say, I love food. And how do you think I achieved my wonderfully curvy body?" She ran her hands down her sides and over her shapely hips. "By starving myself? Nope. By enjoying life, love, food, and my body."
"I think you look fabulous," I told her. She wasn't as tall as me, and her curves couldn't be hidden in any type of clothing or workwear. She exuded a sexuality that must come off her in waves of pheromones, because guys flocked to her.
"Thank you. And I am happy to oblige on the food and drink front." She gave me a saucy smile, and I knew what she had in mind.
Bar time, patio time, shots, and who knew what food she would order. It depended on where we went, but the table usually groaned, that I knew for sure. And we’d unashamedly ate it all.
