Page 60 of Survive the Night
“How about Gordon Schwartz?”
“Don’t really keep tabs on all my customers.” Grady sounded surly now, making Otto pretty sure that he’d hit a nerve. Grady was likely covering for Gordon, the militia leader who was wanted for skipping bail after being arrested for weapons violations.
Without responding, Otto went to fire up his squad car engine. It gave him a moment to think about where he wanted to take his questioning. Grady was pretty close to shutting down completely, and Otto didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity to get any information on Gordon. Norman, he wasn’t worried about as much, because he’d proven himself to have some kind of moral code. Gordon, on the other hand, had an impressive cache of explosives and weapons, he very likely bore a grudge against the MPD after his girlfriend had been killed a few months ago, and he was one conspiracy theory away from waging war against the world.
“Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Otto said once he’d returned. “I wouldn’t want to pit you against your customers.”
“Then don’t.” Although Grady’s voice was sharp, he didn’t look as tense as he had a minute earlier. “Just because your girl works for me doesn’t mean I’m your informant.”
“Of course not.” Taking a faux-casual pose, Otto kept his words slow and even. “I just worry about Sarah. She’s too trusting. Rounds is one thing, but Gordon’s skipped bail. He’s being hunted. Desperation makes people do things they normally wouldn’t, and I don’t want Sarah in the middle of that.”
“Understood.” Moving to the driver’s door, Grady reached in and fired up his truck. After cranking slowly a few times, the engine caught. As Grady straightened, he said, “No one’s going to get in a shoot-out—or even a brawl—in my store. They know that I’d kick their asses from here to Dresden if they tried anything. Your girl is safe there.”
“Good to know.” Otto didn’t believe it, though. Trouble could start anywhere, especially when Gordon Schwartz was around. “Think you’re good?”
“Yeah. That should do it.”
Otto detached the cables and put them back in his trunk. He noted that the snow shovel was missing, and he made a mental note to get it back from Hugh’s squad car. Whenever equipment went missing, it was always Hugh behind the “theft.” Even though Hugh had been on medical leave since September, he seemed to be a constant presence at the station. Otto wasn’t sure why Hugh needed his snow shovel, though.
Climbing back in his squad car, Otto raised a hand to Grady and left the lot. As he slowly made his way down the otherwise empty street, he kept an eye on the rearview mirror to make sure that Grady managed to get off okay. He’d told Grady to get a new battery a hundred times, but the guy never listened. He just said it had lasted him twenty years. Why would he change it now?
Otto had given up lecturing Grady. Now, he just gave him a jump, watched him drive off, and then swung by Grady’s house a little later to make sure that he’d made it home okay. Since Sarah had started working at the store, Otto had started feeling more positive about Grady. He was odd and cranky, but he seemed to be a good boss. Otto was happy to give daily battery jumps to someone who was nice to Sarah.
With a snort, he slowed, nearing the end of town. “You’ve got it bad,” he muttered to himself. “You’d do pretty much anything to keep her happy.” It was true. He was completely smitten.
As he braked, preparing to turn onto Case Street, Otto glanced in his rearview mirror again and watched with satisfaction as Grady’s truck taillights got smaller as he drove in the opposite direction. Just as Otto was about to look away, a huge, red fireball lit up the sky.
Otto’s head jerked back in shock. He craned his head around to see it straight on rather than in a reflection. It was real. Yellow and red lights bounced off the rocks, lighting up what should’ve been a dark section of the highway. The boom came a few seconds later, shaking the ground with the force of the explosion. Jolted into action, Otto whipped the squad car around, turning 180 degrees and taking off toward the fire. He couldn’t wrap his head around it, couldn’t believe there had actually been an explosion. Watching it in his rearview mirror had given it a surreal quality, made it seem like he was watching fiction on a small screen. He fumbled for his radio even as the dispatcher said his unit number. Grady had stopped in the middle of the road, and Otto steered around his truck.
Impatiently, Otto held the radio mike, waiting for the dispatcher to tell him about a report of the explosion. When it finally went quiet, he said, “Copy the explosion. I saw it. It looks to be just south of the pass. I’m en route.”
“Copy,” the dispatcher said. “I’ll notify Fire.”
“Fire copies,” a different voice responded. “We’re coming from Borr, so we’re about five miles west. What kind of explosion was this? Any idea of the cause? Do we need to have the hazmat team on standby?”
“Give me two minutes.” Otto pushed a little harder on the gas. The car shot forward, fishtailing slightly in the deepening snow. The rear-wheel-drive squad car was pursuit-rated, which meant it was fast, but it wasn’t great in winter weather. The chief was gradually replacing their cars with SUVs, but money for the department was always an issue. For now, Otto just had to work with what he had. “I’ll get you some answers as soon as I’m on scene—or close to the scene.” If it had been a chemical explosion, Otto knew to stay back until hazmat cleared it.
“Otto.” Theo’s voice was rough with sleep, but sharp. “I’m responding now. I’ll be on scene in fifteen minutes.”
“Same.” Hugh was the next one to speak over the radio.
Just as Otto raised the mic to tell Hugh that he was to keep his ass at home, the lieutenant spoke. “Murdoch. Keep your broken arm and bullet-hole-ridden carcass at home, do you hear me?”
“Breaking…kkkk…up. Can’t…kk…understand. Can you…please…kkk…repeat?”
“Knock it off with the fake broken transmission, Murdoch,” Lieutenant Blessard growled. “Stay. Home. Is that clear enough for you?”
There was a long pause, and Otto could picture the conflict on Hugh’s face. “Copy,” Hugh said finally, sounding defeated. Otto didn’t believe it for a second. Hugh would be there as usual, dodging the lieutenant.
Otto reached for the phone clipped to his belt. Sarah and Grace would’ve been long past the pass by the time the explosion occurred, but he still needed to hear Sarah’s voice, to have her assure him that she was okay. His brain was running through possible causes as he called her—a vehicle explosion? If so, by the size of it, it would have to be a semi. There weren’t any homes on the pass, so that limited the options.
When the call went straight to Sarah’s voicemail, Otto swore under his breath. Ending the call, he put the phone away. The snow was starting to come down hard, and the wind was taking it sideways as well. Visibility was poor, plus the curve of the road and the rocky bluffs hid the explosion site. The only sign was the fire glowing as it burned the surrounding trees. Even that was just a faint orange haze through the veil of snow.
As he passed the last building in town, Otto increased his speed. Even though logic told him that it had been a vehicle explosion, that a truck driver hauling some kind of explosive material had slipped off the side of the pass, his gut was worried. Something was happening, and it wasn’t good.
The dispatcher’s voice said his unit number over the radio. “I’m getting reports of…” She paused, and Otto’s interest picked up. Usually, Cleo was one of the most experienced and professional dispatchers they had. In emergency situations, she was so calm that she seemed almost robotic. Her hesitation was unusual, to say the least. “I’m getting multiple reports of a low-flying helicopter in the area.”
“Who’s reporting it?” Otto slowed as he reached a switchback. There were certain people in town who reported low-flying aircraft of all kinds on a regular basis. Multiple reports of the same aircraft were unusual, though.
