Flashover Pt. 03

Sean twisted his mouth to the side as he thought. He'd thought maybe they were onto something with another firm trying to sabotage Barn's project, but after hearing the rest of the story, the idea sounded like a non-starter. "All I can promise is that I'll look into it, but nothing may come of it. At fifteen percent, the arsonist gets away with it eight or nine times out of ten."

Rudy bobbed his head in understanding. "That may be all it takes to keep Barns happy. He's a bit of a bully. He was probably just seeing how much he could get out of us." He paused as a smile tugged at his lips. "Besides, I've seen you in action. Once you get your teeth into this, you won't let it go, come hell or high water. Believe me, I know."

Sean snickered. "That's true, but only so long as I have some threads I can pull on. I'm not going to waste my officers time on this when it probably won't go anywhere."

"Fair enough," Rudy said as he stood. "Do what you can. If I tell Barns you're investigating, he can't complain we're not taking his concerns seriously."

Sean looked up and held Rudy's gaze. "I've always taken his concerns seriously. I just don't know what to do about them. Before I wasn't even sure there was anything to investigate. Now, clearly, there is."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Once Rudy was out of his office, Sean shook his head in exasperation. While he appreciated Rudy's new-found respect and confidence, he wasn't sure he could live up to his expectations. Fifteen percent was long odds to start building a case on. He'd work this investigation personally in his spare time. No point in assigning someone a case he didn't think they could solve. Besides, if Barns was going to be a pain in the ass and throw tantrums, he didn't want his officers having to deal with that. His officers couldn't tell Mr. Wallace Barns to shove his unreasonable demands, but he could.