Flashover Pt. 07

"None that I know of. Hang on a minute and let me ask around." Sean sat on hold so long he'd about decided Wallace wasn't coming back, and was considering hanging up, when the music stopped. "Chief? I asked around. A few people around here have heard of them, but we've never done business with them."

"Okay, that's all I need to know. Thanks. Oh, one more thing. Do you know a Wilfred Harper?"

"Who?"

"Mr. Wilfred Harper, in Archer Lodge, North Carolina."

"No. Why?"

Sean smiled. "Nothing. Just another name that came up. Thank you for your time."

He placed the phone back in the cradle. That was that. He started to go talk to the PISTOL people when another idea came to him. This time he looked up the number for Juno Demolition.

"Juno Demolition, Peg speaking. How may I help you?"

"Hello, Peg. Michael Neese," he said, combining his middle name with Maggie's last. "I have a quick question. I saw a truck with Juno Demolition on the doors in Brunswick the other day. Are you the company taking down the old mill buildings?"

"No sir. Are you sure it was our truck?"

"Oh, yes ma'am. I walked right by it. It was sitting at the old North State Textiles buildings."

"That's really odd. I can't imagine why one of our trucks would be there after the deal fell through. When was this?"

Sean felt a rush of excitement. "Oh, it's been a while since I saw the truck. I jotted the name down at the time. I've got this old barn I need taken down. Anyway, I saw the mill buildings being demolished and it reminded me I needed to call. I was wondering if you did such small jobs."

"Where are you located?"

"Brunswick."

"I'll have Harvey give you a call a little later. You can tell him what you want. He may need to come out and look at what you've got to give you a firm price. Can I get your number?"

"When do you expect him in?"

"Not sure. He's out pricing another job. Probably sometime after lunch."

"I'll call back then. I'm going to be out and about and I don't want to miss his call."

"What was your name again?" Peg asked.

"Michael."

"Okay, Michael, give us a call back after lunch."

"Thanks. I'll do that."

He returned the phone to the cradle and stared at it a moment. Sometimes it was better to be lucky than good. He had one more call to make. He looked up Olentangy Development in the case file and then dialed.

"Olentangy Development."

"Sean McGhee, chief of police, Brunswick, North Carolina, to speak with Reese Davenport. I have one quick question involving a case I spoke to Mr. Davenport about recently," he said, trying to cut through the delays.

"Yes, sir. Let me see if he's in," the woman said.

It took only a moment before Reese picked up. "How can I help you, sheriff?"

"One question. Have you heard of Juno Demolition?"

"Juno... Demolition..." Reese said slowly, clearly thinking. "The name rings a bell. Why?"

"It would be related to the Brunswick project."

"Hang on a minute, sheriff," Reese said and then was gone, a soft clunk indicating Reese had put the phone down on his desk. Sean waited for several minutes before Reese returned. "I have it right here. Juno Demolition was the low bidder for the demo work if we'd gone ahead with the project. Obviously, we didn't execute the contract. Is this still about the fire?"

"I can't say, Mr. Davenport, but you've answered my question. Thank you very much."

"Anytime, sheriff."

He hung up the phone and smiled. He finally had a suspect with motive, sort of, if he squinted really hard, and didn't mind making a couple leaps with no evidence to back it up. He spent the rest of the day working with PISTOL. Today was their last day of training and he wanted to make sure everything had been covered before they left. After the training team left, he was sitting with his elbows on his desk, yawning and rubbing his eyes. When he didn't get enough sleep, his eyes really tormented him the next day. He sighed. Beginning next week, he was going to start upfitting their cars with the computers. He would start with his own, to make sure there were no bugs, and then take the cars in one at a time until their fleet was done.

He also still needed to interview the candidates for the open positions. The brouhaha with Hags had put a hold on that, in case Tilley decided to execute the escape clauses in their contract, but that was looking less and less likely. He checked the cheat-sheet he kept in Excel that told him who was working, and when. Kim was pulling the dreaded eleven to seven shift this week, and she'd rotate back to mornings after four days off. He nodded to himself. When she rotated back to days, he'd set her to rescheduling the interviews. He considered having Terri do it, since she was working days, but decided to leave it for Kim. She'd set up the first interviews and had already talked to the applicants.

"I'm gone," Sean said as he walked through the lobby.

"I promise not to call you tonight!" Michelle said while giving him a wave in parting.

He grinned and gave her a salute in return. He was going straight to Fat2Fit for a workout, home to feed Marmalade, and then over to Maggie's for dinner and a movie. He started his car, wondering what crazy movie she'd picked out to educate him with tonight.

He'd finished his workout, showered, and changed into his street clothes. As he sauntered to his car he was feeling pleasantly tired and relaxed. Then he saw it. Trundling past in the street was a green, flat-fendered, Jeep. The green, flat-fendered, Jeep. He quickly threw his bag into the back seat, started his car, and backed out of the parking space. He hurried across the parking lot but didn't turn on his lights or siren. This time he'd play it smart, and this chuckle-head was going down.

"Dispatch, McGhee. I need all available units to my location," he said as he quickly checked traffic and pulled out into the road. "Heading south on Sparrow, approaching Mockingbird. Tell them to run dark."

"Roger, chief," Michelle said as she went to work.

"Turning right on Whippoorwill. I'm running dark on the flat-fender. I want a cordon set up. I'm going to stay on him until we're ready, and then I'm going to drive him into a trap. Keep the cruisers clear of my immediate vicinity. I don't want to spook him."

The driver of the Jeep was apparently out simply tootling around in his toy. Because Sean's car looked much like any other black Dodge Charger, at least until he turned on his strobes, the driver of the Jeep probably didn't realize he had a cop on his tail. Sean kept his distance, trying to keep a car or two between him and his quarry as Michelle directed traffic, rerouting units as Sean kept her informed of the Jeep's twists and turns.

"McGhee. Dispatch. We're ready to close the noose."

Sean grinned. "That sounds so dramatic. Okay, I'm going to hit the lights. Everyone stay ready. Here we go." He flipped on his lights and siren and matted the throttle, whipping around the car in front of him as it moved right. The brake lights on the Jeep flickered before it lunged away. Sean had a run on the Jeep, his car already gathering speed, and was right on the Jeep's rear bumper as the flat-fender accelerated. He glanced down and watched as the speedometer touched seventy, then eighty. Despite his car giving its all, the Jeep pulled strongly away. Someone was going to get hurt or killed if he kept hounding this guy, so he lifted and allowed the Jeep to speed away.

"I'm backing off. He's still headed west on Garden." Sean continued the chase, but didn't push the other driver as hard. "He's made a right on Brecken."

Sean turned to follow. The Jeep had already opened up a sizeable gap when a BPD patrol car crossed the road in front of him. The Jeep skidded, its tires smoking as it slid to a stop. The driver slammed the Jeep in reverse and roared backwards before turning around and attempting to make his escape, but Sean was there, canting his car in the road, blocking his path and preventing him from reaching a side street. Again the Jeep driver slammed to a stop, then after a moment's hesitation, raised his hands when another cruiser arrived, its lights and siren hot. Moments later, a third, then fourth cruiser appeared.

"Hands where we can see them! Keep your hands where we can see them!" Brady was yelling, his weapon trained on the driver.

The other officers were arrayed in a semi-circle around the back of the Jeep. No matter where he moved, Sean was going to be in someone's line of fire, so he ducked to the back of his car and crouched in case the officers had to open up. The officers carefully approached in a crouch, their weapons trained on the man.

"I give up!" the man shouted.

"Remove your helmet!" Ruiz ordered, the officers keeping their distance. The man reached up and slowly pulled the helmet off his head. "Place the helmet on the hood then slowly step out of the vehicle! Turn and place both hands on the hood!"

The man did as he was instructed. Ruiz and Campbell moved in as the other officers took their weapons to high ready, then holstered them as the cuffs were snapped on the driver's wrists. Sean hung around for a few minutes as his officers went through the process of patting the man down and checking his Jeep. He was clean of drugs and weapons, and was sitting in the back of Brady's cruiser, watching them with sad eyes.

The man couldn't be much over thirty. He had no wants, warrants, or priors, and was by all appearances harmless. He was just a guy who'd built a hot-rod Jeep that he was out farting around in. If he'd stopped when Sean had tried to pull him over the first time, he'd have had nothing more than a verbal warning over the lack of a license plate, but now he was facing some stiff fines, and possible jail time. What had started out as a game had become very serious. Sean shook his head as he headed back to his car. His officers didn't need him hovering around, and Maggie was probably wondering where he was already.