Cries in the Night (10 page)

Sam was leaning against the large truck. He looked exhausted … and beaten. She paused. She didn’t want to bother him, but he would have the most up-to-date information.

“Sam,” she said softly. If he didn’t respond, she would respect his privacy and walk away. But he looked up, his blue eyes, almost exactly the same shade as his older brother’s. She knew that he was as much a victim in this as the two firefighters trapped in the house. Maybe it would help him to talk it out. “How are the negotiations going?”

“They’re not. He says he wants cash and a way out of the U.S., but I think there’s something else going on. I just can’t put my finger on what.” Same leaned his head against the cool metal of the vehicle.

“What have you found out about him so far?” Julie asked.

“Just another poor schmuck who lost his job and his house is in foreclosure. Used to be a chemist out at the Suncor plant. Now he’s a terrorist.”

A familiar CNN reporter approached Sam, and he quickly ducked around the back of the command center. Julie, too, turned away, but since she didn’t appear to be
somebody
, the reporter walked right past her. Which was just fine with her. The last thing she wanted to do was be on camera.

The aggressive reporter managed to corner the fire chief, and she spoke into her microphone. “I’m standing here with Fire Chief Bill Taylor on the scene of the hostage situation in Denver. Chief Taylor, who is the man holding your firefighters and what is he asking for in exchange?” She shoved the microphone in front of the chief.

“Obviously, we can’t tell you anything that might compromise our negotiations. We’re not clear about his motivations or why he chose to kidnap firefighters, but I can say that we think the suspect’s name is Joe O’Neil. We’re still checking on his background.”

The interview continued, but Julie didn’t hear anything after the man’s name. She recognized it. He had been one of her first victims five years ago when she was starting out. But most importantly, she had kept in touch with him through the years, although it had been a few months since they’d last spoke. They’d always
had a good relationship. Maybe he would talk to her now, and she could convince him to give himself up.

Julie whirled around and headed directly for the entrance of the command vehicle. She knocked on the door, gingerly at first, then more forcefully. Sam opened the door slightly and peered out the crack. Seeing it was Julie and not the reporter, he opened the door all the way. His eyes widened in surprise as she brushed past him and went inside. No one except official personnel was allowed in during a crisis such as this.

Most of the RV was set up as a large meeting/planning room. TVs lined the walls, all tuned to different channels but with the volumes off. A long wooden conference table was in the center of the room and there were plat maps and house plans spread out on it. Members of SWAT, ATF, DPD and DFD were leaning over them, talking and pointing at specific points. Another SWAT member was drawing on one of the half dozen white boards that were mounted on the walls. As she entered, everyone froze and all eyes lifted to focus on her. Since most of the men and women in the room had never worked with her, they were shocked at this blatant breach of protocol.

They had no idea that this was very much outside her own character. Julie had never been the one to make waves or draw attention to herself. If she wasn’t so convinced she could help Rusty and the other firefighter, she would never have put herself out there like this. Now all she had to do was convince them that she wasn’t as crazy as they probably were thinking she was.

“I’m sorry to intrude,” she began as she stopped at the table and met their wary gazes. “I’m Julie Lawrence, and for those of you who don’t know me, I work with the DPD as the head of the Victim’s Advocate department.”

“I’m sure we’ll need your services at some point, but as you can see, we’re pretty busy right now,” the ATF agent reprimanded her. “We’ll call you …”

“Wait, I have something important to tell you,” she interrupted him. The other men in the room rocked back on their heels, startled that she had challenged someone who was clearly accustomed to being in charge. The only other woman, a DPD liaison turned her head away, but Julie thought she saw a hint of a smile.

“I know Joe McNeil,” Julie continued. “I helped him get through the death of his wife five years ago.”

“That’s not possible,” the police chief said. “He told us that she left him for a firefighter.”

Julie was momentarily taken aback. Could she be mistaken? Her gaze shifted to a photo that was stuck to one of the magnetic boards. It was definitely
the man she had been communicating with, and she knew he did not have but the one wife. “With all due respect, sir, that information isn’t correct.”

There must have been something in her tone that made them believe her, or perhaps the ATF agent decided that if he just let her finish, the more quickly she would leave. “Exactly why would you question our intel?”

“Joe’s wife … his
only
wife … ran a red light and was hit by a fire truck almost five years ago. She died at the scene. I accompanied Officer Don Vincent when he notified Joe about her death.”

“And how can you be so certain there wasn’t a second Mrs. O’Neil?”

Julie was a little reluctant to tell him because it wasn’t exactly in her job description that she should continue to contact victims for years after the incident. “Well, sir I feel that part of my job is to follow-up to see if the people we’ve visited have been helped. In Joe’s case, he was particularly devastated by the loss of his wife and I’ve kept in touch with him longer than most.”

“In a romantic way?” the ATF agent asked.

“Absolutely not!” Julie exclaimed, shocked at the suggestion. “I called Mr. O’Neil every few months because he needed help. I tried to get social services involved, but he wasn’t deemed to be any danger to himself or others, so they refused.”

“Obviously, a bad decision,” the police chief muttered.

“I’ve helped him through several rough spots,” Julie told them. “Maybe I could reason with him and he would listen.”

“That’s all very interesting, Miss Lawrence,” the ATF agent dismissed her. “But we can handle this.”

“Sir, I think we should let her try,” Sam said as he stepped forward. “Our negotiators aren’t getting anywhere. What do we have to lose?”

“Two firefighters,” the ATF agent replied stiffly.

The room was quiet for a moment as the men exchanged questioning glances. Finally, the police chief spoke up. “Why not? It just might work.”

The ATF agent seemed about to object, but then he shrugged. “There’s the phone. Let’s see what happens.”

Sam pulled out a chair in front of a speaker phone and motioned for Julie to sit. Nervously, she settled on the cushion and stared at the phone. What if Joe refused to talk to her? What if her call ticked him off and he killed Rusty? What if she was totally wrong about him, and he’d been lying to her all along?

Flashes of their past conversations flickered through her brain. She remembered Joe’s tears when she’d sat with him as he first heard the news from Don. He had been devastated, so much so that he had shut out the rest of the
world. She had found him a month later, wallowing in his grief. Apparently, he hadn’t been eating properly or taking care of himself or the house. And he hadn’t been going to work.

Julie had brought over some groceries and cooked him a good meal. She had tidied up the house while she sent him to the shower. She had washed his clothes and encouraged him to call his boss and talk to him about his job. Ultimately, he had lost that job when the plant had lay-offs, and she believed it was partially due to that lapse into the dark side. She had tried to help him find a job, but there were much younger, better qualified candidates for every job and a high unemployment rate that quickly discouraged him.

She had known he was depressed, especially when his unemployment ran out. Then he had been suffering with a horrible toothache and couldn’t afford to take care of it, so she had sent him to her own dentist and helped Joe pay for it. When the notices for foreclosure had started to arrive in his mailbox, she had tried to help him sell his house and recover some of the equity, but Denver’s real estate market was stagnant, and he’d had no luck finding a buyer.

All the while, she had been trying to steer him toward professional counseling at the free clinic, but he refused. She couldn’t force him, but she hadn’t given up. She hoped that sooner or later she could get him there. Apparently, time had run out.

Julie picked up the receiver.

“It’s on speaker, so you don’t have to use the receiver. Just hit the redial button,” the police chief told her.

She replaced it in the cradle, then punched the button as directed and listened to the melodic tones as it dialed.

“
You got the money ready?
” the voice on the phone answered.

“Hi Joe. It’s Julie,” she said.

There was dead silence on the phone, and for a moment she thought they had been disconnected.

“Joe, are you still there?”

“
Julie. Is this a friendly call or are you out there with the sycophants
?”

“Of course I’m calling you as a friend. But yes, I’m out here with Rusty’s and Jason’s families and friends.” She hesitated, wishing she was sitting across from him rather than separated by phone lines. It was so much easier talking to people when she could look into their eyes and read their body language. “I’m worried about you.”

“
Why would you be? I’m fine
.”

“Come on, Joe. We’ve always been honest with each other. What happened to make you do this?”

He was quiet for a few seconds. When he spoke again, there was a catch in his voice. “
I miss Amy so much
.”

“I know you do.”

“
My life has fallen apart. I just can’t go on like this.
”

“But the firefighters have nothing to do with your bad fortune.”

“
They killed her.
”

“We’ve talked about this,” Julie reminded him gently. “Amy was in a hurry to get home and she was tired because she’d worked a double shift at the hospital. It was an accident, a horrible, terrible, tragic accident. But it wasn’t the fire department’s fault. And it certainly had nothing to do with those two firefighters you have in your house.”

“Maybe not these two, but they’re wearing the same uniforms and driving the same truck.”

“Joe, you know those other firefighters didn’t hurt Amy on purpose. They were on their way to a fire. They were running with full lights and sirens. She simply didn’t notice them.”

“
It wasn’t her fault
,” he practically shouted.

“No, she was tired and in a hurry. But it wasn’t the firefighter’s fault either.” Julie took a deep breath. “You and Amy had something really special. You and I both know how rare that is. But it’s time you let her go and moved on with your life. It’s what she would want you to do. She wouldn’t like to see you in such pain.”

“
I’ve lost it all
.”

“You have so much … skills, brains and experience. It’s not too late for you to start over. But you need to let the firefighters go. Their hands are clean.”

“I want someone to pay.”

“You can’t put a price on Amy. She was the love of your life. I’m sorry I never got to meet her, but you’ve told me so much about her that I feel I knew her. I know she would never want you to hurt someone else.”

There was another long, silent pause.
“Julie, you’ve been a good friend to me. You’re the only person who stayed with me. I respect your opinion. But I have to think about this. I’ve got to go now.”

“Joe, you’re a good man. You can get through this. I’ll do all I can,” Julie promised.

“Thank you, Julie, for all you’ve done … for me and for Amy.”
The phone line went dead.

Once again, everyone in the room was staring at Julie. But now their expressions were both amazed and impressed. In spite of that, her shoulders slumped and she collapsed against the back of the chair. She hadn’t been able to help Rusty and Jason. And she hadn’t been able to help Joe. She was drained and disappointed.

She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder and she looked up to see Sam. His smile told her he knew she had done all she could.

It just hadn’t been enough.

Her feet dragged as she left the command vehicle and walked back toward the crowd. She gave a mental shake. She had to have her emotions under control by the time she reached Rusty’s and Jason’s parents. They needed hope. And right now, she had none.

The chatter of reporters came from all angles as they continued to circle the scene and interview everyone who looked remotely involved. Julie ducked her head and blended with the crowd.

She had almost reached Pat Wilson when there was some activity at the house. The front door swung open and Jason and Rusty walked out. Alone and free. A hush fell over the crowd as they watched, unsure of what they were seeing.

Rusty turned back and spoke to someone in the doorway, but his voice didn’t reach the crowd. Jason continued forward as Rusty hung back. After a few seconds, it became clear he was trying to talk the man inside into doing something. He motioned with his hand for Joe to join them. The crowd watched, transfixed as the conversation continued for several minutes. Finally, Rusty smiled and continued across the front yard, away from the house.