Through Smoke: The Troubled Heroes Series (23 page)

Michael couldn’t help but notice the sweat beads on her neck.  “I just need to talk to a detective, it’s a bit more complex than just filing a complaint.”

The sergeant looked un-amused as she picked up the phone and dialed a number.  It was as if she was offended because she couldn’t do what he needed.   “I have a young man here who just needs to speak to you.” She stopped talking and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” She cupped her hand over the phone. “What’s your name?”

“Michael McGinnis.”

She repeated his name and then cupped her hand again. “The firefighter with Ladder Twenty One?”

“Yes ma’am.” Michael didn’t know if it was a good thing or not that they knew that. 

“Detective Matson will see you.  His office is three doors down the hall and to your left.”

Michael nodded. “Thank you, ma’am.” She flashed him another annoyed look and went back to her work.  He walked down the hall, his heart pounding for some reason. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his past or what.  He wondered what the chances were of one of these older cops recognizing him from his youth. 

He reached the office and knocked on the doorframe.  The detective looked up from his computer.  He was middle aged with graying hair.  At least he had some years on the job.  “Come in, Fireman.”  Michael walked in and stood on the opposite side of the desk, taking in the surroundings.  Many plaques and medals were nailed to the wall.  “Sit down.  What can I do for you? I’m Detective John Matson.”

Michael stuck his hand out and shook his.  “Michael McGinnis.”

“Ladder Twenty One.  You’re search and rescue, correct?”  From Matson’s body language, Michael assumed he was more impressed than competitive with him, which was amazing.  Cops and firefighters were like cats and dogs.

Michael cleared his throat. “Yes sir.”  He really didn’t want to chitchat. Time was ticking and he didn’t want to be late for Darryl’s viewing. 

“That takes balls, McGinnis. Very impressive.”

Michael leaned back and folded his arms over his chest.  If this guy knew how bad he was before he became a firefighter, this conversation wouldn’t even be happening.  “Detective, I mean no disrespect, but I’m in sort of a hurry and need to get this done.”

Matson let out a laugh. “Oh, of course! Go ahead!”

Michael rubbed the back of his neck and tried to find a way to explain the whole situation.  “My brother is in some trouble.  He’s got a bookie after him, threatening him to pay up or things will happen. My brother has been hiding and it’s brought me into it as well.”

Matson nodded and jotted notes down on his notepad.  “Has he physically done anything to either of you?”

“No, nothing yet, but he has come to my house and threatened me.  He’s even claimed to be responsible for the breakout of the warehouse fires in Hell’s Kitchen.”

The detective arched his eyebrow and looked up.  “He said that?”

“Yes.  Of course, the last one that happened killed a friend of mine on the fire department.  I don’t have any proof.  He’s been very sneaky and smart to dodge anything like that. I… I don’t even know his real name.”

“Has he given you a name? We might’ve heard of him from others.”

Michael let out a deep breath.  “He calls himself Viper.  Supposedly he’s a well-known bookie.  Hell, I don’t know.  My brother deals with shady characters.  I don’t know what’s going to happen, but it’s enough now to make me worry, especially when he’s claiming he’s the cause of fires that are killing friends of mine, intended for me.”

Matson adjusted his reading glasses and repeated some of the information Michael had given him.  “And he goes by Viper?  I don’t know about any Viper.  Without solid proof, we can’t pin him for the fires.  We gotta catch him making a mistake.  Something that will hold up.”

Michael leaned back in his chair.  “So, right now you’re saying you can’t help me?  Figures, you cops can only do something once the damage has been done.”

Matson held his hand up.  “No, McGinnis, that’s not what I’m saying.  A threat is a crime and we’re here for you.  What I’m saying is that I want to make an arrest on something solid that will hold up and he can’t make bail.  One small technicality in evidence and the judge will throw it right out and we’ll be in a worse situation with Viper even more pissed off at you than he was before.”

“So, what do you want me to do?”

“We’ll keep a watch on your place and where you work.  We’ll look around for this Viper character.  We can get you to even wear a wire around him and get him on tape.”

Michael shook his head no. “That’ll never work.  He shows up at random times.  I can’t wear a wire all the time.”

“We’ll get it figured out.  Maybe you can arrange a meeting with him or something.  Whatever it takes.” Matson paused.  “What is your brother’s name?”

“Casey McGinnis.  You should be pretty familiar with him.”

“We’ll be on the lookout for him too.  We need to advise a game plan.  We gotta corner Viper.  He’s bound to make a mistake eventually.”

Michael looked down at his watch.  “
Well he hasn’t yet and FDNY
lost a great man a few days ago.” He stood up.  “I appreciate you getting involved, but the game planning will have to wait a little bit.  I have a viewing to get to.”  He stuck his hand out and shook the detective’s hand.  “I got your card. We’ll be in contact.”

Chapter Fourteen

As if the viewing the night before wasn’t hard enough, Michael was now standing in front of several hundred people in the front of St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, all eyes on him, everyone ready for him to speak words about Darryl Young, FDNY’s newest fallen hero.  Why had he agreed to do this?  For some reason, he never could say no to Janice and when she
asked him
to speak, his heart melted.  It was an honor, and terrifying at the same time. 

Michael’s eyes scanned the crowd.  Janice and Braden were in the front row near the casket, which had now been closed during the mass.  Everyone from Ladder Twenty-One sat a row down from the Conrad family, all in their pressed dress uniforms.  It felt like every time he had to wear his, something bad happened.  He ran his fingers over the front buttons of the jacket and stared down at the hat he took off to say his speech.  Braden was holding his dad’s fire helmet in his lap, lurching Michael back to when he was in the same spot Braden was in today.  It was even in the same church.

Taking
a deep breath, his hands clenched on to the sides of the podium.  He wondered if he could make it all the way through without choking up. 

“There’s so many things I could say about Firefighter Young.  I sat up all night trying to think of a way to sum him up.  What I came up with is that there’s just no way to.”  He paused when he felt a tear trickle down his cheek.  “First and foremost, he was a husband and father to two of the greatest people anyone could ever know.  When he talked about Janice and Braden, it was evident how much he loved them just by the smile he had on his face.  I sometimes grew jealous of the happiness he had found with such a great family.”  He felt his voice crack and more tears fell when he looked at Braden and Janice.

After a few moments of silence, he pressed on. “Friend is another word I have to bring up.  Every morning we had a shift, Darryl was there before anyone, putting the coffee on and getting things ready.  He had a newspaper laid out for me every time.  He was there when anyone needed to talk, and was understanding when things were best left alone.”  He had to stop himself again.  He wiped more moisture away and ducked his head.  He had to do this for Darryl.  He had to man up.  It was the least he could do for someone who was
laying
where Michael should have been.  “It’s always the little things that add up, who make a person what they are.  He wasn’t in firefighting for the glory.  He wasn’t a friend just because.  Darryl was a man all of us should strive to be each and every day.  A family man, a friend, and one of the best firefighters New York has come to know.”

Michael stepped down from the podium and approached the casket, running his hand down the smooth surface, allowing more tears to stream.  “I’m going to miss you, Bud.  I should be lying there instead of you.”

He walked to Janice and Braden.  Janice stood up and pulled him into a tight hug. “He really loved you, Mikey.” She whispered in his ear.

“I loved him too. Always will.” 

After the graveside service, Michael was somewhat glad to get back to his apartment and away from people.  Eva had gone back to her place but mentioned something about coming over if he was up to it.  He wasn’t sure what he was up for.  He was exhausted and mentally worn out.  Sleep probably wouldn’t happen for him.  He sat down on the couch and stared at the TV, which was off.  He had gone so far as unbuttoning the jacket and shirt of his dress uniform, but not taking it completely off.  He was too tired to even think to do that. 

He grabbed a photo album off of a near
by
shelf and thumbed through it.  Random pictures were put together in no particular order.  Most had been compiled by his mom and given to him, but there were a few he had tossed in from recent years.  He stopped when he got to a page where there were several pictures of a barbecue held at the station.  Darryl seemed to be in every photo, most of him being silly and humorous.  Michael felt a lump in his throat and slammed the album shut.  He felt the urge to cry but no tears fell.  Instead, he felt trapped, unsure of what to do, similar to the night of his breakdown with Eva. 

He didn’t want to go through that ever again.  Standing up, he went to the window and looked down at the street.  Life was going on, just as it was the days before Darryl was gone.  The world kept spinning, even if it felt wrong to continue about.  Michael wanted to be alone, but at the same time, he couldn’t stand it.  His own thoughts worried him.  Reaching for his phone, he dialed Eva’s number.  She was the only friend he felt like
he
had at the moment.

“Hello?”  Her voice pulled him out of his haze.

“Eva, you wanna come over for a little bit?”

“Of course, Mikey.  I’ll be over there in a sec.”

He didn’t say anything back, and hung up the phone, tossing it to the coffee table next to the album he refused to open again.  He paced back and forth as he waited, almost like if he sat still, he would end up doing something he’d regret.  He searched the refrigerator and pantry for food.  Nothing looked good.  He relaxed when Eva called for him to buzz her up.

She had changed into some jeans and a T-shirt and looked just as beautiful as when she was dressed up.  He leaned forward and gave her a peck on the lips, shutting the door behind her.

“Everything okay?”  Eva grabbed his hand and squeezed.

“Yeah, why?”

“It’s just that after the funeral, you sorta acted like you wanted to be alone. I wasn’t expecting you to call me or anything.”

He sat down on the couch and stared down at the photo album, fighting the urge to throw it out the window.  “If you got something else to do today, I understand.”

Eva scoffed and sat beside him, as close as she could get it seemed.  “Don’t be silly, Mikey.”  Her hand ran through his hair, sending a chill down his spine.  “Anything you wanna talk about?  Or do? We could watch a movie or something.”

Michael leaned back and rested his head on the couch cushion, staring up at the ceiling.  “I buried my best friend today, Eva.  First my father and now him.  If I were you I’d run away from me as fast as you can.”

“You guys don’t exactly have the safest job. It’s bound to happen here and there.”  Her hand continued to run through his hair and down his neck, relaxing him. He didn’t want her to stop doing that.  Maybe it would help him fall asleep.

“I talked to a cop yesterday.”

“Yeah?”

Michael nodded.  “They’re gonna keep a watch on the place and the station.  See if we can catch him making a mistake.” He paused and looked at her, his hand cupping her cheek.  “I don’t want you to get involved in any of this. If he’s capable of killing Darryl, he’s capable of a lot more.”

She leaned into his palm, closing her eyes.  “It’s all gonna work out.” Her breath was warm against his hand.  “I think the worst is over.”

“Possibly the worst is yet to come.”

Eva opened her eyes, her facial expression growing intense.  “Be positive, Mikey.  The cops are working with you and I know you.  You’re not just gonna roll over and let someone invade your life and threaten you.  If you ask me, this bookie is really stupid for messing with you.  They obviously have no clue who you are and what friends and family mean to you.”