Captain Reyes stepped into the room and closed the door.
The helmet was in his hands.
I recognized it immediately.
Tyler's.
There was a deep scrape across one side, and black soot had settled into the grooves around the shield.
I looked at Tyler.
He stared at the helmet.
For the first time since I had entered the hospital room, he looked genuinely unsettled.
"Where did you get that?"
Reyes placed it on the chair.
"It was recovered from the warehouse."
Tyler frowned.
"I thought it was destroyed."
"So did we."
I looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Reyes pulled the chair closer.
"The helmet wasn't where Tyler said he left it."
Tyler shifted against the pillow.
"I didn't leave it anywhere."
"You took it off."
"I had to."
"Why?"
Tyler hesitated.
"Smoke was getting through the mask."
Reyes nodded.
"That's what your initial statement says."
"And?"
"The problem is where the helmet was found."
I looked at him.
"Where?"
"Upstairs."
Tyler's eyes narrowed.
"I told you I was upstairs."
"Not where we found the helmet."
Silence.
Reyes pointed toward the helmet.
"It was near the west stairwell."
Tyler stared at it.
"That's not where I was."
"Exactly."
My stomach tightened.
"What are you saying?"
Reyes looked at me.
"I'm saying someone may have moved it."
Tyler pushed himself higher.
The movement clearly hurt.
"Amanda."
I turned toward him.
"Don't."
"I need to know."
Reyes looked at Tyler.
"Did you see anyone near the west stairwell?"
Tyler thought.
"Before the collapse?"
"Yes."
He closed his eyes.
Smoke.
Fire.
The sound of alarms.
A child's crying.
Then his eyes opened.
"I saw someone."
Reyes nodded.
"Describe them."
"I couldn't."
"Height?"
"About my size."
"Man or woman?"
"I don't know."
"Clothing?"
"Dark jacket."
"Helmet?"
"No."
"Anything else?"
Tyler rubbed his forehead.
"Something red."
Reyes looked at me.
"What?"
Tyler answered.
"A red object."
"What kind?"
"I don't know."
"Could have been equipment?"
"Maybe."
"Could have been clothing?"
"Maybe."
Reyes leaned back.
"Did the person move toward the stairs?"
Tyler nodded.
"Yes."
"Before or after you heard the girl?"
"Before."
I felt cold.
"Tyler."
He looked at me.
"Could that person have trapped her?"
"I don't know."
"Could they have started the fire?"
"I don't know."
Reyes answered carefully.
"That's what investigators are trying to determine."
I looked at the helmet.
The scrape.
The soot.
The damaged edge.
The strange location.
Everything that had seemed like a simple accident was becoming harder to understand.
Then I remembered something.
"The balloons."
Both men looked at me.
I almost laughed at how irrelevant it sounded.
"What about them?" Reyes asked.
"When I came to the station, everyone acted like they knew something."
"They did."
"But nobody told me."
Reyes nodded.
"We knew Tyler had been injured."
"And?"
He looked at Tyler.
Tyler sighed.
"Reyes."
The captain ignored him.
"We also knew investigators had questions about the fire."
"Before I arrived?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you were already on your way to the hospital."
"I was standing in front of you."
"You had just learned your husband was injured."
Reyes's voice softened.
"I wasn't going to hand you an investigation on top of that."
I understood.
I didn't like it.
But I understood.
Then another thought occurred to me.
"Why did you ask me if I knew?"
Reyes looked at me.
"Because Tyler told me he had spoken to you before the call."
"He did."
"What did he say?"
"Nothing important."
Tyler looked away.
I noticed.
"What?"
He shook his head.
"Nothing."
I stood.
"Tyler."
He looked at me.
"Tell her," Reyes said.
Tyler exhaled.
"This morning, before I left, I got a message."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
"What did it say?"
He looked uncomfortable.
"It said, 'Don't go to the warehouse.'"
My heart began pounding.
"What?"
"I thought it was a prank."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't think it mattered."
Reyes rubbed his face.
"That's why this investigation is different."
I looked at Tyler.
"You got a warning before the fire?"
"Yes."
"And you still went."
"It was an assigned call."
"You didn't think the message was strange?"
"I did."
"Then why?"
Tyler's voice was quiet.
"Because I thought somebody was trying to scare me."
I sat down slowly.
"Did the message say your name?"
"No."
"Did it say the station?"
"No."
"Then how did they know you were going?"
"I don't know."
Reyes picked up the helmet.
"That's one of the questions we're trying to answer."
He turned it over.
Something small was caught inside the lining.
He pulled it free.
A piece of red fabric.
My eyes went to it.
Tyler stared.
"That's not mine."
Reyes nodded.
"I know."
Nobody spoke.
The fabric was barely an inch wide.
Burned at one edge.
But it was enough.
The shadow Tyler had seen.
The red object.
The helmet in the wrong place.
The warning message.
The little girl who had begged him not to take her back.
The pieces were beginning to touch.
I looked at Reyes.
"Does the police know about this?"
"Yes."
"Who sent the message?"
"We don't know."
"Do they know who the girl is?"
"Not yet."
"Where is she now?"
"With child protective services."
"Is she safe?"
"Yes."
I nodded.
That was the only part of the situation that mattered enough to silence everything else.
Tyler watched me.
"You okay?"
"No."
He gave me a tired smile.
"Fair."
I reached for his hand.
His fingers closed around mine.
Reyes stood.
"I need to make another call."
He picked up the helmet.
Then stopped.
"Amanda."
"Yes?"
He looked directly at me.
"If anyone contacts you about Tyler, the fire, or the little girl, you call me."
I frowned.
"Why would anyone contact me?"
"Because you're his wife."
That wasn't enough.
"You think someone might?"
"I don't know."
His answer was honest.
That made it worse.
He left.
The door closed.
I looked at Tyler.
"You should have told me."
"I know."
"This morning."
"I know."
"Before you went into that warehouse."
He nodded.
"I know."
I squeezed his hand.
"You're not allowed to keep deciding what I can handle."
He looked at me.
"I'm sorry."
I believed him.
That didn't make the fear disappear.
I looked toward the door.
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
"Why do I have the feeling the birthday surprise isn't the strangest thing that happened today?"
He smiled faintly.
"Because it isn't."
I laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
Then my phone vibrated.
I pulled it from my purse.
Unknown number.
One new message.
I opened it.
There were only seven words.
I read them twice.
Then I stopped breathing.
Tyler saw my face.
"What?"
I couldn't answer.
"What is it?"
I turned the screen toward him.
The message said:
*You should never have gone to the station today.**
Tyler's expression changed instantly.
He reached for the phone.
"Don't reply."
"I wasn't going to."
"Who is it?"
"I don't know."
He stared at the number.
Then at me.
"Did anyone follow you?"
"I don't think so."
"You don't think so?"
"I drove straight here."
Tyler's good hand tightened around mine.
Outside the room, footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
They stopped directly outside our door.
Neither of us spoke.
The handle began to turn.
Click here to continue reading: PART 5: The Person Outside the Door Wasn’t Who We Feared, but What He Carried Made Tyler Realize Someone Had Been Watching Us
I Arrived With Balloons and Cake, Expecting My Husband to Laugh—Instead His Entire Crew Went Silent When They Saw Me
Part 4 of 40
