Jonathan passed the phone to Max.
"Hi, Mr. Hart has a lot to deal with right now. He'll call you back and he apologizes".
"That's ok. Please tell him that a lot of the employees are going to have a candlelight vigil tonight at the church across the street on the corner if he wants to join us. I'm sure they will be glad to see him, as most thought he was in the building or hurt in the explosion".
"He'll be there, I'm sure. And he wasn't there-he was out of town. He's just fine".
"Glad to hear it".
Max hung up and relayed Deanne's message.
Jonathan just nodded.
Jennifer took a large gulp of her tea.
"Darling, what is it?"
"Stanley…."
"Oh no….that was him? The one they pulled out?"
Jonathan nodded.
She wrapped her arms around him and just held him for a few minutes.
"I was so scared it was you. But I didn't want it to be him, I know he meant a lot to you".
"He was the first person I hired when I started Hart Industries. He and I worked together for 3 years and he still didn't know who I was when he saw me somewhere. I have never trusted anyone in my life like I trusted him, except for you and Max. You and I could have gone on a world-cruise for the whole year and I know that the company would have been in great hands with him".
"He was an asset, that's for sure".
"Yeah, he was".
"Do you want to go to the vigil?"
"Yeah, I do. Do you feel up to it?"
"Yeah, I think so".
"I guess we'd better go change. I think afterwards, I want to stay and see if I can help with the relief efforts".
She took his hand and they headed upstairs to change.
"Oh, I better call Walter".
She picked up the phone in their bedroom, and quickly dialed her dad's number.
"Edwards residence".
"Walter, it's Jennifer".
"Hi Ms. Jennifer".
"Ok, so the news is bad, but it's good too. Jonathan's building exploded, and we thought he had perished in the explosion. But he didn't. He's fine. So, I was just calling to say you don't have to shield Pa from the coverage".
"Got it, Ms. Jennifer. He was pretty tired after dinner, and went to sleep a little early. He never saw it at all today".
"Good. I was afraid he would see it and get upset. Do you know when he goes to the doctor again?"
"Next week. His final chemo is next week".
"Wonderful! I just might fly out for that".
"We'd love to have you, Ms. Jennifer".
"Thank you. I'll keep in touch. Thanks, Walter".
She hung up, and then headed into the bathroom. Jonathan had changed into some jeans and a button-down shirt.
She changed into some jeans and an old purple long-sleeved t-shirt, and some brown hiking boots.
He was sitting on the bed, going through the insurance papers and the list of the employees, just in case someone asked him for it.
"You ready?"
"Yeah, are you?"
"Yeah".
He stood up and she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him and gave him a kiss.
"I'm so glad you're home. I really missed you".
"I missed you too. I'm sorry I didn't call you this morning and tell you I was going to San Francisco. I really and truly thought I'd be home at the same time".
"I'm not mad you didn't tell me, darling. And even if I was, that's nothing compared to what I was imagining before you walked in".
She leaned up and kissed him again.
"I love you, more than you know".
"I love you too, bigger than the sky".
"I promise, we'll celebrate our anniversary at some point".
"I'm fine, darling. No worries".
"Darling, I don't want to put ideas in your head, and I don't want to accuse anyone of anything, but the thought has occurred to me that this might not have been-"
"An accident or a flaw in the wiring? It's ok, I thought about it too."
"So, that means that you might have been the target all along, darling. And if that's the case, then I think we need to be extra diligent. You know how I feel when you hire tons and tons of security to follow us around at all times, but this time, I swear I won't fight you".
He nodded.
"Jennifer, just tell me one thing".
"What is it?"
"How am I supposed to go tell my employees that Stanley is gone?"
"You don't have to do that alone, darling. We will do it together. And we'll get through it".
They headed downstairs, and grabbed their things.
"Max, we are going to head to the vigil."
"How about I drive you?"
"We'd love it, Max".
***Hart Industries***
Jennifer laced her fingers through Jonathan's as they rode along.
He kissed the back of her hand.
Max pulled them into the church parking lot where everyone was gathered and parked.
They got out.
Jennifer linked her arm through his as he looked across the street at the building.
"Everything I busted my ass for, everything I've done…it's all gone".
"You'll rebuild, darling. You'll make it better than ever".
They walked over to the employees and everyone clapped for him.
"Hi everyone. You have no idea how glad I am to see that you are all ok. Unfortunately, we believe that we lost one of our own, today. Nothing is official yet, but we are 99% sure that we lost Stanley Friesen. Now, I want to be positive, so when I know for sure, I'll update everyone. And please, if you hear from him, please have him call me. Jennifer and I are going to stay and see if we can assist tonight. At this time, it's a little early for a Hart Industries clean-up campaign. But, I promise, when one is organized, everyone will be contacted".
They all held up their candles in solidarity.
"As far as jobs go, I will come up with a plan for relocation as soon as I can. I hope that our insurance will assist us in relocating our offices somewhere until we can rebuild. If you feel you need to look for another job, I understand. No hard feelings. I appreciate everyone coming today. Now, just to clear up some rumors, and maybe to ease my wife's mind a little more-I was not in the office today, I was never hurt and I was never in danger."
Jennifer smiled at him and squeezed his hand.
Everyone passed them candles, and they lit their candles and joined the circle.
The vigil lasted about an hour, and then the inspector came over and spoke to Jonathan.
"Hi, I'm Inspector Sherwood."
"Hi, I'm Jonathan Hart".
"Do you have a few minutes?"
"Yes, I do. This is my wife Jennifer. Is it ok if we take a look around?"
"Yes. I was hoping we could walk and talk".
"Sure".
"So, we believe this was caused by bombs".
"Bombs?"
"Yes. We've found 6 so far."
"Wait a second. My employees said the power went out, and that's why most of them went home. Are you sure it's not related to that?"
"I'm positive. That was due to a car accident. Your employees are very lucky though, as that probably saved their lives. We've only pulled 3 bodies out of the rubble so far. Two of them were wearing janitor's uniforms".
"White guy, red hair?"
"Yes, I believe so".
"Drake Kaplan. Nicest guy in the world".
Inspector Sherwood wrote down Drake's name in his notepad.
"The other one in a janitor's uniform has the name "James" on his uniform."
"There were two James-James Westerfield, and James Sullivan".
"Ok, we will have you identify the body, if you can".
"Certainly".
The inspector gave them hard hats, and they began to look around.
Absolutely everything was in shambles.
Jennifer held Jonathan's hand as he positively identified James Sullivan and Stanley Friesen.
He had to take a minute to gain his composure, and so did she.
They were standing in an area littered with papers and pieces of desks, when Jennifer found something.
"Darling, look at this".
She picked up a piece of rubble, and moved it out of the way. Underneath, was the picture he kept on his desk of the two of them. The frame was a little dusty from the concrete, and the glass was smashed, but the picture itself was in perfect shape.
"It's my picture of us".
"Yes, it is. And it didn't get damaged, really. When I get a chance, I'll get you a new frame for it, darling".
She signaled for Max to come get it.
"Can you please put this in the car? And also, I think we need a box or a garbage bag or something in case we find stuff we want to keep".
"Got it, Mrs. H."
"Jonathan, Jennifer. Glad to see you here".
They turned and there was Herschel.
"You had me scared for a moment, buddy".
"Yeah, well, I apparently unintentionally scared a lot of people".
"Herschel, do we know what happened yet?"
"That's what I came to tell you. We found a car in the parking garage, and we think it might belong to the person who did this. There's no easy way to say this. We think the person came in, parked in the parking garage, and put bombs in the stairwells. Plus, another bomb in their car. Only, they forgot to set it, and they parked far enough away that it didn't have a residual blast."
"The only people allowed in the parking garage are employees".
"Well, then you should poll your employees and ask them if anyone knows who drives a 78' blue Chevelle".
"You're positive that the driver of the blue Chevelle is the bomber?"
"Yes, 100%".
"Ok, I'll go see what they know".
Jonathan and Jennifer walked over across the street to the employees.
"Hi everyone. Does anyone know who drives a Blue Chevelle?"
Nothing.
"We know it was an employee, because the car was parked in the parking garage".
Everyone was silent, until one person spoke up.
"Maybe not".
"Maybe not what?"
"Well, earlier this week when I came back from lunch one day, I came back a little early, and the person on shift in the guard tower, he wasn't even stopping anyone trying to come in. He just opened the arm of the entrance and was sitting at the desk reading a book".
"Yeah, I saw that too".
"I saw that as well".
"He's been doing that for weeks".
"Ok, does anyone know who this is?"
"He's new. His name is Antonio, I believe".
"Yes, I know exactly who that is. Thanks for telling me this, guys. And while I'm over here, I feel like I should tell you all, that we lost three people in this explosion. Drake Kaplan, James Sullivan, and Stanley Friesen".
Everyone started crying and hugging each other.
After a few minutes, Jonathan and Jennifer walked back over to rubble.
Herschel came and found them.
"So, I've been in Chicago all week and I was in San Francisco today before I came home. I don't normally watch who comes in and out of here, that's what my parking attendants and guard tower attendants are for. According to my employees, one of my guard attendants has been letting anyone in, without checking out anything. I'll follow up with him, but unfortunately that means that this bomber person could be anyone".
"Jonathan, do you have the name of that employee? I'd like to bring him in for questioning".
"Antonio. I think his last name is Washington, but I'm not positive and thanks to this, I can't just pull up his employment file".
"I understand. Can you tell me if he's in the crowd over there?"
"No, he isn't".
"Ok. Then we will track him down through other methods".
"Thank you".
The inspector and the head of the relief efforts came over to speak to Jonathan.
"Mr. Hart, I'm Walker Hampton, I'm heading up your rescue efforts here. We've been using sonar detection, to detect body heat and hot spots. And we believe we've gotten everyone that's in there, out. So, now we are bringing in some cranes, and we are going to remove the heavy pieces that only machines can pick up. Having said that, we need to clear the area. So, if you don't mind, for safety's sake, we need everyone who's not using a machine to move beyond the caution tape, and we think it might be best if your employees went home for the night and came back tomorrow".
"Got it. Thank you so much for your efforts. If you need me, for any reason, please call-no matter what time of day."
He gave Inspector Sherwood his phone number and then he and Jennifer left.
They headed across the street to the employees.
"Ok, so they are going to start clearing the big pieces. To do that, they have to bring a crane in and some other heavy machinery. They are respectfully asking that we all go home and come back tomorrow. So, let's give them till 1 p.m. tomorrow. Jennifer and I will be back here then, and believe me, there will be plenty to do. Wear your work clothes. Thanks again for coming, and I'm glad you are all safe. It's going to take some time, but we are going to rebuild, and then get back to business as best we can".
Everyone bid them goodnight, and then they all headed home.
They stopped and picked up a pizza on the way home.
Jennifer snuggled up to Jonathan on the way home, and tried to comfort him.
The car phone was ringing off the hook. Friends were calling them to check on them, back to back. Susan Kendall, Laura and James, and Jonathan's best Navy friend, Bill McDowell.
Jennifer was talking to everyone, while Jonathan struggled to get his thoughts together.
Max came back to the car with the pizza and they headed home.
As soon as they got into the house, Jonathan headed straight to the bar, and poured himself a scotch.
Jennifer walked over to him while Max took the pizza to the kitchen.
"Darling…I hate to see you like this."
"Then don't watch. I don't mean to be ugly, but this goes back before you, Jennifer. I know you think you understand, but you can't, because you weren't there".
"Fine. That's not fair, but fine".
Max had just come into the living room and heard all of that.
Jennifer turned and headed upstairs.
"Do we want to sit in the living room or what?"
"I'm not hungry, Max. I'm going to bed".
Jonathan and Max headed into the kitchen.
"Been a long day for Mrs. H."
"Been a long day for all of us, Max. This is one of the worst days I can remember".
"With all due respect, Mr. H., you ain't in this by yourself. Mrs. H. is here, I'm here. You got the whole company behind you".
"I appreciate that, but nobody else can possibly understand what this feels like. Put yourself in my shoes".
"How about you put yourself in our shoes? Mrs. H. got up real early this morning, and was up typing on her article before the sun came up, because she ain't seen you in a week and she wanted to spend time with you tonight. She made plans for the two of yous to have a special dinner and a quiet evening for your anniversary. And then she turns on the tv, while I headed to the market, and she finds out that you, who she thinks is at the office, blew up with the building. And I come home and then I get upset, and then we are both watching the coverage and we saw a car that looks like yours so that further validates that we thought you were dead. And then you got home and we were so thankful you were ok. If Mrs. H. didn't care about you, she wouldn't have been upset, and she wouldn't have gone with you to see the damage. And in the middle of all of this, she's dealing with the stuff with her father. She's been very concerned about him".
He sighed.
"Max, do you remember when you loaned me the money to start the company?"
"Yeah, I do".
"That check from you was literally everything I had to my name. And I busted my ass, night and day, to get the company to where it was. I expect her to tell me she understands and to want to understand, but I know that she doesn't because she wasn't in my life then. Stanley was the first person I hired. He's been there since day one. And now he's gone."
"That's not your fault, Mr. H. And it ain't her fault, either".
"I'm not saying it's her fault. I'm saying nobody else understands how I feel".
"How can you expect us to understand when you shut us out?"
"You're right. I should go talk to her".
"I don't mean to box your ears, Mr. H., but think about how you would feel if you was here and thought she was dead."
"It's ok, Max. I deserve it."
He got up and took his plate to the sink and headed upstairs.
Jennifer was already asleep.
He came over and kissed her forehead and then quietly changed for bed and climbed in next to her.
It was at least an hour before he was able to turn his mind off and fall asleep.