Chapter 13

Frank was sitting on the bottom landing of his own home, dressed in worn jeans and a faded work shirt while he was lacing up an old pair of tennis shoes. It felt good to drop the Commissioner mask every so often and just act like a regular guy... a normal father and grandfather getting ready for some weekend chores with the family. He heard Henry rummaging around in the kitchen packing some sandwiches to take over with them. Today was going to be a good day, he thought as he smiled. He was enjoying the chance to work on the old house and get his hands honestly dirty again.

Frank's joy was short lived though as his phone buzzed and he took note of the caller. G. Moore. Garrett knew better than to bother his boss at home this time on a Saturday morning unless it was urgent, and urgent things on a weekend were never good. Against his better judgment, he picked it up. "Damn it, Garrett. This better be important."

"It is Frank, there's been an explosion at 1PP," Moore revealed.

"What's the situation?" Frank asked automatically as he sat back. This day had certainly gone to hell in a hand basket, he thought.

"The contractors that were working on the parking garage addition hit a gas main that obviously hadn't been bled or shut off properly," Garrett said. "Major damage is confined to the parking structure. A few windows broken on the office building and the lobby. Initial report of five casualties among the work crew, three dead. Search and Rescue is headed in now, but thankfully there were hardly any people on site this morning. Frank… if this had happened on a normal workday…"

"Understood," Frank replied, relieved at that fact. "Send my detail and keep me updated. I'll change and head in now." He ended the call as he walked up the stairs then dialed Jamie's cell to let him know he wouldn't be coming over. "Pop, I need to go down to 1PP," he called out to his father. "There's been an explosion at the construction site."

"Bad?" Henry asked as he came out of the kitchen.

"Three dead," Frank replied. "They hit a gas main. Could have been worse. I've got to go and handle it." He frowned when his youngest son didn't answer and hit another speed dial number instead of leaving a voicemail. He knew Danny had planned to be at Jamie's house bright and early to help before leaving for Jack's afternoon soccer game. His oldest picked up immediately.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Danny, there's been an explosion at the construction site next to 1PP. Gas main. There are three fatalities. I've got to go down there. Tell Jamie I'll have to see him later, he's not answering his cell."

"WHAT?" Danny's tone struck Frank as being odd for the situation. He sounded choked and scared.

"I've got to go down there…" Frank started again, puzzled.

"Dad, Jamie left to meet that Brian Jeffers guy at his office like forty-five minutes ago! He's at 1PP now!" Danny gasped. "He's not answering?" Frank's heart hung for a second on the news and he could hear Eddie in the background demanding to know what was wrong. The poor girl couldn't catch a break recently.

"Danny, listen to me," Frank commanded as he tried to calm his son. "Garrett said the three were all from the construction crew. At least two more of them injured. He said the office building was fine except for some broken glass. I'm sure Jamie's okay, he probably just ran out there to help… that's why he's not picking up his cell." He could tell from the silence that his words had done nothing to quell Danny's anxiety. "Try him again. I'm on my way over now, I'll pick you both up."

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Reality hit Jamie instantly when a white-hot pain seared through his left shoulder as it met with the unforgiving concrete floor. He had instinctively curled his body around the child in his arms as debris rained down around them, and he was relieved to feel her wiggling and fighting his grasp when the commotion ceased. She was finally successful in her efforts to free herself and squirmed away as he quickly took inventory of his own body before coughing and struggling to prop himself up by the wall he had come to rest next to. Shoulder, most definitely broken, left arm was useless, something up with his right ankle, duller than the pain in his arm so probably just bruised or not busted as badly. Head still attached and in one piece thankfully, hadn't seemed to connect with anything solid either during his trip down the stairs or from all the stuff that had fallen down around them… fortunate, he thought, as there were some sizeable chunks of concrete lying next to him. Jamie groaned as he looked up at the metal steps he had just tumbled down. Danny was going to have a field day with this, but before he worried about that, he needed to figure out what the hell had just happened.

He glanced around the small dusty space they were enclosed in and noted intermittent light showing from the ground floor walkway two stories above them. That was a relief. At least it meant they had an eventual way out and that fresh air was not a commodity.

Jamie turned his attention back to his young, frightened companion as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. She was tiny and a real lightweight for her age, making him wonder exactly what kind of care she'd had in her short life, and she was now shoved up against the furthest wall regarding him with a familiar look... the one with those sad round wide eyes he couldn't bear. She was clearly scared, but appeared to be okay from all outward appearances with the exception of some small superficial cuts that sent little rivulets of blood down the side of her head. For some reason, Jamie found that sight far more nauseating than the waves of pain shooting from his own broken shoulder.

"Hi baby girl," he said softly as he tried to make contact.

Big, crystal blue eyes blinked back but there was no other acknowledgement that she'd heard him other than the tears that were now making tracks down her dirty face.

"Kaylin?" he tried again, remembering her name from the paperwork. "Kaylin, my name is Jamie. Are you okay sweetheart? Do you hurt?" he asked, but again there was no immediate response.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity the standoff was broken. "Are you a daddy?" she whispered her question, and Jamie immediately felt his heart split inside his chest; with the shock of the situation he had imagined he was hearing things earlier. It was completely torn though when she continued softly, "Uncle Bri say I go get a new mommy and daddy today."

Jamie took a deep shaky breath; well that explained it. Gee, thanks again, Uncle Bri. There for a moment he thought... well honestly he didn't really know what he thought anymore. It was unnerving, to say the least, given the circumstances. He swallowed hard before replying. "No, I'm not a daddy yet, baby, but I'm a policeman like your Uncle Brian is going to be, though," he answered in a quiet voice. "That is if I don't wring his effing neck for him first," he muttered under his breath just before he remembered Brian had been driving in the direction of construction, which Jamie could only assume had been the cause of the explosion. Maybe there was no effing neck left to wring, he realized.

"You don't look like a pwiceman."

Smart kid. Given the fact that he was still in his old painting clothes, Jamie had to agree. "I am though, baby," he said, pointing to his hip with his good hand. "Here's my badge, see? My name is policeman Jamie." Kaylin had inched just a tad closer to look when they were both startled by a buzzing noise somewhere over near where the little girl sat.

My phone, Jamie realized with relief, it must still be in one piece. He sat forward to reach towards it but decided that wasn't such a good plan as a new wave of pain hit and things started spinning a little.

"Kaylin, sweetheart, can you please go over there and get my phone for me? Pretty please?" he asked as it lit up with Eddie's ringtone. She was probably wondering when he was coming back about now. He knew his wife was going to panic when she heard about this, and he was desperate to let her know he was basically all right and to ask her to get help down here for them.

The little girl solemnly regarded him for another minute before scrambling over to the left and pulling the phone out of a dusty pile. She shyly approached Jamie and handed it to him, remaining by his side. "Thank you, baby," he said as he took it from her, grateful to see that her trust in him was growing. They were going to need each other until someone could get them out. Another call was coming in, this time from Danny. They must have heard, he reasoned. The screen was cracked pretty badly, but looked to be still functioning. Unfortunately when Jamie tried to answer the incoming call or dial out he found that many of the buttons were unusable. He played with it for a few more minutes before he hit one spot and held it down, hoping the speed dial would still work.

He smiled at Kaylin as he heard the call connect. "I tell you what sweetness, right now we're going to call my daddy, and he's going to get us out of this mess, okay?"